465 related texts · 4 related myths · Page 1 of 10
Among the quietest bombshells in Targum Pseudo-Jonathan is a single line tucked into a genealogy. Kehath, son of Levi, lived a hundred and thirty-three years, and, the Targum adds,...
The Torah lists Shimeon's sons with a single odd note about the last one: Shaul, born of a Canaanite woman (Exodus 6:15). The Aramaic paraphrase of Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on (Exodu...
The Torah says Elazar son of Aharon married a daughter of Putiel, and she bore Phinehas (Exodus 6:25). Who is this Putiel that the Torah mentions nowhere else? Targum Pseudo-Jonath...
The Mekhilta asks a question about Kazbi (also known as Cozbi), the Midianite woman who played a central role in the sin at Baal Peor. The verse calls her "the daughter of a prince...
"But Zion said, 'The Lord has forsaken me, the Lord has forgotten me'" (Isaiah 49:14). And God answers, not with proof of presence but with a reminder of what "remembering" actuall...
Your father has died, leaving no sons. Now, under the laws of inheritance, you and your sisters are facing a grim future: no land, no security, no real place in the community. What...
This verse speaks of Phinehas (Pinchas), the grandson of Aaron, and the covenant G-d makes with him. It’s a verse packed with meaning, a evidence of the enduring power of zealotry ...
Legends of the Jews turns to Zelophehad's Vision. The Israelites are on the cusp of entering the Promised Land. After generations of wandering, the dream is finally within reach. M...
On the Feast of Sukkot, the Torah commands Israel to offer seventy bullocks across the seven days (Numbers 29:12–36). Rabbi Eliezer asked the obvious question in Sukkah 55b: sevent...
Benjamin was the youngest, and Jacob's last blessing might be the most exalted. Targum Pseudo-Jonathan reads the Hebrew "Benjamin is a ravenous wolf" (Genesis 49:27) as a declarati...
The five daughters of Zelophehad, Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah, heard that the Promised Land would be divided only among males and immediately went to the court. The Ta...
Book of Jubilees turns to Shem's Sacred Inheritance Includes the Garden of Eden. The Book of Jubilees, in chapter 8, describes the division of the world among Noah's sons after the...
In the year 1569 after creation, Noah himself, guided by an angel, divided the world among his three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Imagine the scene – a world freshly cleansed, a f...
Our story today explores just that, a cautionary tale woven from the threads of ancient Israel. We find ourselves in Bamidbar, the Book of Numbers, specifically chapter 25, verse 1...
It might sound like a stretch, but our sages saw profound links between generations, commandments, and even the offerings brought by the princes of Israel. The Book of Numbers, Bam...
The Torah commands: "the one lamb shall you offer in the morning, and the other lamb shall you offer in the afternoon" (Numbers 28:4). This is the tamid, the daily perpetual offeri...
The Torah tells us that Tzelofchad died without sons (Numbers 27:3). Now, in the ancient world, inheritance laws heavily favored male heirs. But Tzelofchad had five daughters: Mach...
Rabbi Akiva taught that there were three things Moses could not visualize on his own, no matter how great his prophetic power. God had to physically point them out to him. The firs...
(Ibid. 20:8) "Remember the Sabbath day to sanctify it": "Remember" and "Keep" (the Sabbath day to sanctify it [Devarim 5:12]) were both stated in one pronouncement. (Exodus 31:14) ...
Torah turns to A Scapegoat For Azazel. What in the world was that about? This custom – sending a scapegoat into the desert as an offering to Azazel – it just screams of something o...
See [Hen], God is beyond reach in His power (Job 36:22): Rav Berakhiah said, "It is in the Greek language [as hen means one]. It is as you say, One is our God: Exalted in His power...
The Small Letters and their Purposes The ALEPH in ויקרא And He called (Leviticus 1:1) is small, to teach that the Holy Blessed One is only revealed to the nations of the earth thro...
“The elders of the daughter of Zion sit on the ground, are silent. They have placed dust on their heads, have girded themselves with sackcloth. The virgins of Jerusalem have lowere...
