122 related texts · Page 2 of 3
Miriam and Aaron criticized Moses. The Hebrew Bible is vague about why. The Targum Jonathan fills in the backstory with a Cushite queen, a celibate prophet, and a divine rebuke tha...
The Torah's divorce law in (Deuteronomy 24) states that a second husband may dislike the wife. Targum Jonathan adds something astonishing: "should they proclaim from the heavens ab...
The ancient rabbis grappled with these questions constantly, searching for meaning in misfortune. One particularly fascinating exploration revolves around the affliction of leprosy...
There's a fascinating passage in Bereshit Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Book of Genesis, that dives right into this feeling. It starts with the verse, "In...
But in Bereshit Rabbah, that foundational midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary)ic text, the rabbis unpack layers of meaning from even a single word. The verse uses the Hebrew ...
to a fascinating exploration of just that, as we unpack a verse from Genesis and see what the Rabbis of old found hidden within its folds. Our journey begins with the powerful word...
It centers around a single verse, (Genesis 17:14), which deals with brit milah, the covenant of circumcision. The verse reads: “And the uncircumcised male who shall not circumcise ...
We read the stories, we know the milestones – but sometimes the weight of those moments gets lost. Take the act of circumcision, the brit milah, at the ripe old age of ninety-nine....
But the Rabbis of Bereshit Rabbah, that incredible collection of Rabbinic interpretations on Genesis, find layers of meaning we might otherwise miss. According to Bereshit Rabbah, ...
But how do you BECOME ready? Our exploration starts in Bereshit Rabbah, a classic collection of rabbinic interpretations of the Book of Genesis. Here, in section 49, we find a fasc...
Vayikra Rabbah, a collection of Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary)ic interpretations on the book of Leviticus, dives deep into this very topic, using the verse "when a woma...
Seven, for instance, pops up everywhere – the seven days of creation, the seven days of mourning (shiva), the seven weeks between Passover and Shavuot (the Festival of Weeks). But ...
Take, for example, the opening of Vayikra (Leviticus), which discusses skin ailments. Vayikra Rabbah, a Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary)ic collection expounding on Leviti...
It's not just about hygiene. In the rabbinic imagination, as we see in Vayikra Rabbah 17, tzara'at becomes a physical manifestation of spiritual failings. It's a fascinating, if un...
The verse in (Genesis 17:10) states, "And every male of you shall be circumcised, and you shall circumcise, or you shall be circumcised, in the flesh of your foreskin." Seems strai...
It’s a question that’s been pondered for millennia, and the answers, well, they’re as layered and fascinating as the tradition itself. The Torah tells us in (Genesis 17:11) that Go...
(Lev. 12:2:) “When a woman emits her seed and bears a male.” This text is related (to Job 29:2), “O that I were as in the months of old, [as in the days when God watched over me]!”...
Another interpretation (of Lev. 12:2), “and bears a male”: This text is related (to I Sam. 2:2), “There is no holy one like the Lord, for there is none beside You.” What is the mea...
Another interpretation (of Lev. 12:2), “When a woman emits her seed [and bears a male]”: If the woman comes first, she bears a male; if the man comes first, [she bears] a female.8B...
(Lev. 12:6:) “And when the days of her purification are fulfilled [for either a son or for a daughter, she shall bring a lamb in its first year for a burnt offering….]” Why does sh...
(Lev. 13:2:) “When anyone has [on the skin of his flesh a swelling or a sore or a bright spot].” This text is related (to (Job 38:2)5), “Who split open a channel for the flow (shtp...
(Lev. 13:2) “When anyone has on the skin of his flesh.” Why does it not say, “Speak unto the Children of Israel,” just as it says in all the [other] sections22In the Pentateuch the...
(Lev. 13:2:) “When anyone has on the skin of his flesh.” This text is related (to Hab. 1:7), “Terrible and dreadful [is that one].”27In the biblical context THAT ONE is the nation ...
