12,014 related texts · Page 32 of 251
It's a poignant moment, and the book of Devarim Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic teachings on the Book of Deuteronomy, sheds light on the depth of that experience. "You are crossin...
We often think of it as the absence of conflict, but Jewish tradition elevates peace – shalom – to something far more profound and active. It’s not just a nice idea; it's a force t...
"These are the names of the children of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob; each came with his household" – that’s how the Book of Exodus begins. But what does that have to do wit...
We all know about Moses, about the plagues, about the parting of the Red Sea. But what about the women who defied a king's cruel decree and saved countless Israelite babies? The To...
We find ourselves in (Exodus 3:8), where God tells Moses, "I have come down to deliver them from the hand of Egypt and to take them up from that land to a good and expansive land, ...
The passage we're looking at begins with God instructing Moses: "Go and gather the elders of Israel, and say to them: The Lord, the God of your fathers, God of Abraham, of Isaac, a...
It's not just about freedom from slavery, but about a deeper truth about power, righteousness, and our relationship with the Divine. Shemot Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpr...
There's a fascinating passage in Shemot Rabbah that uses the moon as a metaphor to explain just that. It's a brilliant, poetic, and surprisingly practical way to look at history. T...
Our story comes from Shemot Rabbah, a compilation of rabbinic interpretations of the Book of Exodus. We’re looking at chapter 17, which delves into the symbolism of the Passover of...
It's not just about freedom; it's about divine justice, redemption, and the messy, complicated choices people make when faced with monumental events. The ancient rabbis certainly d...
We read in Shemot Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Book of Exodus, a fascinating idea tied to the verse "No foreigner shall eat of it" (Exodus 12:43) – refer...
Get out as fast as possible! But (Exodus 13:17) tells us, "It was when Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them via the land of the Philistines, although it was near, as Go...
The ancient rabbis felt that way too, and they found profound hope in the story of the Exodus. In Shemot Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Book of Exodus, we ...
The Jewish tradition is rich with stories of angels, not just as winged figures, but as manifestations of the Divine Presence itself. And their role? To safeguard and redeem. to on...
Take, for instance, this powerful moment described in Shemot Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Book of Exodus. We find Moses, pleading with God. The Israelite...
It reveals a surprising strategy employed by the righteous when approaching the Divine. The text opens with the curious phrase "write for yourself," and then it proposes that the r...
We start with the verse, "When a person presents a meal offering to the Lord" (Leviticus 2:1). But the Rabbis cleverly link this to (Psalm 22:24): "Those who fear the Lord, praise ...
What would you bring with you? What could possibly prepare you for such an encounter? Well, Rabbi Yudan, in Vayikra Rabbah 21, offers a fascinating perspective. He interprets the v...
“Haman saw that Mordekhai was not bowing and prostrating himself to him and Haman was filled with wrath” (Esther 3:5).“Haman saw that Mordekhai was not bowing and prostrating himse...
The story of Abraham and Isaac, the Akeidah (the binding), grapples with these very questions. Abraham and Sarah, living in the Land of Israel, yearned for a child. Their lives wer...
And the Lord said unto Jacob: “Return unto the land of thy fathers” (Gen. 31:3). May it please our master to teach us whether an Israelite may light a candle with another candle up...
1:1). Scripture states (elsewhere in allusion to this verse): He that spareth his rod hateth his son; but he that loveth him chastiseth him betimes (Prov. 13:24). Normally, if a ma...
(Numb. 34:1–2:) “Then the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying, ‘Command the Children of Israel [and say unto them], “When you come into the Land of Canaan, [this is the land]....”’” [“Th...
The Book of Jubilees, a fascinating text from around the 2nd century BCE, offers a glimpse behind the curtain. Let's take a peek. Imagine Abraham, nearing the end of his days. He's...
That's the story of Jacob and his son Joseph, as retold in the Book of Jubilees, a text considered canonical by some, like the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, but not included in the st...
We jump into the story already in progress. Jacob's sons have just returned from Egypt, where they went to buy grain. Remember, there was a famine in the land. But things didn't go...
The Chronicles of Jerahmeel, a 12th-century Hebrew chronicle translated by Moses Gaster in 1899, preserves an unusual parallel timeline linking the rise of Rome with the suffering ...
After Joshua died, Israel had no leader. The people asked God who should fight the Canaanites, and God told them to cast lots. The lot fell on Kenaz, from the tribe of Caleb, who b...
Mattathiah was dying. According to the Chronicles of Jerahmeel, a 12th-century Hebrew chronicle preserved by Moses Gaster in 1899, the father of the Maccabean revolt called his fiv...
The story of Abraham's birth, as recounted in Legends of the Jews by Ginzberg, is a dazzling tapestry of prophecy, intrigue, and divine protection. It starts with a star – a very s...
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...
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...
After such a monumental event, life surely changed. According to Legends of the Jews, Abraham felt the weight of his years more acutely after Sarah's passing. Interestingly, the te...
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...
I'm talking about Joseph, of course, and his brothers. We know the story: Joseph, sold into slavery by his jealous brothers, rises to power in Egypt, and then, years later, fate br...
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 stories we hear about Sodom in the Torah only scratch the surface. Jewish tradition paints a truly horrifying picture of this infamous city and its sister, Gomorrah. According ...
Our tale begins with angels leaving Abraham at midday, their wings carrying them towards Sodom as evening approached. Now, usually, angels are all about speed. They deliver their m...
Turns out, according to tradition, the good times kept rolling. The Legends of the Jews, that incredible compilation of rabbinic stories gathered by Louis Ginzberg, tells us that G...
He was marrying Mahalath, the daughter of Ishmael. What a guy. Thinking he could finally win over his parents, Isaac and Rebecca, by marrying within the family, a granddaughter of ...
According to Legends of the Jews (Ginzberg, naturally drawing on earlier Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary)ic sources), things were still pretty tense. See, Jacob, ever the...
So, picture this: It’s the evening of the second day after the… ahem… agreement between Jacob's sons and the people of Shechem. You remember the agreement. The one where all the me...
That’s the situation Reuben, the eldest son of Jacob, found himself in with his younger brother, Joseph. Reuben had good reason to worry. As the eldest, he knew that if anything ha...
The Torah tells us the broad strokes, but some of the details… well, they’re just fascinating. Let's pick up the thread as the story continues its winding path toward Egypt. The br...
You know, the one with the coat of many colors? We're past the coat now, past the jealous brothers, and right into his new life in Egypt. He's working in the house of Potiphar, an ...
But let's rewind to the very beginning of his Egyptian adventure. The Torah tells us Joseph's brothers sold him to a caravan heading to Egypt. But what happened when he actually go...
He's already endured the unspeakable loss of his beloved son, Joseph. Or so he thinks. His other sons, driven by jealousy, had secretly sold Joseph into slavery in Egypt years ago,...
We all know the story. Joseph's brothers, consumed by jealousy, sell him into slavery. They return home, tearfully presenting their father Jacob with Joseph's bloodied cloak, claim...
