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(Numb. 34:1–2:) “Then the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying, ‘Command the Children of Israel [and say unto them], “When you come into the Land of Canaan, [this is the land]....”’” [“Th...
At that time, the Lord said to me, "Carve out two tablets of stone like the first ones" (Deuteronomy 10:1): This is what the verse stated (Jeremiah 2:20), "For long ago you broke y...
Appoint for yourselves [in all of your gates] (Deuteronomy 16:18) You should appoint judges in all the gates; as courts convene twice a week in the cities, on Monday and on Thursda...
You who are present today, all of you: You are the existence of this world and the world to come. When the Holy One, blessed be He, will come to give a goodly reward to the righteo...
We often think of him in the Garden of Eden, or perhaps being expelled from it. But Jewish tradition holds some truly fascinating ideas about his ultimate fate. One such idea, foun...
One such story, preserved in Vita Adae et Evae (The Life of Adam and Eve), tells of a remarkable vision. It's a bit obscure, not as well-known as other heavenly journeys like Enoch...
We often picture Moses on Mount Sinai, receiving the divine word directly from God. Forty days and forty nights of dictation. But what if I told you there's another story, a fascin...
Jewish tradition offers some powerful and moving images of what happens to the souls of the righteous after death. And some of these images paint a picture of them continuing to fi...
It involves fallen angels, forbidden knowledge, and a whole lot of trouble. This isn't just a story of two rogue angels, Shemhazai and Azazel. According to some accounts, like the ...
Jewish tradition has some pretty ideas about it. One vision, described in Tree of Souls, paints a picture so vivid, so intense, it’s hard to ignore. Imagine this: in the very gener...
That's the scene set for us right at the beginning of Jubilees. God commands Moses, "Write down for thyself all these words which I declare unto thee on this mountain, the first an...
He's in despair, naturally. Meanwhile, in a faraway land, Sarah, daughter of Reuel, is suffering her own torment. She’s been married seven times, but each husband has been killed b...
Our heroes, Tobiyyah and the angel Raphael (disguised as a human, of course), are on a journey. They arrive at Agbatauis (Ecbatana), and Raphael drops a bombshell. "My brother," he...
Remember Tobiyyah (sometimes called Tobias), our hero? He's on this epic journey to retrieve some money for his blind father, Tobit. And he's got the angel Raphael disguised as a h...
to a little story from the Book of Tobit that might just offer a glimpse. Our hero, Tobiyyah, has just married Sarah, a woman who, shall we say, had a complicated dating history. S...
There are entire books dedicated to filling in those gaps, offering tantalizing glimpses into the lives of our ancestors. One such book is the Book of Jasher, a work referenced in ...
The Book of Jasher, an ancient Hebrew text referenced in the Bible itself (Joshua 10:13 and (2 Samuel 1:1)8), fills in some of those gaps. It's like a behind-the-scenes look at the...
In the 130th year after the Israelites went down to Egypt, Pharaoh had a dream. Sitting on his throne, he saw an old man holding a merchant's balance scale. The old man gathered up...
When Amram separated from his wife after Pharaoh's decree to drown all Hebrew boys, it was his young daughter Miriam who brought them back together. The Spirit of God came upon the...
After Joshua died, Israel had no leader. The people asked God who should fight the Canaanites, and God told them to cast lots. The lot fell on Kenaz, from the tribe of Caleb, who b...
Three men approach death. Each begs their family for something to bring to the next world. According to the Chronicles of Jerahmeel, a 12th-century Hebrew chronicle compiled by Jer...
On the night King Ahasuerus could not sleep, something far stranger was happening in heaven. According to the Chronicles of Jerahmeel, a 12th-century Hebrew chronicle preserved by ...
According to tradition, on the second day, God brought forth four distinct creations: the firmament (rakia in Hebrew), hell, fire, and the angels. Now, the firmament isn't just the...
Before the third day, the earth was a watery expanse. Then, God commanded, "Let the waters be gathered together," and suddenly, mountains and hills burst forth, creating basins for...
