316 related texts · 8 related myths · Page 1 of 7
Two words haunted ancient Israel: shedim (demons) and se'irim. The Israelites were forbidden from sacrificing to either. They sacrificed anyway. The se'irim were the hairy ones, sa...
Torah turns to A Scapegoat For Azazel. What in the world was that about? This custom – sending a scapegoat into the desert as an offering to Azazel – it just screams of something o...
Because of (the following) four things R. Mattia b. Charash went to R. Elazar b. Hakappar in Ludia. He said to him: My master, did you hear of the four divisions of atonement expou...
The familiar version gives us it's a time of intense reflection, fasting, and prayer. But according to Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer, a fascinating early medieval text, there's a cosmic d...
Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement). The holiest day. The most dangerous ritual in the entire Torah. And the Targum Jonathan adds details that turn Leviticus 16 into a thriller. Firs...
Bereshit Rabbah turns to Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur in Jacob's Psalm. It's a treasure trove of wisdom. So, how does this verse tie into these High Holy Days? Well, the Midrash ex...
That feeling is something our ancestors grappled with intensely after the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem. And in Shir HaShirim Rabbah, the ancient commentary on Song of Son...
It's one that the ancient rabbis understood deeply. They wrestled with these feelings in their interpretations of scripture, offering us a timeless roadmap for finding strength eve...
See, (Leviticus 16:23) tells us that Aaron, the High Priest, would enter the Tent of Meeting – the Ohel Mo'ed – and remove the linen vestments he wore when he entered the Sanctum –...
A man who had mastered Scripture, studied the Mishnah, and served many scholars dropped dead in the middle of his life. His widow seized his tefillin (leather phylacteries worn dur...
The story goes that the generation before the Great Flood, the one Noah survived, learned their wicked ways from none other than Azazel. He wasn't just teaching people to be naught...
“How has gold tarnished, the fine gold changed? The sacred stones are spilled at the head of every street” (Lamentations 4:1).“How has gold tarnished [yuam]?” Rabbi Shmuel said: Ho...
The name of a supernatural being mentioned in connection with the ritual of the Day of Atonement (Lev. xvi.). After Satan, for whom he was in some degree a preparation, Azazel enjo...
We've heard tales of Watchers, haven't we? The ones who dared to defy the divine. One such story revolves around Shemhazai. He, along with others, rebelled and descended to Earth. ...
Once a year, only once, Aaron approached the golden incense altar with a different purpose. Targum Pseudo-Jonathan preserves the command that on the Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur, t...
Sometimes, the stories behind them are even more incredible than the rituals themselves. Let's The Legends of the Jews tells us that Abraham’s circumcision wasn't just a personal a...
They stood at Sinai, heard the very voice of God thundering the Ten Commandments, including the absolute prohibition against idolatry… and then, a mere forty days later, they're pa...
Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer turns to Day of Atonement of Kippur. How do we get there? Well, Rabban Gamaliel points to the verse in (Genesis 17:26): "In the selfsame day was Abraham circ...
And thou shalt make an altar to burn incense upon (Exod. 30:1). Scripture states elsewhere in allusion to this verse: Ointment and perfume rejoice the heart (Prov. 27:9). This vers...
It’s the word zot – "this." Sounds simple. But in the mystical tradition, particularly within the Tikkunei (spiritual repair) Zohar, the zot is anything but simple. It's a doorway....
The Sages once captured the yetzer hara (יצר הרע), the evil inclination itself. According to Yoma 69b, they prayed for three days, and it was delivered into their hands. A fiery li...
The Torah tells us, "Jacob called to his sons, and he said: Gather, and I will tell you what will befall you at the end of days. Assemble and hear, sons of Jacob, and listen to Isr...
It's a reminder that divinity can work through anything. Kohelet Rabbah, a fascinating collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Book of Ecclesiastes, puts it this way: "The ad...
The story I want to share with you comes from the Talmud and it’s about Rabbi Ishmael ben Elisha, the High Priest, and a truly extraordinary encounter. Rabbi Ishmael goes into the ...
