3,492 related texts · Page 7 of 73
Our ancestor Abraham felt it too. The Torah tells us, in (Genesis 15:12): "About the time of the setting of the sun a trance fell upon Abraham; and lo, a great horror of darkness c...
Thirty years after Babylon burned Jerusalem to the ground, a man named Ezra lay on his bed in the city of his captors and could not sleep. His thoughts boiled. His heart raged. Bec...
The Torah records a remarkable exchange in (Genesis 10:15): "And Canaan begot Tziddon, his first-born, and Cheth." Generations later, the sons of Cheth — the Hittites — encountered...
We all know the story: Abraham, tested by God, is commanded to sacrifice his beloved son. But what happened to Isaac in those heart-stopping moments? The familiar Genesis account l...
“And great enslavement,” Rabbi Aḥa said: Because they would keep the Hebrew slave in servitude, just as it says: “At the end of seven years [each of] you shall free [his Hebrew bro...
But the details... they're often more vivid and terrifying than we imagine. to one particular version, found in the Book of Jubilees, a text considered sacred by some, and a fascin...
We get a fascinating, if slightly scandalous, glimpse in the Book of Jubilees. Jubilees, for those unfamiliar, is an ancient Jewish text that retells the stories of Genesis and Exo...
We often picture Noah stepping off the ark and... well, what? Where did he go? What did he do? The Book of Jubilees, a text not found in the Hebrew Bible but considered sacred by s...
We know he built an altar, offered sacrifices (Genesis 8:20), and, well, planted a vineyard (Genesis 9:20-21). But what about teaching? Did he just let humanity wander off to rebui...
It’s a thread woven through so much of Jewish thought, and it surfaces powerfully in the Book of Jubilees. This ancient text, considered canonical by some but not included in the s...
We're talking about a time when the memory of the cataclysm was still fresh, a time of rebuilding, both literally and figuratively. And smack dab in the middle of this is Arpachsha...
The Book of Jubilees, an ancient Jewish text that expands on the stories in Genesis, tells us that Eber had something important to write down. But, as it says, "he wrote it down an...
It's like a post-diluvian real estate transaction, recorded for posterity. Specifically, we’re diving into Jubilees Chapter 9, which lays out the inheritance of Shem, one of Noah's...
That disconnect, that inability to understand each other, it goes way back. Like, really way back. We're talking about the Tower of Babel. You know, that ambitious, some might say ...
This one, from Megillat Antiochus – the Scroll of Antiochus – is definitely one of those. It's a tale of unwavering faith and heartbreaking sacrifice, a testament to the strength o...
Watch a raven walk and you'll notice something peculiar. It doesn't strut smoothly like a pigeon or hop like a sparrow. It bobs and sways, almost like it's dancing. The Alphabet of...
After the flood, the entire earth was split into three portions. According to the Chronicles of Jerahmeel, a 12th-century Hebrew chronicle translated by Moses Gaster in 1899, each ...
The stone god fell on its face. That was the beginning of everything. Abraham worked in his father's idol shop. Every day he carved gods out of stone and wood and metal for Terah, ...
Abraham was still speaking to his father Terah in the courtyard of the house when a voice came down from heaven. Not a whisper. Not an intuition. A voice, falling from the sky in a...
"Now look again in the picture," God said. "See who it is that seduced Eve and what is the fruit of the tree. You will know what shall be and how it shall be for your seed among th...
I’m talking about Noah, the hero of the Ark, the one chosen to rebuild humanity after the Great Flood. But before the ark, before the flood, there was a birth story so extraordinar...
The story of the Tower of Babel is a classic tale exploring that very theme. It’s a story about ambition gone wild, about a collective "we can do anything" attitude that ultimately...
It wasn't all smooth sailing. There were threats, escapes, and a family's journey toward a new destiny. to the story of how Abraham, or Avram as he was originally known, found hims...
According to Ginzberg's Legends of the Jews, God revealed Himself to Abraham shortly after, to ease his conscience about the spilling of innocent blood, a scruple that caused him g...
