2,672 passages in Modern Compilations & Folklore
Individual passages from Legends of the Jews, shown in source order. Page 56 of 56.
That’s where we find Esther in the story, right after that fateful banquet. King Ahasuerus, still riding high on the wine and the atmosphere, repeats his offer. He's practically be...
He’s riding high. Everyone's supposed to bow down to him. Total power trip. But then he passes Mordecai, and Mordecai? Nope. Not bowing. Not even a little. In Ginzberg's retelling ...
A story where the queen wasn't just a pretty face; she was the brains of the operation, and her advice had deadly consequences. Haman, as you likely know, was the wicked advisor to...
The familiar version gives us he plotted to annihilate the Jewish people in ancient Persia. But the Legends of the Jews, that incredible collection of rabbinic tales compiled by Lo...
Legends of the Jews turns to Mordecai in Zion. Can you imagine the dread? Instead of singing songs of liberation, Jews everywhere wept. They lamented, paralyzed by fear. The joyous...
The familiar version gives us the happy ending, the costumes, the graggers (noisemakers), and the hamantaschen (three-cornered pastries). but the tradition turns to for a moment an...
After Haman's wicked plot to annihilate the Jews was set in motion, sealed with a heavenly decree, things seemed pretty bleak. But the Almighty, blessed be He, wasn't about to let ...
King Ahasuerus certainly did. And his insomnia took a decidedly paranoid turn. The Megillah, the Book of Esther, tells us that one night, the king just couldn't sleep (Esther 6:1)....
Legends of the Jews turns to Birth of King Ahasuerus. The biblical story, as we know, is filled with twists and turns. But the legends that grew up around it, collected in works li...
King Ahasuerus, in the Book of Esther, was having one of those nights, and nothing seemed to calm him. That is, until… In Legends of the Jews, Ahasuerus only found a bit of peace w...
Legends of the Jews turns to Ahasuerus — Kingdom of Haman. Can you imagine the dread creeping in? The realization that you've not only failed to impress, but actively made things w...
The Book of Esther, or Megillat Esther, is full of these kinds of dramatic reversals, and one of the most striking happens between Haman and Mordecai. Haman, the wicked advisor to ...
The Megillah, the Scroll of Esther, gives us the basic story. But the Legends of the Jews, that wonderful collection of midrashic (rabbinic interpretive commentary) and aggadic lor...
King Ahasuerus, still clueless about Haman's true intentions, decrees, "The man who saved the life of the king deserves to have his name put on the coin of the realm. Nevertheless,...
The familiar story centers on Mordecai and Haman. Haman, the villainous advisor to the king, plots to annihilate the Jews, and Mordecai, the righteous leader, stands in his way. In...
The story of Mordecai and Haman in the Book of Esther is full of such moments, and one of the most dramatic comes right after Esther reveals Haman’s plot to destroy the Jews. Morde...
The familiar story is this: Haman, the wicked advisor to King Ahasuerus, plots to annihilate all the Jews in Persia. But thanks to Esther, the Jewish queen, and her wise cousin Mor...
Haman had to lead Mordecai through Shushan and praise him in the king's name. That's what Haman must have felt as he led Mordecai, the man he despised above all others, through the...
They’re celebrating a miraculous deliverance. The air is thick with gratitude, with disbelief, with pure, unadulterated joy. As Mordecai, the hero of the hour, rode through the str...
Legends of the Jews turns to Haman Stands in Prayer. Ginzberg, in his Legends of the Jews, recounts a rather grim incident during Mordecai's moment of triumph. Remember that incred...
He was down. Like, really down. After the whole ordeal with having to lead Mordecai around in royal robes – a humiliation orchestrated by the very man he wanted to destroy – and th...
The scene is set: a lavish banquet, King Ahasuerus at the head of the table, and the villainous Haman anxiously present. According to Legends of the Jews, even as everyone’s eating...
It's a moment dripping with drama. In Legends of the Jews, Esther reached out, intending to point directly at Haman, the wicked advisor. He wasn't just after her life, but accordin...
Esther’s carefully laid trap is working. He's practically begging her to name Haman as the villain. "Just say the word, Esther," he's thinking, "and heads will roll!" It's not enou...
The Book of Esther, and the tradition of stories woven around it in the Midrash (rabbinic commentary), is full of such moments. And perhaps none is so stark as the tale of Harbonah...
Take the story of Haman and Mordecai from the Book of Esther. We know Haman planned to hang Mordecai on a towering structure, but have you ever considered what that structure was m...
Sometimes, it's almost… mathematical. Take the story of Haman, the villain of the Purim story, and his ultimate downfall. The familiar story is this: Haman plots to annihilate the ...
In the Book of Esther, we have a pretty clear victory for the Jewish people. Haman, the wicked advisor to King Ahasuerus, is exposed and ultimately hanged on the very gallows he bu...
Ten of them served as governors in various provinces, according to Legends of the Jews. But their fate? Not so enviable. Ten of them died along with their father, and the other ten...
It paints a vivid picture of a king trying to undo the damage caused by his own misjudgment. The edict, as recounted, begins with Ahasuerus addressing "all the inhabitants of water...
Of wanting to hold onto something important, even when the world around us changes. And sometimes, it’s about acknowledging the darkness we've overcome. Take Purim, for example, th...
She wasn't done. This time, she wanted her story, the story of her courage and her people’s deliverance, enshrined within the Holy Scriptures. The sages hesitated. Big time. Adding...
