484 related texts · Page 7 of 11
It wasn’t exactly a calm, rational discussion – more like a celestial tug-of-war. According to Ginzberg’s retelling in Legends of the Jews, God was pretty miffed at Moses. Moses wa...
The tradition paints a powerful picture. The Legends of the Jews tells us that Moses spent the time from the first day of Shevat (a month in the Jewish calendar, usually falling in...
The Torah is full of blessings, but it's not always straightforward. Some blessings are more potent than others, some are given grudgingly, and some come with unexpected consequenc...
The stories surrounding the giving of the Torah are filled with this kind of fiery devotion. In fact, the text tells us that at a certain point, overcome with emotion, Israel decla...
It’s a question that’s sparked debate and wonder for centuries. The Torah tells us he died on Mount Nebo, overlooking the Promised Land he would never enter. But is that the whole ...
to a fascinating corner of Jewish legend, a story about the tribe of Asher, one of the twelve tribes of Israel, and the blessings they received. According to tradition, Moses himse...
Can you feel their anticipation, their weariness, their unwavering faith? They arrive at Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal, twin peaks that would become the stage for a powerful ritual....
The story of Achan gives us a glimpse. It's a tale of transgression, communal strife, and ultimately, redemption – or at least, the possibility of it. See, after the miraculous cro...
It's easy to skim over those parts, but the rabbis of old wrestled with them. They tried to understand the motivations, the divine reasoning, behind seemingly harsh actions. Take t...
After God worked wonders through Gideon, he had an ephod made. Now, the ephod was a sacred garment, sort of like a fancy vest, worn by priests. Think of it as a visual representati...
He was an outcast, remember? Driven from his home by his brothers, he rose to become a mighty warrior. When the elders of Gilead needed a leader to fight the Ammonites, they turned...
Remember Micah? The guy who stole silver from his mother and then used it to make an idol (Judges 17)? Well, according to Legends of the Jews, the trouble didn’t stop there. The pe...
As Ginzberg retells it in Legends of the Jews, at that very moment, an angel descended, not to offer comfort, but to execute judgment. The angel slew four of David's sons, the prop...
It's not always the grand gestures, but the quiet intentions humming beneath the surface. King David, a warrior, a poet, a king... He had a secret reservation about building the Te...
The split of the kingdom into Judah and Israel is definitely one of those. It wasn't just a political squabble; it was a seismic event with echoes that still resonate today. The ma...
But Elijah's not just about dramatic showdowns with false gods – that was just the warm-up! The real action starts in the days of the Messiah. : the world needs a serious fixer-upp...
Remember Pekah? He was the king who, well, didn’t exactly get to savor his victories. Because right after he came to power, the king of Assyria swooped in and, as Ginzberg tells us...
It's fascinating to consider. According to Legends of the Jews, those who settled in Samaria after the Assyrians deported the Ten Tribes weren’t exactly quick to embrace the Jewish...
His reign, according to the Legends of the Jews, was truly something special. After Solomon, he was the only king to rule over both Judah and Israel. Imagine the scope of that! We'...
It all started with a vow – a solemn promise made by Zedekiah, the last king of Judah, to Nebuchadnezzar. But things went south, as they often do in these stories. Zedekiah, for re...
The Talmud, specifically Tractate Gittin 56b, recounts the horrific events surrounding the destruction of the First Temple in Jerusalem. It wasn't just a military defeat; it was a ...
It wasn't just Babylon against Israel. Other Arabic tribes, like the Palmyrenes, openly showed their hostility, even providing Nebuchadnezzar with a massive force of eighty thousan...
It's easy to imagine despair settling in, but the Jewish spirit, as we know, is nothing if not resilient. Let's talk about Baruch. He wasn't just any guy; he was the scribe and dev...
You might think he'd be remembered with bitterness, given that Jerusalem fell during his reign. But, surprisingly, the legends paint a different picture. According to Legends of th...
Agrippa did something no Jewish king had done in a generation: he made the people feel like they had a ruler who was actually one of them. According to Josephus in Antiquities XIX,...
