2,248 related texts · Page 33 of 47
Judah, one of Jacob's sons, married a Canaanite woman, and their firstborn was named Er, which poignantly means "the childless." As fate would have it, Er’s name was a prophecy. He...
They have stories too, tales of redemption, bravery, and unexpected turns of fate. Take Judah, for example. We all know he sold his brother Joseph into slavery. But did you know th...
It’s a story filled with twists, turns, and a whole lot of divine intervention. It's the story of Joseph. After Joseph correctly interprets Pharaoh's dreams, foretelling seven year...
In the stories surrounding Joseph, the son of Jacob, we find just that kind of mystical insight woven into the narrative. Remember the story? Joseph, sold into slavery in Egypt by ...
The ancient rabbis certainly wrestled with this, and their stories, preserved in texts like Ginzberg's Legends of the Jews, offer some fascinating perspectives. Our story today cen...
Your family's survival hangs in the balance. What would you say? What would you do? That’s the tension at the heart of a powerful moment in the Joseph story, as retold in Ginzberg'...
That's exactly where we find Joseph, son of Jacob, in the land of Egypt. What does he do? He makes his brothers swear an oath. But it's not just any oath. It's a promise that when ...
The story of Joseph, his coffin, and Moses is one such tale. It's a powerful reminder that even in the chaos of escape and liberation, honoring a pledge matters deeply. Imagine the...
The tradition is rich with details, offering us glimpses into their lives and legacies. Let's turn our attention to two of Jacob’s sons: Issachar and Zebulon. Imagine the scene: Is...
But according to tradition, getting the coffin out of Egypt in the first place was a whole adventure in itself. See, according to Legends of the Jews, retold by Louis Ginzberg, Egy...
The journey itself, surprisingly, wasn't fraught with peril from the locals. The text explains that God smoothed their path. As soon as the spies, sent by Moses to scout the land, ...
Balaam, the non-Jewish prophet-for-hire, was hired by Balak, king of Moab, to curse the Israelites (Numbers 22-24). He built seven altars – a huge number – and offered bullocks and...
The Torah portion V'Zot HaBerachah, "This is the blessing," gives us a glimpse into that raw, fervent side of prayer as Moses, in his final act, intercedes for the tribes of Israel...
The text tells us that “the sound of their grief pierced to the very heavens.” It paints a vivid picture of despair. And where is Moses, their leader, during all this? He’s gone to...
Jewish tradition certainly knows that feeling, and it gives us some incredible stories about how our ancestors faced it. Imagine this: the prophet Elijah, a figure practically syno...
Think of it like this: the "Cause of all Causes" is above everything. I mean everything. There's no higher power, no celestial being pulling the strings of it. It's the ultimate or...
It's considered by many to be the most important work in the whole mystical tradition. Even the holy Ari – Rabbi Isaac Luria, may his memory be a blessing – a man who, it's said, p...
We pour our energy into the fleeting, the temporary. But what about the big questions? What if, just for a little while, we shifted our focus? What if we dared to ask ourselves: Wh...
According to the Kalach Pitchei Chokhmah, a Kabbalistic text that dives deep into the mysteries of creation, the source of all blessings is actually the Shechinah. Now, the Shechin...
In Kabbalah, the ancient Jewish mystical tradition, that’s a pretty big deal, and it's known as tikkun (spiritual repair), repair. But it's not just about fixing what's broken; it'...
We often think of blessings as something bestowed from above, a divine gift. But Jewish mystical tradition, particularly the Kabbalah, offers a much more intricate and fascinating ...
The Tikkun (spiritual repair)ei Zohar, meaning "Rectifications of the Zohar," is a later addition to the Zohar, a central text of Kabbalah. It's a deep dive into the mysteries of c...
The Tikkun (spiritual repair)ei Zohar, a central text of Kabbalah, dives deep into this feeling. It speaks of a separation, a cosmic rift, and our role in mending it. It points to ...
The Tikkun (spiritual repair)ei Zohar, a cornerstone of Kabbalistic thought, offers some fascinating insights. Our passage today, found in Tikkunei Zohar 62, delves into the idea o...
