About Us
In 2023, Rabbi Jacob started a weekly online teaching webinar with a small group of men and women from all over the country.
The meeting developed into his current Torah Fire Community LIVE teaching and fellowship group, remembering God's ancient Shabbat by observing lunisolar calendation. Every week, Rabbi Jacob reads the weekly Torah portion (parshah) in the original Hebrew and gives an additional interactive teaching — free.
Since Rabbi Jacob's catalog of teaching material has grown in number and depth over the years, he established University of Torah in 2026, and now offers his immersive Torah courses available to everyone anytime.
University of Torah offers deep, full scriptural study, Sabbath fellowship, and discipleship.
Welcome, shalom, with blessings.
Our Story
Rabbi Jacob Benzquen, M.A., B.T.L., ORD
Founder, University Of Torah
Rabbi Jacob dedicates his mission to bringing authentic ancient light to the modern world.
Because he brings a rare mastery of Torah, Talmudic Law, and modern pastoral psychology to the rabbinic sphere, his teachings help believers navigate daily complexities through the lens of Biblical prophecy, Torah wisdom, and his down-to-earth view of everyday life.
His voice of clarity and practicality resounds in this contemporary era of technological and spiritual uncertainty.
Most significantly, his heart is for people. With over two decades of senior congregational leadership, his deeply personal approach to teaching continues to be the hallmark of his ministry.
R'Jacob is a third-generation congregational rabbi. He holds dual ordinations: Orthodox semichot Yore Yore, Yadin Yadin, and Conservative Rabbinic Ordination.
He earned his M.A. in Rabbinic Studies from University of Judaism, Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies (L.A., CA); and his B.A. from Yeshiva University, NY. Certified in various types of counseling, from community counseling to grief counseling, he is fluent in English, Hebrew, and Spanish.
When he's not teaching Torah classes online or hosting Shabbat dinners and Bible studies at home, Rabbi Jacob and his wife, Leah, coach people navigating their business and personal lives according to Biblical principles. The newlyweds enjoy sharing chocolate-chocolate-chip ice cream together.
Statement of Faith
Salvation
Through repentance, faith, and immersion in the name of Yeshua.
The Authority of Scripture
Both Testaments, the Tanakh and Brit Hachadashah, are our final rule of faith.
The Unity of Both Testaments
Both the First and Second Covenants reveal one unchanging God, and one redemptive story.
Core Affirmations
Yeshua the Messiah
He is God the Son, our Passover, and the promised Savior of Israel and the nations.
The Value of Torah
"The Law of God remains profitable for teaching, correction, and training in righteousness."
2 Tim 3:16-17 (NKJV)
Our Vision
University of Torah endeavors to expand the Kingdom of Messiah Christ by sharing the drink of the Living Waters, and by feasting with you on God’s Word, also known as the three Torah foods:
Proclaim the faith with the foundational MILK of the Word.
Teaching the Three Torah Foods of Abba God
"I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able.”
1 Corinthians 3:2 (KJV)
NA28 γάλα ὑμᾶς ἐπότισα, οὐ βρῶμα· οὔπω γὰρ ἐδύνασθε. ἀλλ᾿ οὐδὲ ἔτι νῦν δύνασθε
“Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God.”
Hebrews 6:1 (KJV)
NA28 Διὸ ἀφέντες τὸν τῆς ἀρχῆς τοῦ Χριστοῦ λόγον ἐπὶ τὴν τελειότητα φερώμεθα, μὴ πάλιν θεμέλιον καταβαλλόμενοι μετανοίας ἀπὸ νεκρῶν ἔργων καὶ πίστεως ἐπὶ Θεόν
“But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.”
Hebrews 5:14 (KJV)
NA28 τελείων δέ ἐστιν ἡ στερεὰ τροφή, τῶν διὰ τὴν ἕξιν τὰ αἰσθητήρια γεγυμνασμ
יְרֵ֣את יְהוָ֭ה רֵאשִׁ֣יתח כְמָ֑ה וְדַ֖עַת קְדֹשִׁ֣ים בִּינָֽה BHS
“Fear of YHVH is the beginning of wisdom.”
Proverbs 9:10 (NKJV)
BHS הִנֵּ֤ה עֵ֣ין יְ֭הוָה אֶל־יְרֵאָ֑יו לַֽמְיַחֲלִ֥ים לְחַסְדּֽוֹ
“But the eyes of God are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love.”
Psalm 33:18 (NKJV)
BHS הִנֵּ֤ה עֵ֣ין יְ֭הֹוָה אֶל־יְרֵאָ֑יו לַֽמְיַחֲלִ֥ים לְחַסְדּֽ
“But he said unto them, I have meat to eat that ye know not of.”
John 4:32 (NKJV)
“Jesus answered, ‘It is written: man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'”
Matthew 4:4 (NKJV)
“I have not departed from the commands of his lips; I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my daily bread.”
Job 23:12 (NKJV)
“Then Jesus declared, ‘I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.'”
John 6:35 (NKJV)
“As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby.”
1 Peter 2:2 (KJV)
NA28 ὡς ἀρτιγέννητα βρέφη τὸ λογικὸν ἄδολον γάλα ἐπιποθήσατε, ἵνα ἐν αὐτῷ αὐξηθῆτε εἰς σωτηρίαν.
MILK
OF THE WORD
Apply the MEAT of the Word required to grow in faith and righteousness.
MEAT
OF THE WORD
STRONG MEAT
OF THE WORD
MILK, MEAT, and STRONG MEAT.
Mature the believer with the STRONG MEAT of the Word, and to increase love, hope, and righteousness with the fear and love of God.
