4,670 related texts · Page 57 of 98
We know about Mount Sinai, the thunder, the lightning, the booming voice... but what about the days that followed?Book of Jasher and see what unfolded. The story picks up right aft...
The teacher says "Aleph" and expects the child to repeat it. That's how Torah education works—has worked for centuries. But Ben Sira isn't a normal child. He's a newborn prodigy wh...
"Acquire for yourself money, and a good wife, fear of God, and accumulate sons for yourself, even a hundred of them." The letter Kuf (ק) in the Alphabet of Ben Sira delivers a prov...
Ben Sira's teacher is freaking out. The boy has just rattled off proverbs for every letter of the Hebrew alphabet with the confidence of a seasoned sage, and his educator can only ...
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 ...
Two bands of angels stand at the gates of Gehinnom (גהינום) and call out one word: "Come! Come!" According to the Chronicles of Jerahmeel, a 12th-century Hebrew chronicle compiled ...
Paradise has two gates made of carbuncle, and sixty myriads of ministering angels guard them. According to the Chronicles of Jerahmeel, a 12th-century Hebrew chronicle compiled by ...
Daniel had grown old. He came before the king one last time and asked permission to go home. According to the Chronicles of Jerahmeel, a 12th-century Hebrew chronicle translated by...
Even the great prophet Elijah, the fiery champion of God, reached that point. Imagine this: Elijah, fresh from his triumph over the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel (I Kings 18), i...
That feeling is at the heart of our story today, a tale I call "The Cottage of Candles," retold from Howard Schwartz's Tree of Souls. Once, there was a Jew driven by an unshakeable...
Time and again, the Jewish community of Prague faced the horrifying accusation of blood libel – the false claim that they used the blood of children in their Passover matzah. These...
It’s a wild one, and it involves a homunculus, a miniature, artificially created human. The story goes that Maimonides had a brilliant young assistant, a student he poured his hear...
The Torah tells us about such a person: Moses. When he descended from Mount Sinai after those momentous forty days and nights, he was… different. The text says his body was bathed ...
It’s a question that’s captivated mystics and theologians for centuries. Our tradition offers some pretty wild and wondrous answers! According to Legends of the Jews, that incredib...
According to tradition, on the second day, God brought forth four distinct creations: the firmament (rakia in Hebrew), hell, fire, and the angels. Now, the firmament isn't just the...
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...
According to Ginzberg's retelling in Legends of the Jews, just as fish were formed from water and birds from boggy earth, mammals were formed from solid earth. And among these, we ...
According to the Legends of the Jews, as retold by Ginzberg, whatever God created has value. It's a radical idea, isn't it? That the snail leaving its slimy trail is actually servi...
Jewish tradition offers a rich, intricate, and frankly, quite beautiful answer. According to the Legends of the Jews, a collection of fascinating rabbinic stories compiled by Louis...
We often focus on the eating of the fruit itself, but the consequences, as described in Jewish tradition, are pretty fascinating, and, frankly, a little terrifying. According to Gi...
According to Ginzberg's compilation of Jewish legends, after Eve was created, God divided Paradise between her and Adam. Adam got the east and the north, along with all the male an...
And while the Torah itself offers a relatively concise account, Jewish tradition, as it often does, fills in the gaps with breathtaking detail. According to Legends of the Jews, a ...
Her story, according to some traditions, is filled with sorrow, repentance, and a final plea for reunion. Legends of the Jews, that incredible compilation by Rabbi Louis Ginzberg, ...
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...
We find him in Genesis, just a few lines. “Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him" (Genesis 5:24). Cryptic. What does it mean to "walk with God?" And what does it ...
Sounds… intense. That’s what Noah faced. But what happened after the floodwaters receded? You might think it was all sunshine and rainbows, but the story, as the Legends of the Jew...
It wasn't exactly smooth sailing. According to Ginzberg's retelling in Legends of the Jews, things got a bit…complicated. Ham, you see, was not thrilled about his father's curse. S...
The sages tell us that there were ten generations between Noah and Abraham. Ten generations! And the Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary) emphasizes that this long span shows...
That’s the kind of fire that burned in the heart of a young Abraham. We all know the story of Abraham, the patriarch, the father of monotheism. But have you ever considered his ori...
It's a tale of ambition, cunning, and a whole lot of grave-robbing... or, well, almost. Our story begins not in Egypt, but in the land of Shinar. There lived a man named Rakyon – m...
It turns out, Abraham, the patriarch of monotheism, was no exception. His story isn't just about grand pronouncements from God; it's also about family drama, petty squabbles, and e...
One of the most powerful, and frankly, unsettling, of these stories is the Akeidah, the Binding of Isaac. It all starts with a test. God, in perhaps the ultimate trial of faith, as...
The story begins with Abraham, who, concerned about finding the right wife for his son Isaac, sends his trusted servant Eliezer on a mission to Haran. Eliezer is laden with gifts a...
And trust me, this is a tale you won't soon forget. According to the Legends of the Jews, Isaac, son of Abraham, was a chip off the old block. He mirrored his father in every way—b...
According to Ginzberg's retelling in Legends of the Jews, Isaac's life was, in many ways, a mirror image of his father Abraham's. : Abraham had to leave his birthplace. So did Isaa...
The traditional texts offer some fascinating, and frankly, unsettling insights into Esau's true character and the events surrounding that infamous stolen blessing. According to Leg...
Esau was seething after Jacob received their father Isaac's blessing. He was so consumed by hatred, according to Ginzberg's retelling in Legends of the Jews, that Jacob had to esca...
According to Legends of the Jews, that sign came with the birth of his son, Joseph. Jacob believed that Joseph's descendants would ultimately triumph over Esau's – his own brother,...
Remember the story? Jacob, with a little help from his mother, tricked his aging, blind father Isaac into giving him the blessing meant for Esau, the elder twin. Esau was furious, ...
The story of Dinah, daughter of Jacob, and the events that unfolded in Shechem, offer a stark and troubling example of just that. According to Legends of the Jews, as retold by Gin...
In the house of Jacob, that dance of happiness and grief played out on a grand scale. Let's rewind. Remember Deborah, Rebekah's nurse? She wasn't just a caregiver; she was family. ...
Let’s talk about Joseph, and that infamous pit. The story begins with Jacob's sons, out tending their father's flocks near Shechem. They were gone a long time, and Jacob, naturally...
It all revolves around Joseph’s coat – that infamous coat of many colors. The story goes that after selling Joseph into slavery, Jacob's sons were immediately overcome with regret....
After the whole Joseph-selling fiasco, Jacob is understandably devastated. And who do the brothers blame? Judah, of course! They basically tell him, "This is ALL your fault!" Accor...
The Bible gives us a glimpse, but the Jewish tradition, particularly in works like Legends of the Jews by Ginzberg, really fills in the emotional and narrative gaps. The reunion, a...
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...
That’s kind of the place Jacob was in. Years had passed since he last saw his beloved son, Joseph. He believed Joseph was dead, and the grief was a heavy cloak he wore every day. B...
The story of Joseph in Egypt, as retold in Legends of the Jews by Ginzberg, offers us a powerful lesson in these very qualities. After years of hardship, Jacob and his family final...
