1,302 related texts · 51 related myths · Page 5 of 28
Jewish tradition teaches us there was a deeply profound reason behind this daily dispensing of divine sustenance. Several reasons, actually. The Sages tell us that one purpose was ...
No matter what you were in the mood for, one bite would satisfy that desire perfectly. Well, according to tradition, the Israelites experienced just that with the manna (מָן), the ...
The familiar telling remembers the manna, that miraculous food from heaven, but the stories surrounding its arrival are just as fascinating as the food itself! You’re stranded in t...
Not just any breakfast, but manna, that heavenly food that sustained the Israelites in the desert for forty years. In Ginzberg’s retelling in, Legends of the Jews, life with manna ...
The most obvious miracle, of course, was its very existence. But the story gets even richer when we consider the details. In ancient texts, manna didn't fall every day. Specificall...
The stakes might be higher than we imagine. You’re wandering in the desert, sustained only by miraculous bread falling from the sky – manna. God gives very specific instructions ab...
The story goes that God, wanting to leave a lasting reminder of His power for generations to come, instructed Moses to place a jar of manna, that miraculous food that sustained the...
Legend tells us that when King Josiah knew the Temple was about to be destroyed, he took decisive action. He concealed the Aron HaKodesh, the Holy Ark itself. But he didn't stop th...
The Israelites, fresh from their miraculous escape from Egypt, certainly had. They were wandering in the desert, sustained by manna, that miraculous bread from heaven. It was nouri...
It wasn't just any well; it was a spring that traveled with them! The water that flowed wasn't just a temporary relief. It was a well that, according to the legends, didn't abandon...
A masterful compilation of rabbinic lore gathered by Louis Ginzberg, life in the desert wasn't just hardship. It was also a evidence of divine providence, filled with wonders reade...
Why "My Miracle?" Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary) tells us it’s because the miracle God wrought against Amalek wasn't just for Israel, but, in a way, for God too. The Sa...
The story of Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, offers a fascinating glimpse. Jethro, who according to the tradition, excelled all other converts in his love for the Torah, wasn’t just ...
There you are, wandering in the desert, sustained by food that literally falls from the sky. And yet…you grumble. You whine. You say, "Ugh, not manna again!" It sounds almost unbel...
The ancient Israelites did something similar with manna, that miraculous food from heaven. As the story goes, they sang a song not to the manna, but to the well that accompanied th...
What happens when a legend disappears? When a leader, a prophet, a figure like MOSES, is simply… gone? The grief, of course, is immense. But beyond that, there's often a desperate,...
It's a powerful image, isn't it? A promise from God, as recounted in Legends of the Jews, that "Thou that didst lead My children in this world, shalt also lead them in the future w...
The story of Joshua and the Gibeonites is a powerful lesson in just that. Joshua, successor to Moses, found himself in a bit of a quandary. He'd made an alliance with the Gibeonite...
The Tikkunei (spiritual repair) Zohar, that mystical companion to the Zohar itself, dives deep into just that when it explores the symbolism of manna, the food that sustained the I...
When God split the Red Sea for the Israelites, the miracle did not stop at a single body of water. The Mekhilta asks a pointed question: what about the waters in pits, cavities, ca...
"He prepares a table before me." What does that even mean in the context of a comforting psalm? Midrash Tehillim connects this to the manna, that miraculous food that sustained the...
Midrash Tehillim turns to Manna from Heaven of Shimon. The Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary) paints a vivid picture. Remember the story of Moses striking the rock to bring...
They turned to midrash, a method of interpreting scripture that fills in gaps, answers questions, and breathes life into the text. a fascinating passage from Midrash Tehillim (Midr...
The Israelites, fresh out of Egypt and sustained by miraculous manna in the desert, certainly did. And their grumbling, as recorded in Sifrei Bamidbar, offers a fascinating glimpse...
The Torah tells us, "The people would stroll out and gather it" (Numbers 11:8). But did they grumble about the effort? Sifrei Bamidbar cleverly uses another verse, "And the people ...
The Torah, in the book of Bamidbar (Numbers), gives us a pretty stark example of that. The people, they weren't happy with just mann. They craved meat. They whined and complained u...
A fascinating story from the book of Bamidbar (Numbers), specifically chapter 12, verse 10, and explore the moment Miriam, Moses' sister, is struck with tzara'at, often translated ...
The manna story in (Exodus 16) raises an obvious question: where did this miracle food come from? The Hebrew Bible says God "rained bread from heaven." The Targum Jonathan gives a ...
Sometimes, it really was – especially when it came to dividing the land of Israel among the tribes. But this wasn't just some random drawing. Oh no, this involved divine interventi...
Bereshit Rabbah, a fascinating collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Book of Genesis, offers some beautiful insights. The verse "God blessed the seventh day [and sanctified...
Our Sages, delving deep into the Torah, confront this very idea in Bereshit Rabbah 97, a section of the ancient Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary). They begin with a verse ...
Pharaoh's army bearing down, water as far as the eye could see. What do you do? The Shemot Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Book of Exodus, paints a vivid pi...
Jewish tradition says a resounding "YES!" And one of the most beautiful examples of this is found in the stories surrounding the manna, that miraculous bread from heaven that susta...
Shemot Rabbah turns to Manna as Bread from Heaven Earned Through Torah. Here's a question: Why did the Israelites sing praises over the well but not over the manna? Seems a bit unf...
Remember the manna, that miraculous bread from heaven? God instructed the Israelites to gather only what they needed for each day, except on Friday, when they were to collect a dou...
They found ways to see even those challenging forces as a path towards the Divine. to a fascinating interpretation of a verse from Shir HaShirim, the Song of Songs, explored in Shi...
And Moses said unto Aaron: “Take a jar and put an omerful of manna therein” (Exod. 16:33). I would not know of what substance the jar was fashioned, whether of silver or of gold or...
The thirty-sixth and final zodiac demon, Bianakith, confessed: "I lay waste houses and cause flesh to decay. But if a man writes certain holy names on the front door of his home, I...
The story of the Exodus, the Israelite's escape from Egypt, is one of the most powerful narratives in Jewish tradition. The familiar version gives us the broad strokes: slavery, Ph...
The longest and most carefully guarded section of Sefer Raziel HaMalakh catalogs the divine names, the Shemot (שמות), the names of God through which creation was brought into being...
Rabbi Bana'ah taught that God split the Red Sea for the Israelites in the merit of their ancestor Abraham. The proof lies in a striking verbal parallel between two verses. When Abr...
Rabbi Yehudah interprets the verse "And He removed their chariot wheels" (Exodus 14:25) as describing a scene far more spectacular than a simple mechanical failure. According to hi...
The Mekhilta offers a variant reading of "He is high on high" (Exodus 15:1) that relocates the mutual exaltation from Egypt to the Red Sea itself. In this version, the back-and-for...
The Song of the Sea declares: "The Lord is my strength and my song" (Exodus 15:2). The Mekhilta explores what "my strength" actually means, and discovers that this single phrase ca...
The Mekhilta presents a remarkable statement from the congregation of Israel, addressed directly to God, that explains exactly why they are singing at the Red Sea. "Lord of the wor...
The Song of the Sea declares: "The depths covered them" (Exodus 15:5). The Mekhilta asks an obvious but brilliant question: are there really depths at the bottom of the sea? The Is...
The Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael draws attention to a single word in the Song at the Sea that transforms the entire verse from a description of the past into a prophecy of the future....
The Mekhilta reads (Exodus 15:8), "And with the breath of Your nostrils, the waters ne'ermu", as another demonstration of God's measure-for-measure justice. The Hebrew word "ne'erm...
