1,164 related texts · Page 4 of 25
(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) ...
(Ibid.) "And Moses entered into the mist": This (his closeness to the L–rd) was a function of his humility, viz. (Numbers 12:3) "And the man Moses was extremely humble, etc." Scrip...
There's a story in the Torah, a rather unsettling one, about two brothers, Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, and it's been echoing through Jewish tradition for millennia. We find...
"Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary) Esfah": This midrash is based on the verse "Gather for me seventy men" (Numbers 11:16), explaining the names of those seventy individual...
Alphabet of Rabbi Akiva (Nusaḥ II) [according to the Krakow and Amsterdam printings] Said Rabbi Aqibha: these are the 22 letters with which the Torah was given to the tribes of Isr...
"These are the generations of Isaac, son of Abraham; Abraham begot Isaac" (Genesis 25:19). The verse says it twice, and the rabbis asked why. Their answer: to show that the gift gi...
“The adversary extended his hand over all her delights; for she saw the nations entering her Sanctuary, whom You had commanded that they should not enter Your assembly” (Lamentatio...
“The elders of the daughter of Zion sit on the ground, are silent. They have placed dust on their heads, have girded themselves with sackcloth. The virgins of Jerusalem have lowere...
Rabbi Yitzḥak began: “But you did not call Me, Jacob, for you wearied of Me, Israel” (Isaiah 43:22). Rabbi Yoḥanan understood it [the verse in (Isaiah 43:22)] from this, as it is w...
This book, considered apocryphal by some but deeply important to others, offers a unique perspective on familiar biblical stories. We're looking specifically at Chapter 27. Imagine...
The Genesis Apocryphon transforms Abraham from a terse biblical figure into a vivid first-person narrator. In the Aramaic retelling of Genesis 13, Abraham climbs to a high place af...
While the Israelites traveled through the wilderness, seven clouds of glory surrounded them on every side. One cloud went in front, one behind, two flanked them on each side, and o...
According to Ginzberg's compilation of Jewish legends, after Eve was created, God divided Paradise between her and Adam. Adam got the east and the north, along with all the male an...
We hear the basics, sure. But what about the parts left out, the little whispers of lore that fill in the gaps? Well, according to some traditions, Eve wasn't alone at the start. B...
One day, as Ginzberg tells us in Legends of the Jews, Abraham encountered an old woman. She was devoted to her idols, completely convinced they held power. Abraham, ever the truth-...
For many years, Abraham dwelled in Beer-sheba, and his primary occupation wasn't just tending flocks, but spreading the word, the dvar Hashem, of God. He wasn't content to keep his...
We all know the story of Jacob, later named Israel, and his brother Esau. Their relationship? Let’s call it “fraught.” But according to the Legends of the Jews, peace didn't last. ...
The Torah gives us a fascinating glimpse into this when Moses, the ultimate leader, faces the challenge of delegation. Imagine: The Israelites are in the desert, a vast multitude, ...
It's not just good manners; it's deeply rooted in our tradition. : before asking for something big, wouldn't you acknowledge the power and greatness of the one you're asking? That'...
It’s a question that has haunted mystics for centuries, and the Kabbalah, with its intricate maps of the divine, offers some truly mind-bending answers. Today, we’re diving into a ...
The Bahir, whose name means "Book of Illumination," doesn't give us straightforward answers. It presents a series of dialogues, riddles, and allegories that invite us to think, to ...
Some traditions point to a fascinating text called the Sefer Yetzirah, the "Book of Creation." We've already dipped our toes into this mystical work, and now we're going to delve a...
This isn't just any book. It's said to describe how God created the world using the Hebrew alphabet and numbers. Heavy stuff. Think of it as a kind of cosmic instruction manual. No...
And that’s where the Sefer Yetzirah, the "Book of Formation," comes in. It's a concise yet incredibly dense text, a cornerstone of Kabbalistic thought. We're going to be looking at...
The Tikkun (spiritual repair)ei Zohar, a central text of Kabbalah expanding on the Zohar, delves into just that – the hidden currents and intricate patterns that shape our reality....
