5,341 related texts · 2 related myths · Page 1 of 112
. Another reading: “Comfort, oh comfort My people” (Isaiah 40:1) Said the Holy Blessed One: Who needs to be comforted? For one whose wife died, not the husband? Thus was Zion analo...
“I called to my lovers, they deceived me; my priests and my elders perished in the city while they sought food for themselves to restore their souls” (Lamentations 1:19).“I called ...
"You shall not steal", this is the eighth of the Ten Commandments. But what kind of stealing does it prohibit? The Mekhilta argues it refers to kidnapping, not theft of property. T...
Leviticus 19 contains the famous command "love your neighbor as yourself." The Targum Jonathan's version is subtly different: "thou shalt love thy neighbour himself, as that though...
It suggests that the Holy One, blessed be He, uses two primary attributes to guide the world: justice and singular governance. But what do those really mean? Justice, in this conte...
“Our inheritance has been turned over to strangers, our houses to foreigners” (Lamentations 5:2).“Our inheritance has been turned over to strangers.” What type of turning? It is “l...
(Deut. 16:19, cont. ) “You shall not take a bribe.” When the judge sets his heart on a bribe, he becomes blind to justice and he is unable to judge [a case] honestly. R. Eliezer sa...
The rabbis once overruled God. And God laughed. According to Bava Metzia 59b, the incident began with an argument about an oven. Rabbi Eliezer declared a certain oven ritually pure...
In what lies in the other ark it is written (Exodus 20) "I am the L–rd your G–d," and of Joseph it is written (Genesis 50:19) "Am I in the place of G–d?" In what lies in this ark i...
These are the generations of Aaron and Moses. [Betai Midrashot (rabbinic interpretive commentary) Third Chamber] Our rabbis taught: Brothers who are partners and who increased asse...
Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary) Sheni Ketuvim In the beginning God created etc. - To declare the might of the acts of creation to creatures, and to make it known to them...
“Gone from the daughter of Zion is all her splendor. Her princes are like deer that have not found pasture; they went powerless before the pursuer” (Lamentations 1:6)“Gone from the...
“In the first month, that is, the month Nisan, in the twelfth year of King Aḥashverosh, he had cast a pur, that is, the lot, before Haman for each day and for each month, to the tw...
Why do the laws of adjudication, civil justice, take precedence over all the other commandments in the Torah? Rabbi Shimon gave a deceptively simple answer: because adjudication cr...
Sifrei Devarim turns to Anything Can Become a Molech If It Rules Over You. R. Chanina b. Antignos, quoted in the Sifrei Devarim, offers a fascinating perspective. Why, he asks, is ...
What happens to those grapes? Who do they belong to? It seems like a simple question, but like so many things in Jewish tradition, it opens up a fascinating window into our values....
Every day three choirs of ministering angels stand before the throne and sing. The first class sings, "Holy!" The second answers, "Holy!" The third completes the line: "Holy is the...
The Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary), specifically Shemot Rabbah, dives right into this question with a powerful idea. It begins with the verse, "These are the ordinances...
" The passage begins by asking a fundamental question: why the term "redeemer of blood"? It all hinges on the verse, "If the avenger of blood finds him, he may kill him" (Numbers 3...
The verse in question, often translated as "He also loved the peoples," is the starting point. But what does it mean? Does God love all nations equally? Or is there, perhaps, a… hi...
Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on Exodus (Exodus 23:33) gives a final warning before the conquest: Thou shalt not let them dwell in thy land, lest they cause thee to err, and to sin before...
Shemot Rabbah turns to God Gave Israel Control Over the Calendar. What does it mean? God is saying: "I'm giving you something special. This is just for you." What exactly is this "...
Rabbi Berekhya said: The Holy one blessed be He recorded the redemption of Israel in the Torah, as it is written: “If a stranger who is a resident among you shall prosper…” (Leviti...
(Numb. 22:2:) “Now Balak [ben Zippor] saw (rt. r'h).” This text is related (to Deut. 32:4), “The Rock, His work is perfect, because all His ways are justice.” As the Holy One, bles...
