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There is nothing more beloved than the Mincha prayer. The afternoon offering — the one between the morning and the evening — is the prayer that comes at the moment when the day is ...
"Hear the word of the Lord, O house of Jacob" (Jeremiah 2:4). Not the word of Jeremiah. Not the word of the priesthood. The word of the Lord — direct, unmediated, demanding attenti...
"But Zion said, 'The Lord has forsaken me, the Lord has forgotten me'" (Isaiah 49:14). And God answers — not with proof of presence but with a reminder of what "remembering" actual...
The principle that a dream follows its interpretation is not an abstraction. The Talmud in Berakhot 55b demonstrates it through the life of Joseph—and through a hard rule about tim...
Two years. That is how long Joseph sat in an Egyptian prison after correctly predicting the fate of Pharaoh's cupbearer—who had promised to remember him and then promptly forgot. T...
We often hear about Joseph, the dreamer, the interpreter of dreams, the one who rose to power in Egypt. But what about his personal life? Did he ever find love amidst all the polit...
Jacob said: "My way is hidden from the Lord, and my justice has passed away from my God" (Isaiah 40:27). This was Israel speaking — the whole nation's complaint condensed into one ...
In what lies in the other ark it is written (Exodus 20) "I am the L–rd your G–d," and of Joseph it is written (Genesis 50:19) "Am I in the place of G–d?" In what lies in this ark i...
(Job 5:19) promises: "From six woes He shall save you, and in the seventh, evil shall not reach you." The midrash asks which six woes — and Solomon in Proverbs provides the list: "...
A small city, few people, a great king who comes and builds fortifications — (Ecclesiastes 9:14) describes something small being threatened by something enormous. The rabbis identi...
We’re opening the Book of Jubilees, a fascinating text considered canonical by some, like the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, but apocryphal by others. It's like a behind-the-scenes loo...
The story of Joseph, as told in the Book of Jubilees, gives us a glimpse. We all know the broad strokes: sold into slavery by his jealous brothers, falsely accused, imprisoned... J...
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...
That’s where we find Pharaoh in the Joseph story. For two long years, Pharaoh was plagued by recurring dreams. Night after night, they visited him, only to vanish with the morning ...
This particular story plunges us into the land of the Philistines. Imagine the scene: A night filled with inexplicable terror. A "great crying" echoes across the land as people wit...
They're opposites. Always battling it out. But in one of the most dramatic stories in the Torah, the Exodus from Egypt, we see them working together in a truly terrifying way. I'm ...
Sometimes, digging into the past brings up unexpected things... and uncomfortable questions. Today, we're wading into one of those uncomfortable corners, a place where ancient bias...
We often focus on the wonder of divine intervention, but sometimes the small details reveal a much deeper story. Take the plague of blood in Egypt, for example. We all know the sto...
Midrash Tehillim, a collection of rabbinic interpretations of the Book of Psalms, uses a vivid analogy to explore exactly that feeling, focusing on the Exodus from Egypt. It hangs ...
It wasn't just about Pharaoh's decree to throw baby boys into the Nile. It was also about something seemingly mundane: bricks. to a fascinating interpretation from the Yalkut Shimo...
Shemot Rabbah, a classic midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary)ic compilation – a collection of interpretations and expansions on the Book of Exodus (Shemot in Hebrew) – gives ...
To recap, the brothers have already journeyed to Egypt to buy food during a brutal famine, encountering the powerful and mysterious Egyptian viceroy– who is secretly their long-los...
Simeon, second son of Jacob and Leah, was dying in his hundred and twentieth year. Joseph his brother had already passed. When his sons came to visit, Simeon strengthened himself, ...
We're diving into a tiny moment from the Book of Jubilees, chapter 42. It's a snippet that speaks volumes about fear, famine, and foresight – a story nestled within the larger saga...
