316 related texts · 8 related myths · Page 2 of 7
Jewish mysticism, especially in the Tikkunei (spiritual repair) Zohar, actually has a really beautiful way of understanding that feeling, especially in connection to Yom Kippur, th...
It’s a theme woven deep into our sacred texts. And one place where this connection is powerfully articulated is in the Book of Jubilees. Jubilees, a text not included in the canoni...
The Letter of Aristeas, a fascinating document from the Hellenistic period, gives us a peek behind the scenes of the Second Temple. It details not just the grandeur, but also the p...
It's actually a fascinating glimpse into the political and religious realities of the time. to a passage from the Book of Maccabees I, chapter 10, where we hear about a royal decre...
Legends of the Jews turns to The Ram at the Binding Was Created at the Dawn of Time. The answers, according to Jewish tradition, are, well, The story of the akeidah, the Binding of...
It turns out, even the number of curtains held a profound significance. eleven curtains made of goats' hair. Why eleven? Well, according to tradition, it mirrors the eleven heavens...
We all remember his story. The guy who challenged Moses’ leadership, leading a revolt that ended with the earth swallowing him and his followers whole (Numbers 16). But what happen...
It wasn’t just bricks and mortar. It was a turning point, a cosmic shift that reverberated through the world. Ginzberg, in his Legends of the Jews, paints a vivid picture. Remember...
It wasn't just a snap decision, that's for sure. According to the Megillah, the Book of Esther, Haman was very particular in his wicked plans. He didn't just pick a date out of thi...
In 63 BCE, two brothers tore Judea apart. Hyrcanus and Aristobulus, both sons of the Hasmonean queen Alexandra, fought each other for the throne. Hyrcanus was the elder and the hig...
Zohar turns to The High Priest Enters The Holy Of Holies. Our focus? The High Priest, his heart pounding, preparing to enter the Kodesh HaKodashim, the Holy of Holies, the innermos...
A father teaching his son, guiding him to understand that Hakadosh Boruch Hu, the Holy One, Blessed be He, governs the world through His attributes, or middotav. These attributes, ...
In Tikkunei (spiritual repair) Zohar, a central text of Kabbalah, there's a whole cosmic drama unfolding, a divine fashion show if you will, that's absolutely essential to the proc...
David, contemplating his own mortality and the possibility of divine judgment, seems to be saying, "If my judgment comes on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, I can't bear it!" But,...
Our tradition has a lot to say about that, especially when it comes to prayer and redemption. to a powerful passage from Midrash Tehillim, a collection of rabbinic teachings on the...
King David knew that feeling, and he gave voice to it in the Psalms. Psalm 141, to be exact. It begins, "I call upon you, O Lord; make haste to me; give ear to my voice when I call...
Sometimes, the connection isn’t immediately obvious. Take, for instance, the verses about atonement and taking a census in the book of Exodus. What’s the link? The Pesikta DeRav Ka...
The story of Haman, the villain of the Purim story, is full of them. And according to the Yalkut Shimoni, a compilation of rabbinic commentary on the Bible, Haman's plot to annihil...
Our jumping-off point is a verse from Numbers (Bamidbar) 10:10: "And on the day of your rejoicing and on your appointed times you shall sound the trumpets." Seems straightforward. ...
Sifrei Bamidbar turns to The Israelites Wept Over Forbidden Relationships. The verse in Bamidbar (Numbers 11:10) states, "And Moses heard the people weeping by its families." Now, ...
Sifrei Devarim turns to Anything Can Become a Molech If It Rules Over You. R. Chanina b. Antignos, quoted in the Sifrei Devarim, offers a fascinating perspective. Why, he asks, is ...
Sifrei Devarim turns to Rules for Holy of Holies and Lesser Offerings. In section 71, we encounter a fascinating discussion about the rules surrounding offerings brought to the Tem...
Sometimes, seemingly simple words unlock entire worlds of understanding. Take the word "abomination," for example. What does it really mean in the context of our relationship with ...
There's some fascinating reasoning hidden in there. to a passage from Sifrei Devarim, a collection of legal interpretations on the Book of Deuteronomy, and see how the Rabbis of ol...
