712 related texts · 8 related myths · Page 5 of 15
The Sabbath is called menucha, rest. But Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on (Exodus 35:2) makes clear it was never optional. The verse commands six days of work, then on the seventh day the...
“I remember my song in the night; I meditate with my heart, and my spirit searches” (Psalms 77:7). Rabbi Yehuda ben Rabbi Simon and Rabbi Aivu.58The text of the midrash (rabbinic i...
“Gone from the daughter of Zion is all her splendor. Her princes are like deer that have not found pasture; they went powerless before the pursuer” (Lamentations 1:6)“Gone from the...
“Let all their wickedness come before You, and do to them as You did to me for all my transgressions, for my sighs are many and my heart is suffering” (Lamentations 1:22).“Let all ...
That feeling echoes through the ages, especially when we look at the story of Judas Maccabeus. The Book of Maccabees I, a historical text from the Second Temple period not included...
The Book of Susanna begins in Babylon with a man named Jehoiakim, then tightens quickly into a story of accusation and courage. Our story begins, simply enough: "There was a man in...
There are so many fascinating texts just lurking on the fringes, offering alternative perspectives and filling in the gaps in ways you wouldn't expect. one of those: a chapter from...
Sometimes, it's the little-known stories, the tucked-away details, that truly bring the past to life. to a snippet from the Book of Jasher, a text mentioned in the Bible itself (Jo...
The ancient Israelites certainly did! And this chapter of the Book of Jasher throws us right into the middle of their long, winding journey. Remember Korah's rebellion? The Book of...
Following the pestilence, God instructs Moses and Elazar, the son of Aaron the priest, to take a census. A head count of the entire Israelite community, specifically those twenty y...
Rabbi Joshua ben Levi wanted to see Gehinnom (the place of spiritual purification after death). The Messiah refused. "It is not fitting for the righteous to see it," he said, "for ...
The quarrel between Korah and Moses began with a poor woman and her single ewe-lamb. She fed the lamb from her own bread and let it drink from her own cup. When she sheared its woo...
Rabbi Joshua ben Levi was walking on the road when he met the prophet Elijah. "Would you like to see the gates of Gehinnom (the place of spiritual purification after death)?" Elija...
The smooth skin around its nose? Well, according to some beautiful old stories, there's more to that bovine face than meets the eye! The Legends of the Jews, that amazing compilati...
The familiar picture has him building, gathering animals, maybe arguing with his neighbors. But what about his personal life? It turns out, there's a story there, too, a very human...
Him is often remembered as this revered figure, almost from birth. But what about his younger days? Did he always believe? to a fascinating, and somewhat irreverent, story about hi...
Our story begins with Pharaoh's chief butler, recently tossed in the slammer. He's troubled, haunted by a vivid dream he can't shake. "In my dream," he recounts, "behold, a vine wa...
Legends of the Jews turns to Abraham — Joseph and the Patriarchs. He accuses them, and it’s quite the accusation: “Verily, ye are spies!” according to Legends of the Jews. He lays ...
Especially trekking through the desert! But imagine if those clothes were actually…miraculous. The Torah tells us about the Israelites wandering in the desert for forty years after...
The Israelites knew that feeling intimately after the incident with the spies. God, though He relented from completely wiping them out, wasn't exactly thrilled. And that distance m...
Miriam wasn't just Moses' sister; she was a pivotal figure in her own right. She was a prophetess, a leader, and, perhaps most importantly, she was the reason the Israelites had wa...
Sometimes, it's not who you expect. In the story of the Israelites wandering in the desert, fresh from their Exodus from Egypt, readers often focus on the big figures: Moses, Aaron...
The weight of that moment, the sheer magnitude of the loss. it's almost unbearable to contemplate. In Legends of the Jews, when Joshua heard the words of Moses, words etched in the...
That’s kind of how the Jewish tradition sees things. And nowhere is this more apparent than in the transition of leadership from Moses to Joshua. It's a powerful moment, heavy with...
