3,636 related texts · Page 57 of 76
And she opened it, and saw it, even the child; and behold, a boy that wept (Exod. 2:6). The verse does not say “And behold, a child that wept” but rather a boy. This informs us tha...
And it came to pass in those days, when Moses was grown up (Exod. 2:11). Does not everything grow up? Do not men, beasts, animals, and birds all grow up? Why, then, is this said? I...
And he went out on the second day, and behold, two men of the Hebrews were striving together (Exod. 2:13). Who were these men? They were Dathan and Abiram, who later said: Let us m...
2:16). Was it proper for this righteous man to go to the home of an idolater? After all, since the Holy one, blessed be He, detests idolatry, why did he permit Moses to go to a pla...
And the Lord spoke unto Moses (Exod. 7:19). Scripture says elsewhere in allusion to this verse: Surely oppression turneth a wise man into a fool; and a gift destroyeth the understa...
And the Lord said unto Moses: “stretch out thy hand toward the heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, even darkness which may be felt” (Exod. 10:21). Scripture ...
And Moses stretched forth his hand toward heaven; and there was a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days (Exod. 10:22). Our sages maintained: There were seven days of d...
And the children of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth (Exod. 12:37). The distance from Rameses to Succoth is forty parasangs (approx. 43 miles), yet Moses’ voice could be he...
And it shall be when thy son asketh thee tomorrow: “What is this?” (Exod. 13:14). Sometimes tomorrow means the next day, and sometimes it means the time to come. In the verse When ...
And I will get me honor upon Pharaoh (Exod. 14:4). This verse tells us that whenever the Holy One, blessed be He, exacts retribution from the nations, His name is exalted in the wo...
(Lev. 1:1:) “Then [the Lord] called unto Moses.” This text is related (to Prov. 29:23), “One's pride will bring him low, but the low in spirit will obtain honor.” Whenever anyone p...
"And it was on the day that Moses had finished" (Numbers 7:1). What is written above the matter? "May the Lord bless you and keep you" (Numbers 6:24). Rabbi Yehoshua of Sakhnin sai...
"And it was on the day that Moses had finished" (Numbers 7:1). Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said, "The Holy One, blessed be He, made conditions with Israel before they left Egypt, that ...
(Numb. 20:14:) “Then Moses sent messengers [from Kadesh unto the king of Edom], ‘Thus says your brother Israel….’” This text is related (to Ps. 15:3), “nor takes up a reproach agai...
When you go out to war and you see horse and chariot, a people more numerous than you (Deuteronomy 20:1): This is what is stated in the verse (Proverbs 21:31), "The horse is readie...
And you see horse and chariot (Deuteronomy 20:1): And it is stated (Exodus 15:19), "For when the horse of Pharaoh." And why did it not state, "horses and riders?" Rather [it is] be...
"My son, hide your money during your lifetime and store it, and until the day of your death, do not give it to your heirs." This is the proverb of the letter Tzadi (צ) in the Alpha...
Jewish tradition holds that a handful of people never died. They walked into Gan Eden - the Garden of Eden - while still alive, bypassing death entirely. The Alphabet of Ben Sira, ...
Before Adam named the animals, God brought them before the angels and challenged them to do it first. They could not. Adam named every creature instantly. God turned to the angels ...
After Daniel exposed the fraud of the idol Bel and destroyed his altar, the Babylonian princes demanded a rematch. According to the Chronicles of Jerahmeel, a 12th-century Hebrew c...
Daniel had grown old. He came before the king one last time and asked permission to go home. According to the Chronicles of Jerahmeel, a 12th-century Hebrew chronicle translated by...
The contest before King Darius began with the first prince arguing that nothing on earth is as powerful as a king. According to the Chronicles of Jerahmeel, a 12th-century Hebrew c...
Before science, before telescopes and thermometers, they wove incredible stories to make sense of the sun, the moon, the stars, and the changing seasons. to one such tale, a peek i...
