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Abraham called himself a stranger. (Genesis 23:4): "A stranger and a sojourner am I with you." David called himself a stranger. (Psalms 119:19): "I am a stranger in the land." And ...
Take the tale of Jacob and Esau, for instance. We all know the basic outline: Jacob, aided by his mother Rebecca, deceives his blind father Isaac to steal the blessing meant for hi...
The story begins with Abraham, who, concerned about finding the right wife for his son Isaac, sends his trusted servant Eliezer on a mission to Haran. Eliezer is laden with gifts a...
The Torah is full of incredible journeys, and sometimes, the distance covered seems almost impossible. to a fascinating passage from Bereshit Rabbah (59) about Eliezer, Abraham's s...
Our focus today is on Jacob, later to be named Israel, and a very specific moment in his journey. The text places him at the "Well of the Oath" – Beersheba in Hebrew – in a very pa...
We often focus on their triumphs, their faith, their covenant with God. But what about their grief? What about the human moments of sorrow and mourning? The story begins, surprisin...
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 ...
That’s the vibe I get from this little passage in Bereshit Rabbah 68. It’s all about Jacob leaving Beersheba, and the Rabbis are picking apart why he made such a point of leaving t...
The Book of Jubilees, an ancient Jewish text expanding on the Torah, speaks to just that feeling. It tells a story of wells, oaths, and the sometimes-difficult path to peace. We pi...
Some say it's gravity, others dark energy. But what about love? What about a mother's love, strong enough to bind even the most volatile relationships? The Book of Jubilees, an anc...
That’s kind of what happened to Abraham. God promised him the entire land of Canaan, a massive inheritance for him and his descendants. But when his beloved wife Sarah passed away,...
The story in Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer paints a pretty vivid picture. Imagine the scene: Jacob, with his sons, grandsons, wives, the whole shebang, journeys to Kirjath Arba, wanting t...
The Torah describes Jacob's burial as a solemn procession to Canaan. Targum Jonathan turns it into an epic confrontation complete with a golden deathbed, a eulogy comparing Jacob t...
Hannah was barren for years. Her husband loved her and her rival taunted her and the priest Eli misread her prayer as drunkenness. The whole story is about a woman whose deepest lo...
It's a story packed with subtle cues and divine hints, all swirling around a well in Aram Naharaim. The servant arrives and asks Rebecca for a sip of water: "Please allow me to sip...
The story unfolds in Genesis chapter 24. Abraham has tasked his most trusted servant (traditionally identified as Eliezer) with a monumental mission: to find a wife for his son, Is...
Sometimes, the little snippets, the moments in between the big events, can be just as fascinating. Take the story of Isaac, Esau, and Jacob. We know the highlights. But what about ...
After journeying from Shechem to Hebron to be with their father Isaac, Jacob's sons settled in the valley. The pastures of Shechem were still good, and that’s where they tended the...
Take the tale of Eliezer, Abraham's trusted servant, tasked with finding a wife for Isaac. It’s more than just a simple errand; it's a journey filled with divine assistance and sub...
The Mekhilta continues cataloguing everything God showed Moses from Mount Pisgah. The question this time: how do we know that God showed him even the graves of the forefathers? The...
The story picks up with Abraham's servant, often identified as Eliezer, returning from Haran with Rebecca. Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer tells us that he took Rebecca and Deborah, her nur...
Abraham made his servant Eliezer swear an oath by placing his hand on the mark of circumcision. The Torah says "under my thigh." The Targum says exactly what it means: the section ...
(Exodus 22:3) says: "If found will be found in his hand." The phrase "in his hand" seems to mean the stolen object was physically held by the thief. But the Mekhilta interprets "in...
Some consider it pseudepigrapha – writings ascribed to biblical figures but not part of the accepted canon. Others see it as a vital window into the beliefs and practices of ancien...
Isaac knew that feeling. For three long years after his mother Sarah's passing, Isaac was inconsolable. He sought solace in the academy of Shem and Eber, immersing himself in study...
The story of Jacob and Esau, those eternally squabbling twins, offers us a fascinating glimpse into just that. We all know the tale: Jacob, the trickster, steals Esau’s birthright ...
The story of Rachel's burial offers a powerful glimpse into this very idea. The Torah tells us simply that Rachel died giving birth to Benjamin and was buried on the road to Ephrat...
R. Eliezer says: The (non-) circumcision of one's servants does not prevent him from eating the Pesach (Passover). And what is the intent of "and you shall circumcise him, etc."? I...
Sometimes, those threads are stronger than we imagine, woven with love and a touch of the divine. Our story today comes from Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer, a fascinating work of Jewish li...
That's the situation Moses faced in a powerful story found in Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer (chapter 45). The story opens with a terrifying decree: God, in his anger, sends not one, but f...
We find a poignant example in the story of Abraham's burial, as recounted in Bereshit Rabbah 62, a section of the classic midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary)ic collection th...
The Book of Jubilees, an ancient Jewish text, gives us a glimpse. It’s like a backstage pass to some of the most pivotal moments in the Torah. Imagine the scene: Abraham is visited...
We find ourselves at a pivotal moment in his life, a moment fraught with emotional turmoil and weighty decisions. It all centers around Sarah, Abraham’s beloved wife, and Hagar, he...
We often think of trials as grand, sweeping events, but sometimes the most profound tests come in the quiet moments of grief. Think about Abraham. We know him as a patriarch, a fig...
We’re at a wedding, a joyous occasion. Tobiyyah has finally won the hand of Sarah, overcoming incredible obstacles with the help of the angel Raphael. You'd think the story would b...
The Book of Jasher, a non-canonical text with roots possibly stretching back to the Second Temple period, offers some fascinating glimpses. Isaac and Rebecca. We begin with a probl...
(Yes, that's the title of the whole collection.) It's a wild ride through the aggadah – the stories, the embellishments, the "filling in the blanks" that surrounds the more straigh...
Abraham knew that feeling well. Before he was Avraham Avinu, our father Abraham, before the brit bein ha-betarim—the covenant of the pieces—he was just a man with a promise and a p...
Ever find yourself in a sticky situation, and think, "Didn't I just do this?" Well, let's talk about Abraham. He's about to have a serious case of déjà vu. After leaving Egypt, Abr...
The angels in heaven apparently felt that way on behalf of Sarah. We all know Abraham. The patriarch, the man of faith. Well, there's a fascinating little aside in Legends of the J...
Abraham found himself in a quandary. "How," he wondered aloud, "am I going to separate my son Isaac from his mother, Sarah?" It's a universal question, isn't it? How do we let go, ...
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...
But Rebekah? She shone. The text says she didn’t walk in their ways; her piety, her devotion, was on par with Isaac himself. And yet, their marriage wasn't all smooth sailing. Can ...
Their story is well-known: a righteous couple, deeply devoted, yet facing the heartbreaking reality of infertility. They pleaded with God. They poured out their hearts in prayer. A...
He knew that Esau, his brother, harbored murderous intentions. The tension was thick, a palpable danger hanging in the air. But running wasn't exactly Jacob’s first instinct. As th...
That’s almost what happened when Jacob first met Rachel. The story goes that when Jacob arrived in Haran, he encountered the beautiful Rachel at a well. Overjoyed to see his cousin...
How he tricked Esau out of his birthright and blessing. But imagine the weight of that, the fear, the uncertainty… Well, the story doesn’t end there. The Legends of the Jews, that ...
We know the big stories, the miracles, the struggles. But what about their last days? Let's turn our attention to Benjamin, the youngest of Jacob's sons, and how the Legends of the...
