906 related texts · Page 12 of 19
The righteous in the World to Come will not all share the same reward. According to Bava Batra 75b, there are tiers—and every righteous person who sees a canopy grander than their ...
R. Johanan b. Zakai was asked by R. Eleazar b. Arach permission to expound some of the mysteries of the creation (Ma’ase Merkaba). R. Johanan dismounted from his ass, as angels mig...
The story of Solomon's daughter and the bastard — the mamzer — is one of the most poignant tales in rabbinic literature. The Midrash (Tanhuma, Introduction) tells how Solomon, desp...
A Jewish sage was challenged to a public contest against a pagan wizard-priest — a battle of spiritual power that would determine, in the eyes of the watching crowd, whose god was ...
Jewish tradition has some pretty amazing, awe-inspiring imagery about that very question. Imagine this: a God of pure, untamed power, riding not on a cloud, but on the very wings o...
And I will make my covenant between Me and thee (Gen. 17:2). Scripture says elsewhere in allusion to this verse: The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him; and His covenant...
And he saw the place from afar off (Gen. 22:4). Abraham said to Isaac: “Do you see what I see?” “I behold a glorious mountain encircled by a cloud,” he replied. Then he asked his y...
And thou shalt make an altar to burn incense upon (Exod. 30:1). Scripture states elsewhere in allusion to this verse: Ointment and perfume rejoice the heart (Prov. 27:9). This vers...
"On the eighth day, the chieftain of the Children of Menashe" (Numbers 7:54). Teach us, our rabbi, what is [the status of] a light of Chanukah from the first day that has oil remai...
"Command the Children of Israel" (Numbers 28:2). This is [the meaning of] that which was stated by the verse (Job 27:23), "The Omnipresent we have not found to be of great power"; ...
The ancient texts offer tantalizing, awe-inspiring visions, and one of the most vivid comes from the story of Enoch. Enoch, as we learn from 1 Enoch, wasn't just any man. He was ri...
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...
Ben Sira, in his wisdom, gives us a glimpse. He paints a picture, vibrant and alive, of Simon the High Priest at the altar. Can you see him? Receiving the sacrificial pieces from h...
We're going to delve into a text that's both familiar and strangely… different. A book that whispers of secrets given directly to Moses on Mount Sinai. I'm talking about the Book o...
We all know the story of the plagues visited upon Egypt. Blood, frogs, locusts… a greatest hits album of divine retribution. But what about the behind-the-scenes details? What abou...
The Book of Jubilees, for those of you who aren’t familiar, is an ancient Jewish text. Think of it as a retelling – and slight expansion – of the Book of Genesis and the first part...
We're not talking about gentle parables here. This is war. This is conquest. This is the kind of brutality that makes you want to look away – but we won't, because within it lies a...
The heroine of our story, Judith, had something to say about that. We find ourselves in the Book of Judith, a story set during a time of great crisis for the Jewish people. The Ass...
That question has been nagging at me lately, especially after diving into the Letter of Aristeas. This text, purporting to be a first-hand account of the translation of the Hebrew ...
The Letter of Aristeas gives us a fascinating glimpse into this world. Our story picks up with Demetrius, the chief librarian of Alexandria. Imagine him, a man surrounded by scroll...
Our story takes us to Idumea, a region south of Judea. Here, the forces of the Seleucid Empire, under the command of King Antiochus V, were making their way through the land. Their...
That’s the scene unfolding before us in the Book of Maccabees I, Chapter 6. We're not talking about a ragtag bunch of rebels anymore. The Seleucid army, a force to be reckoned with...
Sometimes, history throws us these little gems that remind us we’re all more connected than we realize. And that's exactly what we find in the Book of Maccabees. The Book of Maccab...
Our story begins after the Babylonian exile. Nehemiah, a key figure in rebuilding Jerusalem, calls a certain location Hefter, declaring it holy. But here's the twist: the text imme...
