1,879 related texts · 4 related myths · Page 3 of 40
R. Yishmael says: What is written at the beginning, viz. (Leviticus 25:1-3) "And the L–rd spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai, saying … then the land shall rest a Sabbath to the L–rd. Si...
"Vengeance shall be taken", the Torah declares this regarding a master who kills his bondservant. But what does "vengeance" mean in legal terms? The Mekhilta identifies it as death...
Rabbi Akiva specified that when the Torah requires the mued's owner to pay kofer, ransom, the amount is calculated based on the value of the ox owner, not the value of the victim. ...
It might sound audacious, but our tradition actually suggests there are times when the "lower court" – that's us, down here – and the Holy One, blessed be He, are in a bit of a… di...
Think about it: a well-aimed, honest rebuke can clear the air, address grievances, and ultimately lead to reconciliation. Our tradition teaches that rebuke, when delivered with the...
Ten decrees were decreed upon Adam, ten upon Eve, ten upon the serpent, and ten upon the earth: Ten upon man: He was clothed in garments of splendor, but God stripped them from him...
The Assembly of Israel in exile cries out: "See, O Lord, the distress I am in! My heart is in anguish; outside the sword deals death; inside, the plague" (Lamentations 1:20). There...
"Listen to Me, O Jacob, Israel, whom I have called: I am He, I am the first, and I am the last as well" (Isaiah 48:12). God speaks with the full weight of eternity, before everythi...
At Shushan's gate, even the Torah appeared to mourn. Targum Sheni on (Esther 4:1) says the holy ark was brought out, the book of the Law was taken from it, and sackcloth and ashes ...
The story of Reuben, Jacob's firstborn, is a powerful illustration of just that – a tale of lost potential, impulsive actions, and the consequences that ripple through generations....
What does it really mean? Kohelet Rabbah, a rabbinic commentary on Ecclesiastes, dives right in. It suggests that "the rebuke of a wise man" refers to those who deliver homilies – ...
Another interpretation: "See I" (Deuteronomy 11:26). I who have chosen goodness, see how different I am from the whole world, such that the creatures should not say, "When Moshe ca...
Rabbi Simlai made one of the most ambitious claims in the entire Talmud. He said: 613 commandments were given to Moses at Sinai, 365 prohibitions corresponding to the days of the s...
King Solomon stood before God and prayed at the dedication of the Temple. "Master of the Universe," he said, "let everything else be set aside and focus on my prayer and supplicati...
“The Lord is righteous, for I have defied His word. Hear now all you peoples, and see my pain: My young women and young men have gone into captivity” (Lamentations 1:18).“The Lord ...
“Why do You forget us forever, forsake us for so long?” (Lamentations 5:20).“Why do You forget us forever?” Rabbi Yehoshua bar Avin said: Jeremiah employed four expressions: Spurni...
“Esther said, to respond to Mordekhai” (Esther 4:15). She said to him: “Go, assemble all the Jews who are present in Shushan, and fast on my behalf; do not eat and do not drink for...
Today's story from Midrash Tehillim, a collection of rabbinic interpretations of the Book of Psalms, is all about how seemingly small acts of courage and confession can have enormo...
The story of Isaac and Esau, as told in the Book of Jubilees, definitely gives you that vibe. We pick up the story with Isaac, son of Abraham, having just returned from Beersheba, ...
The ancient text of the Book of Jubilees, a fascinating work expanding on the narratives of Genesis, gives us a poignant example. We find ourselves in the midst of the story of Jac...
This guy, he was living a life of devotion, even in exile in Nineveh. And as we pick up the story in the Book of Tobit, chapter two, things are about to get… well, complicated. It’...
Book of Jasher turns to Covenant of Isaac of Abraham. The Book of Jasher, a non-canonical Jewish text mentioned in the Bible itself (Joshua 10:13 and (2 Samuel 1:1)8), gives us som...
Jewish tradition sees that rainbow, the bow in the cloud, as a very specific promise. A promise from God. The Torah tells us that after the great flood, God set His bow – the rainb...
