4,614 related texts · Page 38 of 97
The completion of all the Tabernacle's furnishings and garments in (Exodus 39:1-43) should feel repetitive. The craftsmen were building exactly what God commanded. But the Targum J...
The Hebrew Bible says the Israelites camped by their tribal standards (Numbers 2:2). It never describes what was on them. The Targum Jonathan fills that silence with a riot of colo...
Two words haunted ancient Israel: shedim (demons) and se'irim. The Israelites were forbidden from sacrificing to either. They sacrificed anyway. The se'irim were the hairy ones, sa...
In the ancient world, and even described in the Torah, there was a system in place to offer refuge. We're talking about the cities of refuge, places of sanctuary for those who unin...
It's like the whole thing is one giant, intricate tapestry. Take the creation of light, for example. The very first "Let there be light!" in Genesis. Rabbi Simon, in Bereshit Rabba...
The Torah gives us a tiny peek in the story of Jacob wrestling with the angel. Remember that dramatic scene in (Genesis 32:27)? "He said: Release me, as dawn has broken. He said: I...
But it's also so much more. It’s a roadmap, a history book, a mystical text. And it's all wrapped up together, often needing a little… unpacking. That's where commentaries like Ber...
The ancient rabbis certainly did. They wrestled with the complexities of Jewish law and tradition, seeking not just to follow the rules, but to truly understand them. And in the pr...
Sometimes, the answer isn’t just in swords and shields. Sometimes, it's in something far more powerful: wisdom. Our story comes from Kohelet Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interp...
That feeling is surprisingly ancient. The Rabbis of the Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary) knew it well, wrestling with how to maintain Jewish identity in a world of compet...
The ancient sages grappled with this too, particularly when thinking about the relationship between God, the patriarchs, and the land of Israel.Here, Rabbi Yehoshua of Sikhnin, quo...
And it came to pass in the days of Amraphel (Gen. 14:1). May it please our master to teach us whether a slave obtains his freedom if his owner assigns all his property to him as a ...
And God remembered Rachel (Gen. 30:22). May it please our master to teach us the blessing that is recited upon observing a handsome person? Thus do our masters teach us: Upon obser...
Benjamin is a wolf that raveneth (Gen. 49:27). Scripture states elsewhere: For the Lord will do nothing, but He revealeth His counsel unto His servants the prophets (Amos 3:7). At ...
Another comment upon the verse And the Lord said to Aaron: “Go into the wilderness to meet Moses” (Exod. 4:27). Scripture says elsewhere in reference to this verse: O that thou wer...
And they said: “The God of the Hebrews hath met with us” (Exod. 5:3). Moses and Aaron declared: Perhaps You will say we altered Your words when we told him: “Thus said the Lord, th...
This is the thing that thou shalt do unto them (Exod. 29:11). Scripture says elsewhere in allusion to this verse: The wise shall inherit honor; but as for the fools, they carry awa...
And they brought the tabernacle unto Moses (Exod. 39:32). It is written elsewhere in reference to the verse: He withdraweth not His eyes from the righteous; but with kings upon the...
(Numb. 1:1:) “Then the Lord spoke unto Moses.” Fortunate are you, Moses!25Numb. R. 1:6; cf. Lev. R. 1:1. Six hundred thousand were present with the priests, the Levites, and the el...
(Numb. 25:1:) “While Israel was staying at Shittim, [the people began to go whoring].” Let our master instruct us: By virtue of how many things was Israel redeemed from Egypt?85Num...
(Numb. 25:16-17:) “Then the Lord spoke [unto Moses], saying, ‘Harass the Midianites […].’” Why?5Numb. R. 21:4. (Numb. 25:18:) “Because they are harassing you.” Hence the sages have...
(Numbers 35:11:) “You shall provide yourselves with places to serve you as cities of refuge.” And it is written (in (Numbers 35:13-1)4), “six cities of refuge shall there be for yo...
(Deut. 25:18, cont.:) And he cut off (rt.: znb) all who were lagging behind you. He smote them with a blow to the tail (rt.: znb).51The word can also denote the penis. See PR 7:3; ...
