718 related texts · 10 related myths · Page 4 of 15
The story isn't quite so simple. In Legends of the Jews, Aaron, eager to begin his sacred duties, headed straight for the Tabernacle. But Moses stopped him. "," Moses said "we have...
The story of Samuel is a powerful example. We find him, in Legends of the Jews, already displaying wisdom beyond his years as just a two-year-old. Two years old! His mother, Hannah...
This comes to us from Ginzberg's Legends of the Jews, drawing from various Midrashic (rabbinic interpretive commentary) sources. Remember the story? Elijah, challenging the priests...
It was a showdown of epic proportions, a challenge to prove who the real God was. As we know from the biblical narrative, Elijah proposed a simple yet profound test: build two alta...
Legends of the Jews turns to The Six-Month Party That Set the Purim Story in Motion. The Book of Esther (1:4) tells us Ahasuerus showed off "the riches of his glorious kingdom and ...
It suggests that during our period of "service" – our time here on Earth, striving to connect – the Divine emanation is, in a sense, clothed. Clothed in what? In the world around u...
That feeling’s deeply rooted in Jewish tradition. Midrash Tehillim, our window into the book of Psalms, connects this idea of purity with the very act of approaching God. It says, ...
The familiar story is this: Moses is up on Mount Sinai, receiving the Torah, and the Israelites, feeling abandoned, demand a new god. But what was going on behind the scenes? What ...
A fascinating and somewhat enigmatic text of Jewish tradition, fire isn't just fire. It’s something… else. Rabbi Judah paints a vivid picture, one that starts with a fiery descent....
The Book of Bamidbar, or Numbers, dives right into that. Specifically, Bamidbar 5:9 lays out the rules for terumah, the portion of the harvest given to the Cohein, the priest. "And...
Sifrei Bamidbar turns to How the Priests Place God's Name in the Blessing. In Bamidbar (Numbers) 6:27, it says, "And they shall place My name." The Sifrei Bamidbar, an ancient comm...
The book of Bamidbar (Numbers), specifically chapter 18 in Sifrei Bamidbar, to examine the intense responsibilities placed on the Kohanim and Levi'im (Levites) and the consequences...
Sometimes, just sometimes, you catch a glimpse of the beautiful mind at work behind it all. the story turns to one such puzzle. Specifically, we’re confronting the rules around pri...
The Torah touches on this, not directly, but in subtle glimpses. the story turns to how the death of Aaron, the High Priest, is described, and what Moses thought of it. We find thi...
The consecration ceremony of (Exodus 29:1-46) appears in the Hebrew Bible as a solemn ritual. The Targum Jonathan adds precise details that heighten both its gravity and its tender...
God told Moses to "bring near Aaron" for the priestly consecration. And the Targum Jonathan adds three devastating words the Hebrew Bible does not contain: "who is afar off on acco...
On the eighth day of consecration, the first of Nisan, Aaron was about to offer his first sacrifice as high priest. Then he froze. The Targum Jonathan says he "saw at the corner of...
Leviticus 13 is the longest chapter in the book, a detailed medical manual for diagnosing skin diseases. The Targum Jonathan transforms it from clinical instructions into a color-c...
The day after Korah's company was swallowed by the earth, the people of Israel accused Moses and Aaron of murder. God sent a plague. And Aaron did something no other priest would e...
Midrash on the death of Aaron "I lost the three shepherds in one month" (Zecharia 11:8); and thus, in one month, Aaron, Miriam, and Moses died. Miriam died on the 1st of the month ...
(Gemara) Let us see: when do the priests enter to eat the Terumah? Is it not when the stars appear? Let then the Mishnah (the earliest code of rabbinic law) say: "From the time the...
The opening verse of Numbers 7 says a single thing twice. Moses "anointed the Tabernacle and sanctified it," and then the verse adds, "and he anointed them and sanctified them." Wh...
Simeon ben Kamhith was serving as High Priest. He had walked with a foreign king, and in the course of the conversation a drop of spittle from the king's mouth touched Simeon's gar...
A strange statistic is buried in tractate Yoma. During the 410 years of the First Temple, only eighteen high priests served in succession. During the 420 years of the Second Temple...
