3,636 related texts · Page 24 of 76
Turns out, even the story of the Garden of Eden, that pivotal moment of eating the forbidden fruit, offers a lesson in precedence. Rabbi Ḥiyya, a sage from long ago, taught a fasci...
It seems Kohelet Rabbah, the collection of rabbinic commentary on the Book of Ecclesiastes, thought so too. It uses that very image – "Dead flies spoil and froth a perfumer's oil" ...
That’s the situation the Israelites faced at the Yam Suf, the Sea of Reeds, what we often call the Red Sea. And what happened next is one of the most iconic moments in the entire T...
And Joseph made ready his chariot (Gen. 46:29). R. Yudan said in the name of R. Aibu: Two men were accorded more homage than any other men in all the world; they were Jethro and Ja...
And Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the children of Israel (Exod. 4:29). He told them: The Holy One, blessed be He, has said: I have surely remembered ...
17:10–11). Could the hand of Moses actually wage war or cause a war to cease? This indicates that whenever the Israelites glanced upward and directed their hearts to their Father i...
(Numb. 6:22–23:) “Then the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying, “Speak unto Aaron and unto his children, saying, ‘Thus shall you bless the Children of Israel.’” Let our master instruct u...
(Numb. 7:1:) “So it came to pass on the day that Moses had finished.” R. Berekhyah the Priest Berabbi said,101Similarly Numb. R. 12:2. “Before the Tabernacle was erected, when Isra...
(Numb. 20:7-8:) “Then the Lord spoke unto Moses saying, ‘Take the rod... and you shall provide the congregation and their cattle with water.” From here it is shown that the Holy On...
"The Lord says to my Lord: 'Sit at my right hand'" (Psalm 110:1). This verse launches one of the most complex readings in Aggadat Bereshit — about how the Holy One loves and exalts...
The sages would not allow a girl to do as she wanted or to expose herself before the man, who had become lovesick and very ill in consequence. Licentiousness was not to be encourag...
The Book of Genesis might just have the answer. to the creation story, specifically (Genesis 1:11): "God said, ‘Let the earth sprout grass, vegetation yielding seed, and fruit tree...
Let’s journey for a moment into the world described in the book of Ben Sira, also known as Sirach or the Wisdom of Yeshua ben Sira. It's part of the Apocrypha, writings associated ...
The jealous princes of Babylon set a trap with surgical precision. According to the Chronicles of Jerahmeel, a 12th-century Hebrew chronicle translated by Moses Gaster in 1899, the...
Cyrus conquered the known world because God strengthened his hand. According to the Chronicles of Jerahmeel, a 12th-century Hebrew chronicle translated by Moses Gaster in 1899, God...
He wasn't just some minor character in the background of history. According to Legends of the Jews, Louis Ginzberg's masterful compilation of rabbinic lore, Nimrod was something el...
The story goes that Nimrod, a powerful ruler in ancient times, was deeply shaken by a dream. As soon as the sun rose, he summoned his wise men and magicians, desperate to understan...
"And the earth was desolate and void" (Genesis 1:2). But how did it get that way? And what happened next? It's a question that goes deep into the heart of Jewish mystical thought. ...
Jewish mysticism suggests that sometimes, that feeling isn't just yours alone. The Tikkun (spiritual repair)ei Zohar, a central text of Kabbalah, offers a powerful interpretation o...
The Mekhilta presents a second comparison between human artisans and the divine Creator — this time focusing on the problem of models. When a mortal craftsman is asked to make a fi...
At Mount Sinai, God issued a specific invitation: "Go up, you and Aaron with you." The Mekhilta notices something crucial about this command. It names Moses and Aaron by implicatio...
The Mekhilta offers a parable that illuminates the logic behind the order of events at Sinai. A king of flesh and blood enters a new province. His servants immediately urge him: "M...
We're diving into a fascinating passage from the Yalkut Shimoni on Torah, specifically section 787, which grapples with the nuances of homicide and the concept of the "redeemer of ...