R. Yehudah says: It is written (Leviticus 20:27) "And a man or a woman, if there be in them an ov or a yidoni" (shall be stoned). Now "ov" and "yidoni" are types of witchcraft. Why...
The Mekhilta catalogs the multiple transgressions committed by someone who lends money at interest. From the Torah's various prohibitions against usury, the rabbis identified five ...
Two great tannaim weighed the ethics of the courtroom. Rabbi Ishmael taught: when an Israelite and a stranger come before you in judgment, acquit the Israelite by the laws of Israe...
In the Legends of the Jews, Ginzberg retells this powerful moment where Abraham challenges God's justice. Can you Arguing with the Almighty! God, having already destroyed generatio...
Legends of the Jews turns to Moses Pleads for Mercy to Overcome Divine Justice. He continues, reminding God of a fundamental truth: "Thou Thyself didst tell me when I asked Thee ho...
Elijah the Prophet appears in this tale as the measure of justice when friendship, mercy, and fairness collide. One such tale, found within Ginzberg's Legends of the Jews, recounts...
In the mystical traditions of Judaism, particularly in the Heikhalot (the heavenly palaces) literature, we encounter just such figures.Heikhalot Rabbati, which translates to "The G...
The Torah states a blunt exclusion about the Paschal lamb: "No stranger may eat of it." The Mekhilta explains who "stranger" includes, and the answer is broader than it first appea...
Beloved is Israel. So beloved that God gave entire nations as kofer, as ransom, for the souls of His people. The proof is (Isaiah 43:3): "I gave Egypt as kofer for you, Ethiopia an...
Beloved are the strangers, the converts to Judaism. The Mekhilta emphasizes how many times the Torah exhorts Israel to treat them well. "And a stranger you shall not afflict" (Exod...
Beloved are the strangers, for by every epithet that Israel is called, the strangers are called. Israelites are called "servants," as it is written (Leviticus 25:55) "For unto Me t...
Beloved are the converts, and the Mekhilta offers a stunning proof: God delayed Abraham's circumcision until the age of ninety-nine specifically to keep the door open for future co...
It all comes down to this idea: God loves the stranger. Why? What's so special about the stranger? Midrash Tehillim, a collection of rabbinic teachings on the Book of Psalms, offer...
In the Book of Numbers (Bamidbar), chapter 9, verses 9 and 10, we read: "And the L-rd spoke to Moses, saying: Speak to the children of Israel, saying: A man if he be unclean by a d...
The ancient rabbis pondered this question, especially when thinking about Eretz Yisrael, the Land of Israel. They looked at the intense historical desire for this particular piece ...
Sifrei Devarim stops over the phrase "sheep and cattle" and refuses to let even those plain words pass untouched. The text asks a pointed question: Doesn't the Pesach (Passover) of...
Once the anointing oil had been compounded and the vessels of the sanctuary had been touched with it, they were no longer ordinary. Targum Pseudo-Jonathan describes what happened t...
We make choices every day about who or what we'll put our faith in. What if the best choice wasn't about picking the flashiest option, but choosing the source of all blessings inst...
Old Tobi, from the Book of Tobit, definitely knew that feeling. Here’s a scene: Tobi, blind and worried about his son Tobias's perilous journey, needs a reliable guide. He finds on...
Sometimes, the most righteous outcomes arise from the most unexpected places. to a fascinating story from the Book of Susanna, a tale of false accusations, quick thinking, and divi...
Rebekah, wife of Isaac and mother of Jacob and Esau, certainly did. Isaac, old and blind, is about to bestow a blessing – a powerful, almost magical blessing – on his eldest son, E...
Legends of the Jews turns to Joseph Accused the Brothers of Stealing His Divination Cup. He accuses them, quite dramatically, of stealing his cup! "What deed is this that ye have d...
Maybe it's because they tap into something deeply human, a shared understanding of fairness, justice, and even… reputation. to a fascinating little tidbit from the vast ocean of Je...
The story of Micah and his homemade sanctuary is a wild ride through the human tendency to, well, improvise. We find this tale tucked away in Ginzberg's Legends of the Jews, painti...
