1,629 related texts · Page 3 of 34
Rabbi Nachman of Breslov taught that anyone who wants to taste the Or HaGanuz (אור הגנוז), the Hidden Light that God stored away from the first day of creation, must elevate the qu...
In his commentary on Parashat Bereshit, Rebbe Elimelech of Lizhensk (the Noam Elimelech) asks a deceptively simple question: why does the Torah begin with the word "beginning"? Ras...
Rabbi Yitzchak found a verse that establishes blessings both before and after eating. (Exodus 23:25) reads, "And you shall serve the Lord your God, and He will bless your bread and...
"the L–rd is a man of war': What is the intent of this? Because He revealed Himself at the sea as a hero waging war—"The L–rd is a man of war"—and He revealed Himself at Sinai as a...
R. Yishmael says: What is written at the beginning, viz. (Leviticus 25:1-3) "And the L–rd spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai, saying … then the land shall rest a Sabbath to the L–rd. Si...
He came and revealed Himself to the sons of Ishmael and asked them: Will you accept the Torah? They: What is written in it? He: "You shall not steal." They: But this is the blessin...
R. Chanina b. Iddi says: Since Scripture states "Swear" and "Do not swear," "Curse" and "Do not curse," since swearing is by the Name, so, not swearing is by the Name (i.e., "Do no...
This is one of three things in the Torah which R. Yishmael expounded metaphorically. Similarly, (Exodus 22:2) "If the sun shone upon him." Now is it upon him alone that the sun shi...
R. Eliezer says: Scripture speaks of a Canaanite (as opposed to a Hebrew) man-servant. You say this, but perhaps it speaks of a Hebrew? (This is not so, for) it is written here "hi...
And thus do we find with our fathers, that when they stood on Mount Sinai, they sought to steal the Higher Mind, as it is written (Exodus 24:7) "Everything that the L–rd has spoken...
(Exodus 22:5) "If fire go out and it find thorns … pay shall pay he that lights the fire": Why need this be written? It is derivable a fortiori, viz. If he is liable (if the fire p...
(Exodus 22:28) "Your fullness and your dema (terumah) you shall not delay": "Your fullness"—bikkurim (first-fruits, which are taken from fully ripened grain). "you shall not delay"...
And the Torah, in its own way, grapples with this very question. We find ourselves in the Book of Exodus, a pivotal moment in the story of the Israelites. Moses is about to ascend ...
Bava Metzia 59b), a story about rabbinic authority and, surprisingly, God's good-natured acceptance of it. It all starts with a disagreement. Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrcanus, a renowned...
The Talmud in Tractate Eruvin asks a strange question: why is the Torah compared to a deer? The answer: a deer's womb is narrow. Every time the deer mates, it is as cherished as th...
The Hebrew Bible says Moses, Aaron, Nadav, Avihu, and seventy elders "saw the God of Israel" (Exodus 24:10). This is an extraordinary claim—direct visual perception of the divine. ...
... Another reading: “Comfort, oh comfort My people” (Isaiah 40:1) Said the Holy Blessed One: Who needs to be comforted? For one whose wife died, not the husband? Thus was Zion ana...
The Small Letters and their Purposes The ALEPH in ויקרא And He called (Leviticus 1:1) is small, to teach that the Holy Blessed One is only revealed to the nations of the earth thro...
Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary) Sheni Ketuvim In the beginning God created etc. - To declare the might of the acts of creation to creatures, and to make it known to them...
Moses stood before Israel and said: "You have been shown to know that the Lord, He is God; there is none beside Him" (Deuteronomy 4:35). Not told — shown. The plagues, the sea, the...
There was an incident involving Miriam daughter of the baker, who was taken captive with her seven sons. The emperor took them and placed them behind seven partitions. He brought t...
“I am the man who has seen affliction by the rod of His fury” (Lamentations 3:1).“I am the man” – Rabbi Ḥama bar Ḥanina began: “Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to Barukh s...
There was an incident involving Rabbi Yehoshua ben Ḥananya, who went to the great city of Rome. They said to him: ‘There is a certain child in prison in disgrace.’10The Romans were...
