4,193 related texts · Page 34 of 88
It all starts with the phrase "Command the children of Israel" – which, on the surface, sounds like a divine order. But the Rabbis, masters of unpacking layers of meaning, saw some...
“How the Lord has clouded the daughter of Zion in His wrath. He cast the splendor of Israel from the heavens to the earth, and did not remember His footstool on the day of His wrat...
“The elders of the daughter of Zion sit on the ground, are silent. They have placed dust on their heads, have girded themselves with sackcloth. The virgins of Jerusalem have lowere...
“Be glad and rejoice, daughter of Edom, who resides in the land of Utz: the cup will pass to you too; you will get drunk, and you will be overturned” (Lamentations 4:21).“Be glad a...
“Your iniquity is completed, daughter of Zion; He will not continue to exile you. He will reckon your iniquity, daughter of Edom, He will expose your sins” (Lamentations 4:22).“You...
Are we, heaven forbid, idolaters, bowing down to wood and parchment? Rabbi Menasheh ben Yisrael, of blessed memory, addressed this very concern in his book, Teshuat Yisrael. He fel...
It’s powerful stuff, and not everyone agrees on how much we should explore it. We see this tension reflected in the words of the sage Yair, who seems hesitant to delve too deeply i...
Jewish thought is FULL of those moments. Let’s unpack one, shall we? Our journey starts with what some might call "foolishness and evil folly." Strong words. The text we're looking...
And it's something reflected even in our ancient texts. Imagine being accused of disrespecting the very wisdom you hold sacred. That's the situation hinted at in this passage, a pa...
Take the covenant God makes with Abraham in Genesis 15. It's a big moment. God promises Abraham this whole huge swathe of land for his descendants. But then it gets…well, geographi...
And Moses told Aaron all the words of the Lord (Exod. 4:29). Moses began to reveal to him everything that the Holy One, blessed be He, had told him, and that he was to go perform t...
See, I have set thee in God’s stead to Pharaoh, and Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet (Exod. 7:1). Just as the lecturer sits and lectures, and the interpreter explains his wor...
Another explanation of the verse: And God spoke (Exod. 20:1). Scripture says elsewhere in reference to this verse: Then did He see it, and declare it; He established it, yea, and s...
Neither shalt thou go up by steps unto mine altar, that thy nakedness be not uncovered thereon (Exod. 20:23). A logical conclusion may be derived from these words. If in regard to ...
(Numb. 16:1:) “Now Korah betook himself.” This text is related (to Prov. 18:19), “A brother offended (rt.: psh') is more formidable than a fortified city; [such] contentions are li...
(Numb. 20:18:) “But Edom said unto him, “You shall not pass through me.’” This text is related to Ps. 120:7), “I am for peace; but when I speak, they are for war.” Where is it show...
(Numb. 21:25:) “Israel took all these towns….” This text is related (to Is. 61:8), “Because I the Lord love justice, I hate robbery with a burnt offering.”152Numb. R. 19:30. The Ho...
(Numb. 22:4:) “So Moab said unto the elders of Midian.” What is the relevance of [mentioning] the elders of Midian here?7Numb. R. 20:4. It is simply that they saw Israel conquering...
(Numb. 22:4, cont.:) “Now Balak ben Zippor was king of Moab….” But was he not formerly a prince, as stated (in Josh. 13:21), “Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba, princes of Sihon?”10Ac...
(Numb. 22:7:) “So the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian went with [the tools for] divination in their hand,” for they brought in their hands all kinds of divining instruments...
(Numb. 25:1:) “[While Israel was staying at Shittim,] the people began to go whoring.” There are springs that rear warriors, and there are those that rear weaklings; some that rear...
(Numb. 25:2:) “And they invited the people to the sacrifices for their gods.” Thus they (i.e., daughters of Moab) were going by the counsel of Balaam, as stated (in Numb. 31:16), “...
(Numb. 34:1–2:) “Then the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying, ‘Command the Children of Israel [and say unto them], “When you come into the Land of Canaan, [this is the land]....”’” [“Th...