That feeling, that unsettling awareness, is at the heart of the story we're about to dive into: the tale of Susanna. Our story opens with Susanna, daughter of Hilkiah. The text tel...
Her story, found in The Book of Susanna, is a powerful one. It all unfolds with a chilling simplicity. The text tells us "the people of the house heard her cry and ran to the viney...
That feeling, that desperate plea, is at the heart of the story of Susanna. Imagine this: a woman, Shoshana, young and beautiful, is brought before a crowd. The text tells us she w...
The Book of Jasher, a fascinating and controversial text referenced in the Bible itself (Joshua 10:13 and (2 Samuel 1:1)8), offers a compelling narrative. Chapter 65 plunges us rig...
The Book of Jasher, an ancient Hebrew text referenced in the Bible itself (Joshua 10:13 and (2 Samuel 1:1)8), fills in some of those gaps. It's like a behind-the-scenes look at the...
We all know about the Exodus, the parting of the Red Sea, and even receiving the Ten Commandments. But what about the nitty-gritty details of setting up their new life, their new r...
The Sefer haYashar, or Book of Jasher, a collection of Jewish legends and lore, gives us a glimpse. Chapter 87 opens with a divine instruction. "At that time the Lord said to Moses...
Ben Sira's teacher is freaking out. The boy has just rattled off proverbs for every letter of the Hebrew alphabet with the confidence of a seasoned sage, and his educator can only ...
Rabbi Joshua ben Levi wanted to see Gehinnom (the place of spiritual purification after death). The Messiah refused. "It is not fitting for the righteous to see it," he said, "for ...
In the 130th year after the Israelites went down to Egypt, Pharaoh had a dream. Sitting on his throne, he saw an old man holding a merchant's balance scale. The old man gathered up...
Before the tenth plague struck, God executed judgment on every idol in Egypt. Stone gods shattered into fragments. Wooden gods rotted to dust. Idols of silver, brass, iron, and lea...
The quarrel between Korah and Moses began with a poor woman and her single ewe-lamb. She fed the lamb from her own bread and let it drink from her own cup. When she sheared its woo...
Ptolemy of Egypt was a book collector. According to the Chronicles of Jerahmeel, a 12th-century Hebrew chronicle preserved by Moses Gaster in 1899, the Macedonian king who ruled Eg...
The picture in the vision swayed. From its left side, a heathen people emerged. They fell upon those on the right side, the people of Abraham's seed, and pillaged them. Men, women,...
While God was still speaking, Abraham suddenly found himself back upon the earth. "O Eternal, Mighty One," he said, "I am no longer in the glory in which I was while on high, and w...
"Many have been created, but few shall be saved." With those words ringing in his ears, Ezra launched into the most daring prayer in all of Jewish apocalyptic literature — a prayer...
Time and again, the Jewish community of Prague faced the horrifying accusation of blood libel – the false claim that they used the blood of children in their Passover matzah. These...
According to our tradition, the fifth day of creation was all about bringing forth life into the waters and the skies. The Legends of the Jews, as retold by Ginzberg, tells us that...
The story goes that Nimrod, a powerful and wicked king, grew furious with Abraham (who was, of course, not called Abraham yet at this point in the narrative—but we'll call him that...
According to Legends of the Jews, that's precisely what happened to Abraham. The story goes that the archangel Michael, under divine command, took Abraham on a whirlwind tour high ...
Take Moses, for example. We know him as the liberator, the lawgiver, the one who spoke to God face to face. But what about Moses the baby? What was his story? According to Legends ...
Jewish tradition offers some truly fascinating perspectives. For instance, the idea that God's goodness should reign on earth just as it does in Heaven. To achieve this, the tradit...
According to Legends of the Jews, Enoch, the great-grandfather of Noah, experienced not just one, but two ascensions to heaven! The first time, Enoch was still living amongst human...
Their water is gone. Facing death by dehydration, Ishmael turns to God, pleading, "O Lord of the world! If it be Thy will that I shall perish, then let me die in some other way, no...
