769 related texts · 24 related myths · Page 2 of 17
Four "harnessed" with joy: Abraham, (Genesis 22:3) "And Abraham rose early in the morning (for the binding of Isaac), and he saddled his ass." Now did he not have many servants?, (...
Three men climbed to the top of the hill before the battle against Amalek: Moses, Aaron, and Chur (Exodus 17:10). The Mekhilta explains that their ascent was not a military decisio...
Take Balaam, for example. He's one of those figures in Jewish tradition that just… fascinates. We find him in the Book of Numbers, a non-Israelite prophet hired to curse the Israel...
It turns out, this struggle isn't just a modern dilemma. Ancient Jewish texts confront this very tension: How much control do we really have over our choices, and how much does God...
That’s Balaam for you. He was on a mission, a dark one, and his poor donkey was having none of it. He’d been hired to curse the Israelites (Numbers 22), and he was determined to ge...
He's hired by Balak, a Moabite king, to curse the Israelites. Balak is terrified of them, seeing them as a threat. Balaam, knowing he can't really curse them if God doesn't allow i...
Things don't exactly go as planned, and that’s where the real story begins. The scene: Balak, the king of Moab, terrified by the approaching Israelite nation, has summoned Balaam, ...
It's a tale from the time of the Judges, found in Ginzberg's Legends of the Jews, drawn from various Midrashic (rabbinic interpretive commentary) sources. The story centers around ...
It's a story of justice, regret, and ultimately, a final act of redemption for Moses. Remember Balaam, the non-Jewish prophet hired to curse Israel, who instead ended up blessing t...
Our story today takes us into the realm of magic, betrayal, and a desperate attempt to outrun destiny. It’s a wild ride, so buckle up. We know him from the Torah, where he’s hired ...
The story begins with Balak, king of Moab, terrified of the Israelite nation that's camped right next door. As (Numbers 22:5) tells us, he sends messengers to Bilam (also spelled B...
The scene opens with Balak, the king of Moab, terrified by the Israelites. He’s hired Bilam, a non-Jewish prophet known for the power of his blessings and curses, to, well, curse I...
With his departure drawing near, Enoch delivered a series of blessings and curses, a final reckoning, sharp as a blade, that laid bare the difference between the righteous and the ...
Can you feel their anticipation, their weariness, their unwavering faith? They arrive at Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal, twin peaks that would become the stage for a powerful ritual....
Legends of the Jews turns to The Talking Donkey That Outwitted the Ox. A weary ox, back in his stall after a long day of plowing. His friend, the ass, saunters over with what he th...
In chapter 9, we find a surprisingly vivid image comparing rivers to the people of Israel. rivers, in their natural course, are a blessing. As the text says, "All rivers flowing on...
The Sifrei Devarim, a collection of early rabbinic legal commentaries on the Book of Deuteronomy, certainly seems to think so. It explores this very idea through the seemingly simp...
These are the kinds of questions that ripple through the ancient text of Sifrei Devarim, a portion of Jewish legal and ethical thought that explores the book of Deuteronomy. An ash...
One of the stranger teachings in the later Kabbalah concerns gilgul, the transmigration of souls. The Nishmat Chaim of Rabbi Menashe ben Israel, published in Amsterdam in 1651, pre...
Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, the second-century sage to whom tradition attributes the core of the Zohar, once sent his son to the study house so that the scholars might bless him. What...
The story of the Israelites and their encounter with the daughters of Moab is a stark reminder. It's a tale of temptation, idolatry, and the devastating consequences of losing sigh...
The Torah is full of promises, both of blessings and of curses. And sometimes, it seems like things don't quite line up. In Bamidbar Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic teachings on t...
It all starts with Jacob, also known as Israel, nearing the end of his life in Egypt. Asenath, Joseph's wife, notices Jacob's declining health. Knowing the power of a righteous man...
The verse tells us, "God's wrath was enflamed because he was going, and the angel of the Lord stood on the way as an impediment to him, and he was riding on his donkey, and his two...
