538 related texts · 3 related myths · Page 8 of 12
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! And...
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...
A reader can imagine despair settling in, but the Jewish spirit, as we know, is nothing if not resilient. Let's He wasn't just any guy; he was the scribe and devoted companion of t...
It first appears 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 t...
Against Apion turns to Manetho in Joseph's Time. Manetho claims that a group of "leprous people" and others, after being mistreated, were given a city and land by the Egyptian king...
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. The Josephus says in Antiquities XIX, whe...
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...
Mitpachat Sefarim turns to A Fiery Defense of the Talmud's Sacred Legends. The author opens with a fiery declaration. He's in deep disagreement with other thinkers, "philosophers a...
In the Kabbalistic tradition, specifically within the Idra Zuta, we find a fascinating answer, one rooted in the very structure of the divine. Yes, you read that right, the beard. ...
Beyond the flowers and the vows, Jewish tradition holds layers of mystical significance, particularly when we explore the Tikkunei (spiritual repair) Zohar, a companion volume to t...
Tikkunei Zohar turns to Ten Sefirot and the Raw Materials of the First Day. Then, things get even more interesting. The text invokes the verse, "This is the book of the generations...
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...
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 Marah a...
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, B...
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 t...
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 r...
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...
R. Shimon b. Elazar said: If the sons of Noach could not abide by the seven mitzvoth (commandments) commanded them, how much more so (could they not abide) by all the mitzvoth of t...
(Ibid.) "He visits the sins of the fathers upon the children (for the third and the fourth generations"): when they (the generations) are consecutive. How so? An evildoer, the son ...
The image of the world resting on pillars is a powerful one, found in creation myths across cultures. But what kind of pillars? How many? Some said twelve, a number rich with symbo...
It might seem arbitrary, a blip on the calendar. But according to Jewish tradition, the month of Tishrei isn't just any month. It's the month of beginnings, endings, and profound t...
His twelve sons, the progenitors of the twelve tribes of Israel, are gathered around him. They’re not just there to say goodbye. They're there for something more. In Targum Pseudo-...
Midrash Aggadah turns to The Angel Of The Lord. Jerusalem, poised on the brink of annihilation. God, in his wrath, sends an angel to destroy it. Can you picture it? A city about to...
The story goes that after the Temple was torn down and Jerusalem was ablaze, God, in His infinite compassion, sought to soothe the city’s pain. As Pesikta Rabbati 30:3 tells us, Go...
It all starts with a bit of divine disappointment. The tradition says when the generation of the Flood went astray, God, in a moment of regret, wondered about creating humans in th...
The pain, the suffering, the sheer brutality of the Egyptian exile… was actually part of a divine plan? It sounds crazy. To suggest that God deliberately placed the descendants of ...
It’s one of those enduring mysteries that tugs at the imagination. Where did they go? Did they assimilate? Are they still out there, waiting to be found? Well, Jewish folklore offe...
Midrash Aggadah turns to The Sleeping Messiah. They were poor, these students, but rich in faith. Penniless, they set out, driven by a dream that dwarfed every obstacle in their pa...
Midrash Mishlei, a collection of rabbinic teachings that draws insights from the Book of Proverbs, dives deep into the complexities of this foundational narrative. It begins with a...
"A woman of valor, who can find?" (Proverbs 31:10). It's a powerful opening to a beautiful poem. But what does it really mean? What does it point to? Midrash Mishlei, our text for ...
