12,014 related texts · Page 141 of 251
“You are covered with wrath and have pursued us; You have killed, did not have compassion. You have covered Yourself with a cloud so that no prayer can pass. You have rendered us f...
“You heard their taunt, Lord, all their thoughts about me. The lips of those who rise against me and their thoughts are against me all day. Look at their sitting and their rising; ...
“May You pursue them in wrath and destroy them from under the heavens of the Lord” (Lamentations 3:66).“May You pursue them in wrath and destroy them” – Jeremiah said: “May you pur...
“Those killed by sword were better off than those killed by hunger, for those would bleed, ruptured from the produce of the field” (Lamentations 4:9).“Those killed by sword were be...
“Remember, Lord, what befell us; look, and see our disgrace” (Lamentations 5:1).“Remember, Lord, what befell us.” Rabbi Yitzḥak began: “The greyhound, or the goat” (Proverbs 30:31)...
“We extended a hand to Egypt, Assyria, to be sated with bread” (Lamentations 5:6).“We extended a hand to Egypt, Assyria, to be sated with bread.” What would the Ten Tribes do? They...
“We bring our bread at the peril of our lives due to the sword of the wilderness” (Lamentations 5:9).“We bring our bread at the peril of our lives.” Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel said:...
“They ravished women in Zion, maidens in the cities of Judah” (Lamentations 5:11).“They ravished women in Zion.” Nevuzaradan commanded his legions, saying to them: ‘The God of thes...
“Princes were hanged by their hand; the elders were not shown deference” (Lamentations 5:12).“Princes were hanged by their hand.” There was a government steward who entered the cit...
“The young men carried the mill, and the lads stumbled on the wood” (Lamentations 5:13).“The young men carried the mill.” You find that there was no mill in Babylon. When Nebuchadn...
“The crown of our head has fallen; woe to us, for we have sinned” (Lamentations 5:16).“The crown of our head has fallen.” Rabbi Yirmeya of Shavshav took an olive branch crown and t...
“Return us to You, Lord, and we will return; renew our days as of old” (Lamentations 5:21).“Return us to You, Lord, and we will return.” The congregation of Israel said before the ...
“It was during the days of Aḥashverosh…” Rabbi Levi and the Rabbis, Rabbi Levi said: Aḥashverosh is Artaḥshasta. The Rabbis say: [He was called] Aḥashverosh, since anyone who remem...
“Many days” – days of suffering, and similarly: “It was during those many days…the children of Israel sighed due to the work, and they cried out, and their plea rose to God from th...
“The king was very angry and his fury burned within him.” Rabbi Yoḥanan said: At that moment, The Holy One blessed be He said to the angel appointed over fury: Descend and blow win...
“He sent scrolls to all the king’s provinces, to each province in its script, and to each people in its language; for every man to be the ruler in his house, and speak the language...
“After these matters, when the fury of king Aḥashverosh had abated, he remembered Vashti and what she had done, and what was decreed against her” (Esther 2:1).“After [aḥar] these m...
“Have the king appoint officials in all the provinces of his kingdom and they will gather every virgin young woman of fair appearance to the Shushan citadel, to the harem, to the c...
“On each day, Mordekhai would walk before the courtyard of the harem, to find out how Esther was, and what would be done with her” (Esther 2:11). “On each day, Mordekhai would walk...
“With the arrival of the turn of Esther, daughter of Aviḥayil uncle of Mordekhai, who had taken her as his daughter, to go to the king, she did not request anything except that whi...
Rabbi Pinḥas said: Two wealthy men arose in the [history of the] world, one from Israel and one from the idolaters, and their property was only to their harm. Koraḥ in Israel, who ...
What did Mordekhai say to someone who would say to him: “Why are you violating the king’s command?” (Esther 3:3) Rabbi Levi said: Mordekhai would say: ‘Moses our master cautioned u...
“If it pleases the king, let it be written to eliminate them and I will weigh out ten thousand talents of silver by the hands of the king's craftsmen, to bring to the king's treasu...
