906 related texts · Page 6 of 19
"And they shall slaughter it": whether on a weekday or on a Sabbath. And how would I satisfy (Exodus 31:14) "Its (Sabbath's) profaners shall be put to death"? With other labors, as...
R. Yonathan said to him: But we still have not heard! R. Yoshiyah: It is written (Ibid. 28:2) "Command the children of Israel and say to them: My offering, My bread … shall you obs...
It's one of those customs that's so familiar, so deeply woven into the fabric of Jewish home life, that we might not always stop to ask why. But the reasons, as you might guess, ar...
"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...
Before the sun existed, there was light. This is one of the oldest puzzles in Genesis — God creates light on the first day, but the sun and moon don't appear until the fourth. The ...
Jacob said: "My way is hidden from the Lord, and my justice has passed away from my God" (Isaiah 40:27). This was Israel speaking — the whole nation's complaint condensed into one ...
“He brought the contents of His quiver into my kidneys” (Lamentations 3:13).“He brought the contents of His quiver [benei ashpato] into my kidneys” – Rav and Shmuel: Rav said: His ...
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, that ancient sage, certainly thought so. He observed, with a sharp eye and an even sharper wit, that "Those who speak rashly sets fire to the town." (Ben Sira 10:6). How ...
This is a text from the Apocrypha, a collection of Jewish writings not included in the Hebrew Bible but considered sacred by some. Ben Sira tackles a question that's plagued humani...
Sometimes, it's about being in the right place at the right time. Sometimes, it's about something more... something divinely ordained. Let's look at a couple of figures who stepped...
And our tradition, Jewish tradition, certainly doesn’t shy away from trying to answer it. Today, let's peek into the Book of Jubilees, a text that, while not part of the standard H...
And they're not messing around. The text tells us, "they began to build, and in the fourth week they made brick with fire, and the bricks served them for stone, and the clay with w...
This ancient Jewish text, considered canonical by some but not included in the standard Hebrew Bible, gives us a vivid, almost apocalyptic, picture. It paints a stark image of divi...
The Book of Jubilees, for those unfamiliar, is an ancient Jewish work that retells the stories of Genesis and Exodus, but with a whole lot of extra detail and a very particular poi...
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 all know the story of the Maccabees, the brave Jewish warriors who fought against the oppressive decrees of the Seleucid king Antiochus. But what happened after they won? Well, ...
Then you remember who you are, what you stand for, and you fight back. That's the spirit that leaps off the page when we delve into the story of Maccabees. Picture this: the Temple...
We find ourselves at a pivotal, agonizing moment. Susanna, a woman known for her piety and beauty, finds herself accused of adultery. Two elders, powerful figures in the community,...
Sometimes, the most righteous outcomes arise from the most unexpected places. to a fascinating story from the Book of Susanna, a tale of false accusations, quick thinking, and divi...
We've been following her story, a tale of beauty, faith, and unjust accusation in ancient Babylon. Two corrupt elders, consumed by lust, had falsely accused her of adultery. Her li...
The Book of Jasher, a collection of Jewish legends and lore, fills in some of those gaps, offering a more detailed (and sometimes surprising) account.. So, the brothers have just t...
The Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice (Shirot Olat HaShabbat (the Sabbath), שירות עולת השבת) may be the most alien-sounding texts in the Dead Sea Scrolls—and that is exactly the point...
The climax of the Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice arrives in the twelfth and thirteenth songs, when the text finally reaches the inner sanctum of the heavenly Temple—and encounters ...
When Moses ascended to heaven to receive the Torah, a cloud crouched before him like a living creature. He did not know whether to ride it or grab hold of it. The cloud opened, swa...
All of a person's sins are engraved on their bones. According to the Chronicles of Jerahmeel, a 12th-century Hebrew chronicle compiled by Jerahmeel ben Solomon, Rabbi Isaac ben Par...
Two bands of angels stand at the gates of Gehinnom (גהינום) and call out one word: "Come! Come!" According to the Chronicles of Jerahmeel, a 12th-century Hebrew chronicle compiled ...
When Judah Maccabee and the Hassidim entered Jerusalem, the Temple was an abomination. According to the Chronicles of Jerahmeel, a 12th-century Hebrew chronicle preserved by Moses ...
Abraham left the room to cool his father's anger. But Terah called after him: "Abraham!" "Here I am." "Gather the wood splinters from the gods I carved before you came, and prepare...
Abraham was still speaking to his father Terah in the courtyard of the house when a voice came down from heaven. Not a whisper. Not an intuition. A voice, falling from the sky in a...
God continued speaking to Enoch, and the story of creation grew stranger and more terrible. He had made the heavenly circle firm. He commanded the waters below heaven to gather int...
Seven days of fasting. Then, in the dead of night, Ezra dreamed. A wind rose from the sea and churned all its waves. And from the heart of the sea — not its surface, not its shallo...
The Book of Ezekiel, one of the most powerful and enigmatic texts in the Hebrew Bible, opens with just such an experience. We find Ezekiel, a priest, in exile, far from Jerusalem, ...
It wasn't all smooth sailing, that's for sure. In fact, according to some fascinating threads in Jewish tradition, there was a bit of a rebellion right at the start. the separation...
It turns out, according to some traditions, the Earth wasn't exactly innocent in the whole affair. God commanded the Earth to bring forth "tree of fruit" on the third day of creati...
He was determined to make Abraham pay the ultimate price: death by fire. He ordered one of his princes to drag Abraham to the furnace. But here’s where things get interesting. Acco...
The story of Abraham, and his fiery trial, certainly makes you wonder. It all begins with his father, Terah, a man who, according to Legends of the Jews, could read the heavens. Te...
Our story begins with Dinah, Jacob's daughter, and Shechem, son of Hamor, a prince of the Hivites. Shechem, captivated by Dinah, takes her – a violation that sets in motion a chain...
The sages tell us that Jacob made a vow at Beth-el (the House of God) long ago. But he didn't fulfill it promptly. And according to the legends, this had dire repercussions. The ra...
The story goes that Anah, son of Zibeon, had an encounter that left him shaken to his core. The text simply tells us, "When Anah saw all this, he was exceedingly afraid on account ...
That’s a glimpse into the trials of Joseph. The story of Joseph, as told in the Torah, is already But the rabbinic tradition, the wellspring of Jewish interpretation and storytelli...
We often think about actions, the concrete things we do (or don't do). But what about those times when we meant to do something good, even if it didn't quite pan out? The Jewish tr...
We all know the story: Joseph, the favored son, flaunts his special coat, stirs up jealousy, and ends up thrown into a pit by his brothers. But have you ever stopped to imagine the...
She is brought, against her will, before a court of law. This isn't just any court, mind you. Seated as judges are none other than Isaac, Jacob, and Judah. Yes, those Isaac, Jacob,...
That’s the scene we encounter when Jacob, also known as Israel, passes away in Egypt. His sons, overcome with grief, didn't just weep quietly. No, they rent their garments, a tradi...
I'm talking about the midwives who, at great personal risk, chose compassion over compliance. Pharaoh, in his paranoia, sought to control the burgeoning Israelite population by ord...
The story goes that during one of his ascensions, Moses got a peek behind the cosmic curtain, so to speak. It wasn’t just fluffy clouds and pearly gates, let me tell you. According...
The ancient stories of the Exodus are filled with moments like these, moments where divine intervention shapes the course of history. Take the story of the parting of the Red Sea. ...