(Lev. 13:2), “When anyone has on the skin of his flesh.” This text is related (to Ps. 5:5), “For You are not a God who delights in wickedness. [This verse is] to teach you that the...
The story of Pharaoh in the Bible isn't just about slavery; it's about a desperate attempt to control the very future, one newborn baby at a time. Imagine this: Pharaoh, gripped by...
Miriam, it seems, has fallen ill with leprosy, a skin disease that carries both physical suffering and social stigma. Aaron, ever the mediator, speaks words of comfort, but Moses? ...
Jewish tradition certainly does, and it pulls no punches when it comes to the consequences of careless or malicious speech – especially lashon hara (לשון הרע), evil speech. One of ...
The Torah states that if a master gives his Hebrew bondsman a Canaanite bondswoman "and she bears him sons or daughters," the woman and her children belong to the master (Exodus 21...
We're diving into the world of tzara'at, often translated as leprosy, though it encompassed a much broader range of skin conditions and even affected garments and houses! It's a fa...
We often think of blessings as material wealth, good health, maybe even a long life. But what if the true blessing is something far deeper, something almost…invisible? Let’s turn t...
Vayikra Rabbah, the great midrash on the Book of Leviticus, is all about unlocking those secrets. It's about diving deep into the connections between verses that might seem, at fir...
It's not just about skin disease. It's about something far deeper. Something that touches on the very fabric of our community and our souls. In Vayikra, Leviticus, we find the word...
It's all about the purification process for someone healed of tzara'at, often translated as leprosy, though it likely encompassed a range of skin diseases. The verse in question co...
Vayikra Rabbah, a fascinating collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Book of Leviticus, explores this very idea, using the strange and unsettling phenomenon of leprosy in ho...
We're talking about life and death here, and sometimes the stakes feel… intense. Take this one, for example. It’s a verse that’s given interpreters headaches for centuries. (Genesi...
It might surprise you to learn that some of it isn't directly from the Torah we read in synagogues. Let's talk about a text called the Book of Jubilees. The Book of Jubilees, also ...
This is the world Megillat Antiochus throws us into. The story begins with a chilling proposition, whispered amongst the advisors of King Antiochus. "Come now," they urged, "let us...
Sometimes, the stories behind them are even more incredible than the rituals themselves. Let's talk about brit milah, circumcision, and a story that links it to the holiest day of ...
Legend tells us Isaac wasn't just Abraham's son; he was his counterpart. The Legends of the Jews tells us he resembled his father "in beauty, wisdom, strength, wealth, and noble de...
Take the receiving of the Torah at Mount Sinai. : accepting Judaism isn't just a declaration; it's a process. A transformational journey. According to tradition, a convert must und...
The laws surrounding leprosy, or tzara'at, were incredibly strict. Imagine being banished not just from your home, but from the entire community! While other forms of ritual impuri...
According to Ginzberg's retelling in Legends of the Jews, all sorts of momentous events piled up on a single day. This was the very day the Israelites crossed the Jordan River. Can...
Let’s delve into the lives of two kings of Judah, Jotham and his son Ahaz, and see just how drastically one life can diverge from another. King Uzziah, Jotham’s father, suffered fr...
That’s kind of what it was like for the prophet Jeremiah during the reign of King Zedekiah. According to Legends of the Jews, he was facing opposition from pretty much everyone. – ...
Today, we're diving into one such path, guided by the words of Josephus, a first-century Romano-Jewish historian. He's responding to some pretty harsh claims made by an Egyptian pr...
Apion, see, had a laundry list of complaints against the Jews. Josephus, in his work Against Apion, takes each one head-on. And in this particular section, Apion throws a few zinge...
The crisis started from within. Josephus records that after the High Priest Onias III died, a power struggle erupted between his brothers. Jason and Menelaus each bribed the Seleuc...
The Torah states a blunt exclusion about the Paschal lamb: "No stranger may eat of it." The Mekhilta explains who "stranger" includes, and the answer is broader than it first appea...
