4,670 related texts · Page 35 of 98
The letter Zayin brings a proverb that circles back to the teacher's earlier obsession with beards: "Do not be thin-bearded or thick-bearded. Scorn these things, because you do not...
The letter Kaf pushes the father's worry even further into the future: "When you marry the daughter, you worry about her the most—lest she not have children. And when you are older...
The Alphabet of Ben Sira, a satirical and provocative medieval text composed between 700 and 1000 CE, doesn't shy away from blunt advice about marriage. In this proverb, tied to th...
"Blind your eyes because of a widowed woman, and do not covet her beauty in your heart." That's what Ben Sira says, in the proverb attached to the Hebrew letter Ayin (ע)—and it's a...
"Listen, master, to what I am saying. Rest yourself from starting quarrels with your neighbors, and if you see something evil about your friend, do not produce their slander on you...
Nebuchadnezzar doesn't believe Ben Sira actually knows what's in his garden. So the king proposes a test. He'll blindfold the boy, march his army past in separate battalions, and B...
Gnats live for a single day. They're born, they swarm, they die. New ones replace them. So why do they exist at all? Nebuchadnezzar wanted to know, and Ben Sira had a two-part answ...
The War Scroll doesn't just predict a cosmic battle—it choreographs one. Columns 7 through 9 of the scroll lay out the most elaborate angelic military operation in all of Jewish li...
Cain was the first city builder. According to the Chronicles of Jerahmeel, a 12th-century Hebrew chronicle translated by Moses Gaster in 1899, after marrying his wife Qalmana, Cain...
Haran, the eldest son of Terah, made his living selling his father's idols to the Chaldeans. His younger brother Abraham refused to worship them. When the Chaldeans came to test bo...
When Naphtali grew old and felt his strength fading, he gathered his children and gave them one final command. It was not about silver or gold. "I speak to you about a very easy ma...
When Moses ascended to heaven to receive the Torah, a cloud crouched before him like a living creature. He did not know whether to ride it or grab hold of it. The cloud opened, swa...
The period of the Judges was an era of divine intervention so direct that storms fought battles and fires executed corrupt leaders. According to the Chronicles of Jerahmeel, a 12th...
Before every human birth, an angel named Lailah (לילה) receives a direct order from God. According to the Chronicles of Jerahmeel, a 12th-century Hebrew chronicle compiled by Jerah...
The contest before King Darius began with the first prince arguing that nothing on earth is as powerful as a king. According to the Chronicles of Jerahmeel, a 12th-century Hebrew c...
On the night King Ahasuerus could not sleep, something far stranger was happening in heaven. According to the Chronicles of Jerahmeel, a 12th-century Hebrew chronicle preserved by ...
The story of Israel's return from exile reads like a cascade of empires, each rising and falling at breathtaking speed. According to the Chronicles of Jerahmeel, a 12th-century Heb...
Abraham had demolished the idols. Now he turned his mind to the elements themselves. "Fire is more worthy of honor than all things formed," he reasoned, "because even that which is...
When the voice stopped speaking, Abraham looked in every direction. No one. No breath of a man anywhere. His spirit was seized with terror. His soul fled from him. He became like a...
Abraham did everything the angel commanded. He slaughtered the animals, divided them, and gave the portions to the angels who had appeared beside him. Iaoel took the birds. Abraham...
While Iaoel was still speaking, fire closed in around them on every side. A voice was inside the fire, like the voice of many waters (Ezekiel 1:24), like the roaring of the sea in ...
While Abraham was still reciting the song, the fire on the surface rose up on high. He heard a voice like the roaring of the sea. The fire would not stop. And as it climbed, ascend...
Cherubim and Seraphim surrounded the throne. Six-winged, many-eyed, they never departed — standing before God's face, doing His will, covering the entire throne with their wings as...
A demon was feeding on a child. Every evening, after the workers building the Temple in Jerusalem finished their labor, a spirit called Ornias descended upon the boy who served the...
