769 related texts · 24 related myths · Page 4 of 17
Jacob's deathbed blessings (Genesis 49) are among the most obscure passages in the Torah. Targum Onkelos does not merely translate them, he decodes them, turning cryptic poetry int...
The Hebrew Bible calls Moses "the man of God" (Deuteronomy 33:1). Targum Onkelos adds one word: "the prophet of God." Moses is not merely a man who belongs to God. He is a prophet,...
"Hear the word of the Lord, O house of Jacob" (Jeremiah 2:4). Not the word of Jeremiah. Not the word of the priesthood. The word of the Lord, direct, unmediated, demanding attentio...
When Boaz sent Ruth home in the early morning, he poured into her shawl "six measures of barley" (Ruth 3:15). The sages, reading closely, asked: can this really mean six grains, so...
The mother and brother gather around Rivekah on the morning she is to leave, and they speak a blessing that the Jewish people have been whispering over their daughters ever since. ...
The covenant that God first made with Abraham under the night sky is spoken again, this time to Isaac. The Targum Pseudo-Jonathan renders it with the same thunderous promise. "I wi...
The Targum Pseudo-Jonathan keeps the voice of the Holy One personal. "I am the God of Abraham thy father; fear not, for My Word is for thy help, and I will bless thee, and multiply...
The Targum Pseudo-Jonathan opens the scene of Rebekah's plan with a line the Hebrew does not speak. "Behold, this night those on high praise the Lord of the world, and the treasure...
Jacob blesses his sons with a breaking voice. "God the Almighty give you mercies before the man," he prays, "that he may release to you your other brother, and Benjamin" (Genesis 4...
Joseph ran Egypt. He managed granaries, read dreams, survived prison, and fed a continent through seven years of famine. He knew how things were supposed to be done. So when he wat...
Bamidbar Rabbah turns to The Sotah's Belly Distends as a Curse and an Oath. The passage centers around (Numbers 5:21), which describes the ritual the priest performs with a woman s...
A quote from (Numbers 22:2): "Balak son of Tzipor saw all that Israel had done to the Emorites." This sets the stage for a larger discussion about divine justice and fairness. "Bal...
The verse: "And thorns and thistles it will grow for you, and you shall eat the vegetation of the field." So, what exactly are these "thorns and thistles," or kotz and dardar in He...
God is often remembered as all-knowing, all-seeing, but the Rabbis in Bereshit Rabbah, a collection of early Jewish interpretations of Genesis, dare to imagine a divine experience ...
Take the tale of Isaac, Jacob, and Esau. The familiar version gives us the basics: Jacob deceives his father, Isaac, and steals Esau's blessing. But what happens after? What was Is...
That feeling is at the heart of our story today, a story about brothers, blessings, and a whole lot of bad blood. It all stems from that infamous scene: Jacob, aided by his mother ...
In the Torah, seemingly straightforward words often ripple with hidden depths, revealing layers of symbolism that speak to our history, our hopes, and our ultimate destiny. Take Ja...
In Bereshit Rabbah, a classic collection of rabbinic interpretations of Genesis, they dig deep into this verse, connecting it to the story of Samson, the legendary strongman from t...
It all goes back to Jacob's blessings to his sons on his deathbed, a scene fraught with emotion and anticipation. And within that scene, the blessing to Judah stands out, packed wi...
(Psalm 100:3) declares, "Know that the Lord is God." But it's the next part that really sparked their interest: "He made us, and we are His" (Psalm 100:3). Or is it? See, the Hebre...
Kohelet Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Book of Ecclesiastes, explores this very human experience, urging us to be mindful of our thoughts and words, especi...
Jeremiah wrote the Book of Lamentations as an alphabetical curse, each verse beginning with the next letter of the Hebrew alphabet, a devastation so systematic it marched from Alep...
“The Lord forsook His altar, cursed His Temple; He gave into the hand of the enemy the walls of its palaces. They raised their voice in the House of the Lord, like a day of festiva...
And he sent Judah before him (Gen. 46:28). May our master teach us: When is the blessing over the light offered at the expiration of the Sabbath? Thus do our masters teach us: The ...
