10,602 related texts · Page 60 of 221
It’s a theme that echoes throughout Jewish tradition, doesn't it? And it makes you wonder: why that particular miracle? Well, one perspective comes to us from a fascinating text at...
Imagine, if you will, a time long, long before time as we know it. Before the sun, the moon, the stars… before even the very Earth beneath our feet. What existed then? Well, accord...
And the Lord remembered Sarah, as he had said (Gen. 21:1). May it please our master to teach us: What is considered ona’ah (wrong doing)? Our masters teach us: A man is forbidden t...
And it came to pass after these things (Gen. 40:1). Scripture states elsewhere in reference to this verse: And I find more bitter than death the woman, whose heart is snares and ne...
And, behold, there came up out of the river seven kine (Gen. 41:2) After he (Pharaoh) had his dream, he summoned all his magicians. Whereupon the Holy Spirit called out: Where are ...
42:1). Scripture says elsewhere in allusion to this verse: I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread (Ps. 37:25). R....
3:1). R. Levi stated: Everyone about whom it is written was, his beginning and his end were proper. R. Johanan said: Everyone about whom it says was, fed and sustained others. Othe...
18:1). Scripture says elsewhere in allusion to this verse: Thine ointments have a goodly fragrance; thy name is an ointment poured forth; therefore do the maidens love thee (Song 1...
If thou lend money to any of my people (Exod. 22:24). Scripture says elsewhere in reference to this verse: He that hath an evil eye hasteneth after riches, and he knoweth not that ...
(Lev. 13:2:) “When anyone has on the skin of his flesh.” This text is related (to Hab. 1:7), “Terrible and dreadful [is that one].”27In the biblical context THAT ONE is the nation ...
(Lev. 13:2), “When anyone has on the skin of his flesh.” This text is related (to Ps. 5:5), “For You are not a God who delights in wickedness. [This verse is] to teach you that the...
(Lev. 27:1-2:) “Then the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying, ‘Speak unto the Children of Israel [and say unto them], “When anyone explicitly vows to the Lord [the value (rt.: 'rk) of hu...
(Numb. 4:18:) “Do not cut off.” Let our master instruct us: In the case of one who commits a transgression punishable with excision according to the Torah, how do they receive pard...
(Numb. 20:24, cont.:) “Because you rebelled against My command at the Waters of Meribah....” This text is related (to Prov. 10:3), “The Lord will not let a righteous soul go hungry...
(Numb. 29:35:) “On the eighth day [you shall have] a solemn assembly.” This text is related (to Is. 26:16), “You have added to the nation O Lord, You have added to the nation and b...
R. Chanina b. Akiva says: "More beloved" was the seeing of our father Abraham than that of Moses. For Abraham was not caused to exert himself whereas Moses was. What is stated of A...
It’s about a creature that is the size of a mountain... at least when it’s a baby! We're talking about the re'em. Now, the re'em is a fascinating beast. Think unicorn, or maybe rhi...
They say he was so strikingly handsome, he resembled an angel. And his story, well, it begins a bit like a fairy tale. His parents, had longed for a child for many, many years. His...
Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary) Read-but-not-Written I) But [the children of] Benjamin would not yield (Judges 20:13). The word the children of is missing, for they did ...
The author of Rav Pealim [Vilna Gaon] wrote about the Socher Tov of Midrash Tehillim and said: I found in the book, Ohel Yosef by Rabbi Yosef the Sefaradi on Parashat Vayikra, on t...
You know the one – stretching all the way from earth to heaven, angels going up and down, up and down. He jolted awake and said, "In truth, the Glory of the Shekhinah (the Divine P...
“Who is it who said and it occurred, if the Lord did not command it?” (Lamentations 3:37).“Who is it who said and it occurred, if the Lord did not command it?” – who did command? H...
“On a floor of alabaster, marble, mother-of-pearl, and onyx.” Rav Naḥman said: Come and see what the comfort of that wicked one was like. His house was paved with precious stones a...
The Letter of Aristeas, an ancient text that purports to describe the translation of the Hebrew Bible into Greek, touches on this very question. Imagine the scene: Egyptian priests...
