465 related texts · 4 related myths · Page 9 of 10
That feeling, that raw, desperate plea, it's woven deep into the fabric of Jewish history. And it echoes powerfully in the Second Book of Maccabees. This book, part of the Apocryph...
Mattathiah was dying. According to the Chronicles of Jerahmeel, a 12th-century Hebrew chronicle preserved by Moses Gaster in 1899, the father of the Maccabean revolt called his fiv...
The familiar telling remembers the wickedness of humankind, but some fascinating stories lurk beneath the surface, involving Watchers, giants, and divine justice. In Legends of the...
The story of Noah and the vine is a wild ride through temptation, disrespect, and divine retribution. In Legends of the Jews, Noah's troubles began when he decided to cultivate the...
As the time approached for the Israelites' redemption from Egyptian slavery, a dilemma arose. They hadn't accumulated enough good deeds to merit their freedom! So, what did God do?...
Enoch, the great-grandfather of Noah, experienced not just one, but two ascensions to heaven! The first time, Enoch was still living amongst humanity. One night, he was overcome by...
Noah, his family, and all the animals are finally stepping off the ark, blinking in the sunlight, the world utterly transformed. The very first thing Noah does? He builds an altar....
When God first called to Abraham, He didn't immediately reveal the destination. “Leave your home,” God said “and go…” But go where? According to Legends of the Jews, this lack of s...
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. Abraham arrives at a new p...
Even if you're Abraham, the father of monotheism, it turns out you're not immune. Abraham has just pulled off an incredible victory, rescuing Lot and defeating a coalition of kings...
Legends of the Jews turns to Rebekah's Agonizing Pregnancy Drove Her to Shem and Eber. She suffered terrible pains, unlike anything she'd ever felt before. She asked other women if...
Legends of the Jews turns to Birth of Esau of Jacob. The traditional texts suggest there was much more at stake. The scene: Jacob, ever the thoughtful one, isn't so much interested...
Take the blessing Jacob gave to his youngest son, Benjamin. It seems straightforward, but the Rabbis saw in it a glimpse into the future of the entire Israelite nation. Jacob, on h...
The familiar story is this: The Israelites, fresh out of Egypt, get impatient waiting for Moses on Mount Sinai. They demand a god they can see, and Aaron, in a moment of weakness, ...
For Elisheba, the joy is amplified fivefold! As Ginzberg recounts in Legends of the Jews, luck seems to be showering blessings specifically on her. Her husband, Aaron, is the High ...
What's striking is this: the number of fighting men was exactly the same as the second census, which happened in the very same year! Now, according to Legends of the Jews, as retol...
Fire that blazes with purpose, either as a sign of God's favor or His… well, let's just say, His displeasure. Fire is powerful, transformative. It can create and destroy. And in Je...
The story of Balaam and Balak is one wild ride, filled with ego, failed magic, and a divine sense of humor. In Legends of the Jews, when Balaam finally made his way to the border o...
The story of Micah and his homemade sanctuary is a wild ride through the human tendency to, well, improvise. We find this tale tucked away in Ginzberg's Legends of the Jews, painti...
Eli, as the story goes, had two sons, Hophni and Phinehas. Now, Phinehas – not to be confused with Eli's grandson of the same name – was the younger, and, well, let's just say he w...
The Ark of the Covenant, the holiest object in Israel, fell into enemy hands. And the man responsible for guarding it died the moment he heard the news. The Philistines launched a ...
Scripture specified it (the fourteenth day) as mandatory. It is not the second assumption, then, that is to be accepted, but the first. "And it shall be to you for a keeping": Scri...
When the Israelites saw the Egyptian army bearing down on them and the Red Sea blocking their escape, the Torah says they "were exceedingly afraid." But what did they do with that ...
(Exodus 23:18) "You shall not slaughter in the presence of chametz the blood of My sacrifice": You shall not slaughter the Pesach (Passover) offering while chametz is still present...
