5,036 texts · Page 4 of 105
Why did God Himself attend to the burial of Moses? Because of what Moses had done decades earlier in Egypt, when everyone else was busy loading up silver and gold for the exodus. W...
When Moses ascended to heaven to receive the Torah, a cloud crouched before him like a living creature. He did not know whether to ride it or grab hold of it. The cloud opened, swa...
While the Israelites traveled through the wilderness, seven clouds of glory surrounded them on every side. One cloud went in front, one behind, two flanked them on each side, and o...
Before the tenth plague struck, God executed judgment on every idol in Egypt. Stone gods shattered into fragments. Wooden gods rotted to dust. Idols of silver, brass, iron, and lea...
The quarrel between Korah and Moses began with a poor woman and her single ewe-lamb. She fed the lamb from her own bread and let it drink from her own cup. When she sheared its woo...
After Joshua died, Israel had no leader. The people asked God who should fight the Canaanites, and God told them to cast lots. The lot fell on Kenaz, from the tribe of Caleb, who b...
The period of the Judges was an era of divine intervention so direct that storms fought battles and fires executed corrupt leaders. According to the Chronicles of Jerahmeel, a 12th...
Jephthah the Gileadite made a vow before battle: whatever came out of his house first to greet him upon his victorious return would be offered as a sacrifice to God. He crushed the...
From the Exodus to the destruction of the First Temple, Israel was exiled eight times. According to the Chronicles of Jerahmeel, a 12th-century Hebrew chronicle translated by Moses...
The destruction of the Temple happened on the eve of the ninth of Av, on the outgoing of the Sabbath, in a Sabbatical year. According to the Chronicles of Jerahmeel, a 12th-century...
The most detailed account of the lost tribes of Israel comes from Eldad the Danite, a traveler whose report is preserved in the Chronicles of Jerahmeel, a 12th-century Hebrew chron...
In Babylon there lived a man named Jehoiachin whose wife Susanna was known for her beauty and her devotion to God. Her parents had raised her according to the Torah of Moses, and s...
Isaiah son of Amos saw all five kinds of punishment in Gehinnom (the place of spiritual purification after death). According to the Chronicles of Jerahmeel, a 12th-century Hebrew c...
Zerubbabel won the riddle contest, but when King Darius offered him any reward up to half the kingdom, he asked for something no treasure could buy. According to the Chronicles of ...
Esther stripped off her royal garments and the ornaments of her majesty. According to the Chronicles of Jerahmeel, a 12th-century Hebrew chronicle translated by Moses Gaster in 189...
Haman wrote one of the most chilling documents in Jewish legend. According to the Chronicles of Jerahmeel, a 12th-century Hebrew chronicle translated by Moses Gaster in 1899, Haman...
Haman did not just plot in the Persian court. He plotted in heaven. According to the Chronicles of Jerahmeel, a 12th-century Hebrew chronicle translated by Moses Gaster in 1899, Ha...
Solomon's throne was not a chair. It was a machine—a towering structure of ivory, gold, and living mechanisms that no king could ever replicate. According to the Chronicles of Jera...
The story of Israel's return from exile reads like a cascade of empires, each rising and falling at breathtaking speed. According to the Chronicles of Jerahmeel, a 12th-century Heb...
Ptolemy of Egypt was a book collector. According to the Chronicles of Jerahmeel, a 12th-century Hebrew chronicle preserved by Moses Gaster in 1899, the Macedonian king who ruled Eg...
The persecution was methodical and savage. According to the Chronicles of Jerahmeel, a 12th-century Hebrew chronicle preserved by Moses Gaster in 1899, Phillipos, the officer left ...
Seven brothers and their mother were seized and brought before King Antiochus. According to the Chronicles of Jerahmeel, a 12th-century Hebrew chronicle preserved by Moses Gaster i...
The fourth beast in Daniel's vision had arrived. According to the Chronicles of Jerahmeel, a 12th-century Hebrew chronicle preserved by Moses Gaster in 1899, the kingdom of Rome ro...
