Parshat Shoftim

2,634 related texts · Page 178 of 293

Laws of judges and officers, the king, the Levitical priests, true and false prophets, cities of refuge, and warfare. Deuteronomy 16:18-21:9.

Summoning The Patriarchs

Tree of Souls

There's a story, a rather incredible one, about a rabbi who supposedly did just that. It all revolves around Rabbi Judah Loew, also known as the Maharal of Prague. This was a truly...

CreationTorahPatriarchsAdam & Eve

The Birth Of Moses

Tree of Souls

Amram, Moses’s father, wasn't just any man. He was a skilled doctor, so renowned that he served Pharaoh himself! The text in Tree of Souls tells us of his wisdom, and of God's hand...

CreationHeavenTorahMoses

The Enthronement Of Moses

Tree of Souls

It sounds radical, I know. But let's delve into a fascinating, and perhaps surprising, corner of Jewish tradition: the enthronement of Moses. According to some accounts, God bestow...

HeavenMessiahTorahPatriarchs

The Angel Of The Lord

Tree of Souls

That’s the feeling this ancient story evokes. Imagine Jerusalem, poised on the brink of annihilation. God, in his wrath, sends an angel to destroy it. Can you picture it? A city ab...

AngelsHeavenHell/GehennaPatriarchs

The Hidden Garden

Tree of Souls

One powerful idea, found in Midrash ha-Ne'elam and the Zohar Hadash, is that the Garden of Eden is actually hidden. So hidden, in fact, that "it is closed on every side, and guarde...

CreationAngelsHeavenHell/Gehenna

The Cave Of Shimon Bar Yohai

Tree of Souls

We're talking about the cave of Shimon bar Yohai. The story begins in the days of Roman rule. Shimon bar Yohai, a prominent sage, found himself on the wrong side of the Roman autho...

CreationDemonsHeavenTorah

God Builds The Heavenly Temple

Tree of Souls

Jewish tradition offers some breathtaking glimpses beyond the veil, and one of the most stunning involves God Himself, building a Temple…in Heaven. Imagine Moses, nearing the end o...

AngelsHeavenMessiahPatriarchs

The True Temple Of God

Tree of Souls

Maybe that feeling is a tiny glimpse into the ultimate truth: that everything is sacred. Philo, the 1st-century Jewish philosopher from Alexandria, certainly thought so. He envisio...

CreationAngelsHeavenProphecy

The Creation Of The Temple

Tree of Souls

According to Jewish tradition, the very concept of the Temple in Jerusalem, that sacred place, was envisioned at the dawn of creation itself. As Howard Schwartz recounts in Tree of...

CreationAngelsPatriarchsAdam & Eve