683 related texts · Page 11 of 15
According to Ginzberg's retelling in Legends of the Jews, it all started 130 years after the Israelites went down to Egypt. Pharaoh, in his dream, saw an old man standing before hi...
To his right sits Queen Alfar'anit, and to his left, his daughter Bithiah. But it's not just family; Balaam, yes that Balaam, son of Beor, the one known for his… unique prophetic a...
That’s essentially the choice presented to MOSES in this powerful moment we find in Ginzberg's Legends of the Jews. God speaks to Moses, commanding, "Put off thy shoes from off thy...
In the Book of Genesis, Jacob, nearing the end of his life, bestows blessings upon his sons, the founders of the twelve tribes of Israel. When he blesses Dan, he likens him to Juda...
The idea is that God wouldn't want anyone to be able to say, "Hey, you kept yourself hidden from us!" later on. So, what did God do? According to some interpretations, God gave eve...
It wasn't always a simple, smooth affair, as we learn in the fascinating accounts woven into the tapestry of Jewish legend. Imagine the scene: Moses, nearing the end of his life, i...
Let’s talk about Ruth, the Moabite woman whose story is woven into the very fabric of Judaism. Ruth, as we know, found herself in a tough spot, widowed and far from her homeland. S...
Their story, a testament to love, loyalty, and unexpected blessings, unfolds against a backdrop of moral decay, as Ginzberg tells us in Legends of the Jews. The times, they weren't...
The story of Deborah unfolds not long after the time of Ruth, another woman held up as an ideal. The Book of Judges tells us that after the death of Ehud, a judge who delivered Isr...
We’re going to delve into a story where a moment of perceived justice sets in motion a chain of events leading to... Rome. Yes, that Rome. Our tale revolves around King Solomon, th...
Jehoiada was quite the figure – the son of Benaiah, who served as commander-in-chief of the army under Solomon. Talk about living history! King Joash, guided by Jehoiada, diligentl...
Here, we learn about the not-so-neighborly behavior of the Ammonites, Moabites, Edomites, and Arabs toward the Israelites. While the Bariites—known for their compassion—didn't have...
The story of Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah—better known by their Babylonian names Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego—gives us a glimpse. We find this tale tucked away in Ginzberg's L...
Around the time of Ezra, a pivotal figure in Jewish history, Babylon, that mighty, ancient city, suffered a devastating blow. The Persians swept through, leaving only a small, impe...
It turns out, some pretty incredible stories lie behind even the most familiar phrases. Let's talk about the Shmoneh Esrei (שמֹנֶה עֶשְׂרֵי), the Eighteen Benedictions, also known ...
The angel struck first. That detail matters. At the river Jabboc, in the dead of night, with Jacob alone and his entire family already across the water, a divine being appeared and...
Jacob lived seventeen years in Egypt after reuniting with the son he had mourned as dead. Seventeen years of peace, of proximity to Joseph, of watching his family flourish in the l...
What happens when even the Divine weeps? What happens when home is lost, not just for us, but for God, too? We often think of God as unchanging, eternal, beyond our human messiness...
That’s the scene we’re stepping into today, a scene that plays out once a year, on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. Our focus? The High Priest, his heart pounding, preparing to en...
This one comes to us from a letter written in the fall of 1665 by Nathan of Gaza, the prophet of Shabbat (the Sabbath)ai Zevi, a figure who stirred up messianic fervor like few oth...
In Mitpachat Sefarim, a collection of Jewish writings whose name literally means "wrapping of books," we find a raw, unflinching look at a generation seemingly gone astray. The aut...
More than just wasting food, Jewish tradition suggests there's something deeper at play. Something…cosmic. It’s a notion found in the mystical text Peri Etz Hadar, a fascinating ex...
And it's one that the ancient prayers, particularly those connected to seeking blessing and abundance, address head-on. : we ask for blessing, but we also ask for protection from t...
Our sages, may their memory be a blessing, had some pretty fascinating ideas about it. They taught us that the world as we know it exists for six thousand years, and then… well, th...
