Faithwalk: Messianic believer in Yeshua. Torah observant.
Status: Married to Suzanne
Heritage: Jewish by both parents
Children: A daughter and two grandkids in Seattle. Two other grandkids in Kalispell, Montana
Residence: Western Australia (Southwest Australia), about 3 hour's drive southwest of Perth
Professional Background: On-Air radio and television production, news, and broadcast journalism since 1973.
Current Profession: Educator and author on biblical and New Testament hebraic concepts. Licensed Israeli Ministry of Tourism tour guide since 2011.
Education: Simpson College - 3 years  (San Francisco). Los Angeles City College - 1 year (LACC, Los Angeles). Machon Lander College - 3 years (Jerusalem). 
Spiritual Character: Under construction through daily on-the-job training. 

     Shalom. I am Avi ben Mordechai. You can call me Avi or Avinoam. I am not a Rabbi, a Pastor, nor even a Teacher in the biblical sense of the word. I am Jewish. I am an Israeli State-Licensed tour guide. I am a writer, researcher, and lecturer on the theology of the Bible in its Hebraic context. I am in search of biblical Truth, which I believe will always lead one to seek out the Biblical Land of Israel -- above. 

 

     At the age of 49 years, I made Aliyah (moved to Eretz Israel, the Land of Israel). I made the move to the Land because I was not satisfied with where I was going with my life in America. I began searching for an open door into my history and heritage, desiring to seek a true tangible experience in a place called “home.” Strangely, after living many years in the Land of Israel, I did not find a place that I could call "home." I searched for a home in my Jewishness, in the religious culture and observances of Judaism, in a Jewish family, in a Jewish community, and in the endless studies of Judaism. Still, I did not find “home,” even though my experiences were positive, interesting, and in some cases, life-changing. 

 

     I had a son, Jonathan, who served in the IDF, tzanchanim (paratroopers) unit 101.  He served his country Israel in the 2005 Gaza disengagement and again, in the 2006 Israeli war in Lebanon. He and I sometimes talked about “home” life, though, our conversations stopped after he later died in early September 2009.

 

     Over the years, I’ve been through a lot of what I might call, the “washing machine agitating cycles of life.” And for good measure, I’ve had my share of the “spin-dry” cycles,  all in the endless pursuit of looking for that elusive place of belonging to a culture, a religion, and a land. 

 

     During my writing, lecturing, and teaching Sabbatical of 2016, I found a home in the most unlikely of places. I found a home within myself. I suppose I could say that I stumbled upon it by accident. Then again, I don't believe in accidents because the steps of our lives are ordered from above. I had never really understood much about the “marriage” of the human mind, will, and heart. Now, however, after so many decades of wandering and looking for that elusive place called "home," I can tell you this: HOME is not a place or a thing on Earth. It is in what Hebrew scripture calls the WORD. He is our ELOHIM (our God).  This website COMING HOME reflects the changes that I have been through in my pursuit of home and happiness. 

 

     I am married to Suzanne. Suzanne (also "Shoshana") is grafted-in to the spiritual nation of Israel. Suzanne also had to “come home” in her search for that place of true meaning and purpose, as she too had to learn to let go of her earthly pursuits to find a home. Together, we have a much better and deeper understanding, meaning, and purpose about who we are in Messiah Yeshua.

 

     When I say that the All Eternal One loves me, I know it is not because I am trading for His love; you know the concept – if I am good and do things right, he will love me. If I do things wrong, he won’t love me. He loves because this is his nature. His love teaches me that I cannot define love based on how I feel. True love is based on choice. 

 

     These days, I am relating differently to the biblical narratives; that is, to the Law and Grace of the Torah, to marriage and relationships, and to everyday life. I am learning to freely receive love rather than think that I have to trade for it. If you want to become one with your Creator, ask and you shall receive because the Word will show you. The Word was and is in Yeshua; the real Yeshua, not the Church Jesus. 

 

     If you are wandering and searching for that elusive place called “home” in your life, I hope through this site, you will find one or more teachings that can help. This is why the Bible begins with the word B’resheet or “In the Beginning.” It is because the first letter of the word B’resheet is Beyt – ב, which is an ancient drawing of a house or a home, in paleo (pictographic) Hebrew.  When we go back to the beginning, back to Genesis, we are Coming Home to the Word, to the Kingdom of Heaven, the Garden of Light, and so much more. And when we knock on his door and he opens up for us, it is inevitable that we will walk into the loving arms of the divine power of Heaven and Earth as he is called THE WAY, THE TRUTH, and THE LIFE: the TREE of LIFE. 

 

     This site is about a personal journey and my views in understanding the principles of the biblical narratives in their Hebraic context, a context that is calling all of us to go forward and not look back. It is our Creator's challenge to each of us to COME HOME, as it says in Psalm 122:2, "Our feet have been standing within your gates, O Jerusalem!" In other words, first, we are called to stand within the gates of Jerusalem -- above. 

 

     For a bit more about my spiritual journey from Orthodox Judaism to where I am at now, click here. 

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Shalom

Avi ben Mordechai