1,870 related texts · 10 related myths · Page 5 of 39
Take this story, for example, about the angel Michael, the angel Uzza, and a really sticky situation regarding the enslavement of the Israelites in Egypt. Here's the setup: the Isr...
The familiar story is this: 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 t...
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 tradition of Jewis...
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 seventee...
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. Here's the rub: ...
"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 (...
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...
The Torah specifies in (Exodus 12:19) that the laws of Passover apply to both "the proselyte and the citizen of the land." The Mekhilta explains why this explicit mention of the co...
The Mekhilta unpacks a subtle but powerful argument that God makes to Israel. The verse reads: "As the deeds of the land of Egypt in which you dwelt you shall not do" (Leviticus 18...
The Torah specifies that a goring ox is put to death by stoning. But what about an ox that kills by biting, kicking, or trampling rather than goring? Are all forms of animal-inflic...
The Mekhilta raises an objection to the theory that the four-and-five payment applies only to animals that are sacrificed on the altar. If that were the rule, then a blemished anim...
"And my wrath shall burn", Rabbi Yishmael connected this phrase to a parallel verse in Deuteronomy through a gezeirah shavah, drawing devastating consequences for the affliction of...
"and the stranger": This refers to a ger toshav (a "sojourning stranger [one who shuns idolatry and observes the seven Noachide laws]). But perhaps it refers to a ger tzedek (a "ri...
The tradition paints a rather… unusual picture. Imagine an angel resembling an ox with a split lip. Strange. But hold that image for a moment, because this angel's position is what...
There's a powerful, almost unsettling image in Midrash Tehillim, a collection of homiletic interpretations of the Book of Psalms. It speaks of someone being stripped bare, of havin...
One that echoes even in the ancient words of Midrash Tehillim, a collection of rabbinic commentaries on the Book of Psalms. Specifically, The verse This isn't just a passive acknow...
When you really dig in, you find these incredible layers of compassion and ethical guidance. Take the laws about lending and taking pledges, for example. They're not just about con...
The Torah commands us, in (Deuteronomy 24:19), that when reaping our harvest, if we leave a sheaf in the field, we cannot go back to retrieve it. It must be left for the poor, the ...
What happens when one of them passes away, leaving behind a wife but no children? Traditionally, Jewish law provides a specific path, one designed to both care for the widow and co...
The ones that govern life, death, and... well, levirate marriage? It's a mouthful, I know. But stick with me, because even in ancient texts, there are surprisingly human stories hi...
Benjamin the Righteous served as the guardian of the community charity fund. Every donation that came in, every disbursement that went out, passed through his honest hands. The peo...
The story of Ben Sabar who helped an orphan to be married. On his journey home he was met by the angel §5 of death. He went to the R. Shaffan b. Laish and was saved from death thro...
Ben Sabar was traveling home one evening when he came upon a young orphan girl weeping by the side of the road. She had no family, no dowry, and no one willing to marry her. Withou...
Rabbi Joshua ben Chanania, one of the greatest sages of the first and second century CE, used to say: In my whole life, no one has ever bested me in argument, except a widow, a chi...
Benjamin the Righteous was the keeper of the communal poor-box in his city. He had one job: to guard the coins and give them out to the hungry. In a year of famine a woman came to ...
The son of Rabbi Reuben the Libellarius was being married. The feast was in full swing. The music was loud, the wine was generous, and the family was radiant. An old stranger came ...
The Talmud (Kiddushin 80b) tells a grim little tale to justify a rule about guarding appearances. Once a woman stood weeping over her husband's fresh grave. Not far off, a guard ke...
Ben Sabar was a man famous for his tzedakah. When word came that a poor couple in a distant town needed money for their wedding, he packed a sack of coin and set out without hesita...
Rabbi Chanina ben Dosa once preached a sermon on the rabbinic teaching "Receive every man as a friend", every stranger, every wayfarer, every unknown face at your door. He finished...
The Hebrew of (Genesis 15:13) is severe enough: know with certainty that your seed will be a stranger in a land not theirs, and they will afflict them four hundred years. Targum Ps...
In the wilderness, Hagar meets an angel. And the angel does what angels rarely do, he names a child. Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on (Genesis 16:11) keeps the name-meaning the Hebrew enc...
Evening falls over Sedom, and two angels arrive. The Hebrew of (Genesis 19:1) says Lot was sitting "in the gate of Sedom." The Targum catches a detail the plain reading hides. "Two...
"Turn now hither," Lot says to the two angels, "and enter the house of your servant, and lodge, and wash your feet" (Genesis 19:2). The angels refuse. "No; for in the street we wil...
In the field outside Shechem, Joseph meets a man who tells him his brothers have moved on to Dothan. The Torah calls him simply a man. The sages identified him as the angel Gabriel...
"Know with certainty that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and they will be enslaved to them and they will oppress them, four hundred years.” That's...
In the Torah, seemingly straightforward words often ripple with hidden depths, revealing layers of symbolism that speak to our history, our hopes, and our ultimate destiny. Take Ja...
The verse “Yitro…heard” (Exodus 18:1) sparks a fascinating connection to a seemingly unrelated verse from Job: “The stranger does not stay the night outside” (Job 31:32). What’s th...
“We have become orphans, fatherless; our mothers are like widows” (Lamentations 5:3).“We have become orphans, fatherless.” Rabbi Berekhya said in the name of Rabbi Levi: The Holy O...
Then Judah came near unto him (Gen. 44:18). Scripture states elsewhere in reference to this verse: And the envy of Ephraim shall depart (Isa. 11:13). Concerning whom did Isaiah utt...
Our story begins not just at the beginning of time, but with the very blueprint for it. The Israelites are wandering in the desert, led by more than just Moses. The text says that ...
The Book of Jubilees, also sometimes called Lesser Genesis, is a Second Temple Jewish retelling of Genesis and Exodus that was not included in the Hebrew Bible but survived in impo...
The Book of Tobit, a beautiful story nestled within the Apocrypha, touches on just that. It's a tale filled with faith, healing, and the surprising intervention of angels. We find ...
Letter of Aristeas turns to Freeing Jewish Slaves to Receive the Torah. You're an advisor to a powerful king, and you're tasked with acquiring a copy of the Jewish law – the Torah....
The Letter of Aristeas, a fascinating text that purports to describe the translation of the Torah into Greek, offers a glimpse into this very question. It suggests that these seemi...
A reader can dismiss them as arbitrary, ancient dietary restrictions. But what if there's something much deeper going on? Something about character, about virtue, about becoming th...
A reader can dismiss them as outdated or just plain weird. But what if there's a deeper wisdom hidden within? The Letter of Aristeas, an ancient text, gives us a fascinating perspe...