Chapter 64 of the Book of Jasher throws us right into one of those cycles. Balaam, son of Beor – yes, that Balaam, the one with the talking donkey! – is hanging out with Angeas dur...
Jewish mysticism often explores this very idea, the hiddenness of God, the hiddenness of ourselves. And sometimes, that hiddenness is tied to moments of judgment, moments when thin...
The story of Bilam gives us a fascinating glimpse. We find ourselves in the Book of Numbers, Bamidbar in Hebrew. The Israelites are on the move, and their growing presence is makin...
The Hebrew Bible says Balaam saw "a star shall come from Jacob, and a scepter shall arise from Israel" (Numbers 24:17). Targum Onkelos renders this as: "A king has gone forth from ...
Jewish tradition has a name for that: the ayin hara, the evil eye. And according to some fascinating stories, the ancient Israelites were particularly vulnerable to it at pivotal m...
It’s a theme that echoes through so many stories, and it's definitely front and center in the tale of Balaam. Balaam wasn't just some random guy. He was a powerful sorcerer, and he...
The story, as always, is far more complex than it seems. Balaam, unlike some of the other characters we encounter in the Hebrew Bible, doesn't give up easily. After initially being...
The Torah is full of blessings, but it's not always straightforward. Some blessings are more potent than others, some are given grudgingly, and some come with unexpected consequenc...
Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer turns to Phineas Takes Justice Into His Own Hands Before Moses. All the princes were with Moses, Eleazar, and Phineas, and together they witnessed this terri...
The story of Bilam, found in the Book of Numbers, is one wild ride. But the real juicy stuff? It's in the Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary), specifically Bamidbar Rabbah, ...
A powerful promise from God to Abraham: "I will bless those who bless you, and one who curses you, I will curse, and all the families of the earth shall be blessed in you" (Genesis...
Vayikra Rabbah turns to Twenty-Four Curses Descend When You Ignore Tzedakah. In Rabbi Simon, in the name of Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi, in Vayikra Rabbah 34, we can't afford to take l...
What would you say? Would you offer blessings, warnings, or maybe even a bit of both? That's what happened with Jacob, also known as Israel, as he lay dying in Egypt, surrounded by...
A collection of rabbinic homilies on the Book of Genesis, this wasn't just a symbolic statement. The text paints a dramatic picture: When God, blessed be He, declared this curse, m...
It seems so natural, so ingrained in Jewish practice, that we might not even stop to ask why. But the Rabbis of old, they were always asking. They wanted to know the source, the re...
In Vayikra Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic homilies on the Book of Leviticus, we find a powerful exploration of peace. Rabbi Shimon ben Yoḥai declares that "Great is peace, as all...
Rabbi Levi said: Accursed are the wicked who are engaged in evil counsel against Israel, and each one of them counsels in his way and says: ‘My counsel is better than your counsel....
Balaam could not curse Israel. So he taught their enemies how to make Israel curse itself. Before leaving, the prophet gave Balak and the Midianite princes a final piece of advice:...
The Mekhilta observes that the nations surrounding Israel relied on one consistent tool to guide their decisions: divination. The evidence runs through multiple books of the Torah ...
"And Jacob called unto his sons" (Genesis 49:1). The Torah records the great final blessing, all twelve sons gathered around the dying patriarch, each receiving something tailored ...
Jews have always taken dreams seriously. The Talmud devotes pages to their meaning. But not every dream comes with an interpretation, and not every dreamer has a Joseph nearby to d...
Judah, fourth son of Jacob and Leah, gathered his sons and told them everything. His mother had named him Judah, saying, "I give thanks to the Lord, because He has given me a fourt...
Moses stretched forth his hand over the sea, and the Torah says "the sea returned towards morning to its eithano" (Exodus 14:27). That final word, eithano, becomes the subject of a...
When a lion roars, every animal in the forest freezes. Even the ones who have never been hunted. Even the ones too far away to be prey. The sound itself is the message: there is so...
