548 texts in Midrash Aggadah
Ten kings ruled over the whole world:—God, Nimrod, Joseph, Solomon, Ahab, Nebuchadnezzar, Koresh (Ahas- uerus ruled over half). Alexander of Macedonia not only ruled over the whole...
Nimrod declared himself a god to be worshipped. He made a round tower of stone planted in the midst of the earth, and placed a throne of cedar on the stone, and upon this one of ir...
Adrianus orders his army to worship him. He declares that within three years he will capture the Temple. Three philosophers dispute with him. One says how can a new king be recogni...
Hiram, king of Tyre made seven artificial heavens placed on pillars of iron, first of glass, sun, moon and stars. Second of iron, with a lake of water in it; third of tin with prec...
Alexander the Great tied two eagles together with meat in front of them, so they fly upwards with him until his eyelids dropped from the cold. He then descends in a glass box to th...
The Emperor said that he wanted to see God. He was told: “It is impossible." They placed him to look at the sun in the midst of Tammus. He could not do so. How then could he look a...
The daughter of the Emperor said to Rabbi Joshua: “Your God is a builder, so let Him build a tent here." She became leprous and had to be placed in a tent as they do in Rome. She a...
The Emperor asked Rabbi Joshua whether the dead came to life and being dust, how could dust live ? The daughter of the Emperor replied: “There are two makers of things in our place...
The Emperor asks R. Gamliel “If there is a God in the world why does He not show Himself and why does He not speak direct to His creatures so that they might respect Him the more. ...
The Emperor asks R. Akiba:—“Why is it said, God gives wisdom to the wise and not to the fool ?" R. Akiba simulates illness; the Emperor sends medicine worth a iooo denars. i 55 - R...
Adrianus asks R. Joshua why God’s name is not mentioned in the five last commandments, which appears to apply to all nations. Joshua takes him over the town and shows him his statu...
Turnus Rufus and Akiba dispute about the preeminence of the Sabbath. Rufus holds high office, having been appointed by the Emperor. Akiba says that the Sabbath has also been appoin...
A Matrona asked Rabbi Joshua what God has been doing since Creation. The reply was: “He pairs people.” The Ma- trona then ordered a number of male slaves to marry female slaves, th...
A Roman noblewoman — a Matrona, as the sages called her — came to a rabbi with a question that seemed trivial but concealed a deep truth. "Why," she asked, "is the letter Lamed tal...
Kleopatra asks Rabbi Meir whether the dead rise in their clothes. The reply was “In their clothes. The wheat, when sown grows with the cover (husks) on, and how much more should th...
The wicked kingdom once decreed that the Jews should not keep the Sabbath, nor circumcise their children, nor keep the law of purification according to the Bible. Reuben the son of...
The Jews being prevented by decree from studying, Pappos met R. Akiba who had defied that decree. Rebuked by Pappos Akiba replied: “A fox on the shore of the sea saw some fish hidi...
Trayanos kills Pappos and Lulianos in Laodicea. He said to them "If you are brethren of the Three Youths then you also may be saved miraculously.” They replied “They and Nebuchadne...
When the heathen conquered the Temple Josef Meshita was asked to go in first. He was told that whatever he brought out should be his. He carried out a golden candlestick, which was...
Nahum ish Gamzo, also called Nahum of Hamadi used to say, “Everything for the best.” Sent to the Emperor with presents, miracles happened. He came to a place where during the night...
A Matrona asked R. Eleazar: "Why for the one sin of worshipping the golden calf were they punished with three kinds of death ?” He refused to answer a woman, but explained to his p...
The story of the false prophets Ahab ben Kolaya and Zidkia b. Maaseya. They went to the daughter of Nebuchad- nezar and by false prophecies tried to induce her to sin, The king kno...
A Jew and a heathen disputed about their religion. Satan disguised as a man decided in favour of the heathen, who tork all the money. The Jew overheard the discussion of this Satan...
