127 related texts · 9 related myths · Page 2 of 3
Everything has a purpose. And that purpose has a purpose of its own, each one higher than the last. Rabbi Nachman of Breslov uses this insight to explain why you must judge every p...
In his commentary on Parashat Bereshit, Rebbe Elimelech of Lizhensk (the Noam Elimelech) asks a deceptively simple question: why does the Torah begin with the word "beginning"? Ras...
One of my favorite images is this: God carries everything beneath His arms. Not just a gentle embrace, but a sustaining act of holding. According to some mystical traditions, God's...
The parable of the blind man and the lame man in the orchard, told by Antoninus to Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi in Sanhedrin 91b, establishes one of the Talmud's most important doctrines: b...
Before the universe existed, not even parchment existed, no animals had yet been created to provide skins for scrolls. So the Torah was written on the arm of God Himself, in black ...
Rabbi Yochanan made a promise that sounds almost too good to be true: "Whoever blesses over a full cup is granted an inheritance without boundaries." The teaching, preserved in Ein...
Before the sun existed, there was light. This is one of the oldest puzzles in Genesis, God creates light on the first day, but the sun and moon don't appear until the fourth. The r...
Jacob saw that there was grain in Egypt (Genesis 42:1). He saw it. But the midrash immediately pivots to a verse from Proverbs: "The ear that hears and the eye that sees, the Lord ...
"In all their affliction, He was not afflicted" (Isaiah 63:9). The midrash reads this as conditional: if Israel does the will of God in their troubles, then He is afflicted with th...
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 identif...
When Moses blessed the tribe of Asher at the end of his life, he said, "Let him dip his foot in oil" (Deuteronomy 33:24). The rabbis of the Talmud took the blessing literally. Ashe...
The fifth son of Leah is Issachar, and the Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on (Genesis 30:18) gives his name a remarkable explanation. Leah says, The Lord hath given me my reward, for that ...
Some tribes fought. Some farmed. Zebulun sailed. Targum Pseudo-Jonathan takes the brief Hebrew line in (Genesis 49:13) and gives it a maritime vista. "Zebulon shall dwell upon the ...
Book of Jubilees turns to Jacob's Final Years and Burial Instructions. This particular detail? It's all about Jacob, Yaakov, as he’s known in Hebrew, nearing the end of his life. H...
Legends of the Jews (Ginzberg) turns to The Death And Burial Of Sarah. The story begins, surprisingly, amidst the drama of the Akeidah, the Binding of Isaac. According to Ginzberg'...
Legends of the Jews turns to Three Archangels Prepared Adam's Body for Burial. The story goes that, after Adam's death, God commanded three of the greatest archangels to prepare hi...
That’s kind of what happened to Abraham. God promised him the entire land of Canaan, a massive inheritance for him and his descendants. But when his beloved wife Sarah passed away,...
Jacob, as he lay dying, was very particular about where he wanted to be buried. Not just anywhere in the Holy Land, but specifically in the cave of Machpelah in Hebron, alongside A...
The Torah tells us he died on Mount Nebo, overlooking the Promised Land he would never enter. But is that the whole story? The Book of Deuteronomy (34:6) states rather cryptically ...
Josephus, the first-century Romano-Jewish historian, gives us a fascinating glimpse into just that when describing Jewish law in his work, Against Apion. He points out something cr...
The Tikkunei (spiritual repair) Zohar teaches that during Simchat Torah, a crown, a spiritual diadem, rests upon the head of every righteous person in the heavens. A crown, a symbo...
It’s called Simḥat Torah, "Rejoicing of the Torah," and it's all about celebrating the completion of the annual cycle of Torah readings. And according to the Tikkunei (spiritual re...
The Mekhilta continues cataloguing everything God showed Moses from Mount Pisgah. The question this time: how do we know that God showed him even the graves of the forefathers? The...
Rab Huna, a prominent Amoraic Sage of the 3rd century, has something quite striking to say about it, preserved for us in Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer. He suggests that the location of ou...
The scene: The Cave of Machpelah in Hebron, the ancient burial ground purchased by Abraham himself. Jacob, also known as Israel, has passed away in Egypt, and his sons are bringing...
