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Simeon, second son of Jacob and Leah, was dying in his hundred and twentieth year. Joseph his brother had already passed. When his sons came to visit, Simeon strengthened himself, ...
Zebulun, sixth son of Jacob and Leah, was dying in his hundred and fourteenth year, two years after Joseph. He gathered his sons and said: "I am not conscious that I have sinned al...
Naphtali, eighth son of Jacob, born of Bilhah, was dying in his hundred and thirtieth year. His sons gathered on the first day of the seventh month. He was still in good health. He...
Gad, ninth son of Jacob, born of Zilpah, spoke to his sons in the hundred and twenty-fifth year of his life. He had been valiant in keeping the flocks, guarding them at night. When...
Joseph, eleventh son of Jacob, beloved of Rachel, was about to die. He called his sons and brethren together and spoke. "My brethren and my children, hearken to Joseph the beloved ...
Benjamin, twelfth and last son of Jacob, born of Rachel, had lived a hundred and twenty-five years. He kissed his sons and began to speak. "As Isaac was born to Abraham in his old ...
Entering Paradise isn't just strolling through a gate. Imagine two immense gates made of carbuncle, a fiery, glowing gem. And guarding them? Sixty myriads – that's six hundred thou...
While we often imagine it as a single, unified place, Jewish tradition offers a far more intricate and fascinating vision. According to some accounts, Paradise—or Gan Eden, the Gar...
Not according to some powerful Jewish legends! They paint a picture of a world created specifically for us, for the people of Israel. It’s a pretty bold claim, isn't it?According t...
Take Noah, the righteous man who saved humanity from the flood. You’d think he’d be on a pretty straight path after that whole ordeal. But nope. The story takes a turn, and it invo...
The Torah portion of Noah certainly gives us food for thought on that subject. It's a story of survival, new beginnings...and a rather unfortunate curse. We all know the tale: the ...
They're about to embark on a mission to rebuild the world, and the first order of business? Dividing the land. But not just any land – we're talking about the entire planet! Accord...
The land wasn't exactly empty when Jacob's sons were destined to inherit it. No, no. It was provisionally granted to a whole host of Canaanite nations: the Canaanites themselves, t...
So, picture this: Abraham saddles up his mule, ready to head to the local inn. This wasn't just any inn, mind you. It was the place where merchants from Fandana in Syria stayed whe...
It wasn't just about building altars, though he certainly did that. According to the legends, each altar he raised was the center of his missionary work. Imagine this: Abraham arri...
We know that CANAAN, son of HAM, and his descendants settled in the land. But the story goes that they didn’t exactly have permission. According to Legends of the Jews, Canaan disr...
It wasn't a coincidence. See, the famine that struck during Abraham's time? It wasn’t just a random act of nature. According to Legends of the Jews, specifically volume one, this f...
It’s a story filled with hidden beauty, shrewd bargaining, and a touch of divine protection. Our tale begins as Abraham and Sarah journey from Canaan to Egypt. According to Legends...
Sarah, wife of Abraham, certainly did when they journeyed to Egypt. to a fascinating episode from Legends of the Jews that shows just how powerfully things can turn around. Picture...
(Yes, that's the title of the whole collection.) It's a wild ride through the aggadah – the stories, the embellishments, the "filling in the blanks" that surrounds the more straigh...
When Abraham and his entourage finally arrived back in Canaan, they made a point of seeking out the same lodgings they'd used before. Why? Not just to settle their bills, but to se...
It sounds so ancient, so powerful, so… well, Egyptian! But the story behind it, according to some fascinating threads in Jewish tradition, is more surprising than you might think. ...
Even Abraham, our patriarch, wasn't immune. Imagine the scene: Abraham, fresh from his sojourn in Egypt, returns home. Life should be good. But trouble is brewing. It starts, as it...
The Torah touches on this in the Brit Bein Habetarim (ברית בין הבתרים), the Covenant Between the Pieces, in Genesis 15. But the story doesn't end there. The Legends of the Jews fil...
