1,374 related texts · 18 related myths · Page 2 of 29
The Jewish mystical tradition, particularly within Hasidism, grapples with this idea constantly, often personifying temptation in the figure of Lilith. There's a tale told about Ra...
A person trapped on a low spiritual level might assume that deep Torah understanding is beyond their reach. Rabbi Nachman of Breslov says the opposite is true: the pathway from the...
You cannot receive complete divine providence until you shatter your desire for money. Rabbi Nachman of Breslov taught this as a direct spiritual mechanism, not a moral platitude. ...
. 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...
Abimelech ruled over Israel for three years (Judges 9:22). Aggadat Bereshit uses this strange opening, about a king in the book of Judges, to arrive at the first murder. The path r...
The Torah is blunt: An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter the congregation of the Lord, even to the tenth generation (Deuteronomy 23:4). The verse has stood for a thousand years. ...
Pharaoh is specific about the travel arrangements. He thinks of the women. He thinks of the children. He thinks of the honor due an aged patriarch. "Thou, Joseph, shalt appoint for...
“I remember my song in the night; I meditate with my heart, and my spirit searches” (Psalms 77:7). Rabbi Yehuda ben Rabbi Simon and Rabbi Aivu.58The text of the midrash (rabbinic i...
When Rabbi Yosei of Milḥaya died, Rabbi Yoḥanan and Reish Lakish went up to perform an act of kindness136They went to participate in the funeral. and Rabbi Yitzḥak Pesaka went up w...
“May it not befall you, all wayfarers. Look and see: Is there any pain like my pain, which has been done to me, with which the Lord has tormented me on the day of His enflamed wrat...
The story goes that God, seeing the Israelites weren't exactly overflowing with gratitude, decided to teach them a lesson. And how did God do that? By sending against them an enemy...
Beneath the surface of the biblical narrative, the aggadah – the Jewish tradition of storytelling and interpretation – reveals a deeper, almost mystical struggle. It wasn't just ab...
Amalek. You might remember Amalek from the Bible – this was the nation that attacked the Israelites shortly after their miraculous Exodus from Egypt. It seemed like a small skirmis...
Compiled by Rabbi Louis Ginzberg, Amalek, that ancient nemesis, saw an opportunity. with Aaron's passing, the protective clouds that had shielded Israel disappeared. Amalek, ever t...
Da'at Tevunot turns to How Does God Engage with Body and Soul Together. After delving into the complexities of human existence – the interplay between soul and body, the ever-chang...
The Tikkunei (spiritual repair) Zohar, a foundational text of Kabbalah, explores this very idea, identifying the source of those forces and even giving them names. It’s intense stu...
The Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael records a teaching by Rabbi Eliezer about the nature of Amalek's attack on Israel in the wilderness. His interpretation turns on a single word, reveal...
"and he shall go out alone": We are hereby apprised that a (Canaanite) bondswoman does not require a get (a divorce) from a Jew. Whence do we derive the same (i.e., that she does n...
They found fascinating ways to resolve those tensions within the sacred texts. Take, for instance, the perplexing case of Amalek. Who was Amalek? A biblical nation known for its un...
In Jewish tradition, there's one enemy that embodies that more than any other: Amalek. The familiar story centers on the Exodus. The Israelites, fresh out of slavery in Egypt, wand...
The scene is set: Saul, the first king of Israel, is preparing for battle against the Amalekites. This wasn't just any battle. The Amalekites, as we read elsewhere in Torah, held a...
It’s not quite the bodice-ripping romance novel you might (wrongly) imagine. Instead, there’s a fascinating, and frankly, surprisingly sensitive, layer of detail tucked away in the...
What is shatnez, you ask? Simply put, it's the prohibition against mixing wool and linen in clothing. It's a rule we find clearly stated in (Deuteronomy 22:11): "You shall not wear...
A woman gets divorced. Simple enough. But what if, after the divorce, she has a relationship with someone else? Does that change things if she wants to remarry her first husband? Y...
