2,028 related texts · Page 9 of 43
Sometimes, the answer lies hidden in the stories of our ancestors, like the tale of Asher, one of Jacob's twelve sons. In (Genesis 30:12), we read, "Zilpa the maidservant of Leah g...
We pick up the story with Jacob preparing to leave Laban. Remember the scene? Jacob, after years of hard work and trickery (and being tricked himself!), is finally heading back to ...
Jacob's upcoming encounter with his estranged brother Esau is a masterclass in diplomacy, and it holds surprising lessons even for emperors. In (Genesis 32:5), Jacob instructs his ...
We all know the story: Joseph, sold into slavery in Egypt. But the Rabbis in Bereshit Rabbah (86) ask us to consider this: "“[Potiphar…an Egyptian man,] purchased him [from the Ish...
These questions, and more, bubble to the surface as we delve into a fascinating passage from Kohelet Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Book of Ecclesiastes. O...
"Distribute a portion to seven, and also to eight, as you do not know what evil will be upon the earth" (Ecclesiastes 11:2). Simple enough. But what does it mean? That’s where Kohe...
Get out as fast as possible! But (Exodus 13:17) tells us, "It was when Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them via the land of the Philistines, although it was near, as Go...
Our ancestors felt it too. to a fascinating little piece from Vayikra Rabbah, a Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary)ic collection that unpacks the book of Leviticus. This par...
“When they [the king’s servants] spoke to him [Mordekhai] daily and he did not heed them, they told Haman, to see whether Mordekhai’s words would prevail; for he had told to them t...
Philo, a Jewish philosopher from Alexandria, writing way back in the first century CE, thought so. He saw these narratives as having layers of meaning, a literal interpretation and...
The Torah, in its often subtle way, touches upon this very question. Our passage focuses on a seemingly small detail in the story of Sarah and Hagar. You remember the story. Sarah,...
We all know the story of Abraham, or Avraham as we say in Hebrew, and his wife Sarah, or Sarah. They longed for a child, but time was passing. So Sarah, following the customs of th...
Sometimes, it’s in those tiny nuances that we find the biggest revelations. Take the story of Sarah. We all know Sarah. Wife of Abraham, matriarch of our people. But have you ever ...
But stick with me. We find a fascinating idea tucked away in the Midrash of Philo, a collection of interpretations attributed to the Jewish philosopher Philo of Alexandria. It's al...
Like the universe is saying, "Okay, sure, but are you really ready for this?" That's the kind of vibe I get from this little nugget of a midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary) ...
And there was a famine in the land (Gen. 12:10) What is stated in Scripture prior to this verse? It is written: And the Lord said to Abraham: “Get thee.” Blessed be the name of the...
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...
Jewish tradition offers some breathtakingly beautiful, and frankly, wild, ideas about the journey of the soul. One particularly vivid picture involves Adam, the first man, acting a...
One particularly evocative description involves a journey through portals and paradises, a kind of spiritual pilgrimage. According to these traditions, the Gan Eden, the Garden of ...
The tradition is rich with details, offering us glimpses into their lives and legacies. Let's turn our attention to two of Jacob’s sons: Issachar and Zebulon. Imagine the scene: Is...
We all know the story: Noah, his family, and a boatload of animals. But Jewish tradition sometimes offers surprising twists, doesn't it? The Book of Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer, a fasci...
Let me tell you a story from Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer that might sound familiar. It's about miracles, doubt, and what it really takes to bring something back to life. We're talking a...
The Sifrei Devarim, a collection of early rabbinic legal interpretations on the Book of Deuteronomy, tells us about this pivotal place. It wasn't just any mountain; it was the plac...
Then came Amalek and fought with Israel in Rephidim (Exod. 17:8). R. Eliezer the son of Hisma said: This verse should be understood and interpreted in relation to the verse quoted ...
