2,285 related texts · Page 11 of 48
(Lev. 17:3:) “If any single person from the House of Israel.” This text is related (to Ps. 51:20–21), “Make Zion prosper in Your good pleasure; rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. Then...
Midrash on the death of Aaron "I lost the three shepherds in one month" (Zecharia 11:8); and thus, in one month, Aaron, Miriam, and Moses died. Miriam died on the 1st of the month ...
The Feast of the Garden of Eden [in Seder Rav Amram Gaon 13b, and Beit haMidrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary) vol. 5, 45] In the future to come, the Holy Blessed One will rev...
“Remember my affliction and my anguish, wormwood and gall” (Lamentations 3:19).“Remember my affliction and my anguish [umrudi]” – the congregation of Israel says before the Holy On...
“The tongue of the suckling sticks to its palate from thirst; infants request bread, and no one breaks it with them” (Lamentations 4:4).“The tongue of the suckling sticks.” Rabbi A...
“The king said to Haman: Hurry, take the garments and the horse; as you have said, do so to Mordekhai the Jew who sits at the king’s gate. Do not omit anything that you spoke of. H...
We get a glimpse of Job's ultimate fate, and it’s quite a ride. It's a tale of forgiveness, restoration, and a little bit of divine fashion. As Job continues to proclaim his innoce...
That’s what happened to Isaac. We all know the story: Abraham, tested to his limits, is commanded to sacrifice his beloved son. It’s a gut-wrenching tale of faith, obedience, and u...
The Tikkun (spiritual repair)ei Zohar, a later expansion on the core mystical text of the Zohar, dives into this very idea. It explores the power of prayer, especially when coupled...
It seems so constant, so familiar. But Jewish tradition, specifically in Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer, a fascinating collection of stories and interpretations, offers a surprising, even ...
SIMON THE JUST WAS ONE OF THE LAST SURVIVORS OF THE GREAT ASSEMBLY. HE USED TO SAY: UPON THREE THINGS THE WORLD IS BASED: UPON THE TORAH, UPON THE TEMPLE SERVICE, AND UPON THE PRAC...
The Targum's version of (Numbers 28) transforms a dry sacrificial calendar into a theology of continuous atonement. Where the Torah simply lists the daily offerings, the Targum exp...
The first-fruits ceremony in (Deuteronomy 26) is beautiful in the Torah. Targum Jonathan makes it lavish. Where the Hebrew says simply to bring produce in a basket, the Targum adds...
Rabbi Yehoshua of Sikhnin said in the name of Rabbi Levi: Great is peace for all blessings are sealed with peace: The reading of the Shema—"spreads the shelter of peace." The [stan...
The name of a supernatural being mentioned in connection with the ritual of the Day of Atonement (Lev. xvi.). After Satan, for whom he was in some degree a preparation, Azazel enjo...
We're looking at (Genesis 22:6), that agonizing verse leading up to the Akeidah, the Binding of Isaac. "Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and placed it upon Isaac his son...
We know the story: God commands Abraham to sacrifice his beloved son. But what about the whispers, the doubts, the anxieties that surely must have plagued them both? The Book of Ge...
The book of Leviticus, specifically chapter 2, opens with the laws of the minchah, the meal offering. "When a person presents a meal offering to the Lord, his offering shall be of ...
Our text from Vayikra Rabbah 5, a midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary)ic collection expounding on the Book of Leviticus, grapples with just that question. It starts with a se...
to a fascinating passage from Vayikra Rabbah, specifically section eight, that shines a light on this very idea. The passage begins with a seemingly simple phrase: "On the day he i...
Vayikra Rabbah, a fascinating collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Book of Leviticus (Vayikra in Hebrew), tackles just that. Specifically, Vayikra Rabbah 9 explores a vers...
Take the story of Aaron’s sons, Nadav and Avihu. Their sudden, tragic deaths after offering "alien fire" before the Lord (Leviticus 10:1-2) is one of the most jarring moments in th...
