2,302 related texts · 12 related myths · Page 4 of 48
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 ...
Legends of the Jews turns to Benjamin Died Peacefully and Was Carried to Hebron. Simply, "And when he had made an end of saying these words, he commanded them to bury him in Hebron...
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...
Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer turns to Sarah — The Binding of Isaac. The Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer, a fascinating collection of stories and interpretations from around the 8th century, tells...
Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer, a fascinating early medieval Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary), offers a beautiful, almost poetic, pattern recognition. It points out a recurring m...
A detail tucked away in Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer, a fascinating early medieval text filled with stories and interpretations expanding on the Torah. Specifically, the story turns to C...
The Torah touches on this very idea, and it's more profound than it first appears. Think about Abraham. He's already a patriarch, a leader, a man of faith. But something is missing...
Bereshit Rabbah turns to Sarah's Tent. The tradition says while Sarah was alive, four miracles were constant features of her tent. These signs weren't just random occurrences; they...
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...
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 unpacki...
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...
The question before us is this: Why did Sarah, barren and yearning for a child, actually suggest that Abraham sleep with her handmaid, Hagar? Seems a bit… counterintuitive, doesn't...
Affliction is often remembered 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… ...
And Abraham took another wife (Gen. 25:1). What is written previously concerning this matter? And Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah’s tent (Gen. 24:67). You learn from this t...
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 Tikkunei (spiritual repair) 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...
Rabbi Eliezer tackles a textual ambiguity in the Torah's laws of servitude that has real legal consequences. The verse under discussion deals with the acquisition of servants, and ...
Sifrei Devarim turns to Where Exactly on the Ear a Servant Is Pierced. R. Eliezer Yuden Berebbi, a sage known for his insightful teachings, believed the piercing should be done spe...
The familiar reading treats 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 ...
That feeling, that very human emotion, is at the heart of our story today, straight from the Book of Jubilees. Remember Jacob? He of the ladder dream and the trickster uncle? Well,...
The familiar telling remembers Rachel, Jacob's great love. But what about her sister, Leah? The Book of Jubilees, an ancient Jewish text that retells and expands upon the stories i...
Our hero, Tobiyyah, has just married Sarah, a woman who, shall we say, had a complicated dating history. Seven previous husbands, each meeting an untimely end on their wedding nigh...
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 ...
The journey to Mount Moriah was filled with unspoken tension and simmering rivalry. Abraham, his heart heavy, walked alongside Isaac, while Sarah and the servants retreated back to...
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...
Not necessarily! The Legends of the Jews hints that even after Abraham's passing, his work wasn't finished. It paints a picture of him continuing to intercede for sinners, not just...
The Torah tells us that Esau harbored a deep-seated hatred for Jacob because of that stolen blessing. He felt utterly cheated. And Jacob, well, he was understandably terrified of h...
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 – that Joseph's line would eventu...
Legends of the Jews turns to Isaac's Transgression of Esau. Ginzberg, in Legends of the Jews, drawing from a wealth of traditional sources, paints a poignant picture. As his days d...
Jacob, also known as Israel, patriarch of the Israelite nation, has passed away. His sons, the heads of the tribes, are preparing to lay him to rest in the Machpelah (מַכְפֵּלָה), ...
Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer turns to Rebecca's Transgression of Isaac. Where was Isaac? Well, he had gone out to say the afternoon-evening prayer, the Minchah, "to meditate in the field...
While there are many answers, one particularly intriguing idea comes from Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer, a fascinating early medieval text that explores biblical narratives and Jewish law...
Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer turns to Kingdom of Isaac of Esau. Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer, a fascinating collection of stories and interpretations from the early Middle Ages, gives us a gli...
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, whe...
"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...
Abraham has no interest in Ephron's performance. In Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on (Genesis 23:13), the patriarch addresses Ephron before the people of the land, the witnesses must hear...
