3 myths
Sacred friendship in Jewish tradition, from David and Jonathan to the study partnerships of the Talmudic sages.
3 myths on JewishMythology.com retell how Jewish tradition imagines friendship, drawn from the Hebrew Bible, Midrash, Talmud, Kabbalah, and later Jewish literature. Each story below synthesizes primary sources into a single narrative; follow any myth to read it, and from there into the source passages behind it.
The prophet sank in mud and lime, and a voice called his name. He had been mocked too many times to trust a friendly sound. He did not answer.
Resh Lakish was working as a robber when he saw Rabbi Yohanan in the river, leapt across, and never went back to the life he left on the bank.
A calf-shaped angel with a torn lip speaks the rain up and down, two friends weigh as a nation, and Michael crosses all heaven in one beat.