It's like the universe whispering secrets, if you know how to listen. one such whisper today, found in Sifrei Devarim. The text focuses on a verse about spilling blood: "On the ear...
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...
The incense altar, the half-shekel tax, and the anointing oil in (Exodus 30:1-38) all receive remarkable expansions in the Targum Jonathan. What the Hebrew text presents as ritual ...
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 t...
After Aaron died, the protective Cloud of Glory vanished. Amalek, who had disguised himself by taking the throne of Arad, saw his opportunity. The Targum's version of (Numbers 21) ...
The Targum Jonathan on (Deuteronomy 3) contains two stunning additions to the biblical narrative. The first involves a giant king. The second involves the most desperate prayer Mos...
The Torah says the Levites have no land inheritance. Targum Jonathan goes further, specifying exactly what they receive instead—twenty-four gifts of the priesthood. That number doe...
A. & B. Abraham & Nimrod. Pirke de R. Eliezer, XXVI. Midr. Hagadol, Gen. Lekh Lekha. Gen. R. 38 § 19. Gen. R. of Moses Hadar- shan to 11, 28 and 46, 28. Horowitz, Eked, I, 40. Jera...
Take the phrase, "Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed" (Genesis 9:6). Sounds simple enough. An eye for an eye. But is it really that simple? The ancient rabb...
Our verse is simple, yet powerful: "And he brought from him a man, finding grace in the eyes of all life. Beloved by God and man, Moshe, remembered for good." , shall we? First, "H...
Sometimes, it's about being in the right place at the right time. Sometimes, it's about something more... something divinely ordained. Let's look at a couple of figures who stepped...
Ben Sira, in his wisdom, gives us a glimpse. He paints a picture, vibrant and alive, of Simon the High Priest at the altar. Can you see him? Receiving the sacrificial pieces from h...
It all starts with a divine download, so to speak. The book tells us it contains the secret history of how time is divided – days, weeks, years, and especially those big jubilees, ...
We're going to delve into a text that's both familiar and strangely… different. A book that whispers of secrets given directly to Moses on Mount Sinai. I'm talking about the Book o...
That's the scene set for us right at the beginning of Jubilees. God commands Moses, "Write down for thyself all these words which I declare unto thee on this mountain, the first an...
Sometimes, it's written in the stars... or at least, on heavenly tablets. That's the image that leaps out at us from the Book of Jubilees. In chapter 24, we find God speaking direc...
The Book of Jubilees, a text from around the 2nd century BCE, gives us a glimpse into that mindset. It’s a retelling of Genesis and Exodus, but with some… well, let's call them exp...
The Book of Jubilees, an ancient Jewish text that retells and expands upon stories from Genesis, picks up the narrative with Joseph at a pivotal moment. It tells us that on the ver...
We all know the broad strokes – the decree, the basket, the river. But have you ever stopped to consider the details, the near-miraculous chain of events that had to unfold just so...
We all know the broad strokes: slavery in Egypt, Moses leading his people to freedom, the parting of the Red Sea. But sometimes, the details get lost in the grandeur. The Book of J...
That feeling, that raw, desperate plea, it's woven deep into the fabric of Jewish history. And it echoes powerfully in the Second Book of Maccabees. This book, part of the Apocryph...
We often associate it with powerful Egyptian rulers, but its origins are a bit…unconventional, to say the least. Buckle up, because the Book of Jasher has a wild story to tell abou...
We pick up the story of Joseph in Egypt, after his brothers sold him and he's been bought and sold a couple more times. According to Jasher, the Ishmaelites who initially bought Jo...
The Book of Jasher, an ancient text referenced in the Bible itself (Joshua 10:13 and (2 Samuel 1:1)8), offers us a glimpse into just that – a world of expanded tales and alternativ...
We know him as the great leader, the lawgiver, the one who led the Israelites out of Egypt. But what about his birth, his infancy, those perilous first months? The Book of Jasher, ...