Our ancestors felt it too. to a fascinating little piece from Vayikra Rabbah, a Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary)ic collection that unpacks the book of Leviticus. This par...
All of those seven days that Moshe was occupied with the tabernacle, he was sprinkling the blood and incinerating the fats. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, "What do you t...
(Numb. 7:1), “So it came to pass on the day that Moses had finished.” This text is related (to Ps. 51:20–21), “Make Zion prosper in Your good pleasure; rebuild the walls of Jerusal...
It’s a theme woven deep into our sacred texts. And one place where this connection is powerfully articulated is in the Book of Jubilees. Jubilees, a text not included in the canoni...
The Book of Jubilees gives us glimpses into just such moments. In chapter 22, we find Isaac sending a thank-offering to his father, Abraham, via Jacob. A "best thank-offering," no ...
Sibling rivalry at its absolute worst. Well, the Book of Jubilees gives us a glimpse into the immediate aftermath, offering a comforting, if brief, look at Jacob's state of mind, a...
The Book of Jubilees, an ancient Jewish text not included in the Hebrew Bible but considered scripture by some, certainly thinks so. It gives us a slightly different spin on famili...
We often hear the big stories, the grand narratives of faith and destiny. But what about the moments in between? The hidden struggles, the family dramas that shaped those monumenta...
That's the story of Jacob and his son Joseph, as retold in the Book of Jubilees, a text considered canonical by some, like the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, but not included in the st...
Today, let’s pull one of those stories out into the light. It’s a dramatic, violent, and frankly, surprising tale found not in the Torah itself, but in a fascinating apocryphal boo...
The Book of Jubilees, a text not included in the standard Hebrew Bible but considered sacred by some, offers just that kind of fascinating glimpse. Today, let's pull up a chair and...
Let’s set the stage. We're in the ancient world, amidst powerful kings and shifting empires. The passage in question drops us right into the aftermath of a royal assassination. Acc...
The kind of betrayal that shakes your faith in humanity. That's the kind of situation we find ourselves in with a particular passage from the Book of Maccabees I. We're in the thic...
When Enoch had spoken his final words, something extraordinary happened. People from far and near — two thousand of them — heard that the Lord was calling Enoch home, and they came...
Levi, third son of Jacob and Leah, called his sons together when he knew his death was near. It had been revealed to him that he would die. When they gathered, he told them everyth...
According to Legends of the Jews, Terah, Abraham's father, was an idol merchant. Imagine that! When young Abraham questioned him about the true God, the one who created everything,...
After years of estrangement, Jacob, returning to his homeland, prepares for his reunion with his brother Esau. He sends messengers ahead, laden with gifts, hoping to appease Esau's...
The only clue? A tattered, blood-stained coat. It's a scene ripped straight from the biblical story of Joseph, and the heartbreaking moment Jacob, his father, is presented with wha...
We know the dramatic scene: the tears, the shock, the overwhelming relief. But what about the details, the lingering questions? According to the Legends of the Jews, Joseph wasn't ...
Levi, son of Jacob and father of the Levites, did. And it all started with a dream. Two days after a particularly vivid dream, Levi and his brother Judah went to their grandfather,...
It's not just about suffering, is it? It's about a clash of wills, a battle of divine power, and ultimately, liberation. But have you ever stopped to consider the why behind how th...
It's not just about freedom from slavery; it's about the cosmic battle between belief and denial, played out through plagues and miracles. to the second plague, the plague of the f...
He's hired by Balak, a Moabite king, to curse the Israelites. Balak is terrified of them, seeing them as a threat. Balaam, knowing he can't really curse them if God doesn't allow i...
How a blessing can lift up, and a curse… well, you know. It's a question that dances at the heart of the story of Balaam, a figure who appears in the Torah, a non-Israelite prophet...
The Talmudic Sages certainly did, and they taught some beautiful stories that explore this idea. One of the most moving involves our matriarch, RACHEL. Imagine the scene: Jacob, tr...
The ancient texts are filled with such accounts, stories that chill us to the bone and make us question the very nature of humanity. And when it comes to treachery, one group stand...
