1,613 related texts · Page 7 of 34
“Judah was exiled due to affliction and great enslavement. She settled among the nations, did not find rest; all her pursuers have overtaken her within the straits” (Lamentations 1...
“Jerusalem remembered in the days of her affliction and her wretchedness, all her delights that she had from the days of old; with the fall of her people into the hand of the adver...
“And did not remember His footstool [hadom raglav],” Rabbi Ḥanina bar Yitzḥak said: The Holy One blessed be He does not remember that blood [hadam] that was between the legs of the...
“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...
“Who had been exiled from Jerusalem with the exile that was exiled with Yekhonya king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylonia exiled” (Esther 2:6).“Who had been exiled from...
to a fascinating interpretation from the Midrash of Philo, a collection of interpretations attributed to the Jewish philosopher Philo of Alexandria. The passage in question revolve...
We often stumble upon verses that seem straightforward but hint at something profound, something beyond the literal. Take (Genesis 17:4), where God says to Abraham, "And I, behold,...
(Lev. 26:3:) “If you walk in My statutes….” This text is related (to Hos. 9:17), “My God will reject them because they did not heed Him….” The Holy One, blessed be He, said, “I hav...
(Lev. 26:3:) “If you walk in My statutes.” This text is related (to Prov. 1:20), “Wisdom shouts for joy in the street; in the squares she raises her voice.” R. Samuel bar Nahman qu...
to a beautiful, intimate moment from the Book of Jubilees, a text considered sacred by some, and a fascinating window into ancient Jewish thought for us all. We find ourselves with...
His story, preserved in the Book of Tobit, is a wild ride through exile, faith, and family. It's a reminder that even in the darkest times, sticking to your values can lead to unex...
Complaining about our lot in life seems almost… human. But what does Jewish tradition say about this very human tendency? The Legends of the Jews, that incredible compilation by Ra...
And the answer, as we find it in the story of Balaam and his talking donkey, might just surprise you. Now, we all know the story: Balak, king of Moab, terrified of the Israelites, ...
(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...
He was a righteous man, tested beyond measure. But how did tragedy initially strike his family? As we learn in Sifrei Devarim, it wasn't due to any inherent sinfulness on their par...
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...
"But Zion said, 'The Lord has forsaken me, the Lord has forgotten me'" (Isaiah 49:14). And God answers — not with proof of presence but with a reminder of what "remembering" actual...
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...
Everything has a purpose. And that purpose has a purpose of its own, each one higher than the last. Rabbi Nachman of Breslov uses this insight to explain why you must judge every p...
There exists a soul in every generation through whom Torah insights are revealed to the world. Rabbi Nachman of Breslov describes this soul as one burdened with suffering: "Bread w...
In Parashat Noach, Rebbe Elimelech of Lizhensk redefines what it means to be a righteous person. The Torah says Noah was "a righteous person, complete in his generations" (Genesis ...
Shimon b. Azzai says: What is the intent of "Veha'avarta"? From (Leviticus 27:32) "Whatever (beast) passes ('ya'avor') under the staff" (for tithing), I would think that an orphan,...
(Ibid. 4) "You shall not make for yourself an idol (lit., "a carving")": I might think that he may not make one that projects but he may make one that is flat. It is, therefore, wr...
The future Jerusalem will be built from precious stones so massive they defy imagination. According to Bava Batra 75a, God will take gems thirty cubits by thirty cubits, carve gate...
"Your right hand, O Lord, is majestic in power" (Exodus 15:6). The rabbis tracked the right hand of God through every book of scripture and found the same pattern everywhere: when ...
“The Lord accomplished what He devised: He implemented His statement that He commanded from the days of old; He destroyed and had no compassion. He caused the enemy to rejoice over...
Ben Sira, a sage whose wisdom echoes through the ages, certainly thought so. He dives straight into the heart of familial honor, and it's a message that still resonates powerfully ...
It’s a question that echoes through millennia, a yearning woven into the very fabric of Jewish tradition. And it’s a theme that resonates powerfully in the Book of Jubilees. Imagin...
Where does that come from, really? We find a fascinating glimpse into its ancient roots in the Book of Jubilees. Now, the Book of Jubilees is a fascinating text, considered part of...
Specifically, not eating it. The Book of Jubilees, a text bubbling with rich detail expanding on the Torah’s narratives, dives headfirst into this very topic. This isn’t just a sug...
In this ancient text, which some consider to be part of the broader Jewish apocrypha, we find a pivotal moment concerning Abraham, his wife Sarah, and a promise that reshapes the d...
This ancient Jewish text, considered canonical by some but not others, pulls no punches when it comes to predicting the future – or, perhaps more accurately, warning us about the c...
We're going to dive into one of those today, straight from the Book of Jubilees. Now, the Book of Jubilees is a fascinating text. It’s considered apocryphal by many, meaning it's n...
to a fascinating passage from the Book of Jubilees, a text considered sacred by some, a valuable historical document by others. In it, we hear Jacob, later to be known as Israel, w...
Our ancestors grappled with it too. to a moment with Jacob, a patriarch wrestling with destiny in the Book of Jubilees. What's the Book of Jubilees, you ask? Think of it as a retel...
Jacob certainly did. Imagine this: you've just wrestled with an angel (or at least, a really tough guy who might as well have been an angel!), you're about to face your estranged b...
We've all been there. But what if those fleeting moments of negativity had cosmic consequences? That’s a question that echoes powerfully from the Book of Jubilees, an ancient Jewis...
The people are desperate, their water supply dwindling, and their faith is being tested. The city leaders, Uzziah, Chabris, and Charmis, have made a desperate gamble: they've vowed...
We find them in dire straits, besieged by the Assyrian army. Despair is setting in. They're starting to lose faith. And that's when Judith steps forward, her words a beacon in the ...
Chapter 12 finds her deep in the enemy camp, having spun a tale so convincing that Holofernes, the Assyrian general, is completely smitten. He's invited her to dine with him, a see...
The Book of Tobit, a beautiful and often overlooked story from the Apocrypha, tells of a righteous man living in exile in Nineveh. He's committed to burying the dead, a sacred act ...
Remember, Tobit, a righteous man living in exile in Nineveh, had been blinded. His misfortune leads to a painful exchange with his wife, Hannah. It all starts when Tobit, thinking ...
Our story comes to us from the Book of Maccabees I, a historical account filled with drama, faith, and fierce battles. As Antiochus felt his life slipping away, he attributed his t...
That feeling is at the heart of this passage from I Maccabees, Chapter 7. It’s a tense moment, a real clash of worlds. The scene is set with a villain, someone who should know bett...
That feeling – that’s what I want to talk about today. Imagine a time of immense struggle. Your people are oppressed, your sacred places desecrated. Hope seems lost. Then, a voice ...
We're stepping into a pivotal moment, a turning point hard-won by the courage and faith of the Maccabees. They'd fought valiantly against the Seleucid Empire, against the desecrati...
The story of Israel's return from exile reads like a cascade of empires, each rising and falling at breathtaking speed. According to the Chronicles of Jerahmeel, a 12th-century Heb...
This is the letter that Baruch son of Neriah sent across the river Euphrates to the nine and a half tribes in exile. It may be the most hopeful document ever written from the rubbl...
