3,492 related texts · Page 22 of 73
And the story of how he did it, according to Shemot Rabbah, is The verse says, "Remember Abraham..." But the question is, why Abraham? Why not just appeal to God's mercy directly? ...
The prophet Isaiah cries out, "But now, Lord, You are our Father" (Isaiah 64:7). But God, it seems, isn't so quick to embrace this sudden familial affection. He essentially asks, "...
Good intentions, maybe, but with a track record that's... well, let's just say "mixed"? That's the feeling at the heart of a beautiful passage in Shemot Rabbah 49, a collection of ...
It’s more than just a physical structure. According to Shemot Rabbah, it’s deeply connected to the very essence of Jewish survival and destiny. The name itself hints at its purpose...
But in Shir HaShirim Rabbah – that’s the collection of rabbinic interpretations of the Song of Songs – we find a beautiful exploration of just that. It's all about unpacking the ve...
The Shir HaShirim Rabbah, a collection of interpretations on the Song of Songs, brings us this fascinating idea. The verse "Black as a raven" sparks a discussion, and Rabbis Alexan...
But in Jewish tradition, it's often interpreted as an allegory – a story with a deeper, hidden meaning. And that's where Shir HaShirim Rabbah comes in. This is a collection of rabb...
It's more than just a last-minute animal substitution. Our tradition sees it as a symbol, a prophecy even, about the future of the Jewish people. The Torah tells us, "Abraham lifte...
“A princess among the nations,” Rabbi Yoḥanan said: Because Israel violated the terms that they accepted at Sinai, therefore, “she has become a vassal [lamas].” Sinai is lamas, the...
“When King [Aḥashverosh] was sitting [keshevet hamelekh].” Rabbi Yitzḥak said: The nations of the world do not sit securely. They objected: Is it not written: “When King [Aḥashvero...
“And abundant royal wine.” Later it is written: “[King Belshazzar made a great banquet for his thousand nobles,] and before the thousand he drank wine” (Daniel 5:1); however, here ...
“The king rose in his fury from the wine banquet to the palace garden and Haman stood to plead for his life from Esther the queen, for he saw that the king has resolved to do him h...
But maybe there's a deeper reason. Maybe the Torah, in its infinite wisdom, is trying to teach us something profound about our relationship with the world around us. Philo, the 1st...
But what does it really mean? We find ourselves asking, what are we to make of the devastating phrase, "And everything which was on the dry land died?" (Genesis 7:22). Philo, the 1...
Even Abraham, the patriarch of faith, had moments of doubt. Our question comes from the Midrash of Philo, an exploration of the Hebrew Bible through the lens of the writings of Phi...
The Torah, in its unflinching honesty, doesn't shy away from these tough questions. to one particularly weighty example. In (Genesis 15:13), God tells Abraham – Avraham, the patria...
Let’s pull up a chair and delve into one of those moments – a complicated one, to be sure, involving Sarah, Abraham, and Hagar. The question before us is this: Why did Sarah, barre...
They're not just labels, you know. In Jewish tradition, a name can be a destiny, a reflection of character, a clue to understanding the deeper story. Take Sarah, for example. Why i...
We find him in (Genesis 17:3), and the Torah tells us, "Abraham fell on his face." But... why? What was going on in that moment that caused Abraham, the patriarch, the man of faith...
to this because, as often happens with our tradition, there's more to it than meets the eye. The Midrash of Philo, a collection of interpretations attributed to the ancient philoso...
1:1). Scripture states (elsewhere in allusion to this verse): He that spareth his rod hateth his son; but he that loveth him chastiseth him betimes (Prov. 13:24). Normally, if a ma...
Who came into Egypt with Jacob (Exod. 1:1). Did they actually enter Egypt on that very day? Had not many days passed by since their arrival? (This informs us that) as long as Josep...
1:1). The names of the Israelites were most appropriate for them. You find, in fact, that the Holy One, blessed be He, assigned their names to them. He gave Abraham a son, and He s...
