5,341 related texts · 2 related myths · Page 3 of 112
In the Kabbalistic text, Kalach Pitchei Chokhmah (Wisdom), we get a glimpse into a truly profound answer. It all boils down, they say, to "a single law of perfect repair." Tikkun (...
The Jewish mystical tradition, particularly the Zohar, offers some pretty ideas about that. A small but potent passage from Tikkunei (spiritual repair) Zohar 34 – a section that un...
The Tikkunei (spiritual repair) Zohar, a mystical companion to the Zohar, certainly thinks so. It's all about unlocking those secrets, revealing the deeper connections between seem...
Jewish mysticism teaches that everything we do, every choice we make, impacts not just ourselves but the very fabric of the universe. And when it comes to our relationship with the...
It speaks of a state where, metaphorically, even the Holy One, blessed be He, is "poor," existing outside His proper place. What does that even mean? And who is this "Her" that the...
The Tikkunei (spiritual repair) Zohar, a truly fascinating part of the Zohar itself, touches on this very feeling. Specifically, Tikkunei Zohar 116 uses imagery from the story of N...
"Rise O Patriarchs, Masters of the Covenant!" the text implores. It's an invocation, a plea to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Why? Because, the text says, “'this' – zot – the covenant ...
The tradition says before the Throne of Glory, before angels, before even the stars themselves, there was an ethereal essence, a primordial light. This light, this divine spark, is...
Take Psalm 113, which begins with "Hallelujah, praise the servants of the Lord." Sounds straightforward. But the Midrash Tehillim, a collection of homiletic interpretations of the ...
King David did. And his feelings echo across the millennia to us. (Psalm 119:19) says, "I am a stranger in the land; do not hide your commandments from me." It’s a powerful line, f...
Our sages pondered these questions for centuries, and their answers, preserved in texts like Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer, might surprise you. It's not just about grand pronouncements or...
Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer turns to Joshua — The Ark of the Covenant. The story, as we find it in Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer, chapter 38, begins with Joshua in anguish. He tears his clothe...
Our tradition grapples with this question constantly. Take the story of Isaac and Esau, for example. It’s a family drama, a theological debate, and a reminder of the power – and li...
The story of the Midianites in Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer, chapter 47, really dives into that urgency. It's a fascinating, and at times, unsettling account of revenge and its consequen...
The Yalkut Shimoni, a compilation of rabbinic teachings on the Bible, illuminates this very question, drawing from (Psalm 87:1-2): "Of the sons of Korah, a song with musical accomp...
The Yalkut Shimoni, a compilation of Midrashic (rabbinic interpretive commentary) teachings, gives us a glimpse into the heart of Moshe at this pivotal moment, drawing on Torah 816...
The verse Seems straightforward. But as with so much in Jewish tradition, the simplicity The first reading hides layers of meaning. The rabbis of old loved to unpack these layers, ...
all who hate the righteous are, in effect, haters of the Holy One, blessed be He. Think of it like this: when we strike out against goodness, against justice, against those who emb...
You’re not alone. Our tradition grapples with this too. How do we actually cultivate love for the Divine? The book of Devarim, Deuteronomy, offers a powerful clue. In Devarim 6:5, ...
Sifrei Devarim turns to Rules for Holy of Holies and Lesser Offerings. In section 71, we encounter a fascinating discussion about the rules surrounding offerings brought to the Tem...
The Torah, our ancient guide, is full of advice about that very thing. a tiny but potent verse from Sefer Devarim – the Book of Deuteronomy – that speaks directly to this feeling. ...
It’s from Sifrei Devarim, a portion of the book of Deuteronomy, and it unpacks what it REALLY means to serve God. The verse (Deuteronomy 13:5, or 13:6 in some translations) is Simp...
It’s a short passage, but it speaks volumes about how seriously our ancestors took the responsibility of caring for the poor. The passage begins with a fascinating thought experime...
They might sound distant, but their underlying principles still resonate. A system designed to periodically reset economic imbalances. That's the essence of Shemitah and Yovel. The...
