29 texts
We find ourselves at a pivotal, agonizing moment. Susanna, a woman known for her piety and beauty, finds herself accused of adultery. Two elders, powerful figures in the community,...
The serpent did not act alone. Behind the serpent stood a jealous angel -- and behind the angel stood a grudge older than humanity itself. Eve gathered all her children and grandch...
The serpent wept for her. That was the cruelest part. It pretended to grieve for her ignorance while plotting her destruction. "May God live!" the serpent said to Eve, its voice dr...
We all know the story: the flood, the animals two-by-two, a new beginning. But what about the creatures that almost didn't make it? Or the ones that hitched a ride in the most unex...
The Legends of the Jews, that monumental work by Rabbi Louis Ginzberg, compiles and retells a vast collection of stories from the Talmud, Midrash, and other sources. It's a treasur...
The Israelites weren't just a faceless mass of slaves. They were organized, structured, even in their oppression. The text tells us that officers were appointed over every ten Isra...
He has no clue that destiny has something truly unexpected in store. At this precise moment, war erupts between Ethiopia and its former eastern territories. King Kikanos, leading h...
The story goes that Benaiah, one of Solomon's most trusted courtiers, escorted the Queen to meet the king. But this wasn't just any meeting. Solomon, in his infinite wisdom (and pe...
Isaac was old and completely blind when he made the request that would fracture his family. He called his elder son Esau and told him to go hunt venison, prepare a meal, and return...
Antipater wanted the throne so badly he was willing to destroy every member of his own family to get it. And for a while, it worked. According to Josephus in Antiquities XVI, Antip...
That tension, that struggle for truth, isn’t new. The Mitpachat Sefarim, an important ethical work, speaks to this very dilemma. It paints a picture of two opposing forces, each wi...
Jewish mysticism grapples with this very feeling. Specifically, it warns us against trying to understand things that are, quite simply, beyond our understanding. We're talking abou...
The ninth commandment — "You shall not testify against your neighbor false testimony" — is more than a prohibition. It is the foundation of an entire legal system built on the reli...
(Ibid.) "Do not build them hewn": In it (the altar) you may not build them hewn, but you may build them hewn in the sanctuary and in the holy of holies. For it would follow (otherw...
The phrase "and he shall go out alone" in (Exodus 21:4) seems redundant. If the bondsman's term is up, of course he goes out. Why add "alone"? The Mekhilta finds hidden legal conte...
The Torah says, "Six days shall you do your work" (Exodus 23:12), a commandment to labor for six days and rest on the seventh, the Shabbat (the Sabbath). But the Mekhilta noticed s...
And it's all about… water. Think about Egypt. Specifically, the Nile. Egypt is basically a flat plain. Sifrei Devarim, commenting on (Deuteronomy 11:10), points out that in Egypt, ...
That’s what happened to me recently, and I want to share the journey. We’re diving into the Sifrei Devarim, a collection of legal interpretations of the Book of Deuteronomy. In sec...
Maybe they gave you bad advice, or maybe they completely changed their tune on something important. How do you know who to trust, especially when it comes to matters of faith? The ...
Our ancestors grappled with these questions too, trying to decipher the hidden language of the world around them. And that's what leads us into the fascinating, and sometimes murky...
"The Book of Delicacies - Rabbi Aaron the Elder cited it in his book 'Kranim', discourse 13, and he said: 'This is what was written in the Book of Delicacies, "Flies consumed Job."...
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...
In the dark years of Roman persecution, when teaching Torah was a crime punishable by death, two students of Rabbi Joshua went into hiding. They disguised themselves and moved care...
The son of Hananya joined a band of robbers and betrayed them to one of the great men of Rome. They found it out and killed him. In the funeral oration his father delivered, he tri...
Money Recovered by Trick. Yoma, f. 83 b. Pesikta R. ch. 22. Ben Atar, No. 6, f. 25 a. Midr. Decalogue III, 3; VIII, 2. Nissim, f. 25 a. Yalk. Sip. II, p. 149. Maase Buch No. 215. H...
Even the angels turned against Israel. According to Rabbi Yaakov of Kefar Hanan, quoted in Eikhah Rabbah (a 5th-century CE midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary)ic commentary o...
But did you ever notice something strange about how they pointed those fingers? The man, Adam, he's quick to say, "The woman gave me of the tree, and I did eat." He throws Eve righ...
And the Lord said: “Shall I hide from Abraham?” (Gen. 18:17). Scripture states elsewhere in reference to this verse: It shall be for the filling of his belly; He shall cast the fie...
And He said unto him: “Abraham”; and he said: “Here am I” (Gen. 22:1). What does the expression hineni (“here am I”) signify? It signifies meekness and piety. The meekness of pious...