The Tikkun (spiritual repair)ei Zohar, a collection of mystical interpretations of the Zohar, that foundational text of Kabbalah, offers a fascinating glimpse into how we can find ...
Sefer HaRazim (ספר הרזים), the Book of Mysteries, is a Jewish theurgic text dating to approximately the 3rd-4th century CE, making it one of the earliest structured works of Jewish...
R. Chanina b. Akiva says: "More beloved" was the seeing of our father Abraham than that of Moses. For Abraham was not caused to exert himself whereas Moses was. What is stated of A...
Before rings, before awkward toasts, before even human parents... what did that look like? Well, buckle up, because the story of Adam and Eve's wedding is more lavish and awe-inspi...
His nephew, Lot, has just departed, choosing a different path, and perhaps a more materially prosperous one. Abram might be feeling a little…lost. But then, something incredible ha...
The ancient text Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer, a fascinating work of aggadah (storytelling) and biblical interpretation, offers a compelling explanation. It speaks of four quarters of th...
They didn't have astrophysics, but they had something just as powerful: a rich tapestry of stories and observations. It paints a picture of the sun's path, not as a simple arc, but...
This fascinating work, often abbreviated as PDR El., is a collection of stories, legends, and interpretations of the Torah, all attributed to Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrcanus, a prominen...
Jewish tradition has an answer, a fascinating and somewhat unsettling one, and it involves the very corners of the earth. Imagine the world as a sort of cosmic compass. According t...
Our story today comes from Sifrei Bamidbar, a collection of legal interpretations on the Book of Numbers. We’re looking at Bamidbar (Numbers) 7:6: "And Moses took the wagons and th...
It's all about perspective, and how a seemingly simple place can hold layers upon layers of potential, depending on where you're standing. R. Shimon b. Yochai, a towering figure in...
Rabbi Simai begins with a seemingly simple observation: "My taking shall drip as the rain." It’s a phrase ripe with symbolism, and Rabbi Simai uses it to explore the relationship b...
JOSEPH B. JOḤANAN OF JERUSALEM SAID: LET YOUR HOUSE BE OPENED WIDE, AND LET THE POOR BE MEMBERS OF YOUR HOUSEHOLD; AND TALK NOT MUCH WITH A WOMAN.LET YOUR HOUSE BE OPENED WIDE. Wha...
After Bar Kamtza's betrayal, the emperor sent Nero to conquer Jerusalem. According to Gittin 56a, Nero arrived and performed a series of divination tests. He shot arrows in every d...
"There are four corners in the earth. From the eastern corner, light comes into the world. From the southern corner, the dew of blessing comes into the world. From the western corn...
We’re talking about the primordial stuff, the ingredients God used when He, blessed be He, created everything. It’s a question that’s captivated mystics and philosophers for millen...
One fascinating interpretation comes from Bereshit Rabbah 21, a collection of rabbinic homilies on the Book of Genesis. It starts with a verse from Job: "Though his exaltedness asc...
Today, we're diving into a fascinating little debate from Bereshit Rabbah, a classic collection of rabbinic interpretations of the Book of Genesis. Specifically, we're looking at C...
We're looking at (Genesis 28:14), a blessing given to Jacob: "Your descendants will be as the dust of the earth, and you shall spread out to the west, and to the east, and to the n...
My dear friend, it all boils down to the core of our faith: the absolute and singular authority of God. Our sages, whose wisdom stretches back to Moses himself, taught us that the ...
And God spoke all these words (Exod. 20:1). He spoke them all simultaneously. He causes death and restores life at the same time; He wounds and He heals simultaneously; He answers ...
Following the pestilence, God instructs Moses and Elazar, the son of Aaron the priest, to take a census. A head count of the entire Israelite community, specifically those twenty y...
The act of counting, it seems, isn't always a simple matter of logistics. Sometimes it's infused with deeper meaning, both positive and, occasionally, fraught with danger. Let’s ta...
