198 related texts · Page 21 of 22
It’s a question as old as… well, as old as humanity itself! And, wouldn’t you know it, our tradition has something pretty interesting to say about it. Sifrei Devarim 311 gives us a...
It turns out, even Moses, the ultimate law-giver, knew the importance of following up criticism with comfort. Moses is standing there, on the cusp of his own death, knowing he won'...
That sense of belonging – or not belonging – is at the heart of a fascinating, and often overlooked, passage from the Book of Jubilees. Now, if you haven’t heard of the Book of Jub...
Specifically, in Chapter 5, we get a bird's-eye view of the Israelites’ history, a sweeping summary that explains their current predicament. The narrative unfolds, telling us how t...
Our scene opens with a figure named, well, he’s not named in the text. But he's in a tight spot. He's just heard some pretty bad news. He’s "confounded and discouraged," as the tex...
That’s the essence of what we find in the Book of Maccabees, and specifically here in 1 Maccabees 5. Imagine the scene: Judas Maccabeus, the hammer of God, the leader of the rebell...
We often focus on the oil lasting for eight nights, and rightfully so. But behind that miracle, there were real people, real battles, and real decisions that shaped the course of J...
That’s the situation facing Judas Maccabeus and his brother Jonathan in the Book of Maccabees. We pick up their story in 1 Maccabees 5 as they venture east, across the Jordan River...
The ancient Israelites knew that feeling all too well. to a story from The Book of Maccabees I, a historical account not found in the Hebrew Bible but considered scripture by some....