633 related texts · 4 related myths · Page 2 of 14
The Book of Jubilees, also known as Lesser Genesis, is an ancient Jewish religious work of 50 chapters, considered canonical by the Ethiopian Orthodox Church as well as Ethiopian J...
Book of Jubilees turns to Jubilees Takes Sabbath Violations Deadly Seriously. This ancient text, considered scripture by some but not included in the standard Hebrew Bible, expands...
Book of Jubilees turns to Whoever Profanes the Sabbath Shall Surely Die. The Book of Jubilees isn't actually part of the Hebrew Bible as we know it, but it’s a fascinating text. It...
The Letter of Aristeas, a fascinating text that purports to describe the creation of the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible), gives us a glimpse into this questi...
The dead do not simply lie still. According to the Chronicles of Jerahmeel, a 12th-century Hebrew chronicle translated by Moses Gaster in 1899, the righteous dead have a vast habit...
The Bible itself gives us some clues, but the full picture? It's painted in vibrant detail in the Legends of the Jews, Louis Ginzberg's masterful compilation of rabbinic lore. The ...
It wasn’t just about being chosen; it was about who he was. In Legends of the Jews, that all the blessings showered upon him weren't undeserved. He was “clean of hand, and pure of ...
You're in good company. Even Moses, the great lawgiver, felt that way. God Himself tells Moses, "Go, deliver Israel!" And what's Moses's response? "Who am I?" He essentially says, ...
It's a story of atonement, of divine presence, and of a relationship between God and the Jewish people that’s been unfolding for millennia. Think back to the Day of Atonement. Imag...
A experience. God unveils before him the very blueprints for the Mishkan, the Tabernacle – that portable sanctuary that would house the Divine Presence during the Israelites' wande...
It wasn’t just a tent, was it? According to ancient wisdom, it was a reflection of something much, much bigger. The idea is this: "for to all that is above there is something corre...
Think about the Tabernacle, and later the Temple in Jerusalem. Gold, silver, brass… these were the materials of choice. But iron? Conspicuously absent. According to rabbinic tradit...
After all the materials were gathered, ready for this incredible, portable sanctuary to be built, Bezalel didn't just get to work; he dove in, soul first. And that's what the Torah...
Seems like a pretty sacred task. Well, not everyone saw it that way. Ginzberg, in his monumental work, Legends of the Jews, tells us that even as Moses was leading this incredible ...
It wasn't just about hammering tent pegs and hanging curtains. There was a whole ritual, a consecration, full of wonder and divine intervention. One of the most fascinating aspects...
See, before the Mishkan was built, the world was apparently crawling with demons. Ginzberg, in Legends of the Jews, recounts how these spirits had free rein, wandering wherever the...
For Elisheba, the joy is amplified fivefold! As Ginzberg recounts in Legends of the Jews, luck seems to be showering blessings specifically on her. Her husband, Aaron, is the High ...
When we look at the story of Joseph, the biblical hero, we find a fascinating answer. Joseph, sold into slavery in Egypt, faces temptation at every turn. But he remains steadfastly...
The tribal offerings at the Tabernacle look repetitive until Ginzberg lets them carry the whole history of the world. These weren't just offerings. According to the Legends of the ...
It plays out in a beautiful way in the story of Moses. In Ginzberg’s retelling in, Legends of the Jews, Moses, ever humble, believed his work was done once the Mishkan, the Taberna...
It wasn't just a party. It was so much more. The Mishkan, or Tabernacle, was the portable sanctuary the Israelites carried through the desert after the Exodus. A physical represent...
What's striking is this: the number of fighting men was exactly the same as the second census, which happened in the very same year! Now, according to Legends of the Jews, as retol...
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...
Legends of the Jews turns to Zebul Succeeds Kenaz and Rebuilds the Tabernacle. Enter Zebul. He’s appointed as Kenaz’s successor. But Zebul isn't just interested in filling a vacanc...
One fascinating place to explore this is in the Kalach Pitchei Chokhmah, a Kabbalistic text whose name means "48 Doors of Wisdom." It speaks of a "new heavens and a new land," echo...
