801 related texts · Page 87 of 89
We read phrases like "the sword of the Lord," but... swords don't literally belong to God. And they certainly don't eat flesh! So, what's going on when we read, as we do in Sifrei ...
The Torah touches on this, not directly, but in subtle glimpses. Let’s look at how the death of Aaron, the High Priest, is described, and what Moses thought of it. We find this ide...
The Torah tells us that God showed him "the entire land" (Deuteronomy 34:1). But what exactly does "the entire land" mean? The ancient rabbis grappled with this question, and their...
It pulls no punches in its call for humility and divine justice. Ben Sira, a sage writing in Hebrew around 200 BCE, gives us these powerful words: "Make an end of the head of the p...
Forget the sterile descriptions in history books. Let's try to feel it, to breathe it in, to almost see it shimmering before us. Ben Sira, in chapter 50 of his wisdom book, gives u...
The Book of Jubilees, a text not included in the Hebrew Bible but considered sacred by some, gives us a fascinating glimpse into this. It tells us about Adam burning incense, "swee...
Specifically, not eating it. The Book of Jubilees, a text bubbling with rich detail expanding on the Torah’s narratives, dives headfirst into this very topic. This isn’t just a sug...
That unsettling feeling is something Abraham, our ancestor, knew all too well. Let's look at a particularly vivid scene from the Book of Jubilees, a text that expands on the storie...
We're talking about Abraham, and his son, Isaac. Specifically, when Isaac was weaned. Now, weaning might not seem like cause for a huge shindig today, but in ancient times, it was ...