The story of Jacob and Esau, from the book of Genesis and elaborated on in texts like Ginzberg's Legends of the Jews, is a classic example. As young children, it was difficult to t...
The sheer chaos! It’s a story that’s been told and retold for generations, and while we often picture Noah rounding up creatures two-by-two, the Jewish tradition offers some fascin...
According to Ginzberg's retelling in Legends of the Jews, even as the world was collapsing around them, some people doubled down on their wickedness. Can you imagine? As the water ...
We all know the story of Noah, but the traditional accounts, particularly outside of the Bible itself, paint a picture far more vivid than you might imagine. According to Legends o...
We all know the story of Noah, the ark, and the animals. But what happened after the waters receded? Did life just magically reset? Well, according to the Legends of the Jews, comp...
But think about it: tradition tells us there were only ten generations between Noah and Abraham. Ten! And according to rabbinic thought, the actions—or rather, inactions—of those g...
He, his mom, and his nurse finally venture out of the cave where they'd been hiding. Why? Because, thankfully, the king and his cronies had completely forgotten about the whole "ba...
It wasn't just about building altars, though he certainly did that. According to the legends, each altar he raised was the center of his missionary work. Imagine this: Abraham arri...
But the story, as often happens, is richer and more nuanced than we might initially think. The Torah tells us that thirteen years after Ishmael's birth, God commanded Abraham to pe...
That’s what the biblical Rebekah experienced during her pregnancy with Jacob and Esau. She suffered terrible pains, unlike anything she'd ever felt before. She asked other women if...
But in this case, it wasn't just a matter of personal preference; it was tied to a much larger destiny. Our sages tell us that Rebekah possessed a remarkable clarity of vision. She...
A tale of loyalty, promise, and righteous living. before he passed, Joseph made his brothers promise to carry his bones with them when they finally left Egypt. A pretty big ask. Bu...
It wasn’t just about golden walls and intricate carvings; according to tradition, miracles pulsed within its very structure. Imagine this: When the Cherubim, those powerful angelic...
The story of Balaam and Balak is one wild ride, filled with ego, failed magic, and a divine sense of humor. According to Legends of the Jews, when Balaam finally made his way to th...
The mystical text, Tikkun (spiritual repair)ei Zohar, in section 108, uses just that image to explore themes of repentance, judgment, and the wandering of the Shekhinah (the Divine...
Jewish tradition has a name for that feeling: the beinonim, the "average ones." And let me tell you, their fate is a cliffhanger worthy of any thriller! The Tikkun (spiritual repai...
We're turning to the Tikkun (spiritual repair)ei Zohar, specifically Tikkun 108. The Tikkunei Zohar is like the Zohar's cool, slightly more esoteric cousin, offering "corrections" ...
Specifically, Tikkun (spiritual repair)ei Zohar 121 calls out to the very foundations of our faith, the patriarchs themselves. "Rise O Patriarchs, Masters of the Covenant!" the tex...
On Tisha B'Av, the Ninth of Av, the Jewish day of mourning for the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, something extraordinary is said to happen. While Jews gather at the Kotel...
Turns out, it does! And like any good friend, it’s got some warnings mixed in with the… well, potential for celebration. This all comes to light in a fascinating passage from Midra...
That feeling isn't new. In fact, according to Midrash Tehillim 60, it goes way back. This particular midrash (a method of interpreting biblical stories beyond their literal meaning...
Psalm 88, verse 6, hits hard with that feeling: "Free among the dead, like the slain who lie in the grave." But what does it mean to be "free among the dead?" It's a question that'...
It's almost incomprehensible, isn’t it? But the ancient rabbis wrestled with this very concept, particularly when interpreting (Psalm 105:8): "Remember forever His covenant, the wo...
It sounds like a simple thing, but when you're surrounded by endless sand, under a blazing sun, or a star-filled sky that all looks the same... well, you need a little divine help!...