(7) (Fol. 16) MISHNAH (the earliest code of rabbinic law): At four periods in each year the world is judged; on Passover, in respect to the growth of grain; on Pentecost, in respec...
For seven days before Yom Kippur, the high priest lived as if rehearsing for a wedding he could not afford to fumble. Oxen, rams, and lambs were paraded past him one by one so that...
In the Temple of Jerusalem, the most fragrant service of the day was the burning of the ketoret, the compound incense of eleven spices that rose in a thin column from the golden al...
The Temple had been burned. Rabbi Joshua walked through the ashes of Jerusalem and said aloud, to no one in particular, “Woe to us. The place where Israel atoned for its sins...
When Isaac draws Jacob close and breathes him in, the Targum Pseudo-Jonathan tells us what the patriarch actually smells. It is not the field. It is not the goats. It is the incens...
If the anointing oil was for people and vessels, the incense was for the air itself. Targum Pseudo-Jonathan preserves the command to Moses: take spices, balsam, onycha, galbanum. A...
The incense was not simply mixed. It was beaten. Targum Pseudo-Jonathan records the instruction: after the spices were compounded, Moses was to beat them small, ground fine. And so...
Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on (Exodus 40:5) refuses to let a single detail of the sanctuary pass without meaning. The golden altar of incense is to be placed before the ark of the test...
It’s a tale of ambition, delusion, and a very dangerous offering. The scene is set: Moses, leading the Israelites. And then comes Koraḥ, a Levite, challenging Moses’s leadership, s...
Bereshit Rabbah turns to God's Covenant with Abraham Under the Stars. The verse in question is (Genesis 15:8): “He said: My Lord God, how can I know that I will inherit it?” It’s a...
The Rabbis saw so much more. This verse in Devarim, Deuteronomy, becomes a springboard for exploring some fascinating corners of Jewish law, or halakha. Specifically, the question ...
It all starts with the verse, "May your garments be white at all times, and may the oil on your head not be lacking" (Ecclesiastes 9:8). What does that even mean? Is it literally a...
That feeling, that struggle, is something deeply human, and surprisingly, it echoes in the story of the Mishkan, the Tabernacle. Shemot Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretat...
Shir HaShirim Rabbah turns to The Secret Incense Recipe of the House of Avtinas. Specifically, the incense prepared by the House of Avtinas. In Shir HaShirim Rabbah, this priestly ...
It turns out, the ancient rabbis thought about this a lot, especially when it came to the relationship between humanity and God.” In Shir HaShirim Rabbah 6, a midrashic (rabbinic i...
Consider the instructions for bringing a minchah, a meal offering, found in Leviticus. It might seem like a simple act, but the Rabbis find layers of meaning and insight within it....
Like someone's pointing out all your flaws, comparing you to others, and generally making you feel. unworthy? Well, according to some ancient Jewish texts, even the Israelites face...
And thou shalt make an altar to burn incense (Exod. 30:1). What do the letters in the word ketoret (“incense”) stand for? The kuf stands for kedushah (“sanctification”), tet for ta...
The Targum's version of (Numbers 35) contains one of the most radical theological claims in all of ancient Jewish literature. It explains why a manslayer confined to a city of refu...
R. Acha says: The Holy One Blessed be He said: If not for your outcry, I would have destroyed them for the idolatry in their midst, viz. (Zechariah 10:11) "And tzarah crossed the s...
The Mekhilta interprets the verse "There He made for them statute and judgment" by asking what these two terms, statute and judgment, actually refer to. The first opinion identifie...
Rabbi Elazar Hamodai offers a striking interpretation of the word "statutes" as it appears in the Torah's legislation. Where one might expect this term to refer to ritual laws or c...
Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai reads the second commandment, "There shall not be unto you any other gods before My presence," as the conclusion of a divine dialogue that began long before...
Rebbi (Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi) offers a dramatically different reading of the three marital obligations listed in (Exodus 21:10). Where Rabbi Yoshiyah identified "she'eirah" as food ...
