Parshat Lech Lecha

9,573 related texts · Page 236 of 1064

God calls Abraham to leave his homeland for Canaan. Covers Abraham and Sarah in Egypt, the separation from Lot, the war of the kings, and the covenant between the pieces. Genesis 12:1-17:27.

Giving of the Torah and Isaiah

Ginzberg Legends of the Jews 6:142

That’s a glimpse into the desperation Moses must have felt as his life was coming to an end. We all know Moses. The towering figure who led the Israelites out of Egypt, received th...

HeavenMoses

From Nothing to Everything and Passover

Ginzberg Legends of the Jews 12:126

Sometimes, the observations are...well, let's just say they offer a unique perspective. Imagine someone, unfamiliar with Jewish practice, trying to describe what they see. It might...

CreationJosephEgyptHolidays

Throne Room on High and There

Midrash Rabbah Bereshit Rabbah 51:3

Ever catch a whiff of sulfur and feel a little... uneasy? There's a reason for that, according to ancient Jewish wisdom. It all circles back to the idea of divine justice and the c...

HeavenHell/GehennaKing DavidSoul

Joseph and the Origins of the World

Midrash Rabbah Bereshit Rabbah 84:18

Take the story of Joseph, sold into slavery by his own brothers. We all know the story. Jealousy, betrayal, a coat of many colors… but what about the aftermath? Genesis 37:28 tells...

CreationHell/GehennaMatriarchsJoseph

Rabbi Evyatar and the Origins of the World

Midrash Rabbah Bereshit Rabbah 88:2

This particular passage, from section 88, tells us about the downfall of two unfortunate souls: the butler and the baker of the Egyptian Pharaoh. What did they do? Were they plotti...

CreationJosephRepentanceEgypt

Moses: Pharaoh and Joseph

Midrash Rabbah Kohelet Rabbah 15:4

Take this one, from Kohelet Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Book of Ecclesiastes. It's a powerful allegory, and one we can all relate to. The story begins: ...

JosephMosesProphecyMiracles

Joseph Before the King

Midrash Aggadah Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer 11:14

The book Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer, a fascinating collection of Jewish legends and interpretations, touches on this very idea. It speaks of kings whose influence stretched to the very...

JosephSolomonEgypt

Stranger in a Strange Land

Other Texts Sifrei Devarim 213:1

It’s not quite the bodice-ripping romance novel you might (wrongly) imagine. Instead, there’s a fascinating, and frankly, surprisingly sensitive, layer of detail tucked away in the...

Exile

Terah and the Heavenly Realms

Apocrypha Book of Jubilees 11:17

Think of it as a kind of expanded, annotated Genesis, written sometime in the Second Temple period. It offers us a glimpse into how some ancient Jews understood their own history. ...

HeavenElijah