Sometimes, it’s about finding those meanings in the most unexpected places. like in the dimensions of the Tabernacle! The Tabernacle, or Mishkan, as it’s known in Hebrew, was the p...
Jewish tradition recognizes this feeling, and even offers a powerful response: the idea of spreading a tabernacle of peace. Where does this idea come from? It appears in a seemingl...
Tikkunei Zohar turns to The Sabbath Invitation to Cultivate Marital Peace. In Tikkunei (spiritual repair) Zohar, a central work of Kabbalah, it's a chance to actively cultivate pea...
Parashat Pekudei opens with an accounting of the Tabernacle's materials (Exodus 38:21), but the Kedushat Levi (Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev) sees something far deeper than a l...
"And you shall plate it with pure gold" (Exodus 25:11). The Talmud (Sukkah 45b) reads the verse about the Tabernacle's acacia wood, "standing up" (Exodus 26:15), to mean that the w...
Happy is the Jew, the Kabbalists say, who can prepare for Shabbat a complete set of garments that he wears only then. A coat, a belt, a pair of shoes, a hat, all different from the...
The mystics of Kabbalah did not just rule on large questions of Sabbath law, they drew a whole day of living around the smallest gestures. Here is a sample. Geese, fowl, cats, dogs...
When Shabbat ends and three stars appear in the sky, Jewish custom has always lingered a little longer over the Sabbath queen's departure. One of the oldest customs is to sing hymn...
"And you shall guard this day": What is the intent of this? Is it not already written (16) "all labor shall not be done in them"? This tells me only of labor per se. Whence do I de...
Absalom, the handsome prince who rebelled against his own father King David, was famous throughout Israel for one thing above all else: his magnificent hair. The Mekhilta preserves...
"each day's ration in its day": for the day and the morrow, e.g., on Friday, for Friday and Sabbath. R. Eliezer Hamodai says: So that one not gather for the day and the morrow, e.g...
(Ibid. 20:8) "Remember the Sabbath day to sanctify it": "Remember" and "Keep" (the Sabbath day to sanctify it [Devarim 5:12]) were both stated in one pronouncement. (Exodus 31:14) ...
It is written "Remember the Sabbath day to sanctify it," and, opposite it, "You shall not testify (falsely)," whereby Scripture apprises us that one who desecrates the Sabbath ther...
The Torah says, "Six days shall you do your work" (Exodus 23:12), a commandment to labor for six days and rest on the seventh, the Shabbat (the Sabbath). But the Mekhilta noticed s...
"That soul shall be cut off from the midst of its people", the Mekhilta asks what this verse adds to "those who profane it shall be put to death," which has already been stated. Bo...
The Torah commands: "And the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath for their generations" (Exodus 31:16). The Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael connects this ve...
(Exodus 35:2) says: "And on the seventh day it shall be holy for you." The Mekhilta explains why this clarification was needed. Israel might have reasoned as follows: the daily off...
It follows a fortiori, viz. If on shemitah, transgression of which is liable to neither kareth (cutting-off) nor judicial death penalty, he rests from shemitah even to shemitah, th...
We pray to God. But…does God pray? And if so, to whom? The mystics have wrestled with these questions for centuries, and the answer, perhaps unsurprisingly, is layered and fascinat...
The idea of greeting the Sabbath Queen, or Shabbat Malkah, has captured the hearts and minds of Jewish mystics and everyday people for centuries. We find this beautiful custom echo...
Our tradition tells a story about Adam, the very first human, that hits on just that feeling. Creation is fresh, the world is brand new, and Adam is experiencing everything for the...
It's one of those customs that's so familiar, so deeply woven into the fabric of Jewish home life, that we might not always stop to ask why. But the reasons, as you might guess, ar...
Talmud Bavli, Bava turns to A Tabernacle For The Righteous. The World to Come, Olam Ha-Ba (the World to Come). It's a place of unimaginable reward for the righteous. But what does ...