They have stories too, tales of redemption, bravery, and unexpected turns of fate. Take Judah, for example. The familiar version gives us he sold his brother Joseph into slavery. B...
The story of the Israelites and the serpents in the wilderness offers us a powerful glimpse. You remember the story. After complaining yet again about their circumstances, God send...
So, Balaam, the non-Jewish prophet hired by Balak, king of Moab, to curse the Israelites, is ready to get down to business. Balak and his princes are all waiting, anticipation thic...
Legends of the Jews turns to Moses Begs God to Remember the Burning Bush. The familiar story is this: Moses, the reluctant prophet, the stuttering leader, the man who faced down Ph...
Remember how Moses desperately wanted to lead the Israelites into the Promised Land? We've talked about that burning desire before. But Samael (the angel of death), that ever-prese...
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...
Did they just. fade away? Well, let's Phinehas, remember him? The zealous grandson of Aaron who, in Numbers 25, took decisive action to stop a plague and was rewarded with a covena...
The ancient Israelites knew that feeling all too well. The scene: the Ark of the Covenant, the most sacred object in their possession, finally brought into their land. You’d expect...
It wasn’t just the exile, the loss of Jerusalem, the absence of the Temple. It was the constant, almost taunting reminders of what they had lost. One of the most painful of these, ...
Heikhalot Rabbati turns to A Voice in Aramaic Speaks of Destruction and Exile. The passage paints a bleak picture, doesn't it? "When I went down from before him," the text begins, ...
Jewish mysticism understands that feeling. It’s baked right into the cosmic process of repair. We’ve talked before about the Sefirot, the ten emanations of divine energy that struc...
It all revolves around the letter Vav (ו). Yes, that simple, straight line that's also a Hebrew letter with a numerical value of six. The verse reads, "During the intermediate bles...
In the Tikkunei (spiritual repair) Zohar, a companion work to the Zohar, that foundational text of Kabbalah, we find an intriguing connection between the maror – that bitter herb w...
The Tikkunei (spiritual repair) Zohar, that mystical, poetic expansion of the Zohar, paints a picture of just that scene, a constant stream of souls seeking entry, seeking voice. I...
It all revolves around the story of Jonah. We know the story: he runs from God, gets swallowed by a whale (or a giant fish, depending on the version), and eventually repents and fu...
It happened to King David himself, involving none other than the Ark of the Covenant. We find ourselves in Bamidbar (Numbers 7:9), where the Torah is describing the gifts given to ...
It turns out, this isn't just good manners – it might be ancient wisdom! The Sifrei Devarim, a collection of early Jewish legal interpretations on the Book of Deuteronomy, teaches ...
Sifrei Devarim turns to Vows Offerings and What Cannot Be Re-Vowed. Next, the text explores what can and can't be brought "into the house of the L-rd your G-d." The phrase excludes...
Sifrei Devarim turns to Yeshurun Grew Fat and Kicked Against God's Blessings. Is that abundance always a blessing? The text doesn't seem so sure. It goes on to quote (Deuteronomy 3...
It all starts with the verse: "And this is the blessing..." What does that seemingly simple phrase actually mean? The text offers a couple of intriguing interpretations. The first ...
The Targum's version of (Numbers 23) reveals Bileam's inner strategy. When he looked at Israel, "he knew that strange worship was among them, and rejoiced in his heart." He spotted...
Rebuke not the wicked lest you make an enemy. Having thus spent all his money he went to another town. There a man asked a scribe to write a petition, offer- ding a small coin. The...
When God gave the Ten Commandments at Mount Sinai, the sages taught that He did not speak them into a void. Each commandment was connected to the covenant God had already made with...
The procedure for a capital trial under the Sanhedrin, as preserved in the Mishnah (Sanhedrin 6) and carried forward in the 1901 anthology Hebraic Literature, sounds less like an e...
Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on (Genesis 9:16) sharpens the promise one more time. The bow shall be in the cloud, and I will look upon it, to remember the everlasting covenant between th...