After leading the Israelites through the desert for forty long years, Moses was denied entry into the land flowing with milk and honey. Harsh. And here’s the really interesting par...
It seems even Joshua, the great successor to Moses, felt that deeply. The story goes that the time was approaching when Joshua would usually get up. Now, imagine Moses, the leader ...
He's led the Israelites for forty years, through thick and thin, through miracles and rebellions. He’s shepherded them from slavery to the very edge of the Promised Land. And now, ...
What happens when a legend disappears? When a leader, a prophet, a figure like MOSES, is simply… gone? The grief, of course, is immense. But beyond that, there's often a desperate,...
It's a powerful image, isn't it? A promise from God, as recounted in Legends of the Jews, that "Thou that didst lead My children in this world, shalt also lead them in the future w...
Take Joshua, for example. Initially, he wasn't exactly known for his brilliance. In fact, some called him a fool! But he served Moses faithfully. And as we read in Legends of the J...
The Gibeonites were a Canaanite group who cleverly tricked Joshua into making a covenant with them. They knew the Israelites were conquering the land, and so they pretended to be t...
The story of Joshua and the Gibeonites is a powerful lesson in just that. Joshua, successor to Moses, found himself in a bit of a quandary. He'd made an alliance with the Gibeonite...
The Israelite army, led by Joshua, is locked in a fierce struggle. It’s Friday, and the weight of the approaching Shabbat, the Sabbath, hangs heavy in the air. Joshua knows that fo...
Legends of the Jews turns to Trial of Joshua. Then there's the hope for the future, the desire for lasting peace: "Thus shall all Thine enemies perish, O Lord, and the wicked shall...
It wasn't just a matter of drawing lines on a map. It was, according to tradition, a divinely orchestrated process, a fascinating blend of the practical and the miraculous. After s...
After 28 years of leading them through war and peace, Joshua, the successor to Moses, passed away. According to Legends of the Jews, a monumental work compiled by Rabbi Louis Ginzb...
When we look at David, the "elect of God," as he's often called, it seems to be a fascinating combination of all three. David wasn't just some random shepherd boy plucked from obsc...
It happens to the best of us, and even to some of the greatest Rabbis in Jewish lore. Take the story of Rabbi Joshua, for example. The familiar version gives us the prophet Elijah....
Even though he messed up big time by breaking his oath, he was, at heart, a good and just ruler. So good, in fact, that God almost changed His mind about punishing the wicked gener...
The earth opened its mouth and swallowed men alive. Not in a myth. Not in a metaphor. According to Josephus, the ground beneath the tents of the rebels cracked apart with a sound l...
Jewish mysticism explores this very feeling, using beautiful imagery to explore the soul's journey and its yearning for connection. a passage from the Tikkunei (spiritual repair) Z...
In Tikkunei (spiritual repair) Zohar, a foundational text of Kabbalah, something truly remarkable happens in the celestial realms when we declare Shma Yisrael Adonai Eloheinu Adona...
The mystical text, Tikkunei (spiritual repair) Zohar, in section 108, uses just that image to explore themes of repentance, judgment, and the wandering of the Shekhinah (the Divine...
The Tikkunei (spiritual repair) Zohar, a foundational text of Kabbalah, explores this very idea, identifying the source of those forces and even giving them names. It’s intense stu...
The Mekhilta presents another parable contrasting human warriors with God, this time focusing on the problem of aging. A human warrior reaches the height of his power at forty year...
The Mekhilta records a debate about what tree God showed Moses at Marah to sweeten the bitter waters. The verse says simply "And the Lord showed him a tree". But which tree? The ra...
(Exodus 15:26) "And He said: If pay heed, you shall pay heed": From here it was derived: If a man paid heed to one mitzvah, he is caused to pay heed to many mitzvoth (commandments)...
The Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael offers a precise description of how the manna appeared to the Israelites in the wilderness, drawing its details from the verse "and, behold, on the fa...
