1,423 related texts · Page 6 of 30
Now, the Book of Jubilees, for those unfamiliar, is an ancient Jewish text that retells the stories of Genesis, often filling in gaps and offering unique perspectives. In this part...
The Letter of Aristeas gives us a fascinating glimpse into this world. Our story picks up with Demetrius, the chief librarian of Alexandria. Imagine him, a man surrounded by scroll...
More than just inspiration, more than just beautiful writing. Sometimes, it takes a good old-fashioned curse. I’m talking about the story of the Septuagint, the Greek translation o...
Haman wrote one of the most chilling documents in Jewish legend. According to the Chronicles of Jerahmeel, a 12th-century Hebrew chronicle translated by Moses Gaster in 1899, Haman...
Levi, third son of Jacob and Leah, called his sons together when he knew his death was near. It had been revealed to him that he would die. When they gathered, he told them everyth...
It’s closer than you might think. Imagine the scene: Sodom, ripe for the taking, its riches and food plundered by victorious armies. But amidst the spoils, they seize Lot, Abraham’...
The story goes that these Jews were living under the thumb of a particularly cruel ruler. This lord of Hebron, as Ginzberg tells us in Legends of the Jews, was a real piece of work...
We know the story: Jacob, disguised, steals the blessing meant for his brother, Esau. But what about the details, the nuances that get lost in the broad strokes of the narrative? L...
He knew that Esau, his brother, harbored murderous intentions. The tension was thick, a palpable danger hanging in the air. But running wasn't exactly Jacob’s first instinct. As th...
Judah, one of Jacob's sons, married a Canaanite woman, and their firstborn was named Er, which poignantly means "the childless." As fate would have it, Er’s name was a prophecy. He...
He faced a test that could have changed his life forever. The story goes that when Potiphar's wife, Zuleika, tried to seduce him, he refused. "I fear my master," he said, according...
When Joseph's brothers stood before Pharaoh, they made it crystal clear: Egypt wasn't the final destination. It was a temporary stop, a place to weather a storm. They weren't plann...
As his days dwindled, he called his children together, not just to say goodbye, but to share the story of his life, and astonishingly, to foretell their futures, all the way to the...
Sometimes, leadership isn't about grand pronouncements, but about personal example. And that's exactly what we see in this story about Amram, the father of Moses. Things weren't ea...
The tale begins when Moses, at the ripe old age of 67, leaves Ethiopia. Ginzberg, in Legends of the Jews, tells us this was the moment divinely appointed to liberate Israel from th...
We all know the story of Moses, the plagues, and the ultimate escape from slavery. But there's a fascinating little detail, almost a backstage scene, that often gets overlooked. It...
The battlefield was set, the armies were engaged, but the real battle, according to Legends of the Jews, wasn't on the ground at all. It was happening on a nearby height, where Mos...
We often focus on the big names, the artisans, the leaders. But what about the women? Their story, as told in the Legends of the Jews, is truly remarkable (Ginzberg). Apparently, t...
It wasn't just about hammering tent pegs and hanging curtains. There was a whole ritual, a consecration, full of wonder and divine intervention. One of the most fascinating aspects...
See, before the Mishkan was built, the world was apparently crawling with demons. Ginzberg, in Legends of the Jews, recounts how these spirits had free rein, wandering wherever the...
There's a fascinating little story tucked away in Legends of the Jews that gives us a glimpse into the lives of two lesser-known prophets, Eldad and Medad. Now, these weren't just ...
His life was basically one long chase scene, wasn't it? Always looking over his shoulder, always one step ahead of Saul. But even in those darkest moments, the legends tell us, mir...
The story of David and Ahithophel certainly makes you think so. We’ve talked before about their complex relationship – Ahithophel, the brilliant advisor whose counsel was once cons...
The story of King David is filled with them. It wasn't just Hushai who proved a faithful friend during David's trials. Some allies came from the most unlikely places. Take Shobi, t...
