389 related texts · 22 related myths · Page 3 of 9
"For the pool of passion is sin, and its spring will pour out filth." Ouch. It's not subtle, is it? Ben Sira uses the metaphor of a pool fed by a polluted spring to illustrate how ...
Ben Sira doesn't mince words, does he? He calls him "wide in stupidity and lacking in wisdom." Reḥov'am, was the son of King Solomon, a hard act to follow to begin with. But his po...
The Torah is often remembered as the ultimate source, and of course, it is foundational. But there are other ancient texts, bubbling with stories and traditions, that shed even mor...
Jacob certainly did. You've just wrestled with an angel (or at least, a really tough guy who might as well have been an angel!), you're about to face your estranged brother who mig...
This guy, he was living a life of devotion, even in exile in Nineveh. And as we pick up the story in the Book of Tobit, chapter two, things are about to get… well, complicated. It’...
The Book of Tobit, a beautiful story nestled within the Apocrypha, touches on just that. It's a tale filled with faith, healing, and the surprising intervention of angels. We find ...
Two false prophets in Babylon, Ahab ben Kolaya and Zedekiah ben Maaseyah, used their religious authority to commit adultery and fraud. According to the Chronicles of Jerahmeel, a 1...
Legends of the Jews turns to Moses Read the Entire Torah Aloud Before the Covenant. Before that earth-shattering covenant, before the words were etched in stone, Moses, our teacher...
It turns out, even the number of curtains held a profound significance. eleven curtains made of goats' hair. Why eleven? Well, according to tradition, it mirrors the eleven heavens...
The story of the Israelite soldiers after their victory over Midian, as told in Legends of the Jews, is something else entirely. These weren't your typical conquerors. They came ba...
It wasn't just the non-Jews, the "heathen," who were struggling in those days. Even among the Jewish people, there were those deeply immersed in sin. And among them, two figures st...
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...
In the decades before the Great Revolt, Judea descended into a spiral of bandits, assassins, false prophets, and Roman brutality that made the final catastrophe feel inevitable. Th...
The answer is a resounding YES. The Kalach Pitchei Chokhmah, a Kabbalistic text, suggests that what we see on the outside, on our face, specifically, is a direct reflection of the ...
It all starts with this gradual, step-by-step process. Imagine a flow, a descent, a series of emanations. And where does it all lead? To the formation of the Kli, the Vessel. The c...
Stick with me, because this gets fascinating. And one of those mysteries revolves around the Arich Anpin, or the “Long Face” of God. Arich Anpin isn't about physical features, of c...
Jewish mystical tradition is full of these whispers, encoded in stories and symbols. A passage from the Tikkunei (spiritual repair) Zohar, a profound commentary on the Zohar itself...
The ancient rabbis, the mekubalim (mystics), saw the world brimming with hidden meaning, a weaving with divine code. Take, for instance, the lulav and etrog, the palm branch and ci...
The Tikkunei (spiritual repair) Zohar, a core text of Kabbalah, explores just that – the intricate connections that bind the universe, especially during the holy time of Shavu'ot, ...
The Tikkunei (spiritual repair) Zohar, in its mystical exploration of the Torah, tells us something surprising. It says: "There is no tzedakah but prayer." Wait, what? How can pray...
You cannot receive complete divine providence until you shatter your desire for money. Rabbi Nachman of Breslov taught this as a direct spiritual mechanism, not a moral platitude. ...
R. Yirmiyah says: Just as uncleanliness constrains (the offering of the Pesach (Passover) [viz. (Numbers 9:10)] and (the advent of) spring constrains, then just as the (constraint ...
"shall you take": What is the intent of this? (i.e., it seems redundant.) It is written (Devarim 16:2) "And you shall slaughter the Pesach (Passover) for the L–rd your G–d, sheep a...
R. Yonathan says: sheep for the Pesach (Passover) and cattle for the chagigah. You say this, but perhaps (the meaning is) both for the Pesach? And how would I understand (Exodus 12...
R. Eliezer says: Sheep for the Pesach (Passover) and cattle for the chagigah. You say this, but perhaps both are for the Pesach? And how would I understand "an unblemished lamb, et...
The Mekhilta uncovers a contradiction in the Torah's timeline that forces a radical rethinking of when the Passover sacrifice actually happened. Deuteronomy commands, "There shall ...
(Exodus 12:14) "And this day shall be for you as a remembrance": The day which is a remembrance for you, you celebrate. But we have not yet heard which day it is (that is a remembr...
R. Eliezer says: What is the intent of "toshav and sachir"? (i.e. Is it not already written [(Exodus 12:43)] "No stranger may eat of it"?) To reason from Pesach (Passover) to terum...
Having established that the Pesach (Passover) sacrifice could be eaten "in two places" by a single group, Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai was asked the obvious follow-up question: how exac...
The prohibition against breaking the bones of the Pesach (Passover) sacrifice includes two seemingly small words that carry enormous legal weight: "in it." The Mekhilta zeroes in o...
The Torah states: "And if there live with you a stranger, and he would offer a Pesach (Passover) to the Lord" (Exodus 12:48). The Mekhilta immediately identifies a potential misund...
(Exodus 23:10) commands: "Six years shall you sow your land." Rabbi Eliezer taught that this verse reveals two different agricultural realities, depending on Israel's spiritual sta...
The Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael records a sharp legal debate about the prohibition against cooking meat and milk together. The rabbis use a technique called kal va-chomer, reasoning ...
Ever find yourself reading the Psalms and wondering, "What's really going on here?" We do too! to a fascinating passage from Midrash Tehillim, a collection of rabbinic interpretati...
Jewish tradition recognizes this feeling – the ache of exile, the pain of loss – and offers a powerful promise of healing and return. One particularly beautiful passage in Midrash ...
Let me tell you a story from Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer, chapter 33, that might just change your perspective. It’s about a man named Shallum, son of Tikvah. Now, Shallum wasn't a king ...
The story picks up as Jacob, returning to the land of Canaan, sends gifts ahead to his brother Esau, whom he fears. But these aren't just any gifts. Jacob sends "all the tithe of h...
Sifrei Devarim turns to Charity Trustees Ranked Among the Righteous Stars. The Sifrei Devarim, a collection of legal interpretations on the Book of Deuteronomy, shines a light on a...
Moments where the choices seem equally appealing, or equally daunting. This week, in Sifrei Devarim 53, we find a powerful exploration of just that – the choices we face and the il...
The ancient text of Sifrei Devarim wrestles with this very question, and its answer is surprisingly nuanced. We find ourselves in the book of Deuteronomy, or Devarim in Hebrew, spe...
Sometimes, it's not as straightforward as it first appears. Take the classic example of basar b'chalav, meat and milk – a cornerstone of kashrut (dietary laws). You might assume it...
Sifrei Devarim turns to Every Commandment Matters Equally - Slight or Weighty. The passage focuses on the phrase, "to observe to do this entire mitzvah" (commandment). The message ...
We’ve all been there. But what if I told you that according to one ancient interpretation, that seemingly small act could be seen as something far more serious? Sifrei Devarim 117,...
Sifrei Devarim turns to Slaughtering Sprinkling and Making the Pesach Offering. The answer, according to this passage, lies in the very same phrase: "and you shall make the Pesach....
Sifrei Devarim turns to Pesach at the Dawn of Creation. It doesn’t stop there. The next phrase, "in the standing corn," adds another layer. All the grain designated for the Omer ha...
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 ...
Well, our Sages grappled with that very idea when it came to Sukkot, the Festival of Booths. Sukkot, as you probably know, is that joyous week where we dwell in temporary shelters,...
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...
