Classical Aramaic

Classical Aramaic is an elementary primer teaching the ancient Aramaic language. Fr. Bazzi and Dr. Errico have each been teaching Aramaic for over 50 years.

The Rev. Fr. Michael J. Bazzi (Emeritus), L.S.T., began pastoring St. Peter's Chaldean Catholic Church in El Cajon, San Diego, in 1985. Fr. Michael also served as a professor of modern and classical Aramaic at Cuyamaca College in El Cajon 1989-2021. Fr. Michael is a distinguished Bible authority, author, teacher, linguist, translator, and pastoral counselor. Born in Tilkepe, Iraq, a suburb of Nineveh, he graduated seminary at St. Peter's College, Baghdad, and was ordained into the priesthood in that same year, 1964. He served eight years in Tilkepe, assisting as a priest, speaking his native language of Aramaic, as well as Arabic. He then travelled to the Vatican in Rome where he earned a Master's Degree in Pastoral Theology. While in Italy he gained a broad knowledge of the Italian and French languages. Fr. Michael arrived in Oshkosh - Green Bay, Wisconsin in 1974. Here he taught and preached Scripture from the Aramaic point of view. Later, he established parishes in Oak Park and Troy, Michigan, and in 1983-85, served in Los Angeles, California. Fr. Michael moved to San Diego in 1985. In 1987, he became pastor of St. Peters Church in El Cajon, where he is now pastor emeritus. Fr. Michael was the San Diego Law Enforcement Association's Citizen of the Year in 2010.

Dr. Rocco A. Errico is an ordained minister, international lecturer and author, spiritual counselor, and is one of the nation's leading Bible scholars working from the original Aramaic Peshitta texts. For ten years, he studied intensively with Dr. George M. Lamsa, Th. D., (1890-1975), world renowned Assyrian biblical scholar and translator of the Holy Bible from the Ancient Eastern Text. Dr. Errico is proficient in Aramaic and Hebrew exegesis, helping thousands of readers and seminar participant understand how the Semitic context of culture, language, idioms, symbolism, mystical style psychology, and literary amplification- the Seven Keys that unlock the Bible- are essential to understanding the ancient spiritual document. Dr. Errico is the recipient of numerous awards and academic degrees, including a Doctorate in Philosophy from the School of Christianity in Los Angeles; a Doctorate in Divinity from St. Ephrem's Institute in Sweden; and a Doctorate in Sacred Theology for the School of Christianity in Los Angeles. In 1993, the American Apostolic University College of Seminarians awarded him a Doctorate of Letters. He also holds a special title of Teacher, Prime Exegete, Maplana d'miltha dalaha, among the Federation of St. Thomas Christians of the Order of Antioch. In 2002, Dr. Errico was inducted into the Morehouse College Collegium of Scholars. Dr. Errico is a featured speaker at conferences, symposia, and seminars throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Europe. And has been a regular contributor for over 35 years to Science of Mind Magazine a monthly journal founded in 1927. He began his practice as an ordained minister and pastoral counselor in the mid-1950's and during the next three decades served in churches and missions in Missouri, Texas, Mexico, and California. Throughout his public work, Dr. Errico has stressed the nonsectarian, open interpretation of Biblical spirituality, prying it free from 2000 years of rigid orthodoxy, which, according to his research, is founded on incorrect translations of the Aramaic texts. In 1970, Dr. Errico established the Noohra Foundation in San Antonio, Texas, as a non-profit, non-sectarian spiritual educational organization devoted to helping people of all faiths to understand the Near Eastern background and Aramaic interpretations of the Bible. In 1976, Dr. Errico relocated the Noohra Foundation in Irvine, California, where it flourished for the next 17 years. For seven years, the Noohra Foundation operated in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and in September 2001, it relocated to Smyrna, Georgia, where Dr. Errico served as Dean of Biblical Studies for Dr. Barbara King's School of Ministry Hillside Chapel and Truth Center in Atlanta. Under the auspices of the Noohra Foundation, Dr. Errico continues to lecture for colleges, civic group and churches of various denominations in the United States, Canada, Mexico and Europe.

Roy Gessford founded Let in the Light Publishing in 2012. Aspiring authors are encouraged to submit completed manuscripts.Born and raised in Los Angeles, Roy graduated in 1994 from the University of California, San Diego, with a degree in Urban Studies and Planning and minors in Law, History, and Economics. Subsequently, Mr. Gessford earned a Master's Degree of Interfaith Action from Claremont Lincoln University. Roy has always had a deep love for teaching and earned a Multiple Subject Teaching Credential from CalState TEACH in 2012. Gessford's graduate work has included courses in Hebrew, Greek, Latin, and Aramaic. Mr. Gessford has taught and lectured on Aramaic in numerous locales including many churches globally, The Chaldean Cultural Center in West Bloomfield (MI), The Chaldean Community Foundation in Sterling Heights (MI), Oakland University (MI), and at Doshisha University in Kyoto, Japan.Coach Gessford had a 20-year career within the tennis profession as a player, coach, referee, and tournament director. Roy taught tennis at four and five star resorts around the world with Peter Burwash International, and coached tennis at Carmel Valley Ranch for nine years. Images of Roy Gessford playing tennis have appeared in periodicals such as The Wall Street Journal and Tennis Magazine. Gessford shares the wisdom he gained in A High School Tennis Coach's Handbook: For Players, Parents, and Coaches, available in paperback, hardback, spiral bound, and electronic book formats. He has also written for various publications such as tennisplayer.net, Inside Tennis, and the Pulitzer Prize-winning international newspaper The Christian Science Monitor.