1,047 related texts · 1 related myths · Page 1 of 22
The Hebrew Bible makes one of its most radical claims in (Deuteronomy 30:12-14): "It is not in heaven. nor is it overseas. for the matter is extremely close to you, in your mouth a...
The question hung in the beit midrash: what happened to the ten tribes exiled by Assyria, and will they ever come home? The sages opened (Deuteronomy 29:28) and read: And the Lord ...
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...
There are moments in the Torah where the sky seems to split open and a promise falls through. Chapter 15 of Genesis is one of them. In it, God binds Himself to Abraham with a coven...
Book of Jasher turns to Jacob Returns to Bethel and Builds an Altar. Even in this sacred space, life keeps happening. She's buried beneath an oak tree near Bethel. Then, a heavy bl...
Being utterly lost. Disconnected. Adrift. That's the picture the Tikkunei (spiritual repair) Zohar, a profound work of Kabbalah, paints for us of Adam after his transgression. Scar...
It all comes down to this idea of Teshuvah (repentance), repentance, but not just in the "I'm sorry" kind of way. Repentance is often remembered as something personal. Between us a...
Midrash Tehillim, a collection of rabbinic teachings on the Book of Psalms, offers a beautiful insight into this. It starts with the verse, "Good and upright is the Lord; therefore...
The ancient collection of rabbinic teachings known as the Yalkut Shimoni, specifically section 532 on the books of Nach (the later prophets), offers a powerful counterpoint to this...
Where was Isaac during all this? The Torah says he was "coming from Beer-lahai-roi." Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on (Genesis 24:62) tells us something far more specific. He was coming f...
The Torah in (Genesis 25:17) gives us a short obituary for Ishmael: one hundred and thirty-seven years, and then he "expired and was gathered to his people." Targum Pseudo-Jonathan...
The meal is over. The brothers have eaten, drunk, been seated by their mothers' names, watched Benjamin receive five portions. They expect to go home with grain and a story. Joseph...
The mercy arrives as quickly as the warning. The Holy One says to Moses: Return thy hand into thy bosom, Aitaph in the Aramaic. And when Moses withdraws it, it had become clean as ...
Shemot Rabbah turns to Covenant of Yitro. The Rabbis offer a compelling explanation: Moses first went on a mission for God, and then "returned" to Yitro. But that raises another qu...
When we look at texts like the Book of Jubilees, we see just how far that went. The Book of Jubilees, considered scripture in some traditions, particularly Ethiopian, offers a uniq...
The opening columns of the Community Rule describe a yearly covenant renewal ceremony that reads like a cross between a monastic initiation and an ancient Israelite oath of allegia...
The Tikkunei (spiritual repair) Zohar, a profound and mystical section of the Zohar, tackles this head-on. It asks a really fundamental question: how can we truly connect with the ...
Tikkunei Zohar turns to Guarding the Covenant Prepares You for the Messiah. The passage What happens then? According to the Tikkunei Zohar, those who "guarded the sign of the coven...
(Proverbs 23:5) speaks to this feeling, saying, "When you set your eyes on it, it is gone. For wealth certainly makes itself wings." But what does this really mean? One fascinating...
Midrash Tehillim 94, a beautiful exploration of Psalm 94, grapples with this very feeling. It tells us, "For until righteousness returns, judgment will turn back, and after it all ...
(Psalm 25:8) tells us, "Good and upright is Ad-nai; therefore He shows sinners the way." But what is that way? The Pesikta DeRav Kahana, a collection of homiletic teachings, explor...
Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer turns to Joshua — The Ark of the Covenant. The story, as we find it in Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer, chapter 38, begins with Joshua in anguish. He tears his clothe...
The Yalkut Shimoni, a compilation of Midrashic (rabbinic interpretive commentary) teachings, gives us a glimpse into the heart of Moshe at this pivotal moment, drawing on Torah 816...
, guided by the ancient text of Sifrei Bamidbar. Why was such a covenant even necessary? Because, as the text explains, Korach challenged Aaron's priesthood. Imagine a king giving ...