What happens when one of them passes away, leaving behind a wife but no children? Traditionally, Jewish law provides a specific path, one designed to both care for the widow and co...
The ones that govern life, death, and... well, levirate marriage? It's a mouthful, I know. But stick with me, because even in ancient texts, there are surprisingly human stories hi...
Take the story of Amalek. It’s a name that echoes through Jewish history, a symbol of unprovoked hatred and aggression. We're commanded in Devarim (Deuteronomy) 25:17 to remember w...
A man of Sidon came to Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai to arrange a divorce. He had lived many years with his wife and no children had been born to them. In the Jewish world of the time, c...
Dawn in the house of Abraham. Bread on a shoulder. A cruse of water tied to a woman's waist. In Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on (Genesis 21:14), the Aramaic paraphrase adds a detail the ...
The rabbis of the Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary) ask a pointed question: why did the spies, when reporting back about the land of Israel, single out Amalek first? What ...
(Deut. 25:17:) “Remember what Amalek did to you.” R. Tanhum bar Hanila'i opened [his discourse] (with (Job 13:1)2), “Your remembrances are proverbs of ashes; your responses are res...
The Book of Jubilees, an ancient Jewish text, speaks to this feeling with a stark warning. It paints a picture of a future where people have drifted far from their spiritual and et...
While the Torah itself offers a relatively concise account, Jewish tradition, as it often does, fills in the gaps with breathtaking detail. In Legends of the Jews, a compilation of...
The familiar version gives us the big picture: slavery, plagues, the parting of the Red Sea. But what about the individual choices, the moral dilemmas, the moments of despair and r...
It’s a very human thing. And according to Jewish tradition, it’s a mistake the Israelites made, with some rather painful consequences. The Israelites are fresh out of Egypt. They’v...
Take the story of Moses, and a seemingly small slip-up that had surprisingly large consequences. Moses is familiar. The guy who led the Israelites out of Egypt, received the Torah ...
Legends of the Jews turns to Saul Questions the Morality of Slaughtering Amalek. It's a powerful moment, isn’t it? This internal struggle, this moral wrestling, reveals a human sid...
The Sha'ar HaGilgulim (the reincarnation of souls), the "Gate of Reincarnations," a profound Kabbalistic text, explores this very idea. It explores the intricate dance of souls, no...
Jewish mystical thought, especially as expressed in texts like Kalach Pitchei Chokhmah ("Key to the Gates of Wisdom") suggests that everything – absolutely everything – works toget...
While there are no easy answers, Kalach Pitchei Chokhmah, a profound text of Jewish mysticism, offers a fascinating perspective. The core idea is that everything, absolutely everyt...
The Tikkunei (spiritual repair) Zohar, a central work of Kabbalah expanding on the Zohar, uses a pretty intense image to describe the struggles of Torah scholars. It says they are ...
(Exodus 17:12) records a detail that the Mekhilta found deeply instructive: "And the hands of Moses became heavy." Why did his hands grow heavy during the battle with Amalek? The r...
Moses told the people, "Be ready in three days" (Exodus 19:15), instructing them to separate from their wives in preparation for receiving the Torah. But the Mekhilta notices a pro...
What holds a nation together? Is it military might? Economic prowess? Or something more… intangible? Midrash Tehillim 12, a collection of rabbinic teachings on the Book of Psalms, ...
In the book of Bamidbar (Numbers), we find ourselves wrestling with just that: Who gets a share of the Promised Land? The verse in Bamidbar 26:53 states: "To these shall the land b...
The familiar picture has Moses, Moshe Rabbenu, as this towering, almost superhuman figure. The one who parted the Red Sea, who received the Torah on Mount Sinai. But the truth, as ...
Moses, knowing his time is near, addresses the Israelites. He's not just giving a farewell speech; he's ensuring the continuity of the sacred knowledge. "To explain this Torah," he...
Instead of rejoicing, a wave of despair washed over them. "And you murmured in your tents..." That simple phrase from Sifrei Devarim (Deuteronomy) opens a window into a moment of p...
