2,273 related texts · Page 15 of 48
The standard Exodus text says God promised one final plague against Egypt. The Targum Jonathan transforms this announcement into something far more personal and humiliating for Pha...
When Pharaoh decided to enslave the Israelites, he consulted three advisors. According to Sotah 11a, what happened to each of them perfectly matched the advice they gave. Balaam re...
The Jewish people were redeemed from Egypt because of the righteous women. According to Sotah 11b, Rav Avira taught that while the men had given up hope under Pharaoh's slavery, th...
Take the tale of Pharaoh and Sarah in Genesis. We know the basic outline: Abraham and Sarah enter Egypt, Abraham says Sarah is his sister, Pharaoh takes Sarah into his house, and t...
Take Rachel, for example. When she names her son Joseph, it’s more than just a sweet moment. It’s packed with layers of meaning, hinting at destinies yet to unfold. "She called his...
We're talking about Joseph, remember him? The favorite son with the technicolor dreamcoat? He had a knack for dreaming... and maybe not such a great knack for keeping those dreams ...
When Joseph told his brothers about his dreams, he expected some reaction—but what he got was pure, unadulterated envy. That's exactly what we find in (Genesis 37:12): "His brother...
(Genesis 39:2) tells us, “The Lord was with Joseph, and he was a successful man, and he was in the house of his master, the Egyptian.” But Bereshit Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic...
We're looking at Parsha 86, where we find ourselves in the middle of the Joseph narrative. Remember Joseph? Sold into slavery in Egypt? He ends up in the house of Potiphar, an Egyp...
The scene: Joseph, a handsome young man, working in the house of his Egyptian master, Potiphar. Potiphar's wife, overcome with desire, makes a move. (Genesis 39:12) tells us, "She ...
Take the tale of Joseph and his brothers. We often focus on the grand reconciliation, the forgiveness, the happy ending in Egypt. But what about the really prickly parts? Bereshit ...
He says, "Woe unto us from the Day of Judgment; woe unto us from the day of rebuke!" It's a powerful statement, isn't it? He uses Joseph as an example. : Joseph, a man of flesh and...
The story starts with a quote from (Genesis 49:5): "Simeon and Levi are brothers; weapons of villainy are their heritage." But what does it really mean? Bereshit Rabbah, an ancient...
The book of Ecclesiastes, or Kohelet as it's known in Hebrew, certainly did. It observes, "I have seen servants upon horses, and princes walking on the ground like servants" (Eccle...
Take the story of the Israelite enslavement in Egypt. We all know the basics, but the details… well, that’s where things get interesting. The Torah tells us, "They imposed upon the...
We all know the story of Pharaoh, the archetypal oppressor of the Israelites. But Shemot Rabbah delves into the why behind his horrific decree to cast newborn sons into the Nile (E...
The book of Exodus tells us that Moses fled Pharaoh after killing an Egyptian who was beating a Hebrew slave (Exodus 2:15). But Shemot Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretati...
It wasn't pretty. And it certainly wasn't subtle. Our story picks up right after Moses and Aaron deliver their fateful message: "Let my people go!" (Exodus 5:1). Pharaoh, predictab...
It sounds almost…silly. But when you dig into the Midrash, these plagues become far more than just annoying inconveniences. They become targeted, almost surgical strikes against th...
The verse in (Exodus 9:10) tells us, "They took soot of the furnace, and stood before Pharaoh; and Moses threw it heavenward; and it became boils erupting into blisters upon man an...
The Rabbis of the Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary) thought Pharaoh knew exactly how that felt when he finally let the Israelites leave Egypt. Shemot Rabbah, a compilation...
We're diving into the Book of Jubilees today, specifically chapter 44. Now, Jubilees – sometimes called Lesser Genesis – is a fascinating text. It's considered scripture by some, l...
Like you're swimming upstream in a river of… well, you get the picture. That struggle, that feeling of being unfairly opposed, is an incredibly ancient one. And it echoes through t...