I stumbled across a wild little story, and I just had to share it. It comes from Tree of Souls, Howard Schwartz's collection of Jewish folktales. It's a quick glimpse into a world ...
This isn't your typical biblical story. It’s a myth, a folk tale, preserved in the Israel Folktale Archives, about a wonder child who lived during the time of the Temple in Jerusal...
That's a glimpse into the world of the dybbuk. Our story begins in the mystical city of Safed, a center of Kabbalah in the Galilee. There lived a widow, known throughout the commun...
Some believe that certain figures, especially the patriarch Abraham, never truly died. The idea of Abraham continuing to wander the world, making his presence known, is surprisingl...
Amram, Moses’s father, wasn't just any man. He was a skilled doctor, so renowned that he served Pharaoh himself! The text in Tree of Souls tells us of his wisdom, and of God's hand...
We all know the story: Moses, the parting of the waters, a miraculous escape. But what if there was someone else there, seeing even more than meets the eye? That someone was Serah ...
The Torah tells us about such a person: Moses. When he descended from Mount Sinai after those momentous forty days and nights, he was… different. The text says his body was bathed ...
There's a wild story in Jewish tradition that explains exactly why, involving a heavenly court, a lot of pleading, and even a little bit of divine disappointment. The Legends of th...
on the second day, God brought forth four distinct creations: the firmament (rakia in Hebrew), hell, fire, and the angels. Now, the firmament isn't just the heavens we saw on day o...
Before the third day, the earth was a watery expanse. Then, God commanded, "Let the waters be gathered together," and suddenly, mountains and hills burst forth, creating basins for...
Jewish tradition offers a powerful, poetic answer: it was all for us, for humankind. But there’s a twist. According to Legends of the Jews, Ginzberg retells a fascinating idea: God...
It all starts, according to some traditions, with a clash of egos, a refusal to bow, and a trial of wit gone wrong. The Legends of the Jews, as retold by Ginzberg, gives us a fasci...
We often focus on the eating of the fruit itself, but the consequences, as described in Jewish tradition, are pretty fascinating, and, frankly, a little terrifying. According to Gi...
Adam wasn't just picking apples and feeling sorry for himself. He was wrestling with the big stuff – the future, his children, and the whole darn world. Adam poured out his heart t...
After Eve was created, God divided Paradise between her and Adam. Adam got the east and the north, along with all the male animals. Eve, she was mistress of the west and the south,...
It's not just about a crime; it's about the very introduction of wickedness into the world. The stakes were high from the very beginning. Our sages tell us that there were ten gene...
It wasn’t just carpentry; it was cosmic-level engineering! Turns out, according to some fascinating legends, he had a little help… in the form of a very special book. This wasn’t j...
The story of Noah and the vine is a wild ride through temptation, disrespect, and divine retribution. According to Legends of the Jews, as retold by Ginzberg, Noah's troubles began...
It wasn't exactly smooth sailing. According to Ginzberg's retelling in Legends of the Jews, things got a bit…complicated. Ham, you see, was not thrilled about his father's curse. S...
Abraham once entered his father Terah's temple, intending to bring sacrifices to the idols. There, he found Marumath, a stone idol, lying face down before the iron god Nahor. Unabl...
The story of Abraham, or Avraham in Hebrew, is a powerful exploration of just that. The ancient texts tell us that Abraham faced ten trials, each designed to test the depths of his...
Let’s talk about Abraham. Scarcely had Abraham settled in Canaan when a devastating famine struck. Now, famines aren’t exactly rare in the grand scheme of things. In fact, the lege...
It's a tale of ambition, cunning, and a whole lot of grave-robbing... or, well, almost. Our story begins not in Egypt, but in the land of Shinar. There lived a man named Rakyon – m...
It turns out, Abraham, the patriarch of monotheism, was no exception. His story isn't just about grand pronouncements from God; it's also about family drama, petty squabbles, and e...
God revealed Himself to Abraham shortly after, to ease his conscience about the spilling of innocent blood, a scruple that caused him great anguish. God assured him that pious men ...