All of the commandment that I command you today (Deuteronomy 8:1): This is what the verse stated (Proverbs 4:22), "They are life to him who finds them, healing for his whole body,"...
At that time, the Lord said to me, "Carve out two tablets of stone like the first ones" (Deuteronomy 10:1): This is what the verse stated (Jeremiah 2:20), "For long ago you broke y...
See I, etc. (Deuteronomy 11:26): This is what is stated in the verse (Job 36:10-12), "He opens their ear by discipline, etc. If they will listen and serve, they shall spend their d...
Another interpretation: "As these nations that you are about to dispossess, etc. but you not like this to you" (Deuteronomy 18:14). It is speaking about Avraham, as he saw through ...
You shall offer it terms of peace (Deuteronomy 20:10): Rabbi Levi said, "Moshe did three things and the Holy One, blessed be He, agreed with him. And these are them: It is written ...
These words: This is what the verse stated, "Have I not written you thirds with counsels (moatsot) and knowledge" (Proverbs 22:20). The numerical equivalent of counsels is six hund...
One such story, preserved in Vita Adae et Evae (The Life of Adam and Eve), tells of a remarkable vision. It's a bit obscure, not as well-known as other heavenly journeys like Enoch...
It all starts with a divine download, so to speak. The book tells us it contains the secret history of how time is divided – days, weeks, years, and especially those big jubilees, ...
That's the scene set for us right at the beginning of Jubilees. God commands Moses, "Write down for thyself all these words which I declare unto thee on this mountain, the first an...
It's a story that still resonates, a testament to courage and faith against all hope, found in the Book of Maccabees I. The scene is almost overwhelming. Imagine looking out and se...
We often associate it with powerful Egyptian rulers, but its origins are a bit…unconventional, to say the least. Buckle up, because the Book of Jasher has a wild story to tell abou...
Book of Jasher, a fascinating, albeit non-canonical, work that expands upon biblical narratives. According to Jasher, Jacob lived in Egypt for seventeen years, reaching the ripe ol...
We all know the story of the Exodus, the burning bush, the parting of the Red Sea. But what about the years leading up to that moment? The Book of Jasher, an ancient Hebrew text of...
At nearly nine meters long, the Temple Scroll (Megillat HaMikdash, מגילת המקדש) is the longest of all the Dead Sea Scrolls. Found in Cave 11, it may date from the late 2nd century ...
After the flood, the entire earth was split into three portions. According to the Chronicles of Jerahmeel, a 12th-century Hebrew chronicle translated by Moses Gaster in 1899, each ...
Before the third day, the earth was a watery expanse. Then, God commanded, "Let the waters be gathered together," and suddenly, mountains and hills burst forth, creating basins for...
It's not just about a crime; it's about the very introduction of wickedness into the world. The stakes were high from the very beginning. Our sages tell us that there were ten gene...
According to Ginzberg's Legends of the Jews, God revealed Himself to Abraham shortly after, to ease his conscience about the spilling of innocent blood, a scruple that caused him g...
We often think of Abraham's journey as beginning with the covenant God made with him, the "covenant of the pieces," promising him descendants as numerous as the stars. But as Legen...
According to Legends of the Jews, as retold by Ginzberg, the angels who were sent to destroy these cities didn't rush in with fiery vengeance. No, these were angels of mercy. They ...
The story, as we find it elaborated upon in Legends of the Jews by Ginzberg, takes us far beyond the spare verses of Genesis. It paints a vivid picture, filled with dialogue and em...
"Throw the stick up in the air," goes the saying, "it will always return to its original place." And perhaps that's how Zuleika, Potiphar's wife, felt about her growing desire for ...
As we read in Legends of the Jews, a masterful retelling of Jewish lore by Rabbi Louis Ginzberg, Joseph began to reap the rewards for his unwavering commitment to virtue. It's a po...
That's the situation Joseph finds himself in as the story in Genesis reaches its climax. We've seen Joseph rise to power in Egypt, second only to Pharaoh himself. We've seen his br...
We know the big names – Abraham, Moses, David. But what about the supporting cast, the characters who, while not central to the main narrative, still managed to leave their mark, h...
