1,613 related texts · Page 17 of 34
Remember that feeling when someone tells you something so outrageous, so demonstrably false, that you almost don't want to dignify it with a response? But then you realize, silence...
Josephus ends his twenty-volume history of the Jewish people with a list, a boast, and a confession. The list is of every high priest from Aaron to the destruction of the Temple. T...
Baal HaSulam, in his profound "Introduction to Zohar," offers a breathtaking insight. He tells us that God’s satisfaction in bestowing goodness upon creation is directly tied to ou...
Even the most powerful beings in the heavenly realms experience a similar ebb and flow, at least according to the ancient text, Heikhalot (the heavenly palaces) Rabbati. This text,...
That even when things look bleak, when divine displeasure seems pointed our way, there are forces working on our behalf. But who are these celestial advocates? Heikhalot (the heave...
The ancient mystics certainly did. They saw the natural world, including the orchard, as a living tapestry woven with divine threads. Let's peel back a layer of that wisdom, focusi...
In Jewish mystical thought, specifically within the Kabbalah, there's a concept that perfectly captures that feeling: "Back-to-Back." It's a little technical, but stick with me. Th...
The Tikkun (spiritual repair)ei Zohar, a central text of Kabbalah, certainly sees the connection. It explores this idea in a powerful passage, linking the love between God and Isra...
The passage we're looking at speaks of an immediate response from the Divine – a granting of requests. But who is making these requests? And how are they being heard? The Tikkun (s...
Rabbi Elazar ben Azaryah taught that God split the Red Sea for the Israelites in the merit of their forefather Abraham. His proof comes from a sweeping passage in (Psalms 105:42-43...
When God told Moses to take the staff that had struck the Nile, the Mekhilta explains the reason: it was because of Israel's "murmurings." The people had been complaining, and now ...
There was a time, a very dark time, when God Himself considered doing just that. Imagine the scene: The Temple in Jerusalem lies in ruins. The people of Israel are in exile, weepin...
Who shall sojourn in Your holy mountain?" It’s a question that’s echoed through the ages, prompting deep reflection on what it means to be worthy of divine intimacy. The Talmud in ...
And they found a way to explore it through the beautiful, layered interpretations we call midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary). We're going to delve into a tiny but powerful ...
The ancient rabbis certainly did. And they found evidence of it woven throughout the stories of our ancestors. to a fascinating little gem from Midrash Tehillim (a collection of ra...
to one such moment, a poignant scene involving Hagar and her son Ishmael in the wilderness. We all remember the story: Hagar, cast out into the desert with her son, Ishmael, their ...
They burst into song! Remember the verse? "Then Moses and the children of Israel sang this song to the Lord..." (Exodus 15:1). Pure, unadulterated joy, expressed in music. But then...
We often think of them as a simple recap of the journey from Egypt, but the very first verse hints at something more. It begins by listing the places where Moses spoke to the Israe...
The ancient text of Sifrei Devarim wrestles with this very question, and its answer is surprisingly nuanced. We find ourselves in the book of Deuteronomy, or Devarim in Hebrew, spe...
That feeling isn't new. It's ancient. We find it echoed in the words of Sifrei Devarim, a text that dives deep into the book of Deuteronomy. In this passage, it's all about tithes ...
We all know the story: the great leader, having guided his people for forty years through the wilderness, gazes upon the Promised Land from Mount Nebo, and then…the Torah simply te...
Miriam and Aaron criticized Moses. The Hebrew Bible is vague about why. The Targum Jonathan fills in the backstory with a Cushite queen, a celibate prophet, and a divine rebuke tha...
A wealthy man grew so weary of his riches that he decided to give them away — but not to the poor. He wandered outside the city and found a beggar sitting in the dust, dressed in r...
"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 attenti...
Jewish tradition, particularly in esoteric texts, grapples with this very question. Imagine a cosmic courtroom, a beth din, in the time to come. God, seated on His Throne of Justic...
It’s a story of sin, substitution, and…redemption. Originally, get this, the b’chorim—the firstborn sons—held a special spiritual role. They were designated to perform sacred servi...
It's almost like a cosmic nudge, inviting us to dig a little deeper. Take, for example, the juxtaposition of the laws concerning lepers right before the section detailing the dutie...
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...
It’s a question that's been wrestled with for centuries, and it pops up in the most unexpected places in Jewish tradition. : Do we receive blessings because of our ancestors' good ...
Jewish tradition certainly sees echoes of the past in the present, especially when it comes to empires. In Bereshit Rabbah, a classic collection of rabbinic interpretations of the ...
It's never accidental. Jewish tradition teaches us that repetitions often hold profound significance, echoing through generations. Take Abraham, for example, our patriarch. We find...
His story, as told in Bereshit Rabbah (the great commentary on Genesis), is a masterclass in turning sorrow into joy, sowing in tears and reaping with songs. The verse says, "Jacob...
Our ancestors certainly did. And sometimes, just sometimes, they got one. Take Jacob, for instance. He's been through the wringer, hasn't he? Deception, exile, wrestling angels… yo...
It’s baked right into Jewish tradition. to a fascinating idea from Devarim Rabbah, a collection of homiletic interpretations of the Book of Deuteronomy. The very first verse of Deu...
Kohelet Rabbah, the rabbinic commentary on Ecclesiastes, wrestles with this very idea, focusing on the verse: "Anger is better than laughter, as with a cross countenance the heart ...
It all centers around the Hebrew word ve’eleh, meaning "these are." The Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary) opens with a question: What's so special about ve’eleh? The Rabbi...
In Shemot Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Book of Exodus, we find a fascinating exploration of this very idea. The verse "This is the matter [hadavar]" (Exo...
One perspective comes to us from Shemot Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Book of Exodus. In Shemot Rabbah 44, we find a powerful idea connected to the story ...
Take Noah’s blessing of his sons after the flood. It's a doozy. Specifically, let's zoom in on Japhet. Noah says, "God shall enlarge Japhet, and bid him to dwell in the house of Sh...
Our ancestor Abraham felt it too. The Torah tells us, in (Genesis 15:12): "About the time of the setting of the sun a trance fell upon Abraham; and lo, a great horror of darkness c...
One such moment comes to us in (Genesis 17:18). Abraham, after hearing God's promise of a son, Isaac, through Sarah, turns to God and says, "O may my son Ishmael live before thee!"...
And God remembered Noah (Gen. 8:1). May it please our master to teach us the benediction recited upon witnessing a rainbow. Thus did our masters teach us: Upon seeing a rainbow, on...
After these things the word of the Lord came unto Abram (Gen. 15:1). Scripture says elsewhere in reference to this verse: He layeth up sound wisdom for the righteous; He is a shiel...
And these are the generations of Isaac, Abraham’s son (Gen. 25:19). May it please our master to teach us why peace-offerings (sacrifices) were instituted?1There are three kinds of ...
And thou shalt make curtains of goats’ hair for a tent (Exod. 26:7). Scripture says elsewhere in allusion to this verse: I have loved you, saith the Lord, yet ye say: “Wherein hast...
And according to some mystical teachings, what we see here is just a reflection of something far grander: the rainbow of the Shekhinah (the Divine Presence). The Shekhinah, often t...
It’s easy to get caught up in the now, in what’s shiny and new. But what about the wisdom that comes from years of living, years of observing, years of learning? Ben Sira, that sag...
Ben Sira, also known as Ecclesiasticus, is a book of wisdom literature from around the 2nd century BCE – a time of huge cultural shifts and anxieties. It’s not part of the Hebrew B...