Rabbi Yitzḥak began: “But you did not call Me, Jacob, for you wearied of Me, Israel” (Isaiah 43:22). Rabbi Yoḥanan understood it [the verse in (Isaiah 43:22)] from this, as it is w...
Sometimes, it's about being in the right place at the right time. Sometimes, it's about something more.. something divinely ordained. The source looks at two figures who stepped in...
Book of Jubilees turns to How Noah's Sons Divided the Earth Among Themselves. The Book of Jubilees isn’t part of the Tanakh. It's a Jewish religious writing of the Hellenistic peri...
How did they decide who got what? Well, the Book of Jubilees, a fascinating ancient Jewish text considered canonical by the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, gives us a glimpse into that ...
The Book of Jubilees says it was Noah himself who laid out the boundaries. Noah, fresh off the Ark, surveying a world reborn. The Book of Jubilees tells us that he didn’t just offe...
Jubilees turns Noah's division of the earth into a map of inheritance, dominion, and destiny. This portion runs north toward the mountains of Qelt, toward the sea of Mauk, then eas...
Book of Jubilees turns to Noah in the Holy Land. So, what exactly did Japheth get? According to Jubilees, Japheth and his sons inherited "five great islands, and a great land in th...
It’s a story of inheritance, of boundaries, and of the ancient world taking shape. The Book of Jubilees, sometimes called Lesser Genesis, isn't afraid to get specific. It paints a ...
Legends of the Jews tells us that the south fell to the lot of Ham. Think scorching deserts, sweltering jungles... that kind of heat. The north? That became the inheritance of Japh...
The answer, as is often the case in Jewish tradition, is layered with meaning and moral complexity. The story goes that God, who expects a lot from those closest to Him, wasn't thr...
The story doesn't end there. According to Legends of the Jews, compiled by Ginzberg, Phinehas wasn't satisfied with simply punishing the offenders. He felt compelled to reconcile G...
Phinehas, you might recall, was the grandson of Aaron, the High Priest. He's known for his decisive action against those who brazenly defied God’s laws (Numbers 25). But the story ...
The story of Joshua preparing to conquer Jericho, as told in Legends of the Jews (Ginzberg), throws us headfirst into that shadowy world. Before a single soldier marched, Joshua ne...
The Talmudic sages certainly did, wrestling with these questions in their interpretations of scripture. Take the story of Phinehas and the eleven tribes, for instance. Phinehas, a ...
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...
The rabbis of the Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary), those brilliant interpreters of scripture, have a lot to say about this verse. Specifically, Midrash Tehillim, the col...
Our ancestors grappled with this too. And Midrash Tehillim, a collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Book of Psalms, offers some fascinating perspectives on why, and what we...
Why do our sages, according to Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer, institute that we should mention the oath to Noah every single day? It all goes back to that promise, that covenant, found in...
(Numb. 25:7:) “When Phinehas [ben Eleazar ben Aaron the priest] saw.” But did they all not see it?100Numb. R. 20:25. And is it not written (in vs. 6), “before the eyes of Moses and...
(Numb. 25:11) “Phinehas ben Elazar […].” What reason did the Holy One, blessed be He, have for tracing the lineage of Phinehas after this act (of slaying Zimri in Numb. 25:8)?1Numb...
Book of Jubilees turns to Noah at the Temple. Then, a few months later, on the new moon of the first month, something even more profound happened: "the earth became visible." The w...
After all that devastation, how did Noah make things right again, not just with God, but with the very earth itself? Well, the Book of Jubilees, a fascinating ancient Jewish text, ...
This book, considered scripture by some and a valuable historical source by others, gives us a detailed look into the life of figures from the Hebrew Bible. a particular moment – a...
Book of Jubilees turns to Noah Plants a Vineyard - A Scandalous Scene in Jubilees. It's considered apocryphal by some, meaning it's not included in the canonical Hebrew Bible, but ...
The Book of Jubilees, sometimes called Lesser Genesis, is an ancient Jewish religious work of 2nd century BC origin. It retells parts of Genesis and Exodus, but with a unique spin,...