The Chaldean army surrounded Jerusalem. But the real destruction — the kind that shatters heaven — had already begun inside the walls. On the evening before the siege tightened, Ba...
Baruch stood on Mount Zion. The ruins smoked beneath him. And then a voice fell from the height of heaven like a stone. "Stand on your feet, Baruch, and hear the word of the mighty...
Baruch went to the holy place — the place where the Temple once stood — and sat down on the ruins. The ground where the high priest had once offered sacrifices and placed fragrant ...
Simeon, second son of Jacob and Leah, was dying in his hundred and twentieth year. Joseph his brother had already passed. When his sons came to visit, Simeon strengthened himself, ...
Dan, seventh son of Jacob, born of Bilhah, called his family together in the hundred and twenty-fifth year of his life. He had proved something in his heart through his entire exis...
According to some accounts, Tzadkiel isn't just any celestial being. He's the one who lovingly clothes each soul arriving in Paradise with garments of incredible purity, woven by t...
There's a story about a rabbi, Rabbi Hayim ben Attar, known as the Or ha-Hayim (אור החיים), "the light of life," after his famous biblical commentary. He lived in Jerusalem and had...
Some believe that certain figures, especially the patriarch Abraham, never truly died. The idea of Abraham continuing to wander the world, making his presence known, is surprisingl...
According to Ginzberg's retelling in Legends of the Jews, Abraham once entered his father Terah's temple, intending to bring sacrifices to the idols. There, he found Marumath, a st...
Jewish tradition, particularly the aggadah – the storytelling tradition – doesn't shy away from these questions. to a fascinating tale from Legends of the Jews (Ginzberg), about Ab...
His story of wrestling with an angel is one of the most powerful and enigmatic in the entire Torah. As Jacob journeyed back to Canaan, anticipating a tense reunion with his brother...
But imagine the weight of a vow to the Almighty, left unfulfilled. According to Legends of the Jews, as retold by Ginzberg, Jacob found himself in just such a predicament. He'd mad...
The story in Genesis leaves us with Esau heading off to Mount Seir, and it feels like maybe, just maybe, the brothers have finally found a way to coexist. But as we often find in t...
His story, a cornerstone of the Hebrew Bible, is filled with dramatic turns, betrayal, and ultimately, triumph. But let's zoom in on one particularly painful chapter: his journey i...
Jewish tradition offers some truly breathtaking visions of the cosmos – heavens piled upon heavens, earths layered upon earths, each teeming with wonders and… well, some not-so-won...
According to Legends of the Jews, on the second day of Creation, God didn't just whip up one thing, but four: the firmament, hell, fire, and the angels. Talk about a busy day! We'r...
Spoiler alert: it wasn't. In fact, a heavenly debate raged, with the angels themselves deeply divided about whether creating humankind was a good idea. Imagine the scene. The Angel...
Turns out, according to some stories, they almost made a pretty big mistake. Picture this: The angels, these celestial beings, were so impressed with Adam, the first human, that th...
It's more than just a day off; it's woven into the very fabric of creation. The Legends of the Jews, that incredible compilation of rabbinic lore by Louis Ginzberg, gives us a glim...
We often picture Adam and Eve immediately ashamed, rushing to cover themselves. But what if the story is richer, stranger, and even more revealing about human nature than we imagin...
The story goes way back, all the way back to Noah and the ark. after the flood, Noah needed to know if the waters had receded. So, naturally, he sent out a raven. Now, ravens are k...
It wasn't exactly smooth sailing for humanity. In fact, according to the Legends of the Jews, things got complicated pretty quickly. Even while Noah was still alive, a new world or...
He wasn't just some minor character in the background of history. According to Legends of the Jews, Louis Ginzberg's masterful compilation of rabbinic lore, Nimrod was something el...
It was more than just a theological debate; it was a showdown of epic proportions. As Abraham's voice rang out, something incredible happened. According to Ginzberg's retelling in ...