(Deut. 27:9:) “Then Moses and the Levitical priests spoke to all Israel, saying, ‘Pay attention and listen.’” What is the meaning of pay attention (hasket) and listen? Be silent (h...
Rabbi Nachman of Breslov taught that the Torah is not just a text to study. It is a key that unlocks every prayer and opens every closed door. When a person engages deeply with Tor...
A person trapped on a low spiritual level might assume that deep Torah understanding is beyond their reach. Rabbi Nachman of Breslov says the opposite is true: the pathway from the...
Why travel to see a tzaddik (a righteous person) in person when you can read their teachings in a book? Rabbi Nachman of Breslov answered this question directly: there is an immeas...
The Torah lists three things a husband must provide for his wife: "she'eirah, kesuthah, and onathah" (Exodus 21:10). These three Hebrew terms are cryptic, and the Mekhilta preserve...
The Roman emperor challenged Rabban Gamliel with a direct theological question: if your God is everywhere, why can He not be seen? According to Sanhedrin 39b, the conversation expo...
The people of Judea were precise with their language. The people of Galilee were not. According to Eruvin 53a, this difference was not a minor cultural quirk—it had real consequenc...
A small city, few people, a great king who comes and builds fortifications — (Ecclesiastes 9:14) describes something small being threatened by something enormous. The rabbis identi...
It pulls no punches in its call for humility and divine justice. Ben Sira, a sage writing in Hebrew around 200 BCE, gives us these powerful words: "Make an end of the head of the p...
The Book of Ben Sira, a treasure trove of wisdom literature, gives us a glimpse into this very idea, specifically through the lens of the priesthood. It speaks of one called to "mi...
We tend to think of "nature" as this impersonal force, but Jewish tradition often sees things differently. It paints a picture of a vast, intricate cosmic bureaucracy, teeming with...
Think of it as a really old "director's cut" of the Bible. Specifically, we're looking at Jubilees 6. The passage is talking about a particular festival. What festival? Well, that’...
For a home, for a future, for a connection to something bigger than himself. And then he arrives at Shechem. The Book of Jubilees, a fascinating text that expands on the stories we...
We all know Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca, Jacob and Esau. But there's so much more to these stories! The Book of Jubilees, for those unfamiliar, is an ancient Jewish text t...
That feeling, that connection, is at the very heart of the Book of Jubilees, a text brimming with blessings, covenants, and the destiny of a people. Specifically, we're going to lo...
The Book of Jubilees, an ancient Jewish text, speaks to this feeling with a stark warning. It paints a picture of a future where people have drifted far from their spiritual and et...
We throw them around pretty casually these days, don't we? "Bless you" after a sneeze. "Have a blessed day." But what if a blessing held real, tangible power? What if it could shap...
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...
We find ourselves in the thick of it, with Jacob still working for his wily father-in-law, Laban. Leah, already the mother of many, conceives again. And the Book of Jubilees, ever ...
The ancient text of the Book of Jubilees, a fascinating work expanding on the narratives of Genesis, gives us a poignant example. We find ourselves in the midst of the story of Jac...
The Book of Jubilees, a text considered canonical by some but excluded from the Hebrew Bible, gives us a glimpse into just such a time of profound loss for Jacob. It's a raw, emoti...
Today, let's peek into the final days of Rebecca, wife of Isaac and mother of Jacob and Esau, as described in the Book of Jubilees. This fascinating text, considered apocryphal (me...
The scene opens with a sense of completion. Isaac, the son of Abraham and father of Jacob and Esau, has just finished giving his final instructions and blessings to his sons. Imagi...
Let’s talk about Leah. We often hear about Rachel, Jacob's great love. But what about her sister, Leah? The Book of Jubilees, an ancient Jewish text that retells and expands upon t...
In case you're not familiar, the Book of Jubilees is an ancient Jewish text that retells the stories of Genesis from a slightly different angle, adding details and interpretations ...