Sometimes, those pieces are hidden in plain sight, tucked away in ancient texts waiting to be rediscovered. Today, let's dust off a passage from the Tikkun (spiritual repair)ei Zoh...
A whisper that cuts through the noise, a gentle nudge in the right direction. Well, Jewish mystical tradition takes that idea and elevates it to breathtaking heights. Because that ...
The Tikkun (spiritual repair)ei Zohar, a central text of Kabbalah, invites us to do just that, to see the divine secrets hidden in plain sight. Specifically, Tikkunei Zohar 104 use...
Jewish tradition has a place for you: the "average-ones," the beinonim. But what happens to them? What hope do they have? The Tikkun (spiritual repair)ei Zohar, that mystical compa...
The Tikkun (spiritual repair)ei Zohar, a central text of Kabbalah, invites us to consider just that. It paints a picture of the human body as a microcosm, a reflection of the divin...
The sixteenth chapter of the Tanya reveals the benoni's secret weapon—and admits that for most people, it will be hidden. The Tanya has established that the benoni must govern the ...
Chapter eighteen of the Tanya reveals the deepest source of every Jew's connection to God: an inherited love that predates individual experience. The Tanya has just argued that eve...
The Tanya's thirty-fourth chapter brings everything together with a single image: the Patriarchs were God's chariot, and you can be too. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob never, for a sing...
There is a love of God so universal that every single Jewish soul possesses it, regardless of spiritual level. Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi locates it in a verse from Isaiah that ...
Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev opens his commentary on Parshat Va'era with a question about the nature of prophecy. God tells Moses, "I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jac...
When God instructed Israel about the Passover observance, He included a forward-looking phrase: "And it shall be, when you come to the land that the Lord will give you, as He has s...
The Mekhilta presents a beautiful declaration in which Israel — personified as a bride — proclaims her lineage before God with joyful pride: "I am a queen, the daughter of kings; a...
The Mekhilta continues its grammatical investigation of the Song at the Sea and finds yet another future-tense verb. (Exodus 15:7) does not say "He has consumed them as stubble" — ...
Rabbi Tarfon offered one of the most striking images in all of Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael. He said the manna descended from heaven on the very palms of God. The word "mechuspas" use...
Maybe the answer lies in a place we often overlook: Zion. Midrash Tehillim, a fascinating exploration of the Book of Psalms, asks a powerful question: “Who will give from Zion the ...
A prayer attributed to Moshe, the man of God. It’s a powerful opening, immediately grounding us in the foundational narrative of the Jewish people: "Before the mountains were born,...
Rabbi Abbahu, a sage from the Amoraic period, tells us to look at the story of King David to understand this power. Now, you probably know the story of David. Shepherd boy, slayer ...
The ancient texts are full of these brushes with oblivion, and the forces, both divine and human, that intervene. to a fascinating passage from Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer, a collection...
The Yalkut Shimoni, a compilation of Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary)ic teachings, hints at just such an idea with a fascinating take on a seemingly ordinary object: a st...
Remember him? Reuven, the eldest son of Jacob, who, well, didn't exactly cover himself in glory. We're talking about the incident with Bilhah (Genesis 35:22). It's a complicated st...
Check out this little head-scratcher from Sifrei Devarim, a collection of legal interpretations on the Book of Deuteronomy. It revolves around Reuven, Jacob's eldest son, and a som...
Sometimes, a single phrase can unlock a whole world of meaning, revealing the intricate tapestry of Jewish tradition. Take, for instance, the blessing given to Judah in (Deuteronom...
SEVEN KINDS OF PUNISHMENT COME UPON THE WORLD FOR SEVEN CARDINAL TRANSGRESSIONS. IF SOME GIVE THEIR TITHES AND OTHERS DO NOT, THERE COMES A FAMINE THROUGH DROUGHT.1Aboth 5:11 (Sonc...
Abraham tells a foreign king that Sarah is his sister. Again. He already pulled this move with Pharaoh in Egypt (Genesis 12:13). Now in Gerar, he does it a second time—and the Targ...