It all starts, according to some traditions, with a clash of egos, a refusal to bow, and a trial of wit gone wrong. The Legends of the Jews, as retold by Ginzberg, gives us a fasci...
We often focus on the eating of the fruit itself, but the consequences, as described in Jewish tradition, are pretty fascinating, and, frankly, a little terrifying. According to Gi...
It wasn’t just carpentry; it was cosmic-level engineering! Turns out, according to some fascinating legends, he had a little help… in the form of a very special book. This wasn’t j...
The stories are… well, let's just say they’re anything but ordinary. According to Legends of the Jews, as retold by Louis Ginzberg, Abraham's birth was shrouded in secrecy, hidden ...
According to Ginzberg's retelling in Legends of the Jews, Abraham didn't just decide one day to challenge the status quo. No, he was commanded by God, through the angel Gabriel, to...
The story goes that Nimrod, a powerful and wicked king, grew furious with Abraham (who was, of course, not called Abraham yet at this point in the narrative—but we'll call him that...
According to Legends of the Jews, as retold by Ginzberg, the angels who were sent to destroy these cities didn't rush in with fiery vengeance. No, these were angels of mercy. They ...
According to Ginzberg's retelling in Legends of the Jews, Abraham wasn't one to linger where things got… unpleasant. With Sodom a smoldering memory, and whispers about Lot's daught...
According to Ginzberg's retelling in Legends of the Jews, the story starts with a prayer. Abraham had prayed for Abimelech, the king of the Philistines, and when Abimelech recovere...
The story begins with Abraham, who, concerned about finding the right wife for his son Isaac, sends his trusted servant Eliezer on a mission to Haran. Eliezer is laden with gifts a...
Jewish tradition, particularly the aggadah – the storytelling tradition – doesn't shy away from these questions. to a fascinating tale from Legends of the Jews (Ginzberg), about Ab...
According to Legends of the Jews, that's precisely what happened to Abraham. The story goes that the archangel Michael, under divine command, took Abraham on a whirlwind tour high ...
The Bible is full of them, but sometimes the stories between the lines are even more fascinating. to the tale of Jacob and his father-in-law, Laban, a story ripe with tension, accu...
It’s a theme that runs deep in Jewish tradition, especially when it comes to our most righteous figures. According to Legends of the Jews, even Jacob, after years of hardship, thou...
That's the story of Joseph, whose relationship with his brothers is one of the most dramatic and heartbreaking in the Torah. It all started with Joseph's "talebearing," as Ginzberg...
After the whole Joseph-selling fiasco, Jacob is understandably devastated. And who do the brothers blame? Judah, of course! They basically tell him, "This is ALL your fault!" Accor...
We all know the story of Joseph and his brothers. Sold into slavery in Egypt, he rises to prominence, eventually saving his family from famine. But let's rewind and look at the ver...
Remember Joseph, the dreamer? He's now in Egypt, and things are about to get really interesting. But not without some resistance. According to Ginzberg's retelling in Legends of th...
His brothers, the very ones who sold him into slavery years ago, bow before him, desperate for grain. They don't recognize the beardless youth they betrayed in this imposing figure...
That's the situation Joseph finds himself in as the story in Genesis reaches its climax. We've seen Joseph rise to power in Egypt, second only to Pharaoh himself. We've seen his br...
The story of Joseph in Egypt, as retold in Legends of the Jews by Ginzberg, offers us a powerful lesson in these very qualities. After years of hardship, Jacob and his family final...
The Legends of the Jews, Louis Ginzberg's masterful compilation of rabbinic lore, gives us a fascinating glimpse into the deathbed confession of Dan, one of Jacob’s sons. It's a ra...
Pharaoh has decreed that all Hebrew baby boys must be killed. What's a mother to do? As Legends of the Jews (Ginzberg) tells us, she takes matters into her own hands. She builds an...
To his right sits his queen, Alfar’anit. And to his left? His daughter, Bithiah, with a three-year-old Moses on her lap. Now, this isn’t just any toddler. In a moment of pure, unfi...
