15 texts in Midrash Aggadah
The story goes that when God desired to create the world, He turned to Rahab, who was the angel or prince of the sea. God commanded Rahab to "Open your mouth and swallow all the wa...
There's a story told about Rabbah bar Bar Hannah, a third-century Babylonian Amora (a scholar of the Talmud) renowned for his... well, let's just call them "adventures." Rabbah's t...
It’s a question that’s tickled the minds of mystics and dreamers for ages. And believe it or not, there are stories—amazing, vivid stories—that claim to know the answer. One of my ...
Sometimes, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree... and sometimes, well, it's a whole orchard of strange and wondrous fruit. Let’s journey back in time with Rabbah bar Bar Hanna...
(Genesis 24:1) tells us that in his old age, God blessed Abraham in all things. We usually think of that in terms of wealth and a long life. But what if there was more? What if "al...
We're not just talking about harps and halos. Jewish tradition paints a vivid, even delicious, picture of what awaits in the World to Come: a glorious banquet hosted by God Himself...
But what if those limits…vanished? The prophet Isaiah paints a breathtaking picture of the future, a time of ultimate peace and harmony. He proclaims, "New moon after new moon, and...
Who wrote the Hebrew Bible? The Talmud in Bava Batra 14b provides a complete accounting, attributing every book to a specific author. Moses wrote his own book—the Torah—and also th...
The question of whether Moses wrote the last eight verses of the Torah—the ones describing his own death—provoked one of the most poignant debates in the Talmud. Bava Batra 15a pre...
Rabbah bar bar Hana was the Talmud's greatest traveler of the impossible. His sea voyages, recorded in Bava Batra 73a–b, describe creatures so vast they reshape the geography aroun...
The impossible creatures of Rabbah bar bar Hana's voyages continue in Bava Batra 73b, each one more staggering than the last—a catalog of wonders that pushed the boundaries of the ...
Rabbah bar bar Hana's journeys were not limited to the sea. An Arab guide led him across the desert to the most sacred and terrifying locations in biblical geography. According to ...
At the end of days, God will host a banquet for the righteous, and the main course will be the Leviathan. According to Bava Batra 74b, this is not metaphor. The Sages described the...
The future Jerusalem will be built from precious stones so massive they defy imagination. According to Bava Batra 75a, God will take gems thirty cubits by thirty cubits, carve gate...
The righteous in the World to Come will not all share the same reward. According to Bava Batra 75b, there are tiers—and every righteous person who sees a canopy grander than their ...
