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In ancient Israel, a person who killed someone by accident did not go free. Neither was he executed. He ran for his life to one of six cities of refuge, and the roads that led ther...
Who wrote the Hebrew Bible? The Talmud in Bava Batra 14b provides a complete accounting, attributing every book to a specific author. Moses wrote his own book—the Torah—and also th...
Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary) Sheni Ketuvim In the beginning God created etc. - To declare the might of the acts of creation to creatures, and to make it known to them...
At the end of days, the prophet Malachi says, you will be able to tell the righteous from the wicked at a glance: "You shall return and discern between the righteous and the wicked...
"Hear the word of the Lord, O house of Jacob" (Jeremiah 2:4). Not the word of Jeremiah. Not the word of the priesthood. The word of the Lord — direct, unmediated, demanding attenti...
We all know the story of the first set, shattered in anger at the sight of the Golden Calf. But why two in the first place? Devarim Rabbah, a collection of homilies on the Book of ...
It goes way beyond just being "fair." It's actually about a profound and intimate relationship between us and the Divine. Devarim Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic teachings on the ...
Kohelet Rabbah, a Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary)ic commentary on the Book of Ecclesiastes, tackles this idea head-on with the verse: "If the spirit of the ruler comes u...
The passage we're looking at begins with God instructing Moses: "Go and gather the elders of Israel, and say to them: The Lord, the God of your fathers, God of Abraham, of Isaac, a...
It all begins with the poignant question: “Who fulfilled the mitzvah," the good deed, "of separating from a woman at the time of her discharge?” The answer? A surprising figure: Ye...
“And her tears are on her cheeks [leḥya],” over her priests, just as it says: “He shall give to the priest the foreleg, the jaw [haleḥayayim], and the maw” (Deuteronomy 18:3). Alte...
There was an incident involving Doeg ben Yosef who died and left a young son to his mother. She would measure him in handbreadths and donate his weight in gold to the Temple182Lite...
“Judah was exiled due to affliction and great enslavement. She settled among the nations, did not find rest; all her pursuers have overtaken her within the straits” (Lamentations 1...
“The ways of Zion are in mourning, without Festival pilgrims; all her gates are desolate; her priests sigh; her maidens are forlorn, and she is embittered” (Lamentations 1:4).“The ...
God told Israel three separate times: do not go back to Egypt. According to Esther Rabbah, they violated every single warning and paid for every single one. Rabbi Shimon ben Yohai ...
Forget your gavels and stern judges. Imagine something far more… theatrical. The image comes to us from Legends of the Jews, that incredible compilation of rabbinic lore put togeth...
R. Elazar Hamodai offered his own interpretation of the five qualities required of judges, and his reading was both more vivid and more demanding than R. Yehoshua's. "And you shall...
Jewish tradition grapples with this, especially when it comes to a concept called sorer umoreh, the "wayward and rebellious son." Now, the term sorer umoreh itself is fascinating. ...
The Book of Ben Sira, a treasure trove of wisdom literature, grapples with these very questions. "An wild king will destroy the city, and a city is settled by the intelligence of i...
It’s a story packed with adventure, piety, and a healthy dose of divine intervention. to a particularly intense moment from the beginning of the story. Our hero, Tobit, is in deep ...
We often think of Judah Maccabee and the miracle of the oil, but there were so many other battles, so many other moments of bravery and sacrifice. Let's turn to the Book of Maccabe...
It's considered by many to be part of the Apocrypha, a collection of writings of uncertain origin, that elaborates on stories from the Bible and fills in gaps. Think of it as histo...
Nebuchadnezzar doesn't believe Ben Sira actually knows what's in his garden. So the king proposes a test. He'll blindfold the boy, march his army past in separate battalions, and B...
The breaking point came at Mod'aith. According to the Chronicles of Jerahmeel, a 12th-century Hebrew chronicle preserved by Moses Gaster in 1899, after Antiochus departed for Maced...