Rabbi Meir tackled one of the trickiest problems in the Torah's laws of damages: how do you classify a dangerous ox? The Torah distinguishes between a tam — an ox with no history o...
He's up against someone filled with animosity, someone ready to do him harm. We don't know exactly who, but the text paints a vivid picture of unwavering hostility. And what does t...
We know the broad strokes of Abraham, the patriarch, and the destruction of Sodom. But what about the details? Sometimes, the lesser-known texts fill in the gaps, offering a richer...
"Blind your eyes because of a widowed woman, and do not covet her beauty in your heart." That's what Ben Sira says, in the proverb attached to the Hebrew letter Ayin (ע)—and it's a...
When a person is about to die, the angel assigned to them delivers a devastating eulogy. Not a eulogy of praise. A eulogy of regret. According to the Chronicles of Jerahmeel, a 12t...
God continued speaking to Enoch, and the story of creation grew stranger and more terrible. He had made the heavenly circle firm. He commanded the waters below heaven to gather int...
His story of wrestling with an angel is one of the most powerful and enigmatic in the entire Torah. As Jacob journeyed back to Canaan, anticipating a tense reunion with his brother...
It's not just a modern cartoon trope; it's a trait deeply embedded in Jewish folklore. And like many great stories, it begins with a bit of divine drama. Imagine the scene: Adam ha...
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...
The story of Lot, Abraham's nephew, gives us a masterclass in hospitality gone wrong. We all know the basics: God, displeased with the wickedness of Sodom, sends angels to investig...
That’s the feeling I get sometimes when I read certain passages in Jewish lore. Take this little gem from Ginzberg’s Legends of the Jews. It's a tiny moment, a snapshot really, but...
What does he do? Does he stand back, waiting for someone to acknowledge him? Nope. He takes the initiative. "My brethren, whence be ye?" he asks. A simple question, but oh-so-power...
And according to Jewish tradition, his extended stay behind bars had a very specific reason. We all know the story: Joseph, sold into slavery by his jealous brothers, rises in powe...
A devastating famine had gripped the land of Canaan, and word reached Joseph, now a high-ranking official in Egypt, that his brothers might be forced to come seeking grain. Remembe...
Freedom. Did everyone just instantly start singing and dancing? Well, not exactly. According to Ginzberg's retelling in Legends of the Jews, the Israelites were… well, they were ex...
Jewish tradition grapples with these questions constantly, and sometimes the answers come from the most unexpected places. Take this story, for example, about the angel Michael, th...
We all know the story: the Israelites, enslaved in Egypt, are finally led to freedom by Moses. But the Bible only gives us so much detail. What about the heavenly host? Were they j...
It wasn't just the adults celebrating freedom. According to Legends of the Jews, even babies stopped nursing, compelled to add their voices to the chorus! And unbelievably, the emb...
They loved a good riddle, a clever paradox, and a chance to explore the hidden depths of Jewish thought. to a few of these ancient brain-teasers, culled from the rich tapestry of J...
Let me tell you about Nebuchadnezzar. For eighteen years, can you imagine, eighteen years daily, a heavenly voice boomed through his palace! This wasn't some quiet whisper; this wa...
Twenty pounds of silver. That was the price of a human life—the amount Joseph's own brothers accepted from a passing caravan of Ishmaelite merchants in exchange for their seventeen...
It dives deep into the paradox of concealment and revelation, exploring how God's presence is both hidden and, strangely, revealed through that very act of hiding. But here's the r...
"I have remained a stranger at Laban's" (Genesis 32:5). Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev reports his father's brilliant reading of Jacob's message to Esau. The Hebrew word garti (...
Harba de-Moshe (חרבא דמשה), the Sword of Moses, is one of the most important Jewish theurgic texts from the Geonic period. First published by Moses Gaster in 1896 from a unique man...
Sefer HaRazim (ספר הרזים), the Book of Mysteries, is a Jewish theurgic text dating to approximately the 3rd-4th century CE, making it one of the earliest structured works of Jewish...
