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That feeling isn’t new. to a story about Korah, a figure who challenged Moses and Aaron, found in Legends of the Jews by Louis Ginzberg, which itself draws from various Midrash (ra...
That’s kind of how Moses felt about Korah's rebellion. According to Ginzberg's retelling in Legends of the Jews, Moses took Korah's transgression deeply to heart, fearing that afte...
We're diving into a pivotal moment from the story of Korah, a fascinating and troubling tale of ambition, jealousy, and ultimately, divine justice. Remember, this all comes from Le...
The story of Korah is a chilling example. We find it in the Book of Numbers (Numbers 16), but the Rabbis and storytellers throughout the ages have embellished it, explored it, and ...
Jewish tradition has a lot to say on the subject, and some of those stories are downright gripping. Take, for instance, this tale from Legends of the Jews, that incredible compilat...
Jewish tradition certainly understands that feeling. Let's talk about the deaths of three towering figures in the Torah: Miriam, Aaron, and Moses. You might think that because they...
Normally, when Moses journeyed from his home to the Mishkan, the Tabernacle, it was a procession of carefully ordered respect. He, Moses, would walk in the very center. To his righ...
Take Aaron, for instance, Moses' brother. We know Moses as the lawgiver, the one who spoke to God face-to-face. But Aaron... well, the people loved Aaron. And that’s saying somethi...
In Jewish tradition, there's a concept called the "kiss of God," a death so gentle, so divine, that it’s reserved for the most righteous. And the story of Aaron's passing is intert...
The death of Aaron, the High Priest, brother of Moses, is just such a story. The Legends of the Jews, that amazing collection of rabbinic tales and biblical expansions compiled by ...
The Torah tells us about Aaron, the High Priest, and it paints a pretty clear picture. It wasn't just his position, but his character that earned him such profound respect and affe...
The story of the Israelites and the serpents in the wilderness offers us a powerful glimpse. You remember the story. After complaining yet again about their circumstances, God send...
About how a simple object, imbued with meaning, can bring about healing, or even... life? We find ourselves in the desert, with the Israelites, plagued by venomous snakes. A dire s...
It's a story of justice, regret, and ultimately, a final act of redemption for Moses. Remember Balaam, the non-Jewish prophet hired to curse Israel, who instead ended up blessing t...
Jewish tradition is filled with these poignant moments, often involving the greatest figures in our history. Take the story of Moses, and a seemingly small slip-up that had surpris...
It's an idea deeply rooted in our tradition, and it takes center stage in the story of the cities of refuge. We find ourselves with Moses, nearing the end of his life, and the two ...
We know he didn't exactly stroll into the afterlife. He ascended, shrouded in mystery. But what about the forces of darkness? Did they just sit back and let it happen? Not accordin...
When Moses, Moshe Rabbenu—our teacher, our leader—passed away, it sparked a celestial debate. As Ginzberg retells it in Legends of the Jews, a fascinating thing happened. Adam, the...
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...
That’s the situation the historian Josephus found himself in, and it led him to write one of his most passionate works, Against Apion. He begins this work by addressing a man named...
Abraham didn't just go to Egypt to escape famine. According to Josephus, he went to debate the priests. When drought struck Canaan, Abraham heard that Egypt was prosperous and deci...
Two years. That is how long Joseph sat in an Egyptian prison after correctly predicting the fate of Pharaoh's cupbearer—who had promised to remember him and then promptly forgot. T...
The Tikkun (spiritual repair)ei Zohar, that sprawling and often mind-bending companion to the Zohar, tackles this head-on. It declares that no dor, no generation, can be less than ...
The prophet Ezekiel delivered an oracle of terrifying certainty: "Behold, it has come; it has arrived, says the Lord God. This is the day of which I spoke" (Ezekiel 39:8). But when...
(Exodus 13:19) "And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him": This apprises us of the wisdom and saintliness of Moses. All of Israel were occupying themselves with the spoils (of E...
(Exodus 14:3) "And Pharaoh will say about the children of Israel: They are nevuchim in the land": "nevuchim" is "confounded," as in (Joel 1:18) "How the beasts groan! The herds of ...
(Exodus 14:11) "And they said to Moses: Is it for lack of graves in Egypt that you have taken us to die in the desert!" After they had placed "leavening in the dough" (i.e., after ...
viz. (Song of Songs 3: "I had almost passed them (Moses and Aaron) by, when I found Him whom my soul loved. I held onto Him and did not let go of Him until I had brought Him to the...
When God commanded that a jar of manna be preserved for future generations (Exodus 16:32), Moses relayed the instruction to his brother Aaron. But when exactly did Aaron carry it o...
(Exodus 17:12) records a detail that the Mekhilta found deeply instructive: "And the hands of Moses became heavy." Why did his hands grow heavy during the battle with Amalek? The r...
After every other plea had been rejected, Moses turned to his nephew Elazar — the son of his brother Aaron — and threw himself at his feet. "Elazar, my brother's son," Moses said, ...
The Torah states that Yithro "took Tzipporah, Moses' wife, after she had been sent" (Exodus 18:2). The phrase "after she had been sent" is vague — sent where? By whom? Under what c...
Rebbi — Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi, the compiler of the Mishnah (the earliest code of rabbinic law) — declared that circumcision was so great that all of Moses' accumulated merits could n...
The verse says that Aaron and all the elders of Israel came to eat bread with Moses' father-in-law "before God." But the Mekhilta raises an obvious question: where was Moses himsel...
When Moses stood before Israel at Sinai and "took the book of the covenant and read it in the ears of the people" (Exodus 24:7), a question immediately arises: what exactly did he ...
(Exodus 20:19) records God telling Moses: "Thus shall you say to the children of Israel." The Mekhilta seizes on the word "thus" — in Hebrew, "koh" — and derives a surprising rule:...
It’s a question that’s echoed through millennia, and Jewish tradition offers some truly remarkable answers. We all know the story: a baby, hidden in a basket, floating down the riv...
It’s a question that’s captivated mystics and storytellers for centuries, and one particularly vivid legend tells us how Moses himself experienced just that. The story goes that Go...
We find ourselves with the Israelites in the desert. Moses, their leader, has ascended Mount Sinai to receive the Torah, the divine law, from God. Days turn into weeks. Down below,...
And their grumbling had some pretty fiery consequences. We find ourselves in the book of Numbers (Bamidbar in Hebrew, meaning "in the wilderness") chapter 21. The Israelites are tr...
Our story comes from Midrash Tehillim, a fascinating collection of interpretations on the Book of Psalms. Here, the Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary) tells us about a part...
Midrash Tehillim, a collection of rabbinic teachings on the Book of Psalms, delves into this very concept, specifically focusing on the verse, "The awe of the LORD is pure" (Psalm ...
The ancient rabbis certainly understood that feeling. They explored it deeply in their interpretations of the Psalms, particularly in Midrash Tehillim, a collection of stories and ...
A melody, some words, and suddenly…connection. But what if I told you that some songs are so potent, so deeply resonant, that even the greatest figures in history were eager to hea...
Today, let’s delve into a fascinating passage from Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer, specifically chapter 17, which offers a unique perspective on the deaths of Moses and Aaron, and the cont...
That feeling, that connection, it's at the heart of this story from Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer, Chapter 44. The Israelites are facing a fearsome foe: Amalek. Moses, wise and divinely c...
We all know the story: 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 choic...
The luchot, as they're known in Hebrew. The Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer, a fascinating collection of stories and interpretations, paints a vivid picture of this moment. Initially, the t...