We know the big names – Abraham, Moses, David. But what about the supporting cast, the characters who, while not central to the main narrative, still managed to leave their mark, h...
We know him as the ultimate liberator, the lawgiver, the one who spoke to God face to face. But there's a fascinating story, tucked away in Jewish legend, about Moses the King of E...
Laban, in the Bible, certainly felt that way about his nephew, Jacob. Now, Laban wasn't exactly known for his generosity. When he heard about Jacob's arrival, penniless and seeking...
The story of Job, as we know it from the Bible, is already But the Jewish tradition, especially as elaborated in works like Ginzberg's Legends of the Jews, really fleshes out the d...
He has no clue that destiny has something truly unexpected in store. At this precise moment, war erupts between Ethiopia and its former eastern territories. King Kikanos, leading h...
That feeling, that impossible tension, isn’t new. The Israelites felt it acutely during their enslavement in Egypt, and their frustration boiled over in a truly heartbreaking way. ...
It wasn't as simple as picking names out of a hat, that's for sure! After delivering his blessings, Moses tasked the people with finding suitable individuals to serve as judges and...
After decades wandering in the wilderness, the Israelites finally reached the border of the Promised Land. The anticipation was immense, the collective relief palpable. But here's ...
We all know Moses. The guy who led the Israelites out of Egypt, received the Torah on Mount Sinai… a pretty big deal. But even Moses, seasoned leader and prophet, felt a tremor of ...
We find a classic example of that in the story of Balaam, the non-Jewish prophet hired to curse the Israelites. Balak, the King of Moab, was understandably nervous. A huge Israelit...
And the answer, as we find it in the story of Balaam and his talking donkey, might just surprise you. Now, we all know the story: Balak, king of Moab, terrified of the Israelites, ...
The story of Balak and Balaam gives us a pretty potent example. So, Balak, king of Moab, is terrified of the Israelites. He's hired Balaam, a non-Israelite prophet with, shall we s...
Balak, the King of Moab, certainly believed in the power of place. And he was desperate. Balak had a problem: the Israelites. A massive, powerful nation camped right on his border....
Let’s talk about two figures from the Book of Judges: Zebul and Othniel. Zebul's story is brief but important. We learn that he reigned for twenty-five years. What's really interes...
Take Othniel, for example, a figure from the Book of Judges. We're talking about a leader, a judge in Israel. You'd think a guy like that would be riding high. Well, yes and no. Ac...
Now, the Book of Judges tells us that God, in response to Israel's backsliding, allowed them to be oppressed by Jabin, the king of Hazor. But the real muscle behind the throne? Tha...
Take Abdon, for example. He succeeded Jephthah, and just as Jephthah had the unenviable task of dealing with the Ammonites, Abdon had to face the Moabites. Imagine this: The king o...
His story is full of that kind of… knowing. Especially when it came to his anointing as king. the prophet Samuel was sent to anoint a new king from among the sons of Jesse. He line...
He was no ordinary man. He was a sage, a counselor, a figure of immense respect in Israel. But beneath the surface simmered a desire, a hunger for power that ultimately led him dow...
She was, by all accounts, an extraordinary woman. Beautiful, intelligent, and morally upright—a true force to be reckoned with. Remember the story? She famously intervened to preve...
The story comes to us courtesy of Ginzberg's masterful retelling in Legends of the Jews, drawing from the wellspring of Jewish tradition. The air is thick with unspoken accusations...
It all starts with a heart-wrenching dispute, a real head-scratcher. Two women stood before Solomon, both claiming to be the mother of the same child. Can you imagine the tension? ...
And one of the most fascinating stories revolves around a journey they take together and the shocking revelations Asmodeus makes along the way. After what must have been an exhaust...
Elijah the prophet. Just the name conjures up images of fire, brimstone, and unwavering devotion to God. But was he all thunder and lightning? Or was there more to this fiery figur...