And he said: “Moses, Moses.” and he said: “Here am I” (Exod. 3:4). What is the meaning of Here am I? R. Joshua the son of Karha held: Here am I implies: “I am ready for priesthood ...
And Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the children of Israel (Exod. 4:29). He told them: The Holy One, blessed be He, has said: I have surely remembered ...
Another comment upon the verse And the Lord said to Aaron: “Go into the wilderness to meet Moses” (Exod. 4:27). Scripture says elsewhere in reference to this verse: O that thou wer...
And Moses told Aaron all the words of the Lord (Exod. 4:29). Moses began to reveal to him everything that the Holy One, blessed be He, had told him, and that he was to go perform t...
We read the first chapter of Genesis and it feels so…orderly. But there are other stories, wilder tales, that offer a glimpse into creation’s messy, mysterious birth. Let's journey...
We read, "the earth being unformed and void, with darkness over the surface of the deep" (Gen. 1:2). Pretty straightforward. But hold on. The Torah doesn't say God created the dark...
According to tradition, when the time came for Abraham to leave this world, God didn't send just any messenger. He summoned the Angel of Death himself. But God, in His infinite com...
And they're not exactly reassuring. Ben Sira, a book of wisdom literature from around the 2nd century BCE, dives deep into the complexities of human relationships. And Chapter 12? ...
Today, we're focusing on a small but powerful passage from chapter 4. The Book of Jubilees tells us that in the fifteenth jubilee period – a "jubilee" being a period of 49 years – ...
It's easy to skim over those verses in Genesis, but the Book of Jubilees gives us a peek into his immediate reaction. The text tells us, “And Abraham fell on his face, and rejoiced...
And it's one that the Book of Jubilees tackles head-on. Jubilees, for those unfamiliar, is an ancient Jewish text that retells the stories of Genesis and Exodus, but with a distinc...
It's easy to think of him as simply a messenger, a conduit for God's will. But the Book of Jubilees, a fascinating text from around the 2nd century BCE, paints a picture of Moses t...
The Letter of Aristeas, a fascinating text purportedly written in the 3rd century BCE, gives us a glimpse into just that. It recounts the story of how the Septuagint, the Greek tra...
We find ourselves in a time of great upheaval. The story unfolds in the First Book of Maccabees (I Maccabees 2), a historical account, not part of the Hebrew Bible itself, but deep...
The First Book of Maccabees, a historical text not included in the Hebrew Bible but considered canonical by some Christians, offers a powerful glimpse into this very question. It r...
While not part of the accepted biblical canon, Jasher (meaning "Upright" or "Correct Record") offers a fascinating, if sometimes embellished, account of biblical events. And Chapte...
According to Jasher, after Sarah's death, Abraham took another wife named Keturah, said to be from the land of Canaan. And she bore him six sons: Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Is...
There are so many fascinating texts just lurking on the fringes, offering alternative perspectives and filling in the gaps in ways you wouldn't expect. Today, we're diving into one...
And then, out of nowhere, we get a completely separate war story! Buckle up, because we're diving in. First, let's set the stage. Levi, one of Jacob's sons, passes away at the ripe...
The Book of Jasher, an ancient Hebrew text referenced in the Bible itself (Joshua 10:13 and (2 Samuel 1:1)8), fills in some of those gaps. It's like a behind-the-scenes look at the...
The story continues, of course! And today, we're diving into Chapter 88 of the Book of Jasher to see what happened as the Israelites finally entered the Promised Land under the lea...
Some believe that certain figures, especially the patriarch Abraham, never truly died. The idea of Abraham continuing to wander the world, making his presence known, is surprisingl...
The story of Dinah, daughter of Jacob, and the events that unfolded in Shechem, offer a stark and troubling example of just that. According to Legends of the Jews, as retold by Gin...
His story doesn't end there. His descendants play a fascinating, sometimes unsettling, role in Jewish legend. , shall we? Apparently, the most righteous of Esau's sons was Eliphaz....
We often hear about the big names – Abraham, Moses, David. But what about the seemingly quieter figures, the ones whose stories whisper rather than shout? Today, let’s delve into t...