It wasn't just a difference of opinion, a harmless cultural practice. Oh no. According to them, idolatry was a spiritual cancer, a plague on the soul. Sifrei Devarim, one of the ea...
Deuteronomy, or Devarim, is the fifth book of the Torah, and it’s full of instructions on how to live a just and righteous life. In Devarim 19:14, we read a seemingly simple prohib...
Jewish tradition places immense value on that, and it's reflected in some fascinating laws about boundaries. Not just physical boundaries, but also intellectual and even spiritual ...
It’s a tough topic, steeped in societal expectations of the time, but let's see if we can unpack what the Sifrei Devarim, a legal commentary on the book of Deuteronomy, has to say ...
There's more to it than you might imagine, especially when we peek into the ancient Jewish agricultural laws. to a fascinating little verse from Devarim, Deuteronomy, specifically ...
It turns out Moses felt the same way as he prepared to leave the Israelites. He needed someone – or something – to vouch for the covenant, to make sure no one could later claim the...
The tradition turns to the ancient text of Sifrei Devarim 344 for a little insight. The verse But here’s the thing: the Sifrei Devarim uses this verse to teach something truly prof...
When Joseph's brothers return to Egypt with Benjamin in Genesis 43, the Hebrew text describes a tense meal. Targum Jonathan transforms it into a scene loaded with hidden signals, p...
When the Holy One came to give the Torah to Moshe, he said over the order of the Readings, the Mishna, the aggadah (non-legal rabbinic narrative) and the Talmud as it says "And God...
(9) We are taught in a Baraitha: R. Juda taught in the name of R. Akiba: "Why does the Torah command (Lev. 23, 10) a sheaf of the first fruits to be brought on the Passover? Becaus...
A farmer was harvesting his field when he realized he had forgotten a sheaf of grain. It was sitting in the far corner of the field, left behind in the rush of the day's work. His ...
Why does the world hold together? Jeremiah gives the unlikely answer: "If not for My covenant day and night, I would not have established the fixed order of heaven and earth" (Jere...
Rabbi Yochanan ben Nuri taught that the priesthood did not begin with Aaron. It began with Noah's son. "The Holy One, blessed be He," the Rabbi said, "set aside Shem, separating hi...
King Solomon warned a skilled builder, the man who had constructed his palace, that the builder's wife was unfaithful. The builder refused to believe it. Solomon did not argue. He ...
Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on (Genesis 11:1) opens the story of the Tower of Babel with a claim so bold it has echoed through Jewish thought for two thousand years. All the earth was (...
When Jacob asked Joseph who the two boys standing beside him were (Genesis 48:9), the question was not about identity. Jacob was old and nearly blind, but he recognized his grandso...
Leftovers are rarely a theological problem, but in the Pesach laws they become one. Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on (Exodus 12:10) addresses what to do with any remnant of the lamb that ...
The laws of Passover refuse the distinction between insider and outsider. Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on (Exodus 12:19) says that whoever eats leaven during the seven days will perish f...
Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on (Exodus 16:23) gives us the first explicit teaching of Sabbath cookery in the Torah, and the Targumist relays it with a domestic precision that would be a...
The commandment against idols is sweeping in a way that startles when you slow down and read it carefully. "You shall not make to yourselves image or figure, or any similitude of w...
The Targum Pseudo-Jonathan grounds the Sabbath in cosmology. "For in six days the Lord created the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and whatever is therein, and rested on the s...
The Targumic rendering of the prohibition against images goes further than the Hebrew. And further than most readers notice. "Sons of Israel, My people, you shall not make, that yo...
The Targum Pseudo-Jonathan spells out one of the most practical laws in the Torah, what a man owes his victim when the victim does not die. "If he rise again from his illness, and ...
The sentence is short and severe. Whosoever sacrificeth to the idols of the Gentiles shall be slain with the sword, and his goods be destroyed; for ye shall worship only the Name o...
