560 related texts · 2 related myths · Page 6 of 12
We see it used for anointing, for lighting, for cooking. but what's the deeper symbolism? to a fascinating exploration from Shir HaShirim Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpret...
It wasn't just about bricks and mortar, you see. It was about something far deeper – a sense of stability, of divine presence truly dwelling amongst the people. Shir HaShirim Rabba...
It turns out, according to some ancient Jewish texts, the answer might be closer – and more dangerous – than we think. Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi, a sage from the Talmudic period, mak...
Rabbi Yitzchak, a sage of old, had an interesting take on this. He taught that before the Mishkan – the Tabernacle – was built, prophecy wasn't confined to the Israelites. It was, ...
“How the Lord has clouded the daughter of Zion in His wrath. He cast the splendor of Israel from the heavens to the earth, and did not remember His footstool on the day of His wrat...
“How the Lord has clouded [ya’iv] the daughter of Zion in His wrath.” Rabbi Ḥama bar Rabbi Ḥanina said: How did the Lord condemn in His wrath the daughter of Zion?8Rabbi Ḥama inter...
After he erected the gibbet, he went to Mordekhai and found that he was sitting in the study hall with the children sitting before him, with sackcloth on their waists, engaging in ...
Ever stumble across a verse in the Torah that just. sticks in your craw? A line that looks simple at first, but the more you chew on it, the more questions it raises? That's exactl...
After these things the word of the Lord came unto Abram (Gen. 15:1). Scripture states elsewhere in allusion to this verse: The wicked earneth false wages, but he that soweth righte...
See, he hath called by name Bezalel (Exod. 35:30). Observe what He did for Bezalel. The Holy One, blessed be He, instilled wisdom in his heart, as it is said: And he hath filled hi...
These are the accounts of the tabernacle (Exod. 38:21). It is written elsewhere in allusion to this verse: Thou throne of glory, on high from the beginning, thou place of our Sanct...
These are the accounts of the tabernacle (Exod. 38:21). Scripture states elsewhere: Thou hast also delivered Me from the contentions of My people (II Sam. 22:44), and it is written...
(Lev. 17:3:) “If any single person from the House of Israel.” This text is related (to Ps. 51:20–21), “Make Zion prosper in Your good pleasure; rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. Then...
"And it was on the day that Moses had finished" (Numbers 7:1). Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said, "The Holy One, blessed be He, made conditions with Israel before they left Egypt, that ...
(Numb. 7:1:) “So it came to pass on the day that Moses had finished.” R. Johanan said, “What is the meaning of ‘on the day that [Moses] had finished (rt. klh)?’ [Finished is] a wor...
(Numb. 7:1:) “So it came to pass on the day that Moses had finished.” R. Judah bar Simon said, “On the day that the Tabernacle was erected, Moses entered and heard a majestic voice...
(Numb. 7:1:) “So it came to pass on the day that Moses had finished.” R. Berekhyah the Priest Berabbi said,101Similarly Numb. R. 12:2. “Before the Tabernacle was erected, when Isra...
Some accounts say God did not only create the universe. He built a palace within it, beginning with the highest rooms. What did God use for construction materials? Forget brick and...
Abraham's entire family were idol-makers. They carved images and sold them in the streets. But Abraham ran the stall like a philosopher. According to the Chronicles of Jerahmeel, a...
Take Abraham's journey to Mount Moriah, the place where he was commanded to sacrifice his son, Isaac. It’s a story we think we know, but the tradition turns to The Torah tells us t...
Jacob, after years of hard work, had finally begun to prosper. But instead of joy, his success bred envy in the hearts of Laban and his sons. Their annoyance, their vexation, becam...
Pharaoh's daughter, a pivotal figure in the Moses narrative, wasn't just a passive observer. She took matters into her own hands. She reached out for the ark containing the infant ...
The story goes that during one of his ascensions, Moses got a peek behind the cosmic curtain, so to speak. It wasn’t just fluffy clouds and pearly gates, let me tell you. According...
Legends of the Jews turns to Judah and the First Humans. Each tribe had its own standard, a visual representation of its unique character and destiny. Judah's standard, for instanc...