The people of Hebron certainly did, right before Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. It's the eve of the holiest day of the year, a time for communal prayer and reflection. But Hebro...
I'm talking about Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. The sages tell us Yom Kippur is so vital that even in the messianic future, when all other holidays fade away, this one will rem...
It’s a feeling woven deep into the fabric of Jewish mystical thought. to a fascinating passage from the Tikkunei (spiritual repair) Zohar, specifically Tikkun 43, where we find thi...
Jewish tradition has a name for that feeling: the beinonim, the "average ones." And let me tell you, their fate is a cliffhanger worthy of any thriller! The Tikkunei (spiritual rep...
Leviticus 23 lists every festival on the Jewish calendar. The Targum Jonathan transforms it from a schedule into an instruction manual, adding measurements, procedures, and theolog...
(11) R. Kruspedai said in the name of R. Jochanan: "Three books are opened on New Year's Day: one for the grossly wicked, one for the perfectly righteous, and one for the intermedi...
(17) R. Jochanan said: "Repentance, is a great thing, for it tears (cancels) the [evil] decree against man; as it is said (Isa. 6, 10) Obdurate will remain the heart of this people...
(18) R. Samuel b. lnya said in the name of Rab: "Whence do we know that a decree against a community is not confirmed." Is that true? Behold, it is written (Jer. 2, 22) The stain o...
The month of Elul, in Jewish tradition, is the month of return. The shofar is blown every morning in synagogues around the world, and propitiatory prayers, selichot, are recited tw...
Elijah the Tishbite once appeared to Rav Yehudah, brother of Rav Salla the Holy, and the prophet asked him a question that could only come from a man who walked between worlds: &ld...
The golden incense altar stood just outside the veil, not inside the Holy of Holies, but as close to it as any vessel of daily service could come. Targum Pseudo-Jonathan places the...
The prophet Isaiah offers a powerful message of hope in such moments: "Let the wicked forsake his way and the man of iniquity his thoughts" (Isaiah 55:7). But what does that actual...
What allowed him, a human, to step into the most sacred space? Shemot Rabbah, a treasure trove of biblical interpretations, explores this very question. "This is the matter," it sa...
Ever catch a whiff of something amazing and wonder, "What is that?" Our senses are powerful doorways to memory and meaning. And in ancient Jewish tradition, few things were as powe...
What would you bring with you? What could possibly prepare you for such an encounter? Well, Rabbi Yudan, in Vayikra Rabbah 21, offers a fascinating perspective. He interprets the v...
YHVH. The Zohar tells us that in the very beginning, God revealed this holy Name within the empty space created by His own self-contraction. Then, He radiated the first emanation, ...
The longest and most carefully guarded section of Sefer Raziel HaMalakh catalogs the divine names, the Shemot (שמות), the names of God through which creation was brought into being...
Vayikra Rabbah, specifically chapter 20, dives right into this difficult territory. It starts with a quote from Proverbs (17:26): “To punish also the righteous is not good." It's a...
Take the story of Aaron’s sons, Nadav and Avihu. Their sudden, tragic deaths after offering "alien fire" before the Lord (Leviticus 10:1-2) is one of the most jarring moments in th...
(Exodus 19:22) "And also the Cohanim, who draw near to the L–rd": We are hereby apprised that the Cohanim are not included in "the people" (above, 21). And thus is it written (Levi...
(Ibid. 20:8) "Remember the Sabbath day to sanctify it": "Remember" and "Keep" (the Sabbath day to sanctify it [Devarim 5:12]) were both stated in one pronouncement. (Exodus 31:14) ...
“It was due to the sins of her prophets, the iniquities of her priests, who shed the blood of the righteous in her midst” (Lamentations 4:13).“It was due to the sins of her prophet...
There was a goat that carried the sins of an entire nation into the wilderness and was never seen again. Every year on Yom Kippur, the tenth day of the seventh month, the Israelite...
The story of Og, King of Bashan, from Legends of the Jews, is a wild ride that explores just that! The Israelites, fresh from their victory against Sihon (a battle that, by the way...
