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We often picture a grand, sweeping gesture, a divine command echoing through the void. But what if it was something… gentler? Something more akin to a breath? The mystics certainly...
One of my favorite images is this: God carries everything beneath His arms. Not just a gentle embrace, but a sustaining act of holding. According to some mystical traditions, God's...
Moses certainly did. In the book of Exodus (33:18-23), we find Moses pleading with God, "Oh, let me behold Your presence!" It's a raw, human moment. Can you imagine the courage, th...
And the Torah, in its own way, grapples with this very question. We find ourselves in the Book of Exodus, a pivotal moment in the story of the Israelites. Moses is about to ascend ...
We often picture the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night, guiding them, protecting them. But what if I told you there's a tradition that paints an even more inti...
In Jewish tradition, we have a name for that Divine Presence: the Shekhinah (the Divine Presence). And there's a place where the veil between worlds is said to be especially thin: ...
A reminder of forces far beyond our control. But have you ever wondered, according to Jewish tradition, why they happen? One powerful image suggests that earthquakes are a direct r...
Jewish tradition understands that feeling, and even gives it a name: fiery waves. These aren't just any ordinary ocean waves, mind you. These are the ones, we're told in the Talmud...
The kind that make you tilt your head and think, "Wait, did I read that. " One of those moments, right up there with the parting of the Red Sea, is the story of the sun standing st...
There's a story about that. It's a bittersweet tale, really, about beginnings and forgetting, and it goes something like this... Imagine a circle. Not just any circle, but a celest...
The ancient rabbis certainly understood that feeling. They knew that the divine, in all its glory, could be both awe-inspiring and, frankly, terrifying. And sometimes, a good story...
But for Elijah, the prophet, and his devoted disciple Elisha, it was reality. Our story begins as the Lord is about to take Elijah up to heaven. Elijah and Elisha are journeying fr...
There's a story told about Rabbah bar Bar Hannah, a third-century Babylonian Amora (a scholar of the Talmud) renowned for his... well, let's just call them "adventures." Rabbah's t...
Jewish tradition has a way of making the immense feel intimate. Take the idea of heaven itself. It’s not some distant, cold abstraction. Instead, picture this: Heaven, according to...
It’s a question that’s tickled the minds of mystics and dreamers for ages. And believe it or not, there are stories—amazing, vivid stories—that claim to know the answer. One of my ...
One intriguing answer involves a rather obscure, but incredibly important angel: Gallizur. Now, Gallizur isn't exactly a household name like Michael or Gabriel. But according to so...
Sometimes, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree... and sometimes, well, it's a whole orchard of strange and wondrous fruit. Let’s journey back in time with Rabbah bar Bar Hanna...
It even shows up in our ideas about Gehenna. Now, Gehenna. It’s a loaded word. Often translated as "Hell," it’s really more complex than that. It’s a place of purification, of reck...
Jewish tradition has a lot to say on the matter, and some of it is Let's talk about the fate of the soul, particularly what happens to those who, well, weren't so righteous in life...
It’s a question the rabbis grappled with for centuries, resulting in some truly mind-bending imagery about Gehenna, often translated as Hell. The wicked themselves apparently wonde...
It’s not a job many would apply for, but Jewish tradition tells us there is someone – an angel, in fact – tasked with this grim responsibility. His name is Samriel, and he's the ga...
Jewish tradition offers a fascinating possibility: that at the very beginning, God created not one world, but two. Two worlds, springing forth from the very essence of the Divine. ...
Many believe the answer is Hebrew. It's a pretty powerful idea. That the very letters we use to write down these words are echoes of something ancient, something divine. A primordi...
The idea, as explored in Tree of Souls, is that the order of the Torah scrolls we hold in our hands might not be the "correct" one. What does that even mean? Well, imagine if the s...
These aren't just any ordinary days. They're a bridge, a spiritual causeway connecting Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, with Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. Think of them as a...
It all comes down to water… and a really old cavern. Let's journey back to the time when the Temple in Jerusalem stood in all its glory. During Sukkot, the Feast of Tabernacles, a ...
Maybe it's not just the challah talking. Jewish tradition whispers of a secret gift bestowed upon us every Shabbat (the Sabbath): a second soul. Imagine it: As Shabbat descends, as...
Jewish tradition suggests we're constantly surrounded by unseen forces, especially on Shabbat, the Sabbath. And some of those forces? Well, they’re angels. The Talmud, specifically...
According to the Or Zaru'a and Geonica, the angels each have six wings, one for every day of the week, and each day they chant a unique song to God. A celestial choir, if you will!...
On Tisha B'Av, the Ninth of Av, the Jewish day of mourning for the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, something extraordinary is said to happen. While Jews gather at the Kotel...
That’s the Ninth of Av, or Tisha B’Av. We remember the destruction of both Holy Temples in Jerusalem on this day. Not just that, but a whole string of tragedies that seem to have c...
Our tale begins with Abram, a skilled astrologer. Now, picture this: Abram gazes up at the night sky, charting the constellations, mapping the movements of the planets. But what he...
The story of Abraham and Isaac on their journey to Mount Moriah is a powerful exploration of exactly that, and the role of Satan in the narrative is more complex than you might thi...
The tradition tells us that he did. Imagine the scene: Abraham, his father, raises the knife. But according to some accounts, Isaac's eyes weren't fixed on the blade. Instead, they...
(Genesis 24:1) tells us that in his old age, God blessed Abraham in all things. We usually think of that in terms of wealth and a long life. But what if there was more? What if "al...
Let’s talk about Jacob and Esau, and a bowl of… lentil stew. Genesis tells us that the twins were different from the start. "When the boys grew up, Esau became a skillful hunter, a...
The Torah gives us one of the most powerful and mysterious stories of just such a struggle: Jacob wrestling with the angel. The scene is set. Jacob, alone after sending his family ...
We all know the story from (Genesis 32:24-30). Jacob, preparing to meet his estranged brother Esau, sends his family and possessions across the Yabbok River (a stream whose name me...
It’s a question that’s echoed through millennia, and Jewish tradition offers some truly remarkable answers. We all know the story: a baby, hidden in a basket, floating down the riv...
But then, as the story goes, GOD intervened. MOSES stretched out his hand, and the sea parted. A path opened up, dry land appeared, and the Israelites began to cross. But what was ...
That's a glimpse into the story of Moses and the divine radiance. We find the account in (Exodus 34:29-35), a passage that has captivated and, at times, puzzled readers for centuri...
It's more than just geography; it's about a direct connection to the Divine. : a place so sacred, it’s said to be constantly under God’s watchful eye. (Deuteronomy 11:12) tells us ...
Jewish tradition isn't afraid to explore that question. And when we do, we find a God who isn't detached from our pain, but deeply, profoundly moved by it. Take the destruction of ...
The stones are still hot, the air thick with ash and despair. Who would you expect to find there? According to a powerful story preserved in the Talmud (B. Menahot 53b), it was non...
We often think of angels as perfect messengers, but Jewish tradition sometimes paints a more complex picture. to a tale of angelic disobedience, punishment, and eventual redemption...
What does it truly mean for the Messiah to come? What would be required? We often hear about the miraculous, the earth-shattering changes that the arrival of Mashiach – the Messiah...
Jewish tradition is rich with imagery about the Olam Ha-Ba, the World to Come, and one particularly striking image involves the enthronement of the Messiah. Imagine this: the futur...
Jewish tradition actually considers the possibility that certain individuals, through their spiritual potency, could actually force the coming of the Messiah. Wild. In every genera...
