2,028 related texts · Page 3 of 43
The ancient rabbis certainly did. And they found evidence of it woven throughout the stories of our ancestors. to a fascinating little gem from Midrash Tehillim (a collection of ra...
It’s in those very moments that Jewish tradition whispers some of its most powerful promises. to one such whisper, found in the Pesikta DeRav Kahana, a collection of rabbinic teach...
This particular passage, from Chapter 26, gives us a glimpse into Sarah's encounters with powerful rulers and the surprising twists that shaped her journey. It all starts with Phar...
The ancient text Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer, a collection of stories and interpretations of the Hebrew Bible, gives us a glimpse into just such a moment. Specifically, it focuses on Ab...
That's the weight hanging over Abraham as our story begins. The Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer, a fascinating collection of stories and interpretations from around the 8th century, tells u...
Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer, a fascinating early medieval Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary), offers a beautiful, almost poetic, pattern recognition. It points out a recurring m...
Today, let's talk about a detail tucked away in Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer, a fascinating early medieval text filled with stories and interpretations expanding on the Torah. Specifical...
The Torah touches on this very idea, and it's more profound than you might think. Think about Abraham. He's already a patriarch, a leader, a man of faith. But something is missing....
To have a little piece of the Garden of Eden right in your own backyard... or, in this case, your own tent flap? Jewish tradition paints a beautiful picture of Sarah's tent, offeri...
Why does (Genesis 3:16) say, "To the woman He said: I will increase your suffering and your pregnancy; in pain you shall give birth to children, and your desire shall be for your h...
The rabbis of old, wrestling with this very question, spun a fascinating tale in Bereshit Rabbah 40, a collection of rabbinic interpretations of the Book of Genesis. The story begi...
Take the tale of Pharaoh and Sarah in Genesis. We know the basic outline: Abraham and Sarah enter Egypt, Abraham says Sarah is his sister, Pharaoh takes Sarah into his house, and t...
But the Rabbis, in their infinite wisdom, saw so much more. The Bereshit Rabbah, that incredible collection of rabbinic interpretations of Genesis, dedicates a whole section to unp...
The Torah, and the rabbinic tradition that blossoms from it, is obsessed with this very question. to a fascinating passage from Bereshit Rabbah 53, a midrash – a rabbinic interpret...
The Torah gives us a glimpse, a tantalizing hint, when describing Isaac bringing Rebecca into his mother Sarah’s tent. (Genesis 24:67) tells us, “Isaac brought her into the tent of...
Let’s pull up a chair and delve into one of those moments – a complicated one, to be sure, involving Sarah, Abraham, and Hagar. The question before us is this: Why did Sarah, barre...
We often think of affliction as purely negative, something to be avoided at all costs. But what if I told you that, according to some ancient wisdom, affliction can actually be… be...
We're diving into a very specific verse: (Genesis 16:8). It's where Hagar, the maidservant of Sarah, answers the angel's question about where she's going. Her reply? "I am fleeing ...
The Gibeonites were a Canaanite group who cleverly tricked Joshua into making a covenant with them. They knew the Israelites were conquering the land, and so they pretended to be t...
The Tikkun (spiritual repair)ei Zohar, a central text of Kabbalah, uses this very image – a woman filling her pitcher – to describe the Shekhinah, the Divine Presence. It's a power...
The passage we're looking at comes from Sifrei Devarim 122. It’s focused on clarifying exactly where on the ear this piercing should take place. R. Eliezer Yuden Berebbi, a sage kn...
We often read the stories of the Torah, of the Hebrew Bible, as one continuous flow, but sometimes pausing to consider when things happened adds a whole new layer of meaning. Take ...
That feeling, that very human emotion, is at the heart of our story today, straight from the Book of Jubilees. We’re talking about Jacob. Remember Jacob? He of the ladder dream and...