(Lev. 25:14:) “When you sell property to your kinsman.” This text is related (to Prov. 28:22), “An evil-eyed person moves quickly after wealth, [and he does not know that loss will...
Thirty years after Babylon burned Jerusalem to the ground, a man named Ezra lay on his bed in the city of his captors and could not sleep. His thoughts boiled. His heart raged. Bec...
Uriel took Ezra back to the beginning. Before the portals of the world were in place. Before the winds blew or thunder sounded. Before the innumerable hosts of angels were gathered...
The ninth chapter of the Tanya maps the battlefield inside every human being. The animal soul—the nefesh (the vital soul) habehamit (נפש הבהמית)—lives in the left ventricle of the ...
Rabbi Nachman of Breslov taught that the pursuit of honor is a spiritual trap, and the only escape is through silence in the face of humiliation. When a person chases honor, they n...
A sigh from a Jewish person can repair what is broken in the world. Rabbi Nachman of Breslov taught this not as poetry but as metaphysics. The sigh, the deep exhalation of grief or...
The essence of life comes from prayer. Rabbi Nachman of Breslov derives this from a single verse: "Prayer to the God of my life" (Psalms 42:9). Prayer is not merely an appeal to th...
The true tzaddik (a righteous person), Rabbi Nachman of Breslov teaches, is the one who looks at every detail of creation and asks: why did God make it this way? Why does a lion ha...
The Torah says about a kidnapper: "and sells him" (Exodus 21:16). The Mekhilta derives from this phrasing that the kidnapper is liable only if he sells the entire person, not half....
The Talmud's dream encyclopedia in Berakhot 57b extends far beyond animals and actions. It maps the entire biblical library onto the landscape of sleep. Rabbi Yohanan taught that i...
When Pharaoh decided to enslave the Israelites, he consulted three advisors. According to Sotah 11a, what happened to each of them perfectly matched the advice they gave. Balaam re...
After the expulsion from Eden, Adam separated from Eve for 130 years. According to Eruvin 18b, during that long estrangement, he fathered an entirely different kind of offspring—de...
The Small Letters and their Purposes The ALEPH in ויקרא And He called (Leviticus 1:1) is small, to teach that the Holy Blessed One is only revealed to the nations of the earth thro...
Three days after his circumcision, Abraham sat at the entrance of his tent in the heat of the day — sore, exhausted, ninety-nine years old. And God appeared to him (Genesis 18:1). ...
When God looks down at a wicked generation, the rabbis said, He searches for one righteous person to carry the weight of atonement for all the rest. This is the reading Aggadat Ber...
Jacob saw the leaders of Esau listed in the Torah — king after king after king (Genesis 36:31-43) — and was afraid. "How can I stand against all of them? I am one man." The Holy On...
“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...
“It was contemptible in his eyes to lay hands on Mordekhai alone, for they had told him of Mordekhai’s people; Haman sought to destroy all the Jews that were in the whole kingdom o...
The land was barren. A terrible famine gripped the region, forcing Abraham and Sarah to seek refuge in Egypt. They first tried Hebron, but the hunger was everywhere. So, they journ...
It's packed with advice on everything from how to treat your servants to, yes, even your daughters. Some of it might sound a little… antiquated to our modern ears. But bear with me...
The Book of Jubilees, a text not included in the canonical Hebrew Bible, offers a fascinating, often expanded, retelling of biblical narratives. It paints a vivid picture of ancien...
More specifically, it's the year Abraham passed away. And where are his sons, Isaac and Ishmael? They’re making a journey. The Book of Jubilees, a text considered canonical by the ...
Isaac, son of Abraham, certainly knew that feeling. Our story picks up with him journeying towards Gerar, a Philistine territory, seeking refuge with King Abimelech. (Jubilees 24)....
We all know that feeling. And it's a story as old as time. Or at least, as old as Isaac in the Book of Jubilees. The Philistines were not happy campers. They looked at Isaac, saw h...