According to Ginzberg's retelling in Legends of the Jews, Hezekiah's wicked father, King Ahaz, tried to offer him as a sacrifice to Moloch. Imagine the horror! But Hezekiah's mothe...
The luchot—that's Hebrew for "tablets"—were divine creations themselves, crafted by God's own hand during that mystical twilight time at the end of the first Sabbath. Ginzberg, in ...
That’s kind of how it is when we approach the deepest secrets of the Kabbalah, especially when diving into the Zohar. The Zohar, that foundational text of Kabbalah, is like a roadm...
The great Kabbalist Baal HaSulam, in his preface to the Zohar, gives us a glimpse into the building blocks of these realms. It's like he's handing us the architect's blueprint. He ...
You read one passage and think, "Aha! Got it!" Then you read another and it's like... wait, what? That happens a lot when diving into the Zohar, a foundational work of Kabbalah. It...
It's not just a single Big Bang, but a layered process, a sort of cosmic development unfolding over time. One fascinating way to understand this is through the concepts of "Gestati...
And it's precisely where we begin our journey into the depths of Kabbalah, Jewish mysticism. "What should make me believe that there is a Ruler of the world?" That's the question t...
It’s a question that dives deep into Jewish mystical tradition, and one that leads us to some truly fascinating ideas. Let's talk about fruit. Not just any fruit, but a specific co...
We're diving into the world of Klipot, Partzuf (a divine configuration)im, and Sefirot (the divine emanations), concepts found in the teachings of the Ramchal (Rabbi Moshe Chaim Lu...
The Sefirot (the divine emanations) are often described as emanations, or attributes, of Eyn Sof (אֵין סוֹף), the Infinite. Think of them as the ways in which the unknowable God ma...
And Jewish mystical tradition offers a fascinating answer: the Sefirot (the divine emanations). What are the Sefirot? Think of them as divine attributes, emanations of God's infini...
The Kabbalists, those Jewish mystics who delve into the deepest secrets of creation, offer a fascinating answer. It all revolves around the Sefirot (סְפִירוֹת). What are they? Thin...
The mystics of old wrestled with this all the time, particularly when contemplating the Divine Chariot, the Merkavah (the Divine Chariot), described by the prophet Ezekiel (Ezekiel...
The Kabbalah, particularly in texts like Kalach Pitchei Chokhmah (Forty Gates of Wisdom), offers a stunningly intricate answer. It speaks of a celestial “Chariot,” a symbolic repre...
According to Kabbalah, specifically the Kalach Pitchei Chokhmah (Wisdom), that feeling might stem from a disruption in the flow of divine blessing, especially within the lower seve...
It's like unlocking a whole universe of meaning, right there in the names we use for the Divine. Now, before your eyes glaze over, stick with me! This isn't just dry, dusty theolog...
It's called the Unknown Head, or in Hebrew, the Reisha D'lo Ityada. And it's… well, let's just say it's not exactly light reading. The Kalach Pitchei Chokhmah, a Kabbalistic text, ...
Jewish mysticism has some fascinating answers, and they're all tangled up in a… beard. Yes, you read that right. We’re diving into a text called Kalach Pitchei Chokhmah, which, let...
Jewish mysticism, particularly the Kabbalah, offers a fascinating, intricate answer, one that involves divine archetypes and a cosmic dance of creation. Today, we’re going to peek ...
We’re talking about the ascent and descent of entire worlds. Now, this isn’t about planets orbiting suns. It’s about spiritual realms, levels of consciousness, different dimensions...
Jewish mysticism offers a powerful explanation for this feeling, and a path toward mending what's broken. Our story begins with the Shechinah, often understood as the Divine Presen...
The Sefer Yetzirah, or "Book of Creation," offers a breathtakingly intricate answer, weaving together letters, numbers, and divine energy to explain the cosmos. to a tiny piece of ...
That feeling is at the heart of the Idra Zuta. The Idra Zuta, or "Lesser Assembly," is a section of the Zohar, the foundational text of Jewish mysticism. It’s… well, it's not exact...
And today, we're diving into one of the most mysterious and profound texts of the Kabbalah, the Idra Zuta. Now, the Idra Zuta, which translates to "The Lesser Assembly," is a secti...