Let’s talk about Leah. We often hear about Rachel, Jacob's great love. But what about her sister, Leah? The Book of Jubilees, an ancient Jewish text that retells and expands upon t...
to a little story from the Book of Tobit that might just offer a glimpse. Our hero, Tobiyyah, has just married Sarah, a woman who, shall we say, had a complicated dating history. S...
While not part of the accepted biblical canon, Jasher (meaning "Upright" or "Correct Record") offers a fascinating, if sometimes embellished, account of biblical events. And Chapte...
The stories we hear about Sodom in the Torah only scratch the surface. Jewish tradition paints a truly horrifying picture of this infamous city and its sister, Gomorrah. According ...
According to Ginzberg's retelling in Legends of the Jews, the journey to Mount Moriah was filled with unspoken tension and simmering rivalry. Abraham, his heart heavy, walked along...
Remember, Abraham, wanting to secure a future for his son within his own lineage, sent Eliezer on this crucial mission. But it wasn't just a simple "go find a nice girl" kind of er...
Remember, Eliezer had journeyed to Haran to find a suitable wife for Isaac. Now, his return was nothing short of miraculous. The Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary) tells us...
It’s a poignant moment, and the Torah is silent about Isaac's immediate reaction. But Jewish tradition, ever eager to fill in the gaps, gives us a fascinating glimpse into what mig...
According to Legends of the Jews, he was just waiting for Joseph to be born so he could finally head home. Why? Because Jacob had a sense – a ruach (spirit) hakodesh, a holy spirit...
We know so much about their journeys, their struggles, their revelations... but how did they actually go? Let's turn our attention to the passing of Isaac. Ginzberg, in Legends of ...
Let’s talk about Jacob's burial – it wasn't exactly a peaceful affair. Imagine the scene: Jacob, also known as Israel, patriarch of the Israelite nation, has passed away. His sons,...
The Torah records a remarkable exchange in (Genesis 10:15): "And Canaan begot Tziddon, his first-born, and Cheth." Generations later, the sons of Cheth — the Hittites — encountered...
Lead with something positive before diving into the difficult stuff. It turns out, this isn't just good manners; it's a lesson we learn from God Himself! Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer, a ...
Not just for a little while, but potentially… forever. What would you do? How far would your trust in the divine stretch? That’s the kind of situation Abraham faced, according to P...
And while there are many answers, one particularly intriguing idea comes from Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer, a fascinating early medieval text that delves into biblical narratives and Jew...
The scene: Jacob is on his deathbed. He summons his beloved son, Joseph. This isn't just a goodbye; it's a moment of profound importance. Jacob says, "O my son! Swear to me by the ...
Sarah died at one hundred and twenty-seven years old. The Torah records the number. The Targum records the aftermath: Abraham came from "the mountain of worship"—Mount Moriah, wher...
"Remember what Amalek did to you" (Deuteronomy 25:17). God remembers the righteous for good and the wicked for destruction. When He recalled Abraham, He spoke with affection: "Shal...
Take lentils, for example. Humble, unassuming… yet, in Jewish tradition, they're deeply tied to mourning and sorrow. Why lentils? The tradition tells us that when Cain killed Abel,...
Our story centers on Sarai (later Sarah) and Abram (later Abraham), a couple facing the heartbreaking reality of childlessness. Sarai, in a desperate attempt to fulfill the divine ...
Rabbi Akiva knew the feeling well! The Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary) tells us he was once teaching, and noticed his audience starting to nod off. So, being the quick-w...
Talk about divine connection! Rabbi Shimon ben Yoḥai, a towering figure in Jewish mysticism, points to three individuals who experienced this incredible immediacy. He says there ar...
The text opens with a discussion about "messengers" (malakhim). Were they ordinary people, or something more? Some Rabbis suggest they were actual angels! It blurs the lines betwee...
There was an incident in which Rabbi Yehoshua was walking along the path.49This was a path through a field that was created by people traversing it. A certain person found him walk...
The Torah tells us that Isaac eventually married Rebecca. But did you know that, according to some traditions, they faced a long period of infertility? Twenty-two years, to be exac...