THREE TORAH FOODS
Let’s feast together on God’s Word.
Check out University of Torah Bible Courses.
Present Day Truth
At UofT, we pray and strive to anchor every soul we touch with unchanging Present Day Truth, according to 2 Peter 1:12, ensuring you are positioned to flourish and lead others, obedient to the Instruction of the King and His Kingdom.
First, believers must “always be in remembrance” of the basic teachings of Torah to abundantly enter into the everlasting Kingdom of our Lord and Savior, Yeshua Hamashiach.
Second, an equally important mandate, Peter urges to make your calling sure: “be established in the present truth.”
Yeshua referred to the present truth when he taught about the impossibility of putting new wine or into old wineskins.
“Neither do men put new wine into old bottles: else the bottles break, and the wine runneth out, and the bottles perish: but they put new wine into new bottles, and both are preserved.”
Matthew 9:17 (KJV)
Old wine is ancient truths, long established Torah teachings. And new wine is the present truth, which is Torah revelation for each new generation.
“Wherefore I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things, though ye know them, and be established in the present truth.”
2 Peter 1:12 (KJV)
What Every Generation Must Face
Διὸ οὐκ ἀμελήσω ὑμᾶς ἀεὶ ὑπομιμνῄσκειν περὶ τούτων, καίπερ εἰδότας καὶ ἐστηριγμένους ἐν τῇ παρούσῃ ἀληθείᾳ. (NA28)
οὐδὲ βάλλουσιν οἶνον νέον εἰς ἀσκοὺς παλαιούς· εἰ δὲ μή¦γε, ῥήγνυνται οἱ ἀσκοί, καὶ ὁ οἶνος ἐκχεῖται καὶ οἱ ἀσκοὶ ἀπόλλυνται· ἀλλὰ βάλλουσιν οἶνον νέον εἰς ἀσκοὺς καινούς, καὶ ἀμφότεροι συντηροῦνται. (NA28)
Epistemic Notes
“However, when He, the Spirit of Truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth. For He shall not speak of Himself, but whatever He hears, He shall speak. And He will announce to you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will receive of Mine and will announce it to you.”
John 16:13-14 (NKJV)
University of Torah uses the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia (BHS 1983, Standard 5th Corrected Edition).
BHS is the definitive edition of the Masoretic Text, based on the Codex Leningradensis, MS B19A (1008 AD), preserved by Aaron ben Moses ben Asher of Tiberias. It is the Hebrew Bible as transmitted by the Masoretes, who applied the Masora Magna – an unprecedented, meticulous system of preservation – to the sacred text.
Why the BHS?
Modern Bibles rely on dynamic equivalence — the translator’s opinion of what the text “means” or ought to say. Whereas, because the BHS preserves the original consonantal text, the precise vowel markings (niqqud), and the cantillation accents (te’amim), the BHS, then, is not a translation but a chain of custody that also sources variant texts.
Therefore, we do not treat the Masoretic text as a relic of a foreign tradition but the foundational law of our own inheritance. It reveals only the King, not the consumer.
Far from being a relic, the BHS remains the standard.
By anchoring every study in the BHS, University of Torah cuts through the noise of secular misinformation and populist theology.
The intellectual sovereign protocol used by the BHS respects your intellectual rigor while delivering — through the Holy Spirit — the source material believers are starving for.
The Canon We Use
Why The Sovereign Protocol?
"Who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life."
2 Corinthians 3:6 (NKJV)
Elliger, K., and Rudolph, W. (Eds.). Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia. 5th ed. Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, 1997.
The diplomatic edition of the Leningrad Codex (B 19A), the oldest complete manuscript of the Hebrew Bible.
Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia (BHS)
PRIMARY TEXTUAL FOUNDATIONS
Aland, B., Aland, K., Karavidopoulos, J., Martini, C. M., & Metzger, B. M. (Eds.). Novum Testamentum Graece. 28th rev. ed. Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, 2012.
The Editio Critica Maior of the New Testament. The indispensable standard for linguistic precision, allowing students to access the original Greek terminology (such as rhēma, hagiase, and loutrō) preserves the apostolic connection to the Temple pattern.
Novum Testamentum Graece (NA28)
The Ben Asher Masoretic Tradition
Dotan, Aron (Ed.). Biblia Hebraica Leningradensia (BHL): Prepared according to the Vocalization, Accents, and Masorah of Aaron ben Moses ben Asher. Peabody: Hendrickson, 2001.
HEBREW LINGUISTICS & MASORETIC TRADITION
Supplementory (Not Exhaustive)
Danker, Frederick W. (Ed.). A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (BDAG). Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000. Authoritative lexical tool for interpreting hagiase and rhēma in the Pauline epistles.
Koehler, Ludwig, and Baumgartner, Walter. The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament (HALOT). Leiden: Brill, 2001. Precise lexical definitions of Temple-related terminology.
Joüon, Paul, and Muraoka, T. A Grammar of Biblical Hebrew. Rome: Pontificio Istituto Biblico, 2006.
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The University of Torah is committed to the pursuit of truth. If you discover an error on this website, whether textual, grammatical, translational, or interpretive, please bring it to our attention by providing relevant evidence from the critical texts (BHS, NA28, LXX, the Dead Sea Scrolls, or other primary sources). Thank you.
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University Of Torah
Advancing the Kingdom by teaching believers the original Hebraic foundations of faith, and by walking daily in covenantal intimacy with God.
One King. One Law. One Mission:
To represent the Kingdom government of God, the lawful operating system of the universe.
Submit corrections to: info@universityoftorah.org