You’re not wrong. to a classic tale of jealousy, longing, and a bit of divine intervention, straight from the heart of the Sarah and Abraham story. Imagine this: Sarah, Abraham's w...
The story of Lot is a fascinating example. We know him best, perhaps, for his narrow escape from the fiery destruction of Sodom. But did you know that his salvation wasn't just a s...
Ever find yourself in a sticky situation, and think, "Didn't I just do this?" Well, let's talk about Abraham. He's about to have a serious case of déjà vu. After leaving Egypt, Abr...
This particular story plunges us into the land of the Philistines. Imagine the scene: A night filled with inexplicable terror. A "great crying" echoes across the land as people wit...
Their water is gone. Facing death by dehydration, Ishmael turns to God, pleading, "O Lord of the world! If it be Thy will that I shall perish, then let me die in some other way, no...
We read about it in Genesis 22, but the Rabbis didn't stop there. They dove deep into the details, asking questions like, "Where did this ram come from, anyway?" and "What happened...
The story of Rebekah and her twin sons, Jacob and Esau, is a wild ride that takes us just there. According to Legends of the Jews, by Louis Ginzberg, Rebekah's pregnancy wasn't exa...
Jewish tradition certainly seems to think so. Take the story of Jacob and Esau, those eternally feuding twins from the Book of Genesis. Their very names, given at birth, are loaded...
Take the tale of Jacob and Esau. As babies, they were basically indistinguishable. Like a myrtle and a thorn bush just sprouting – you can't tell them apart yet. But give them time...
Take Isaac, for example. His life, as the great compilation Legends of the Jews tells us, reads like a mirror image of his father Abraham's. Abraham had to leave his homeland. So d...
Rebekah, wife of Isaac and mother of Jacob and Esau, certainly did. Imagine this: Isaac, old and blind, is about to bestow a blessing – a powerful, almost magical blessing – on his...
A monumental compilation of Jewish folklore by Rabbi Louis Ginzberg, Rebekah, overcome with distress, began to weep as soon as Jacob departed. Isaac, ever the comforter, reassured ...
What does he do? Does he stand back, waiting for someone to acknowledge him? Nope. He takes the initiative. "My brethren, whence be ye?" he asks. A simple question, but oh-so-power...
It turns out, it's one reflected in the stories of our ancestors, even in the lives of biblical figures like Leah. The text reminds us that, as it says, “The ways of God are not li...
They're often packed with meaning, little clues into the lives and destinies of the people who carry them. Take Reuben, for instance, the firstborn son of Leah. It's a name that wh...
Her story, as told in Legends of the Jews by Louis Ginzberg, is filled with love, loss, and a touch of the mystical. When her son Joseph was born, she named him Yosef, which means ...
He was just waiting for Joseph to be born so he could finally head home. Why? Because Jacob had a sense – a ruach (spirit) hakodesh, a holy spirit – that Joseph's line would eventu...
Naturally drawing on earlier Midrashic (rabbinic interpretive commentary) sources), things were still pretty tense. See, Jacob, ever the strategist, tried to make a deal with Esau....
Jacob did. And the encounter didn't just leave him with a limp; it left him with a new name, a new destiny, and a whole lot of responsibility. Imagine this: Michael, the archangel,...
We know from the Torah that Jacob took precautions, dividing his family and possessions. But Ginzberg, in Legends of the Jews, paints a more vivid picture of Jacob’s strategic, alm...
The story of Jacob and his reunion with his brother Esau offers a powerful glimpse into just that kind of devotion. We all know the story: Jacob, after years of estrangement, is pr...
He wasn't just miffed at his brother Jacob. He was incandescent with rage. Remember, Jacob had received the blessings meant for Esau, and Esau wasn't about to let that go. He wante...
Our story today dives right into that murky territory, exploring the story of Shechem, the son of Hamor, and his burning desire for Dinah, Jacob's daughter. We last left off with S...
So, picture this: It’s the evening of the second day after the… ahem… agreement between Jacob's sons and the people of Shechem. You remember the agreement. The one where all the me...