The Sifrei Devarim, a collection of early rabbinic legal interpretations on the Book of Deuteronomy, tells us about this pivotal place. It wasn't just any mountain; it was the plac...
It wasn't just a panoramic view of the Promised Land. According to our tradition, it was so much more. "From the plains of Moab," the verse says. (Sifrei Devarim 357). But what's s...
The Torah describes Jacob's burial as a solemn procession to Canaan. Targum Jonathan turns it into an epic confrontation complete with a golden deathbed, a eulogy comparing Jacob t...
Burial of Scholar & Taxgather. Shimeonh. Shetah&W itches m of Ascalon. J. Hagigah, II, 2. Sifre, Deut. § 221, f. 114 b. Midr. Decalogue, IX, ib. Nissim, f. 3 b. Rashi to Sanhedrin ...
When Jacob died in Egypt and his sons carried his body back to the land of Canaan for burial, an unusual procession formed. The sons of Esau, the sons of Ishmael, and the sons of K...
When Abraham came to the cave of Machpelah to bury Sarah, he did not find the cave empty. According to the Yalkut Chadash, the first couple was already there, and they were not ple...
Joseph's request to Pharaoh hinges on a vow he cannot break. Targum Pseudo-Jonathan renders it simply. "My father made me swear, saying, Behold, I die, in the sepulchre which I hav...
He needs to acquire a burial plot. And what unfolds is a fascinating negotiation, a real estate transaction steeped in cultural nuance, as recorded in Bereshit Rabbah (Genesis Rabb...
In Jewish tradition, the concept of final instructions, of ethical wills, is incredibly powerful. It’s about more than just passing on possessions; it’s about passing on values, a ...
The Mekhilta asks a triumphant question: how do we know that all of Moses' many requests, his desperate pleas to enter the Promised Land, were ultimately granted by the Holy One, B...
Not just any mountain, but one with not one, not two, but three names. Why? That's where our story begins. In the book of Devarim, Deuteronomy, we find the verse (32:49) telling Mo...
The book of Ecclesiastes, or Kohelet as it's known in Hebrew, grapples with this constantly. And one particular verse, (Ecclesiastes 8:10), has sparked a lot of fascinating interpr...
Tobit's son, Tobiyyah (also sometimes spelled Tobias), heads out to find some folks in need. He's looking for the poor, those struggling to make ends meet. But he comes back, his h...
After journeying from Shechem to Hebron to be with their father Isaac, Jacob's sons settled in the valley. The pastures of Shechem were still good, and that’s where they tended the...
Sometimes, the most incredible stories come from those moments. Like this one from Hebron, about how the patriarch Abraham himself stepped in to aid his descendants. Hebron – Ḥevro...
The mourning period ended, but the story certainly didn't. In fact, it was then that the simmering conflict between the descendants of Jacob and Esau erupted again with full force....
I'm talking about Joseph, of course, and his brothers. We know the story: Joseph, sold into slavery by his jealous brothers, rises to power in Egypt, and then, years later, fate br...
He knew that Esau, his brother, harbored murderous intentions. The tension was thick, a palpable danger hanging in the air. But running wasn't exactly Jacob’s first instinct. As th...
Legends of the Jews turns to Rebekah Was Buried Secretly Because Only Esau Was Nearby. It wasn’t long after that Rebekah herself passed away. But unlike Deborah, her death wasn't m...
The story of Rachel's burial offers a powerful glimpse into this very idea. The Torah tells us simply that Rachel died giving birth to Benjamin and was buried on the road to Ephrat...
The story of Jacob's burial gives us a fascinating glimpse into those questions. Jacob, also known as Israel, had very specific ideas about where he didn't want to be buried: Egypt...
The story returns to the funeral procession of Jacob, or as he was also known, Israel. This wasn't just any funeral. This was Jacob, the father of the twelve tribes, being returned...
Our story takes us back to Joseph in Egypt, a man who rose from prisoner to viceroy. As his life neared its end, Joseph knew he had one crucial task left: to ensure his bones would...