Rabbi Ishmael, a central figure in the Heikhalot (the heavenly palaces) literature (texts describing mystical ascents to heaven), once posed this very question. He asks, what did Z...
That even when things look bleak, when divine displeasure seems pointed our way, there are forces working on our behalf. But who are these celestial advocates? Heikhalot (the heave...
That's the kind of passion that pulses through the words of Mitpachat Sefarim, an author wrestling with interpretations of Jewish tradition. The author opens with a fiery declarati...
Beyond the flowers and the vows, Jewish tradition holds layers of mystical significance, particularly when we delve into the Tikkun (spiritual repair)ei Zohar, a companion volume t...
The essence of life comes from prayer. Rabbi Nachman of Breslov derives this from a single verse: "Prayer to the God of my life" (Psalms 42:9). Prayer is not merely an appeal to th...
(Exodus 12:2) "The beginning of the months": We are hereby apprised that Nissan is the beginning for the months. And whence do we derive (the same for) the reign of kings? From (I ...
The students of a great teacher reported that he expounded a striking principle using the words of the prophet Jeremiah: "Therefore, behold, days are coming, says the Lord, when it...
(Ibid.) "And chamushim did the children of Israel go up from the land of Egypt": "chamushim" indicates "armed," as in (Joshua 1:14) "Then you shall cross over chamushim" (in contex...
"And you, raise your staff": Ten miracles were performed for Israel at the sea: The waters were split and became like a dome, viz. (Habakkuk 3:14) "You split (the sea) for his trib...
(Exodus 14:22) "And the children of Israel came in the midst of the sea on the dry land": R. Meir perceives it one way; R. Yehudah, another. R. Meir: When the tribes were standing ...
R. Yehudah perceives it thus: "And the children of Israel came in the midst of the sea": When the tribes were standing at the sea, each of them said: I will not go down first into ...
The Mekhilta reinforces Rabbi Tarfon's teaching about the tribe of Judah with a verse from Psalms. "When Israel went out of Egypt, the house of Jacob from the people of a foreign t...
R. Eliezer b. Tadai says; Moses would begin with his words, and Israel would respond (with theirs). Moses would begin: "I shall sing to the L–rd," and Israel would end with him and...
There is a warrior in a province. As soon as the arrow leaves his hand he cannot retrieve it. Not so, the Holy One Blessed be He. When Israel do not do His will, a decree goes fort...
And thus we find that they went back (the distance of) three journeys (at Moses' behest), viz. (Numbers 33:8-10) "And they journeyed from Pi Hachiroth … And they journeyed from Mar...
The Mekhilta asks a triumphant question: how do we know that all of Moses' many requests — his desperate pleas to enter the Promised Land — were ultimately granted by the Holy One,...
The phrase "until Dan" appears in the vision God granted Moses from Mount Pisgah (Deuteronomy 34:1). But the Mekhilta raises an obvious problem: at the time of Moses, the land had ...
The phrase "until Dan" appears not only in Moses' vision but much earlier in the Torah, when Abraham "pursued them until Dan" (Genesis 14:14) during his rescue of his nephew Lot. T...
When Jethro heard "that the Lord had taken Israel out of Egypt," the Mekhilta draws a remarkable conclusion: the Exodus is not just one miracle among many. It is the miracle agains...
(Exodus 19:10) "And the L–rd said to Moses: Go to the people and make them ready today"—the fourth day—"and tomorrow"—the fifth day. (Ibid. 11) "And have them be ready for the thir...
Concerning this it is stated in the Tradition (Song of Songs 2:14) "My Dove in the clefts of the rock … Show me Your face; let me hear Your voice. For Your voice is sweet and Your ...
Why was the Temple — the dwelling place of the Divine Presence on earth — built specifically on the tribal territory of Benjamin? The Mekhilta provides two remarkable reasons, both...
The Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael presents a striking teaching about the value of a single human life. The text interprets the phrase "and there fall of them many" to mean that if even...