A non-Jewish man walked into Shammai's study with a straightforward question: "How many laws does Judaism have?" Shammai gave him the honest answer — two. There is the Written Tora...
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...
A Kuthean disputed with R. Meir as to the righteousness of Jacob who only separated Levi tithed as one of the io tribes, instead of separating one more for the remaining two. For h...
An heathen said to R. Johanan b. Zakkai: “The ceremonies of the red heifer look like witchcraft/' He replied: “What are you doing against demoniac possession?’’— “Herbs and fumigat...
Rabbi Zadok, captive in Rome, refused to be tempted to sin by the slave girl sent by the Matrona, as he declared that he was a descendant of the noblest family of high priests and ...
A certain Nathan was saved from committing sin with a famous Hetaera in the Island of the Sea through observing the commandment of the fringes, because on seeing them he was remind...
R. Eliezer, charged with heresy, was saved from punishment by saying, “The judge knows the truth" which the Hegemon interpreted as a tribute to his justice. Tlje reason why he got ...
Turnus Rufus and Akiba disputed about the merits of charity; as God decreed that a man be poor why should the rich contravene God's command? Akiba replied: “Men are not strangers t...
A child learned part of the book of Genesis, is captured and put into prison. The Emperor asked for a book from the library and it happened to be the Jewish Bible. No one could rea...
Simeon b. Kamhith, a high priest, walked about with a heathen king and got his clothes defiled and was incapacitated from acting on the day of atonement. His place was taken by his...
A Matrona asked R. Jose b. Halafta why it was said "God gives wisdom to the wise.” The answer was: "Because they know how to make use of it, they study in schools and colleges and ...
A Matrona asked R. Jose b. Halafta why the covenant of Abraham was not mentioned in the ten commandments and the reply was: "The proselyte mentioned therein implies to the covenant...
A non-Jew once asked Rabban Gamliel a question that seemed simple but concealed a philosophical trap. "Your God," he said, "is supposedly the master of the entire universe. He crea...
A Matrona charged R. Jeliuda b. Hai with being an usurer or rearer of swine (that was why he looked so well-fed): He denied it and explained that it was due to his cleanliness and ...
An heathen accused R. Jehuda b. Hai of usury because he looked so well-fed. The reply was, that it was not from usury, rearing of swine or drinking, all forbidden to the Jews that ...
A man whilst praying did not return the salute of the Hegemon. The excuse he gave was that standing before the King of Kings, he could not pay respect to inferiors.
Beruria, the brilliant wife of Rabbi Meir, was one of the sharpest minds in all of rabbinic literature. And one day, she corrected her husband on a point of theology that has echoe...
Beruria and the wife of a Min disputed about the words "Rejoice O barren one”, and the woman asked why she should rejoice because she had not had any children and the answer was, l...
A Min and R. Abahu disputed about the sequence of Ps. 3—57 and he asked why Absolom was mentioned before Saul. The reply was that, in the Bible events were not always narrated in c...
A Min and R. Ami disputed about the resurrection of the dead after they are changed into dust. R. Ami replied with., a parable. A king ordered his servants to build a palace where ...
Two Jews were carried away captive from Mount Carmel. The captor following them overheard one saying to the other “A she -camel has passed before us, she is blind of one eye and on...
The Rabbis Huna and Hisda refused at the beginning to be polite to Gniba. He approached them and saluted them humbly and twice he called them kings. Asked for reason for this kind ...
R. Shela beat a man who commited sin with an heathen. He was denounced to the king, but he escaped punishment and obtained a high position through his interpretation of the words: ...
Proklos b. Filoslos asks R. Gamliel why does not God destroy the idols. The Rabbi replies "If a man calls a dog by the name of his father, will the father be angry with the son or ...
The Emperor and R. Gamliel dispute and the Emperor says "God is a thief, He threw Adam into a sleep and then stole a rib from him." The daughter of the Emperor replies, "He is a fi...
