Parshat Vayera

2,711 related texts · Page 49 of 302

Three angels visit Abraham, the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, the birth of Isaac, and the Binding of Isaac (the Akedah). Genesis 18:1-22:24.

Jacob's Vision and Edom

Ginzberg Legends of the Jews 6:100

The Torah tells us of Jacob's famous dream, but the Legends of the Jews fills in fascinating details. It wasn't just any ladder, you see. It was a ladder connecting earth and heave...

HeavenHell/GehennaAngelsPatriarchs

Kingdom of Esther and Thou

Ginzberg Legends of the Jews 12:178

The Jewish tradition offers some pretty powerful ways to navigate those moments, drawing strength from the stories of our ancestors. Imagine Esther, poised to enter the court of Ki...

HeavenAngelsNoah & FloodPatriarchs

Trial of Haman

Ginzberg Legends of the Jews 12:229

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...

AngelsPatriarchsMosesEsther

Trial of Sarai

Midrash Rabbah Bereshit Rabbah 45:5

Our story centers on Sarai (later Sarah) and Abram (later Abraham), a couple facing the heartbreaking reality of childlessness. Sarai, in a desperate attempt to fulfill the divine ...

CreationAngelsAdam & EvePatriarchs

Tarmod and the Origins of the World

Midrash Rabbah Bereshit Rabbah 56:11

We know the story: God commands Abraham to sacrifice his beloved son. Abraham, after a terrible internal struggle, obeys. At the last moment, an angel intervenes, and a ram is sacr...

CreationAngelsPatriarchsDaniel

Joseph: Jacob and the Origins of the World

Midrash Rabbah Bereshit Rabbah 75:4

The text opens with a discussion about "messengers" (malakhim). Were they ordinary people, or something more? Some Rabbis suggest they were actual angels! It blurs the lines betwee...

CreationAngelsPatriarchsMatriarchs

Moses's Transgression and Calf

Midrash Rabbah Devarim Rabbah 3:11

It's a poignant moment, and the book of Devarim Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic teachings on the Book of Deuteronomy, sheds light on the depth of that experience. "You are crossin...

CreationHeavenAngelsPatriarchs

World to Come and Sarah

Midrash Aggadah Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer 30:3

The patriarch Abraham certainly did. Let's delve into a fascinating moment from Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer, specifically chapter 30, that reveals a complex domestic drama and divine gu...

Noah & FloodPatriarchsMatriarchsTorah

Keturah and the Patriarchs

Apocrypha Book of Jubilees 19:17

We all know Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca, Jacob and Esau. But there's so much more to these stories! The Book of Jubilees, for those unfamiliar, is an ancient Jewish text t...

PatriarchsMatriarchs