Talmud Bavli, Hullin turns to Repenting For God. This idea comes up in connection with Rosh Chodesh, the celebration of the new moon. You know, that tiny sliver of light that marks...
The Midrash Mishlei, a collection of interpretations on the Book of Proverbs, takes that poem and runs with it. It's not just about one ideal woman, but about all the ways women. A...
Some prayers aren't polite. Midrash Tehillim 42 preserves one that reads more like a plea, a challenge, almost a demand, directed straight at God. The speaker in this Midrash (rabb...
"And he brought them to his holy mountain," Midrash Tehillim tells us, "this is the Temple." "And he cast lots for them in the inheritance and settled them in their tents. The glor...
It’s a very human feeling. And it’s a feeling that resonates deeply within the words of the Midrash Tehillim, specifically in its commentary on Psalm 79. The Midrash (rabbinic inte...
" It's a way of connecting with something bigger than ourselves. Midrash Tehillim, a beautiful collection of interpretations on the Book of Psalms, dives deep into this very idea, ...
Our tradition teaches us that God doesn't just create; God chooses. He elevates. Think about the Sea of Galilee – the Yam Kinneret, that shimmering jewel in the north of Israel. Ac...
The Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer, a fascinating collection of stories and interpretations from the early Middle Ages, gives us a glimpse. It tells us that Isaac was thirty-seven years ol...
It's a real grab bag of topics, from protecting orphans to the boundaries of Levite cities. "And one prince," the verse says. Rav Giddel, quoting Rav, asks a crucial question: how ...
Our ancestors grappled with this very feeling as they transitioned between eras in ancient Israel. a fascinating passage from the Yalkut Shimoni on Torah, specifically section 881,...
It wasn't just a one-day event. According to Sifrei Bamidbar, the book of Numbers, the seven days leading up to the dedication were a whirlwind of activity. Every single morning fo...
One of those today, all about offerings, libations, and when they truly became obligatory for the Israelites. Our journey starts in Bamidbar (Numbers 15:2): "Speak to the children ...
It all boils down to a delicate balance, a dance between the sacred and the serene. to a seemingly simple verse in Bamidbar, the Book of Numbers, to unpack this very idea. The vers...
Sifrei Bamidbar turns to Can You Make Up a Missed New Moon Sacrifice. What does that seemingly simple phrase really mean? The text asks a crucial question: What if you missed the d...
Sifrei Devarim turns to The Levites Inherit Fire-Offerings Instead of Land. The verse It sounds straightforward. The priests, the Levites, they get to eat from the offerings brough...
Sifrei Devarim turns to Five Peoples Dwelt in the Land Before the Levites. Sifrei Devarim 165 offers a glimpse into a different kind of inheritance, one that resonates with spiritu...
The Torah says the Levites have no land inheritance. Targum Jonathan goes further, specifying exactly what they receive instead, twenty-four gifts of the priesthood. That number do...
Teach us, oh master – may one light a lamp for personal use from the Channukah lights? Our masters taught us – R’ Acha said in the name of Rav ‘it is forbidden to light a lamp to u...
Eliezer b. Hyrkanos went to Jerusalem to study whilst his father and brothers fled with their goods from the attack of the Roman soldiers. He starved and was discovered by R. Johan...
During the Roman siege of Jerusalem in 70 CE, the storehouses had been burned by Jewish zealots to force the city to fight. Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai, walking through the streets a...
Jerusalem was under siege. Day after day, the defenders inside the city lowered a basket of silver over the walls, and the besiegers below filled the basket with a lamb, a kid, or ...
With her third son, Leah reaches for a new hope. This time, she thinks, Jacob will at last be yilaveh, attached, to her (Genesis 29:34). So she names the child Levi, from the root ...
Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on (Exodus 15:13) translates the end of the Song of the Sea not as a geographical promise but as a spiritual homecoming: Thou hast led in Thy mercy the peopl...
The Torah closes the Tabernacle construction chapters with a quiet command. In the Tent of Meeting, outside the parochet that conceals the Ark, Aharon and his sons are to tend a la...