“Esther’s young women and her chamberlains came and told her, and the queen was greatly shocked” (Esther 4:4).The Rabbis from there2From Babylonia. say: She menstruated. The Rabbis...
“The king said: Who is in the court? Haman had come into the outer court of the king's palace, to tell the king to hang Mordekhai on the gibbet that he had prepared for him” (Esthe...
Mordekhai returned to the king’s gate and Haman hastened home, mourning and covering his head” (Esther 6:12) – Mourning for his daughter, and covering his head because of what had ...
“The king rose in his fury from the wine banquet to the palace garden and Haman stood to plead for his life from Esther the queen, for he saw that the king has resolved to do him h...
Rabbi Ḥiya Raba and Rabbi Shimon ben Ḥalafta were walking in the valley of Arbel and they saw the breaking of the dawn’s light. Rabbi Ḥiya Raba said to Rabbi Shimon ben Ḥalafta: So...
From the very first moment of creation, God assigned every major figure in history a specific role. Esther Rabbah preserves a remarkable list, attributed to Rabbi Berekhya, that re...
Maybe that feeling is a tiny glimpse into the ultimate truth: that everything is sacred. Philo, the 1st-century Jewish philosopher from Alexandria, certainly thought so. He envisio...
It’s like trying to grasp the trunk of a massive, ancient tree, its branches reaching so high you can barely see the top. It’s... well, it’s complicated. I recently came across som...
Central to Judaism is the absolute oneness of God. It’s right there in the Shema, that foundational declaration: “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one” (Deuteronomy 6:...
Ever stumble upon something that seems contradictory, something that makes you scratch your head and wonder, "Wait, did I miss something?" That’s exactly the kind of question someo...
But what if you perform those actions for someone else? Does that automatically make you an idolater? The Talmud, in Sanhedrin (the supreme rabbinic court), tackles this very quest...
Our tradition teaches us a vital principle: we don't prostrate ourselves before the Sefer Torah, the Torah scroll itself. It's not about worshipping parchment and ink. Instead, as ...
And, naturally, with such a deep and complex field of study, disagreements and different interpretations will inevitably arise. This brings us to a fascinating glimpse into a histo...
Like every path leads to another, and the trees seem to whisper confusing riddles? That's kind of how it can feel when diving into the deeper waters of Kabbalah, Jewish mysticism. ...
The text we're looking at speaks to just that – a world where falsehood reigns and those who uphold Torah are scorned. It's a harsh indictment, a cry of pain from someone who feels...
It's a harsh rebuke, a stark reminder of the damage that lashon hara – evil speech – can inflict. The writer directly confronts his friend, accusing him of believing falsehoods wit...
Isn't it astonishing how different interpretations can arise, even when dealing with texts we hold sacred? We're left scratching our heads, honestly, reading your words. Are you su...
It's a system that has been unfolding for centuries, really taking root around the start of the sixth millennium – that's roughly the 13th century CE. It all started with a handful...
It’s a recurring theme in Jewish thought, this tension between reason and revelation. The Kabbalists, those mystics who plumb the depths of Jewish esotericism, they didn’t hold bac...
Specifically, I’m thinking of (Genesis 2:14). It's not just that the Euphrates river is mentioned. Oh no, we also get that the Pishon "goes round all the land of Evilat," the Gihon...
After all, this is God we're talking about! Surely, the Almighty doesn't need Adam's help with a little taxonomy. (Genesis 2:19) tells us "He brought the animals to Adam, that he m...
What does it mean to name something? The book of Genesis gives us a glimpse into this very idea. In (Genesis 2:19), it says, "And whatever Adam called each living thing, that was t...
Get ready, because the answer might surprise you. Our source today is "The Midrash of Philo," a fascinating, often overlooked text. Here, we find a unique take on the serpent in th...
to what some of our sages have said about it. The verse reads, “Unto the woman He said: ‘I will greatly multiply thy pain and thy travail; in pain thou shalt bring forth children; ...
We know the story: the serpent deceives Eve, she eats from the Tree of Knowledge, and shares with Adam. God, understandably upset, metes out punishments. The serpent is cursed to c...
