9,687 related texts · Page 20 of 202
We've been looking at how different writers tried to explain the story of the Israelites leaving Egypt. Last time, we dug into Manetho's version, and now we're going to look at Che...
Our guide for this adventure is Flavius Josephus, the first-century Romano-Jewish scholar and historian, and the story comes from his work, Against Apion. This book is essentially ...
He's responding to the claims of a writer named Apion, who seems to have a real bone to pick with the Jews of Alexandria. Apion, you see, is going after the Alexandrian Jews, criti...
That's the situation the Jewish people faced in antiquity, and it's what prompted Flavius Josephus to write his powerful work, Against Apion. You see, back in the day, not everyone...
It's more than just a historical account; it's a defense of the Jewish people and their traditions. Josephus wants to set the record straight about Moses. He argues that when our a...
In his work, Against Apion, he outlines some of the core principles embedded in Jewish law. And they go way beyond the usual "be nice" platitudes. He points out that our legislator...
Flavius Josephus, the first-century Romano-Jewish historian, grappled with this very question in his work, Against Apion. And his answer is surprisingly relevant, even today. Josep...
Josephus, a Jewish historian writing in the 1st century CE, grappled with this very question in his work, Against Apion. He was defending Judaism against its detractors, and one of...
The serpent could talk. That detail, buried in Josephus's retelling of creation in the Antiquities of the Jews (c. 93 CE), changes everything about how the story lands. Before the ...
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...
They even saw it playing out on a cosmic scale. to a passage from the Tikkun (spiritual repair)ei Zohar, specifically Tikkun 47, a section that deals with some pretty heavy stuff: ...
The Tikkun (spiritual repair)ei Zohar, a central text of Kabbalah, dives deep into the unseen forces at play, and sometimes, it gets One passage, in Tikkunei Zohar 84, uses vivid i...
Jewish mysticism, particularly in the Tikkun (spiritual repair)ei Zohar, uses the image of a giant fish to explore just that feeling. The Tikkunei Zohar, a companion volume to the ...
Turns out, it does! And like any good friend, it’s got some warnings mixed in with the… well, potential for celebration. This all comes to light in a fascinating passage from Midra...
Midrash Tehillim, a collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Book of Psalms, opens up a fascinating window into this very question. It uses a beautiful image – the "rose of Sh...
The 15th chapter of Midrash Tehillim, a collection of rabbinic teachings on the Book of Psalms, offers a fascinating exploration of just that. It's not a simple checklist, but a ta...
The text opens with a discussion of "rana," which can be translated as a cry or supplication. But it's not just any cry; it's a cry of righteousness. The Midrash (rabbinic interpre...
The sages of old wrestled with this very idea – the idea of being tested by God. And they found solace and guidance in the stories of our ancestors. Midrash Tehillim, a collection ...
We all do, at some point. And that feeling, that yearning, is captured beautifully in the ancient collection of teachings known as Midrash Tehillim, specifically Midrash Tehillim 3...
Specifically, we're looking at Midrash Tehillim 42. It's a plea, a challenge, almost a demand, directed at God. The speaker in this Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary) begin...
Midrash Tehillim 90 dives deep into this very question, contrasting empty rituals with the power of sincere prayer, particularly through the examples of Moses, David, Jeremiah, and...
Midrash Tehillim, a collection of rabbinic interpretations of the Book of Psalms, uses a vivid analogy to explore exactly that feeling, focusing on the Exodus from Egypt. It hangs ...
Midrash Tehillim, a collection of rabbinic teachings on the Book of Psalms, offers some fascinating perspectives on this very question. The Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentar...
It’s a very human feeling, and it’s something the ancient rabbis wrestled with too. In Midrash Tehillim, a collection of rabbinic interpretations of the Book of Psalms, we find a p...
We all know the story: God, in his awesome power, struck down the firstborn of Egypt as the final, devastating blow to convince Pharaoh to release the Israelites from bondage. But ...
The text opens with a verse from Isaiah (44:26): "[God] confirmeth the word of His servant, and performeth the counsel of His messengers; that saith of Jerusalem: 'She shall be inh...
The Pesikta deRav Kahana, a collection of Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary)ic teachings, offers a fascinating glimpse into that moment. In Pesikta deRav Kahana 12, we find...
The ancient text Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer, a fascinating collection of stories and interpretations, suggests that there just might be. The text draws our attention to the fifth day. ...
The ancient Jewish sages understood that feeling intimately. They saw it reflected in the verses of Psalms, and wove those verses into tales of hope and resilience. It starts with ...
Her story, as told in Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer (chapter 38), takes a turn you might not expect. So, what happened to Asenath before she met Joseph? According to this tradition, Jacob...
That’s definitely not a new phenomenon. to a story from Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer 38, a text filled with midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary)ic interpretations and expansions of...
Sometimes, digging into the details reveals surprising connections and enduring echoes. Take, for example, a seemingly obscure passage in Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer, Chapter 39. It sta...
Jewish tradition has a fascinating way of showing us that sometimes, just sometimes, we need a little divine… addition. Let’s turn to a text called Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer, a wonder...
The text tells us that Rabbi Ishmael reflects on a very specific moment. Ten times, the sons of Jacob addressed Joseph as "thy servant, our father." Ten times they repeated this st...
Chapter 41 gives us a glimpse into a rather… unique sales pitch, shall we say. Rabbi Tarphon recounts a scene where the Holy One, blessed be He, doesn't just give the Torah, but ac...
The Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer, a fascinating and somewhat enigmatic work of aggadic literature, offers a glimpse into that pivotal moment. It paints a picture of the Torah's power, li...
Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer, a fascinating early medieval text, dives deep into this very idea, exploring the profound impact leaders have on their communities. Rabbi Reuben puts it qui...
The Israelites certainly did, wandering in the wilderness after the incredible Exodus from Egypt. And their doubts, as we'll see, had serious consequences. Rabbi Jochanan, son of N...
One that even Moses, the great lawgiver, wrestled with. Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer, in chapter 44, tells a story that illuminates this very struggle. Rabbi Phineas shares a fascinating...
We all know the verse: "And they shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years" (Gen. 15:18). But how does that square with other timelines we find in the Torah?...
Our story comes from Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer, a fascinating text that weaves together biblical narrative, aggadic embellishments, and moral lessons. Today we're looking at Chapter 4...
We often talk about it in broad strokes – centuries of suffering, a nation in bondage. But what if I told you that, according to one tradition, the actual period of intense enslave...
It’s easy to gloss over it, but let's really consider it for a moment. Imagine the scene: millions of people, fleeing for their lives, trapped between an advancing army and a vast,...
The Jewish tradition grapples with these questions constantly, and sometimes the answers are found in the most unexpected places. Today, we're diving into a fascinating passage fro...
It turns out, this struggle is ancient. The Yalkut Shimoni, a compilation of rabbinic interpretations of the Bible, preserves a powerful midrash—an interpretive story—on the verse ...
It’s a theme that echoes throughout Jewish history, a bittersweet dance between redemption and exile. that a bit. The Yalkut Shimoni, a compilation of Midrash (rabbinic interpretiv...
We're in the Book of Numbers, Bamidbar (7:18), where the heads of the tribes are bringing offerings to the Tabernacle. It says, "On the second day, Nethanel ben Tzuar, the chief of...
Our ancestors certainly did. Today we're diving into a fascinating story from Sifrei Bamidbar, a legal commentary on the Book of Numbers, that grapples with just that feeling of ex...
