4,193 related texts · Page 12 of 88
Chapter 10 “And it came to pass in the fortieth year, in the eleventh month, on the first day of the month, that Moses spake unto the children of Israel, according unto all that th...
(Deuteronomy 6:4). It's a question that takes us back to a pivotal moment, a deathbed scene filled with both anxiety and profound unity. Devarim Rabbah 2 paints a vivid picture. Ja...
Kingdoms rise and fall, fortunes change in the blink of an eye... It's enough to make you wonder what, if anything, lasts. Ben Sira, that wise sage whose words dance between poetry...
We've all been there. Sometimes even the most ancient texts can feel a little… dry. Today, let's peek into the Book of Jubilees, a fascinating text considered canonical by some Eth...
It’s a story about Judas Maccabeus, a legendary figure of Jewish history, and his relentless fight for his people. After one of his victories, Judas wasn't one to rest on his laure...
Forget the sanitized versions in history books. to a wild scene straight out of 1 Maccabees 6, a book filled with the gritty realities of conflict. We're talking war elephants. But...
The story of the Maccabees gives us a glimpse. Think back to a time of struggle, a time when the very identity of a people was threatened. The Book of Maccabees I recounts just suc...
We've been following the story of Jonathan, leader of the Maccabees, and the complex political landscape of Judea in the Second Temple period. He's navigated alliances, battles, an...
That feeling – that’s what I want to talk about today. Imagine a time of immense struggle. Your people are oppressed, your sacred places desecrated. Hope seems lost. Then, a voice ...
And imagine the joke being about your future descendants! That’s precisely what happened at a feast hosted by none other than Abraham himself, as recounted in Ginzberg’s Legends of...
He feels his time drawing near. According to Legends of the Jews, that monumental collection of Jewish folklore compiled by Louis Ginzberg, Isaac summons his two sons, Jacob and Es...
That's the kind of tension we find ourselves in with the story of Joseph and his brothers in the Book of Genesis, a story amplified and deepened by Jewish legend. Joseph, now a pow...
It’s a question that echoes through the ages, particularly when we grapple with concepts like divine justice and mercy. to a fascinating passage from Ginzberg's Legends of the Jews...
And not just any king, but King Solomon himself. In our continuing saga, we find Solomon not exactly sitting pretty. He's been dethroned, remember? The demon Asmodeus, in a classic...
Eli the high priest had two sons who were a disgrace to everything he stood for. Hophni and Phinehas served at the Tabernacle in Shiloh, but they used their priestly office as a li...
And while the Torah itself seems to discourage the idea, hinting at the impossibility of seeing God and living, the mystical tradition, particularly the Heikhalot (the heavenly pal...
In Mitpachat Sefarim, a collection of Jewish writings whose name literally means "wrapping of books," we find a raw, unflinching look at a generation seemingly gone astray. The aut...
And one fascinating text, the Kalach Pitchei Chokhmah (which translates roughly to "138 Openings of Wisdom"), delves into the concept of a concealed root that underpins all of exis...
It's more than just a record of ancient royalty, I promise. It's a glimpse into the very structure of the cosmos, at least according to the Idra Zuta, a profound and mystical secti...
Our journey begins with the Sh'ma, that quintessential Jewish declaration: "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is One" (Deut. 6:4). The Tikkun (spiritual repair)ei Zohar te...
That’s the kind of struggle we find ourselves in, according to the Tikkun (spiritual repair)ei Zohar. This passage from Tikkunei Zohar 85 throws us right into the middle of such a ...
The most dangerous part of the heavenly ascent described in Maaseh Merkavah (the Divine Chariot) is not the destination—it is the journey. At each of the seven gates leading to the...
Rabbi Yishmael confronted a puzzle in (Deuteronomy 16:2), which says: "And you shall slaughter the Passover to your God — sheep and cattle." But the Passover offering is supposed t...
The Mekhilta, the halakhic midrash on Exodus from the tannaitic period, continues its investigation of a recurring biblical formula: when Scripture says God "has spoken," where exa...