But have you ever wondered about the smooth skin around its nose? Well, according to some beautiful old stories, there's more to that bovine face than meets the eye! The Legends of...
Ancient Jewish texts grapple with that very question, often framing it as divine retribution – a cosmic balancing of the scales. And there's no better place to see this play out th...
The Israelites, after witnessing incredible plagues and finally being released from Pharaoh's grip, found themselves trapped between the sea and the pursuing Egyptian army. Talk ab...
You remember Jethro. Moses' father-in-law? The Midianite priest who recognized the greatness of God even before the Israelites fully grasped it? Well, according to the legends, his...
Like the challenges in front of you are just... too big? Well, imagine being a spy sent into enemy territory, and the enemy is a trio of giants. That's the situation the Israelites...
We all know the story of the twelve spies sent by Moses to scout out the promised land. But did you know there was a real battle of wills between them, a clash that went beyond jus...
The ancient Jewish sages certainly thought so. Take the story of Korah, a name synonymous with rebellion. His very name, they believed, was a clue to his tragic fate. The Torah tel...
There was a goat that carried the sins of an entire nation into the wilderness and was never seen again. Every year on Yom Kippur—the tenth day of the seventh month—the Israelites ...
King Ahab wanted a vineyard. Its owner, Naboth, said no. That refusal ended with Ahab dead in his chariot, his blood licked by dogs exactly where the prophet said it would happen. ...
Josephus ends his twenty-volume history of the Jewish people with a list, a boast, and a confession. The list is of every high priest from Aaron to the destruction of the Temple. T...
Kabbalists have wrestled with that question for centuries. And one of the most profound answers comes down to a single idea: God wants to give. If the ultimate aim of creation, as ...
According to Baal HaSulam, the great 20th-century Kabbalist, it all boils down to a fascinating mix of desires, each pulling us in different directions. Most of us, he explains in ...
It all boils down to one thing: pleasure. Not just any pleasure, mind you, but the ultimate, divine pleasure. According to Baal HaSulam, in his monumental introduction to the Zohar...
Jewish mysticism, especially as illuminated by Baal HaSulam in his introduction to the Zohar, offers a fascinating perspective on this very human experience. It suggests this insat...
It all boils down to this: we're born with a desire to receive. Think of a newborn baby – all they do is receive nourishment, comfort, love. That desire isn't inherently bad, it's ...
You're not alone. And this insatiable desire? It might just be what makes us uniquely human. The great Kabbalist Baal HaSulam, in his introduction to the Zohar (a foundational text...
That feeling, that yearning... it’s deeply connected to the idea of tikkun (spiritual repair) olam, repairing the world. But what if repairing the world also means repairing oursel...
That’s how it feels to approach the Zohar, that mystical cornerstone of Kabbalah. But who actually wrote this ancient text? The answer, surprisingly, isn't as straightforward as yo...
Let me tell you, some of the old Jewish mystical texts go there – and then some. Today, we're diving into a particularly vivid passage from Heikhalot (the heavenly palaces) Rabbati...
That’s where we’re going today, into a fascinating corner of Jewish thought where reverence and caution collide. The text we're looking at is from Mitpachat Sefarim, a work whose t...
It’s a question that's plagued mystics and thinkers for centuries, and one that the ancient text Kalach Pitchei Chokhmah, a Kabbalistic work, attempts to unravel. It all boils down...
It all boils down to connection, to relationship, to the dance between the masculine and feminine principles. And in the Kabbalah, the Jewish mystical tradition, that dance gets re...
In Tikkun (spiritual repair)ei Zohar 76, we find ourselves on a journey to understand something profound using… measurements. Intriguing. The text starts with a seemingly simple ph...
We're diving into Tikkun (spiritual repair)ei Zohar 96, and trust me, it's going to get a little… esoteric. The passage starts with a curious observation. It points to the story of...
In fact, the Tikkun (spiritual repair)ei Zohar, a central text of Kabbalah building upon the Zohar, dives deep into the heart's role, seeing it as far more than just a blood-pumpin...