You’re not alone. Jewish tradition grapples with this very question – the apparent disconnect between God's initial intention for a world of goodness and the harsh reality we often...
It’s a question that's captivated mystics for centuries. And the ancient text, Kalach Pitchei Chokhmah (Wisdom), offers some truly breathtaking imagery. Imagine lights...but not ju...
It points out that throughout history, moments of perceived progress, of tikkun (repair) have often been limited in scope. They primarily benefited Israel, while the rest of the wo...
It tells us that what we perceive isn't always the full story of God's presence in the world. In the Kalach Pitchei Chokhmah, a mystical text whose title translates roughly to "The...
Jewish tradition grapples with this very idea, particularly when it comes to the nature of evil itself. Kalach Pitchei Chokhmah, a Kabbalistic text, offers a fascinating perspectiv...
Jewish mystical tradition, specifically Kabbalah, sees everything as a reflection of the divine, a map of the cosmos imprinted on our very being. And believe it or not, even the ha...
It all revolves around this idea of restoring the world to a state of perfect unity and holiness. The Kalach Pitchei Chokhmah, a key text in Kabbalistic thought, touches on this ve...
It's more than just words; it's a web of interconnected ideas, each hinting at deeper meanings. to a fascinating example from the Sefer HaBahir, one of the earliest and most import...
The Sefer HaBahir, one of the earliest and most enigmatic texts of Kabbalah, offers a startlingly beautiful answer. Rabbi Rahumai, a sage whose teachings are preserved within the B...
But according to the Tikkun (spiritual repair)ei Zohar, it holds the key to understanding exile, blessing, and ultimately, redemption. When the prophet saw Israel in exile, what ga...
The Tikkun (spiritual repair)ei Zohar, a profound mystical text that expands upon the Zohar itself, dives into this very feeling. a tiny, potent fragment of it, specifically Tikkun...
The Tikkun (spiritual repair)ei Zohar, a central text of Kabbalah, doesn't shy away from the darker corners of existence. And it links that very human experience of bitterness to n...
And one place where that code is explored with incredible depth is in the Tikkun (spiritual repair)ei Zohar, a companion volume to the foundational Zohar. to a passage from Tikkune...
"I have remained a stranger at Laban's" (Genesis 32:5). Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev reports his father's brilliant reading of Jacob's message to Esau. The Hebrew word garti (...
One of the most remarkable claims in rabbinic tradition is that the Israelites preserved their identity throughout centuries of Egyptian bondage by refusing to change their names. ...
The night of the tenth plague was unlike anything Egypt had ever witnessed. Every firstborn in the land — from the heir of Pharaoh sitting on his throne to the firstborn of the cap...
The Mekhilta, the halakhic midrash on Exodus from the 2nd century CE, examines one of the starkest either-or passages in the Prophets. Isaiah delivers God's ultimatum: "If you acqu...
The prophet Ezekiel delivered an oracle of terrifying certainty: "Behold, it has come; it has arrived, says the Lord God. This is the day of which I spoke" (Ezekiel 39:8). But when...
"and the children of Israel went out with a high hand": Scripture hereby apprises us that when the Egyptians were pursuing Israel, they vilified and execrated and cursed, while Isr...
Rabbi Meir takes the tradition further than either Rabbi Yossi or Rebbi. Even fetuses in their mothers' wombs, he declares, opened their mouths and chanted song before God at the R...
Variantly: "You inclined Your right hand": We are hereby apprised that He cast them to the dry land, and the dry land cast them to the sea, saying: If for only accepting the blood ...
R. Yossi says: It is written (Isaiah 45:19) "Not in secrecy did I speak, in a place of darkness, etc." In the very beginning, when I gave it, I did not give it in secret or in a da...
"And the voice of the shofar" (Exodus 19:19) — the Mekhilta declares that this is a propitious sign in all of Scripture. Wherever the shofar is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible, it si...
The Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael draws an illuminating comparison between the fear of parents and the observance of Shabbat (the Sabbath). The verse in (Leviticus 19:3) places them si...