The Mekhilta, the tannaitic midrash on Exodus compiled in the 2nd century CE, traces another instance of the Bible's "as He spoke" formula — a device the rabbis use to link later p...
When Moses recounted his frustrated plea to enter the Promised Land, he told the Israelites: "And the Lord was wroth with me because of you" (Deuteronomy 3:26). The Hebrew word "bi...
The Mekhilta tells a parable about a man walking along a road with his young son. At first, the father leads his child in front of him, keeping the boy in sight. But then robbers a...
(Deuteronomy 12:6) says: "And you shall bring there your burnt-offerings and your sacrifices and the first-born of your herds and flocks." This seems to require bringing the first-...
Midrash Tehillim, a collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Book of Psalms, offers a fascinating glimpse into this very idea, particularly in its eighth section. Our journey ...
The ancient rabbis grappled with this too. They felt it on a national level, in their relationship with God. And they didn't shy away from the tough questions. They wrestled with t...
Rabbi Zadok offers us a glimpse into the origins of the Anakim. These weren't just big people; they were giants born of arrogance, their hearts filled with pride. And what did this...
We often think of the plagues, the parting of the Red Sea…miracles, plain and simple. But Jewish tradition, in its beautiful way, also emphasizes the human element. It wasn't just ...
Like you're reading something and thinking, "Wait, didn't we already cover this?" You're not wrong. There are layers upon layers of meaning embedded in what might seem like redunda...
But what about the rules? Were kings held to a different standard? Well, let’s turn to the Book of Deuteronomy, Sefer Devarim, specifically (Deuteronomy 17:17). It says, “And he sh...
Our ancestors grappled with these questions too, trying to decipher the hidden language of the world around them. And that's what leads us into the fascinating, and sometimes murky...
The verse reads: "If there arise a witness chamas against a man to testify against him sarah." Now, on the surface, it seems straightforward: a witness is accusing someone of wrong...
It's fascinating, isn't it, how deeply Jewish law delves into the everyday details of life? We find this concern for fairness, even in commerce, in Sifrei Devarim, a collection of ...
Genesis 14 is a war chapter—four kings against five, a battle in the Valley of Siddim, Lot taken captive, Abraham riding to the rescue. The Hebrew text is spare and military. But t...
The Targum Jonathan on (Deuteronomy 14) transforms a list of dietary laws into a detailed zoological manual. Where the Hebrew names animals and moves on, the Targum adds identifyin...
The covenant at Moab in (Deuteronomy 29) is addressed to the Israelites standing there. Targum Jonathan expands the audience to infinity: "all the generations which have arisen fro...
"Devarim Zuta": This is a midrash on the Book of Deuteronomy that was known to the author of the Yalkut Shimoni, and it appears in the Yalkut Shimoni for the Book of Deuteronomy 31...
A group of pagan astrologers — men who read the stars and claimed to know the future — once came before a Jewish court. They had traveled from distant lands, driven by a question t...
"The eternal God is thy dwelling-place, and underneath are the everlasting arms" (Deuteronomy 33:27). Jacob came to Egypt to find his son alive — the son he had grieved for twenty-...
The pattern repeats. Israel suffers, God rescues, and Israel sings. Then the singing stops, and the same behavior that caused the original suffering returns. The Holy One watches t...
We usually picture temptation as a simple act, but the Rabbis of the Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary) saw something far more complex, a twisted theological argument desig...
It all starts with the verse from (Ecclesiastes 5:6): "So it is with a multitude of dreams and vanities and many words; rather, fear God.” The verse seems to be saying that too muc...
It's more than just annoying; some ancient wisdom traditions see it as a dangerous imbalance, a distortion of the very self. Philo, a Jewish philosopher living in Alexandria in the...
(Deut. 2:3:) “You have had enough of going about this mountain.” This text is related (to Cant. 2:7=3:5), “I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem by gazelles or by hinds of the fie...