We all know the story: Jonah, tasked with prophesying to Nineveh, decides to take a little detour and ends up swallowed by a giant fish. But what happens inside that fish is where ...
That's Sukkot (the Festival of Tabernacles). Now, you might know it as the Feast of Tabernacles or the Festival of Booths. It's a time of harvest celebration and remembrance of the...
And the answer, according to the great Kabbalist Baal HaSulam in his "Preface to Zohar," lies in how we perceive the world around us. Baal HaSulam breaks down our perception into f...
That's where things get interesting. See, before anything can exist, there has to be a way to measure it, to portion it out. That’s where the ten sefirot (the divine emanations) co...
Jewish mysticism has a fascinating story about that, using the sun and moon as metaphors. It’s all about light, receiving, and giving, and it gets pretty deep, pretty fast. The aut...
It suggests that during our period of "service" – our time here on Earth, striving to connect – the Divine emanation is, in a sense, clothed. Clothed in what? In the world around u...
That’s kind of what we’re up against when we talk about the Sefirot (the divine emanations). So, what are the Sefirot? Well, in the Kabbalah, the Jewish mystical tradition, the Sef...
And while there are no easy answers, Jewish mystical tradition offers a fascinating perspective. The text Kalach Pitchei Chokhmah (Wisdom), "30 Openings of Wisdom," dives deep into...
Jewish mystical tradition, especially Kabbalah, offers a fascinating lens through which to understand this. It speaks of Sefirot, divine emanations, channels through which God's in...
The Kalach Pitchei Chokhmah, a Kabbalistic text whose name literally means "408 Openings of Wisdom," dives deep into the concept of divine foreknowledge and how it impacts, well, e...
Jewish mystical tradition grapples with concepts like that all the time. Today, we're diving into a particularly elusive one, described in the Kalach Pitchei Chokhmah, an ancient t...
Jewish mystical tradition has something to say about that – specifically, how the very structure of reality is built to handle those overwhelming moments. In the Kalach Pitchei Cho...
Jewish tradition wrestles with this very idea, this push and pull between light and darkness, revelation and concealment. Take the Sefer HaBahir, for example. This ancient text, a ...
It speaks of Atika, often translated as the "Ancient One," a profound and complex aspect of the Divine. And what’s so special about this Atika? It exists entirely "in one light," t...
Jewish mysticism has some powerful ideas about that feeling, and about how we eventually find our way. The Tikkun (spiritual repair)ei Zohar, a later part of the Zohar, dives deep ...
The Tikkun (spiritual repair)ei Zohar, a mystical extension of the Zohar, unlocks some truly mind-bending concepts. It dives deep into the symbolism of the Song of Songs, that pass...
The Tikkun (spiritual repair)ei Zohar, a collection of commentaries that delve into the deepest secrets of the Zohar, doesn't deal in simple answers. It invites us into a world of ...
That's the image Rabbi Shimon uses to open up a profound teaching in Tikkun (spiritual repair)ei Zohar 288. He calls out: "Enter, holy hosts of above and of below, to witness the a...
The Mekhilta weaves together several verses to demonstrate that God guards the faithful and remembers the faithfulness of the ancestors. The opening verse sets the theme: "The Lord...
During the battle against Amalek, Moses stood on a hilltop with his arms raised, channeling divine power to the Israelite warriors below. But holding your arms up for hours is grue...
(Exodus 17:14) "And the L–rd said to Moses: Write this as a remembrance in the book and place it in the ears of Joshua": The early elders said: So is it with all the generations. T...
God declared in (Exodus 17:14): "For erase shall I erase the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven." The sages of the Mekhilta noticed something peculiar about this verse. Why do...
The Torah states that Yithro "took Tzipporah, Moses' wife, after she had been sent" (Exodus 18:2). The phrase "after she had been sent" is vague — sent where? By whom? Under what c...
"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...