That's Sukkot (the Festival of Tabernacles). You might know it as the Feast of Tabernacles or the Festival of Booths. It's a time of harvest celebration and remembrance of the Isra...
The Zohar, that mystical cornerstone of Kabbalah, certainly thinks so. And in Tikkunei (spiritual repair) Zohar 42, we get a glimpse into just how intimate that code might be. The ...
The Tanya's thirty-fourth chapter brings everything together with a single image: the Patriarchs were God's chariot, and you can be too. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob never, for a sing...
R. Akiva says: "succoth" refers to the clouds of glory, as in (Isaiah 4:5) "And the L–rd will create on the entire base of Mount Zion and on all of its branchings a cloud by day an...
In (Exodus 16:9), Moses instructed Aaron to tell the entire congregation of Israel to "draw near before the Lord." Two rabbis in the Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael disagreed about what ...
When Moses ascended Mount Sinai to receive the Torah, the Torah records that "Moses entered into the mist, where God was" (Exodus 20:21). The Mekhilta reveals that this approach to...
The familiar picture has the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night, guiding them, protecting them. But what if I told you there's a tradition that paints an even m...
Sifrei Devarim turns to Mount Sinai and Joseph of Atzereth. Why mention each of these individually? Well, Sifrei Devarim suggests it’s because they aren’t mutually derivable. Each ...
The holiday of Sukkot, the Feast of Tabernacles, gives us a powerful example. We're commanded to build a succah, a temporary dwelling, a booth, to remember how our ancestors lived ...
In the Hebrew Bible, Jethro visits Moses in the wilderness, gives advice about delegating judges, and leaves. The Targum Jonathan on (Exodus 18) transforms this administrative visi...
After the golden calf, God told Moses something devastating in (Exodus 33:1-23). The Shekinah (the Divine Presence) would not travel with Israel anymore. The Targum Jonathan turns ...
Leviticus 26 contains the blessings and curses, God's promise of abundance for obedience and a cascading nightmare for rebellion. The Targum Jonathan adds a breathtaking historical...
Bileam tried one last trick before delivering his final oracle. According to the Targum's version of (Numbers 24), he "set his face toward the wilderness, to recall to memory the w...
Targum Jonathan opens (Deuteronomy 31) with Moses entering not a tent but "the tabernacle of the house of instruction", a study hall. Even at the threshold of death, the setting is...
The one who offered his sacrifice on the first day was Nachshon ben Aminadab of the tribe of Judah (Numbers 7:12). Our Rabbi, the one who offered the sacrifice to the altar, taught...
"And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, On the first day of the first month shalt thou set up the tabernacle of the tent of the congregation. And thou shalt put therein the ark of ...
The righteous in the World to Come will not all share the same reward. According to Bava Batra 75b, there are tiers. And every righteous person who sees a canopy grander than their...
Jacob blessed Esau's son but knew the blessing came from somewhere deeper than himself. "And God shall give you the dew of heaven" (Genesis 27:28), this is the dew of Mount Hermon,...
Three times a year, the Torah commanded, every Jewish man should make the pilgrimage to Jerusalem for the festivals (Deuteronomy 16:16). Pesach, Shavuot, and Sukkot drew tens of th...
When the sun went down on the covenant between the pieces, Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on (Genesis 15:17) turns the Hebrew's smoking furnace and flaming torch into something far more vi...
The mountain trembled because God Himself had come down upon it. The Targum Pseudo-Jonathan renders the moment with startling directness: the Lord revealed Himself on Mount Sinai, ...
When the cloud descended on the tabernacle outside the camp, the response of Israel was spontaneous and unanimous. Targum Pseudo-Jonathan, the Aramaic paraphrase of the Torah, capt...
What does sailing have to do with spies? Well, stick with me. The Rabbis debated this, concluding you shouldn't set out on a long voyage so close to the Sabbath. But, there's alway...
The story begins with Moses, our great leader, ascending to the heavens. Imagine the scene: clouds parting, a divine ladder stretching upwards, and Moses, step by step, approaching...
