2,614 related texts · 5 related myths · Page 4 of 55
The Aramaic Levi Document (ALD) is one of the oldest texts found among the Dead Sea Scrolls, parts of it may date to the 3rd century BCE, making it older than most of the books of ...
Zerubbabel won the riddle contest, but when King Darius offered him any reward up to half the kingdom, he asked for something no treasure could buy. According to the Chronicles of ...
The familiar story is this: the animals, the flood, the rainbow. But what about the after the flood? What was Noah thinking, feeling? Did he get everything. Well, according to some...
Even if you're Abraham, the father of monotheism, it turns out you're not immune. Abraham has just pulled off an incredible victory, rescuing Lot and defeating a coalition of kings...
The story doesn’t just end there. There’s more to the tale, details that paint a richer, more complete picture of this pivotal moment in Jewish history. In Legends of the Jews, Isa...
God wouldn’t have redeemed Israel, wouldn’t have pulled them out of Egypt, if they hadn’t turned away from idol worship. That's powerful. The key? The paschal lamb itself. God comm...
The Passover sacrifice is a perfect example. It wasn't just about offering an animal; it was a multi-layered lesson, a story told through action, meant to resonate with both the pa...
The people of Israel are ready to begin their worship. Aaron, brother of Moses, is chosen to be the first High Priest. This is his moment! He should be filled with pride and joy. B...
Hazael, king of Syria, tore through the eastern territories of Israel like a brushfire. The lands of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh fell. Gilead and Bashan burned. And...
Heikhalot (the heavenly palaces) Rabbati, a mystical text describing heavenly ascents and visions, gives us a glimpse into that pivotal moment. It wasn't just about laying stones a...
Jewish mysticism offers some fascinating, and sometimes startling, perspectives on this very struggle. The passage begins with a seemingly odd statement: offerings are always slaug...
The prophet Micah painted one of the most beloved images in all of Jewish prophecy: "And each man will sit under his grapevine and under his fig tree, and none shall make them afra...
One such place, according to our stories, revolves around an altar.. a very special altar. The Torah tells us that Abraham arrived at the place God had shown him and built an altar...
Our tradition has a lot to say about that, especially when it comes to prayer and redemption. to a powerful passage from Midrash Tehillim, a collection of rabbinic teachings on the...
Sifrei Bamidbar turns to The Sabbath Burnt-Offering Prepared on Friday Evening. The verse states, "the burnt-offering of the Sabbath on its Sabbath." Simple enough. But as always, ...
Sometimes, a closer look, a deeper dive into the commentaries, can reveal nuances we might otherwise miss. Specifically, What's so special about this verse? Well, it lists various ...
What Happens to Redeemed Temple Offerings is the question behind this passage from Sifrei Devarim. The passage It tackles a question about these redeemed offerings and whether the ...
Sifrei Devarim turns to Rules for Holy of Holies and Lesser Offerings. In section 71, we encounter a fascinating discussion about the rules surrounding offerings brought to the Tem...
Sifrei Devarim turns to Where You Ate the Offering Actually Matters. The text asks a fascinating question: What exactly is Scripture trying to tell us here? Is it simply reiteratin...
The Sifrei Devarim (literally "Books of Deuteronomy," a collection of early rabbinic legal interpretations), in section 77, explores the specifics of responsibility for consecrated...
Jewish law sometimes deals with similar dilemmas, where doing one good thing might unintentionally lead to a less-than-ideal outcome. the Pesach (Passover) offering, that central e...
Sometimes, buried in the details of ritual and law, are surprisingly relevant insights into justice and fairness. Let's take a little journey into the Sifrei Devarim, a collection ...
It's woven into so much of Jewish tradition, the source turns to one small but significant thread: the bikkurim. What are bikkurim? The word itself means "first fruits" in Hebrew. ...
Buried in Leviticus 22's rules about blemished offerings, the Targum Jonathan inserts one of the most beautiful passages in all of Targumic literature, a theology of sacrifice root...