We all know the story: Moses leading the Israelites out of Egypt, the parting of the Red Sea, the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai. Epic. But what about the moments before all th...
We all know the broad strokes: slavery in Egypt, Moses leading his people to freedom, the parting of the Red Sea. But sometimes, the details get lost in the grandeur. The Book of J...
to a fascinating, and sometimes surprising, peek into the origins of Passover and Shabbat, as seen through the lens of a text called the Book of Jubilees. The Book of Jubilees, som...
The story of the Maccabees gives us a glimpse into exactly that world. We've talked about the Maccabees before, of course. Their fight for religious freedom against the Seleucid Em...
We're turning to the Book of Maccabees I, a historical account that's part of the Apocrypha, those fascinating books nestled in some versions of the Bible but not in others. It’s a...
We're diving into 1 Maccabees 11, a chapter brimming with betrayal, ambition, and royal marriages gone sour. It all kicks off with a proposition, a deal so juicy it could only be h...
The version we're looking at today is a medieval text that claims to be that lost book. Think of it as a kind of ancient historical fiction, filling in gaps and offering its own un...
It’s a relentless chronicle of life and death, battles and betrayals. We're in Egypt, some seventy-nine years after Jacob and his family arrived. The years are marked by a somber r...
We all know the story of his dramatic rescue as a baby, floating down the Nile in a basket. But what happened next, after he was adopted by Pharaoh's daughter? The Book of Jasher, ...
We know the big story: the plagues, the Exodus, the parting of the Red Sea. But what about the nitty-gritty details of those first few days of freedom? The Book of Jasher, a text m...
The story of Lot is a fascinating example. We know him best, perhaps, for his narrow escape from the fiery destruction of Sodom. But did you know that his salvation wasn't just a s...
This one's from the Book of (Genesis 34:25-29), amplified and expanded in the Legends of the Jews by Louis Ginzberg, and it's... intense. It all begins with Dinah, Jacob's daughter...
According to Ginzberg’s Legends of the Jews, the brothers were so consumed with malice that they decided to finish their meal before carrying out their deadly plan. A chilling deta...
The story of Joseph and his brothers is a perfect example, a tale brimming with jealousy, betrayal, and divine intervention. Imagine the scene: the brothers, consumed by envy, have...
Take the story of Joseph, for instance. We all know the highlights: jealousy, betrayal, slavery, imprisonment, and ultimately, triumph. But what about the in-between moments? We pi...
Sometimes, the answers are hidden in stories… stories that stretch back millennia. Take, for example, the story of Joseph, sold into slavery by his own brothers. A heartbreaking be...
The weight of grief, the injustice of his situation… it’s almost unbearable. The text tells us that Joseph wept so intensely that he became “immovable as a stone” (Legends of the J...
The details, as they say, are in the legends. Potiphar, understandably enraged by his wife's claims about Joseph, didn't just shrug it off. He had Joseph stripped and beaten, accor...
He bids them farewell at the frontier, extending an invitation for their entire families to join him. It's a moment filled with the promise of reunion and prosperity. But then, he ...
That’s kind of how Jacob must have felt, facing the prospect of his family’s descent into Egypt. The stories tell us that Jacob, also known as Israel, was deeply concerned about th...
It's often in those details that the real magic lies. Take Jacob, for example. We know he journeyed from Canaan to Egypt, a pivotal moment for his family and, ultimately, for the e...
The story of Jacob's burial gives us a fascinating glimpse into those questions. Jacob, also known as Israel, had very specific ideas about where he didn't want to be buried: Egypt...
He’s not just celebrating; he’s teaching. He’s imparting wisdom gleaned from his own tumultuous life. He urges his brothers to walk in the ways of the Lord, to make themselves wort...
Joseph, the one they sold into slavery years before, is now a powerful figure. He could have sought revenge. He had every reason to. But, as our text from Legends of the Jews point...
We often think of it as a commandment straight from Mount Sinai, a divine decree etched in stone. And it is. But the story, as it often does in Jewish tradition, has layers and nua...