Bamidbar Rabbah turns to Inheriting the Land Depends on Covenantal Fidelity. The Bamidbar Rabbah, a collection of Midrashic (rabbinic interpretive commentary) teachings on the Book...
The Rabbis in Kohelet Rabbah delve deep into this verse, unpacking its layers of meaning. Rabbi Pinḥas and Rabbi Ḥilkiya, in the name of Rabbi Simon, pose a crucial question: When ...
The verse from Hosea (14:3) says, "Take words with you and return to the Lord." The Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary) asks: What does that mean? Are we supposed to bring s...
The verse in question is (Exodus 34:27), "Write for yourself these words, for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel." But what does "these ...
The Torah tells us of an agreement, a covenant, between God and the Israelites. But the details, as explored in Vayikra Rabbah, are far more intricate and, frankly, a little . Rabb...
The Midrash of Philo turns to God's Covenant with Abraham in Philo's Reading. The Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary) suggests that God isn't necessarily looking for perfect...
He’s just received the earth-shattering news that he, in his old age, is going to have a son with Sarah. A son who will carry on the covenant with God. It's huge! But then comes th...
Rabbi Nachman of Breslov taught that the pursuit of honor is a spiritual trap, and the only escape is through silence in the face of humiliation. When a person chases honor, they n...
“Who is it who said and it occurred, if the Lord did not command it?” (Lamentations 3:37).“Who is it who said and it occurred, if the Lord did not command it?” – who did command? H...
A man who had mastered Scripture, studied the Mishnah, and served many scholars dropped dead in the middle of his life. His widow seized his tefillin (leather phylacteries worn dur...
Rabbi Akiva was caught teaching Torah in public after the Roman Empire banned its study following the Bar Kokhba rebellion. When Pappus ben Yehuda warned him of the danger, Akiva a...
The rabbis once overruled God. And God laughed. According to Bava Metzia 59b, the incident began with an argument about an oven. Rabbi Eliezer declared a certain oven ritually pure...
Berurya, one of the sharpest minds in all of Talmudic literature, once caught a student studying Torah in a whisper. She kicked him and said: Scripture teaches that Torah must be "...
When Rome forbade Israel to study Torah on pain of death, Rabbi Akiva went right on teaching it in the open, gathering crowds around him. His friend Pappus ben Yehudah stumbled acr...
Rabbi Akiva had a habit, whenever he taught, of binding the body to the soul. "If we who study Torah suffer," he would say, "how much more would we suffer if we neglected it?" He h...
The Roman Empire had outlawed Torah study. Jews who gathered to learn risked execution. Pappos ben Yehudah, a cautious man, saw Rabbi Akiva publicly teaching Torah in open defiance...
A famous debate arose in the academy between Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Yehoshua over the ritual status of a particular oven, called the oven of Akhnai. The technical question has bec...
The sages were debating whether a certain oven, built in sections and joined with sand, could become ritually unclean. Rabbi Eliezer ruled it pure. The majority ruled it impure. He...
“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...
“Pay them retribution, Lord, according to their handiwork” (Lamentations 3:64).“Pay them retribution” – Jeremiah said: “Pay them retribution.” Asaf said: “Pay our neighbors retribu...
The story of Isaac and Esau, as told in the Book of Jubilees, definitely gives you that vibe. We pick up the story with Isaac, son of Abraham, having just returned from Beersheba, ...
Did they just. fade away? Well, let's Phinehas, remember him? The zealous grandson of Aaron who, in Numbers 25, took decisive action to stop a plague and was rewarded with a covena...
A well in the Negev. Seven ewe lambs set apart. In Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on (Genesis 21:32), the Aramaic preserves the ancient name of the place, Beira de-Sheva, the Well of the S...
A wife does not greet her husband at the door. In Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on (Genesis 23:2), the Aramaic names what Abraham finds when he comes down from the mountain: Abraham came ...