(Numb. 22:20:) “Then God came unto Balaam at night.” This text is related (to Exod. 12:42), “That was for the Lord a night of vigil.” All miracles which were done for Israel and wh...
Legends of the Jews turns to Zepho Won with God's Help Then Kept Worshipping Idols. Despite God's help, Zepho, the king of Kittim – often associated with Cyprus and sometimes Rome ...
It’s a story filled with surprising alliances, desperate prayers, and… well, a healthy dose of mistaken identity. Zepho, a king with a problem. He’s about to go to war, and he want...
The sages teach us that God bestowed three gifts upon the world: wisdom, strength, and wealth. But these gifts, potent as they are, come with a caveat. If they originate from God, ...
(Exodus 23:19) prohibits: "You shall not cook a kid in its mother's milk." Rabbi Shimon asked why this prohibition is stated three times in the Torah, here, in (Exodus 34:26), and ...
Abraham lifts his eyes and sees a ram caught by its horns in a thicket. In Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on (Genesis 22:13), the Aramaic adds the detail that places this animal outside or...
The story, as it unfolds in the Book of Numbers, centers on Balak, king of Moab, who is terrified by the approaching Israelites. He hires Bilam, a non-Israelite prophet known for t...
(Numb. 22:4, cont. ) “Now Balak ben Zippor was king of Moab….” But was he not formerly a prince, as stated (in Josh. 13:21), “Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba, princes of Sihon?”10Ac...
(Numb. 23:11-14:) “And Balak said to Balaam, ‘What have you done to me; to curse….’ And Balaam answered and said, ‘Is it not that that which God places into my mouth….’ And Balak s...
(Numb. 23:21:) “No one has beheld falsehood in Jacob […].” Balaam said, “He does not pay attention to the transgressions in their hands, He only pays attention to their merit.” (Nu...
Rabbi Nachman of Breslov taught that the pursuit of honor is a spiritual trap, and the only escape is through silence in the face of humiliation. When a person chases honor, they n...
The essence of life comes from prayer. Rabbi Nachman of Breslov derives this from a single verse: "Prayer to the God of my life" (Psalms 42:9). Prayer is not merely an appeal to th...
When harsh decrees threaten the Jewish people, Rabbi Nachman of Breslov prescribes an unexpected remedy: dancing and clapping hands. The logic runs through a teaching about what co...
The true tzaddik (a righteous person), Rabbi Nachman of Breslov teaches, is the one who looks at every detail of creation and asks: why did God make it this way? Why does a lion ha...
Why travel to see a tzaddik (a righteous person) in person when you can read their teachings in a book? Rabbi Nachman of Breslov answered this question directly: there is an immeas...
Before Aaron was chosen for the priesthood, every member of Israel was eligible to serve as a priest. The entire nation stood on equal footing when it came to approaching God throu...
The rabbis asked a strange question: why did King Solomon compare Israel to a walnut? Not a cedar, not a vine, not wheat, a walnut. Rabbi Yehoshua of Sichnan, speaking in the name ...
The Roman emperor challenged Rabban Gamliel with a direct theological question: if your God is everywhere, why can He not be seen? According to Sanhedrin 39b, the conversation expo...
Israel in exile speaks like a child who has finally stopped lying. "Master of the Universe, at first I said 'I have not sinned,' and You brought suffering upon me. Now I say: I hav...
Isaiah says God is "calling from the east a bird of prey, a man of my counsel from a distant land" (Isaiah 46:11). The rabbis identified that bird of prey as Abraham. He came from ...
After two full years in prison, Pharaoh dreamed (Genesis 41:1). The midrash reads this through Psalm 73: "As an endless dream, the Lord despised their form." God does not reveal Hi...
Once Solomon had chained the demon king Ashmedai, he held him captive until the Temple was completed. When the work was done, the king grew curious. "What is your superiority over ...
The Torah says Elazar son of Aharon married a daughter of Putiel, and she bore Phinehas (Exodus 6:25). Who is this Putiel that the Torah mentions nowhere else? Targum Pseudo-Jonath...
Rabbi Pinhas said in the name of Rabbi Hoshaya: There were four hundred and eighty synagogues in Jerusalem before the destruction. The number came from a single verse, "filled with...