Tractate Yoma (folio 9, column 1) asks a question no one would think to ask unless they were counting: how many kohanim gedolim, high priests, served during each of the two Temples...
There is a moment in Chullin 90b where Rava calls out his fellow rabbi for exaggeration. The Mishnah had just described the heap of ashes that accumulated on the Temple altar, some...
When the Torah sums up who stood before Pharaoh to demand Israel's release, it simply says these are they (Exodus 6:27). Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on (Exodus 6:27) supplies the titles...
The second row of the breastplate carried three more tribes, and the meturgeman names the stones: smarag, sapphire, and chalcedony. On them were inscribed Judah, Dan, and Naphtali ...
Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on (Exodus 40:5) refuses to let a single detail of the sanctuary pass without meaning. The golden altar of incense is to be placed before the ark of the test...
Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on (Exodus 40:9) takes a small detail, anointing the tabernacle with the consecration oil. And reaches forward across centuries. Anoint the tent and everythi...
Midrash Rabbah, specifically Bamidbar Rabbah 2, reveals a fascinating layer of meaning beneath the surface. "The children of Israel did in accordance with everything that the Lord ...
That feeling of imbalance, of unspoken credit, is something the ancient rabbis grappled with too. And we find a fascinating example of it right at the beginning of the Book of Numb...
Bamidbar Rabbah turns to Aaron and Moses of Elazar. What exactly happened to these two sons of Aaron, the High Priest? Why does the Torah repeat their fate in several places? Bamid...
It's not a mistake, and it's definitely not filler! Sometimes, those repetitions are there to teach us something profound about the people and stories within. to one such instance ...
It wasn't just a matter of tossing everything into a wagon. There was a precise order, a sacred choreography, and it all begs the question: Why this order? Bamidbar Rabbah, specifi...
Bamidbar Rabbah turns to Why Aaron Was Warned About the Kehatites and the Ark. Our story begins in Bamidbar Rabbah, specifically section 5, which explores the passage about the Keh...
Why priests were priests, Levites were Levites, and the firstborn. well, what was the deal with the firstborn? Our story begins in Bamidbar Rabbah 6, a section of the great Midrash...
It comes from Numbers, Chapter 5, verse 26. The verse reads: "The priest shall take a handful from the meal offering, its memorial portion, and burn it upon the altar, and then he ...
Here, we're unpacking the story of the sotah, the woman suspected of adultery, and the unique ritual designed to determine her guilt or innocence. It's a wild ride, so buckle up. O...
Bamidbar Rabbah turns to Why the Wicked Prosper and How Aaron Blesses Israel. We find a fascinating perspective in Bamidbar Rabbah, specifically in its commentary on (Numbers 6:23)...
The Book of Numbers, Bamidbar in Hebrew, is full of details about the Israelites' journey through the wilderness. And in chapter 7, we find a fascinating account of the dedication ...
Our ancestors felt that way, too. The ancient rabbis understood this, and that's why we find so much human drama, even in the most sacred texts. Take this story from Bamidbar Rabba...
Sometimes, the solutions to those disagreements come in the most unexpected forms… like, say, a blossoming staff. We find this story in Bamidbar Rabbah 18, which elaborates on the ...
Take a look at the story surrounding the death of Aaron in the book of Numbers, specifically as it's illuminated by Bamidbar Rabbah 19. The verse tells us, “They traveled from Kade...
Our story centers around the verses in (Numbers 20:25-28): "Take Aaron and Elazar his son, and take them up Hor Mountain… Strip Aaron of his vestments, and dress Elazar his son in ...
The Torah, in its unflinching honesty, shows us just that. a passage from Bamidbar Rabbah (Numbers Rabbah) 19, which explores the immediate aftermath of Aaron's death. The verse we...
The story of Pinḥas, as told in Bamidbar Rabbah, shines a light on just how vital shalom is. The story begins with a moment of intense crisis. The Israelites are straying, and divi...
The familiar story is this: God commands Moses to go to Pharaoh and demand the release of the Israelites. But Moses hesitates. He protests, famously declaring, "I am not a man of w...