An heathen heard of the honour paid to the high priest and he wished to become a Jew. Shammai refused him saying that it was ridiculous for him to pretend to become high priest. Hi...
The Assembly of Israel in exile cries out: "See, O Lord, the distress I am in! My heart is in anguish; outside the sword deals death; inside, the plague" (Lamentations 1:20). There...
For seven days before Yom Kippur, the high priest lived as if rehearsing for a wedding he could not afford to fumble. Oxen, rams, and lambs were paraded past him one by one so that...
Her name was Tzafnat, daughter of Peniel, and her father had been high priest of Israel. She had grown up in the holiest household in the land, with the aroma of incense in her clo...
Rabbi Yehoshua, the son of Korcha, heard the story from an old man of Jerusalem who had lived through the Babylonian destruction. In the valley below the city, Nebuzaradan, captain...
There is a moment in Chullin 90b where Rava calls out his fellow rabbi for exaggeration. The Mishnah had just described the heap of ashes that accumulated on the Temple altar, some...
When God commanded Aaron and his sons to kindle the lamps of the menorah in the Tabernacle, Aaron worried. The tribal princes were bringing their own magnificent dedication offerin...
The Targum Pseudo-Jonathan preserves one of the strangest laws in the Torah. "If thou wilt make an altar of stones unto My Name, thou shalt not build them sculptured; for if thou l...
Of all the ordination rites, this one is the strangest. Moses slaughtered the second ram, and the Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on (Exodus 29:20) tells us exactly what he did with the blo...
Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on (Exodus 40:6) gives the outer altar a location and a purpose that the plain Hebrew leaves unspoken. Place it before the door of the tabernacle of ordinanc...
The story of Cain and Abel, right at the beginning of Genesis, gives us a clue, but also raises some fascinating questions about sacrifice itself. "Cain brought an offering of the ...
It wasn't just a knee-jerk reaction of gratitude. According to Bereshit Rabbah, the ancient midrashic (rabbinic interpretive commentary) (interpretive) text on Genesis, there was s...
The familiar story is this: God commands Abraham to sacrifice his beloved son, Isaac. Abraham, with unwavering faith, prepares to fulfill this divine decree. "They came to the plac...
Jewish tradition is just teeming with those kinds of moments. Take Jacob, for instance, as he's about to head down to Egypt to reunite with his son Joseph. The Torah tells us, "Isr...
It centers around the verse: "He slaughtered feast-offerings to the God of his father Isaac" (Genesis 46:1). Why Isaac? Why not Abraham, the patriarch of them all? Rabbi Yehoshua b...
It centers on the verse: "And the fire of the altar shall be kept burning in it" (Leviticus 6:2). Now, Rabbi Pinchas makes a subtle but profound observation. He points out that the...
A visitor from Athens arrived in Jerusalem with a trick question, certain he could stump the local priests. According to Eikhah Rabbah, a midrashic (rabbinic interpretive commentar...
“The Lord forsook His altar, cursed His Temple; He gave into the hand of the enemy the walls of its palaces. They raised their voice in the House of the Lord, like a day of festiva...
Another interpretation (of Lev. 7:11), “This is the law of the sacrifice for peace offerings.” This text is related (to Ps. 85:9), “Let me hear what God, the Lord, will speak; for ...
The Book of Jubilees, a text not found in the Hebrew Bible but considered sacred by some, gives us a peek behind the curtain, fleshing out stories we think we know. And one of thos...
The Torah lists the patriarchs in a specific order: Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. In (Exodus 3:6), God introduces Himself to Moses at the burning bush as "the God of your father, the ...
The Torah specifies that the Passover offering must come "from the lambs and from the goats" (Exodus 12:5). Does this mean both species are required together, or can either one suf...
The Mekhilta, the tannaitic midrash on Exodus, explores a striking rhetorical pattern found throughout the Hebrew Bible: moments where a prophet says God "has spoken," and the rabb...
Variantly: "awesome in praise": The measure of flesh and blood. A man's awe is more upon those who are distant from him than upon those who are near him. Not so, the Holy One Bless...
