10,602 related texts · Page 21 of 221
There was a blueprint, a guide, an artisan involved: The Torah. Yes, the Torah, the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, the very text we read and study, was, according to some tr...
And that's precisely the question posed in The Midrash of Philo, a collection of interpretations and expansions on the Torah attributed to Philo of Alexandria, the great Jewish phi...
The Torah tells us (Genesis 8:10) that Noah waited seven more days and then released the dove again. But why? The Midrash of Philo tackles this head-on, asking a simple but profoun...
To think that the Creator of the Universe might look back and say, "Oops, maybe I went a little too far there..." That's precisely the question that bubbles up when we read (Genesi...
The mystics imagined it, and what they saw is The story goes that when God decided to create Adam, it wasn't a snap of the fingers. It was a process. A cosmic sculpting project, if...
According to Jewish tradition, the very concept of the Temple in Jerusalem, that sacred place, was envisioned at the dawn of creation itself. As Howard Schwartz recounts in Tree of...
But Jewish tradition sometimes paints a more complex picture, one where the serpent is more of a… well, a puppet. to a fascinating version of the story, retold in Tree of Souls and...
We read about death all the time, but imagine being the first person… ever… to face it. Well, Jewish tradition has a lot to say about the death of Adam, the first human. And it's n...
But the Book of Jubilees, an ancient Jewish text that expands on the stories we find in Genesis and Exodus, really emphasizes this point. It paints a picture of creation itself as ...
This ancient text, considered scripture by some and a fascinating historical lens by others, doesn't mince words. It speaks of destruction, of rooting out, and of expulsion. Harsh ...
Jewish tradition holds that a handful of people never died. They walked into Gan Eden - the Garden of Eden - while still alive, bypassing death entirely. The Alphabet of Ben Sira, ...
The Garden of Eden is not a meadow. It is a city of palaces. According to the Chronicles of Jerahmeel, a 12th-century Hebrew chronicle translated by Moses Gaster in 1899, there are...
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 ...
After the expulsion from Eden, Adam was separated from Eve for 130 years. He slept alone. According to the Chronicles of Jerahmeel, a 12th-century Hebrew chronicle translated by Mo...
On the third day of creation, the earth was a flat, featureless plain submerged under water. Then God spoke. Mountains erupted upward and scattered across the surface. Valleys tore...
Jewish tradition has always been rich with layered realities, and the concept of multiple heavens is no exception. Forget one sky; imagine seven! Each with its own purpose, its own...
According to the legends, entering Paradise isn't just strolling through a gate. Imagine two immense gates made of carbuncle, a fiery, glowing gem. And guarding them? Sixty myriads...
Jewish tradition certainly has! to a world of giant birds, floating axes, and feasts fit for the righteous. Imagine this: a group of travelers sailing on a vessel spot a bird stand...
The universe is a vast, seemingly endless expanse, and yet, here we are, tiny humans on a small planet, contemplating our existence. It’s a question that has plagued philosophers a...
The story of Adam's creation is far richer than you might think. Imagine this: God, having finally convinced the angels that creating humankind was a good idea, turns to Gabriel an...
The animals came to him two by two, male and female, but he had no companion. So, what did the Divine do? According to the legends, God decided to give Adam a wife. Enter Lilith. U...
One particularly evocative description involves a journey through portals and paradises, a kind of spiritual pilgrimage. According to these traditions, the Gan Eden, the Garden of ...
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...
We often think of Shabbat (the Sabbath) as a day of rest, a time for reflection, maybe a delicious cholent. But imagine being Adam, newly evicted from Paradise just as the sun bega...
Turns out, Adam felt it too. Imagine this: The very first Shabbat (Sabbath), the day of rest, is drawing to a close. The sun begins its descent, painting the sky in fiery hues, bea...
According to the legends, just three days after Adam poured out his heart in prayer, sitting by the river flowing from Gan Eden, the Garden of Eden itself, the angel Raziel appeare...
According to Legends of the Jews, Adam, in his final moments, knew exactly what he needed: the oil of life from the Tree of Mercy. He couldn't go himself, of course. So, he turned ...
Sounds pretty safe. But what happens when those angels leave for a moment, called away on heavenly business, to supplicate, to earnestly plead, before the Lord? That's exactly what...
Not just any trumpet, but the trumpet of the archangel Michael himself. And then, a chorus of angelic voices, echoing across eternity: "Thus saith the Lord, Come ye with Me to Para...
The story of Adam and the introduction of death into the world is central to Jewish thought. But according to some traditions, it's not quite as simple as "Adam ate the apple, ther...
According to Legends of the Jews, when Lamech's wives heard that Adam decided they should continue to live with their husband, they weren't exactly thrilled. They threw some seriou...
One day, as Ginzberg tells us in Legends of the Jews, Abraham encountered an old woman. She was devoted to her idols, completely convinced they held power. Abraham, ever the truth-...
The scene, as described in Legends of the Jews, is charged with tension. Abraham's father, a maker and seller of idols, is steeped in tradition. But Abraham, well, Abraham is havin...
We often focus on the drama of the moment, Abraham's faith, Isaac's obedience, and God's ultimate intervention. But what about the aftermath? According to tradition, it wasn’t a si...
Let’s talk about clothes, and a legend that stretches all the way back to Adam. It’s a tale wrapped in ambition, rivalry, and… well, garments of immense importance. We’re talking a...
Let’s go back to his mother, Jochebed, during her pregnancy. According to the legends, she knew, deep down, that the child she carried was meant for extraordinary things. It wasn't...
The seraphim are among the most fearsome beings in all of Jewish tradition. These aren't cute, cherubic angels from greeting cards. These are powerful, awe-inspiring beings. The se...
The Legends of the Jews, that incredible compilation of rabbinic stories and lore by Louis Ginzberg, offers a few compelling reasons. It all boils down to wisdom, foresight, and a ...
According to rabbinic tradition, the Ten Commandments, those powerful pronouncements given to Moses on Mount Sinai, aren't just a list of rules. They are, in a way, a reflection of...
The princes of the tribes in the story of building the Mishkan (Tabernacle) knew that feeling all too well. According to Ginzberg's retelling in Legends of the Jews, when Moses cal...
In Jewish tradition, even the placement of the tribes in the desert wasn’t random. It was divinely ordained, each position reflecting a unique characteristic and purpose. God, spea...
It wasn't a simple "Let there be light!" and, boom, the universe. There was some serious deliberation involved. Imagine God, contemplating the void. As we read in Legends of the Je...
It’s more than just David pouring out his heart, you know. The sages saw it as a collection of voices, a chorus echoing through generations. Think of it as an anthology, not a solo...
King David, the sweet singer of Israel, knew that feeling all too well. According to the Legends of the Jews, collected and retold by Rabbi Louis Ginzberg, David’s reign wasn’t all...
The prophet Elijah knew. And according to tradition, the events leading up to that moment, and even his ascent to heaven, hold profound meaning for us all. The story goes that befo...
Take Esther, for example. It’s more than just a name; it's a clue, a whisper of her destiny. The Megillah, the Scroll of Esther, is a story of hidden identities and near-miss disas...
And in the ancient world, it was no different. Flavius Josephus, the first-century Romano-Jewish scholar and historian, knew this all too well. In his work, Against Apion, he passi...
We often hear about God's word, God's actions... but what about God's beauty? It's a question that takes us deep into the heart of Jewish mystical thought. Forget the image of a ce...