We all know the story: Joseph, sold into slavery by his jealous brothers, ends up in Egypt. He rises through the ranks, but then gets thrown in jail after being falsely accused. Bu...
That’s kind of what happened in Egypt, according to the legends surrounding Joseph, the dreamer who rose to power. Remember Joseph? Sold into slavery by his brothers, he ended up i...
The Book of Jubilees certainly thinks so. It retells familiar biblical narratives, but with a unique perspective, filling in details and offering its own interpretations. to a snip...
That tension, that feeling of unease even amidst blessing, it's woven right into the fabric of the story of Joseph and his brothers. And in the Book of Jubilees, a retelling of Gen...
That’s exactly what happens to Pharaoh in Chapter 48 of the Book of Jasher. The story opens with a looming crisis: a famine. "In those days, after the death of Isaac, the Lord comm...
Remember, this is an ancient Hebrew text, not considered canon, but full of fascinating stories filling in gaps in the biblical narrative. Our story picks up with Jacob and his son...
It’s a story filled with twists, turns, and a whole lot of divine intervention. It's the story of Joseph. After Joseph correctly interprets Pharaoh's dreams, foretelling seven year...
This one involves Joseph, yes, that Joseph, the one with the coat of many colors, the dreamer who rose to power in Egypt. But before the famine, before the brothers came begging fo...
Little does Jacob know the drama unfolding there, the accusations, the imprisonment of Simeon, and the demand to bring Benjamin, his youngest and most cherished son, back to Egypt....
We know him for his dreams, his betrayal, and his rise to power in Egypt, but according to tradition, there was so much more to him. Joseph earned the title "the God-fearing one"—a...
The standard Genesis account of Joseph's rise to power in Egypt is dramatic enough. But the ancient Aramaic translation known as Targum Jonathan layers in theological details that ...
The ones that make you think, "Wait, how did that happen?" to a fascinating little corner of the Joseph story, found in Bereshit Rabbah, a compilation of rabbinic interpretations o...
The ancient rabbis certainly did, and they found fascinating insights in the story of Joseph in Egypt. In Bereshit Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretations of the Book of G...
Take the story of Joseph and his brothers in Egypt. In (Genesis 47:2), we read, "From among his brothers he took five men, and he presented them before Pharaoh." Okay, seems simple...
Talk about pressure. The Book of Jubilees, an ancient Jewish text that retells and expands upon stories from the Hebrew Bible, gives us a glimpse into this pivotal moment. So, pict...
Pharaoh, the most powerful man in the land, is understandably worried. He needs a solution, and fast. The text says, "let Pharaoh appoint overseers in all the land of Egypt, and le...
Jubilees, in its 40th chapter, paints a picture of Joseph that goes beyond the familiar story of the coat of many colors and the dreams. It tells us, "for he walked in uprightness,...
In case you're not familiar, the Book of Jubilees is an ancient Jewish text that retells the stories of Genesis from a slightly different angle, adding details and interpretations ...
That’s kind of what happened after Joseph's incredible rise to power in Egypt. Remember Joseph? Sold into slavery by his brothers, then, through a series of unbelievable events, ri...
It’s a universal sting, and even Joseph, the dreamer of dreams himself, wasn't immune. Book of Jasher and see how this plays out. So, Joseph is still stuck in that Egyptian prison....
We know the big picture from the Torah: Potiphar, imprisonment, interpreting dreams, and ultimately becoming second-in-command to Pharaoh. But what about those missing pieces? What...
Ancient kings did too. And sometimes, they needed a little help deciphering them. Take Pharaoh, for example. He was troubled by dreams, unsettling visions that seemed to hold the f...
And it led to one of the most dramatic moments in the Joseph story. Pharaoh, plagued by these intense dreams, had already consulted the wise men of Egypt. But their interpretations...
We all know the basic story: famine, dreams, interpretation… but there's so much more swirling beneath the surface! It’s a story brimming with divine intervention, miraculous knowl...
