5,036 texts · Page 41 of 105
We find him in the book of Exodus (3:1-6), a shepherd tending the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, a priest in Midian. One ordinary day, Moses leads the sheep to Horeb, also kno...
It all begins with Abraham. God Himself entrusted him with a profound secret, "the secret of the mystery of the Redeemer," as Howard Schwartz puts it in Tree of Souls. A heavy burd...
We know from Genesis that before he passed, Joseph made his brothers swear a solemn oath: when God finally remembers them, they must carry his bones out of Egypt with them (Gen. 50...
The rabbis certainly grappled with it. There’s a fascinating story recounted in Tree of Souls, attributed to Rabbi Yohanan, about just this question. He challenged his students: wh...
The backbreaking labor of the Israelites in Egypt, their cries lost in the dust and the relentless crack of the taskmasters' whips. It's a scene etched in our collective memory, a ...
As the story goes, GOD intervened. MOSES stretched out his hand, and the sea parted. A path opened up, dry land appeared, and the Israelites began to cross. But what was it really ...
We all know the triumphant tale of the Israelites crossing the Red Sea, escaping Pharaoh's clutches. But what about the Egyptians swallowed by the waves? It turns out, Jewish tradi...
The sun beats down, the sand stretches endlessly… and you’re thirsty. Really thirsty. What would you give for a cool, refreshing drink? Well, according to tradition, the Israelites...
That’s hardcore. What's the secret? Well, Jewish tradition offers a fascinating explanation. It wasn’t just about toughing it out. It goes much deeper. The Makhon Siftei Tzaddikim ...
It’s a question that’s captivated mystics and storytellers for centuries, and one particularly vivid legend tells us how Moses himself experienced just that. The story goes that Go...
That's a glimpse into the story of Moses and the divine radiance. We find the account in (Exodus 34:29-35), a passage that has captivated and, at times, puzzled readers for centuri...
For forty long years, as they wandered, they had a constant companion: a pillar of cloud by day, and a pillar of fire by night. The Torah tells us, in (Exodus 13:21), "And Yahweh w...
We all know Joshua as a great leader, a warrior, a successor to Moses. But what if his origins were shrouded in a myth mirroring some of the most famous stories in history? Accordi...
The Jewish mystical tradition has some pretty answers, especially when it comes to King David. There's a wild idea that David wasn't just crowned here, but also in heaven! Accordin...
The Talmud, in Berakhot 3b, offers us a glimpse into King David's bedchamber. No ordinary room, mind you. Above his bed hung a harp. But this wasn't just any harp; it was touched b...
There’s a fascinating, little-known story about King David that suggests even he needed a wake-up call. Imagine this: David, the shepherd-turned-king, is wandering through a dense,...
Jewish tradition offers some breathtaking glimpses beyond the veil, and one of the most stunning involves God Himself, building a Temple…in Heaven. Imagine Moses, nearing the end o...
One of the most stunning images is the idea of a ready-made, glorious Jerusalem descending from the heavens! Imagine this: some say that in the future, God will cause the Jerusalem...
The story goes that after the Temple was torn down and Jerusalem was ablaze, God, in His infinite compassion, sought to soothe the city’s pain. As Pesikta Rabbati 30:3 tells us, Go...
Sacrifices are offered, prayers ascend, and the Divine Presence is palpable. Then, out of nowhere, leopards break in. Not once, but repeatedly. They rampage through the sacred spac...
That feeling, that echoing emptiness, resonates deeply with the Jewish experience of the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem. It wasn't just the loss of a building; it was a cos...
You're not alone. But have you ever wondered why that wall, of all the Temple, still stands? There are many explanations, of course, both historical and theological. But Jewish tra...
Jewish tradition isn't afraid to explore that question. And when we do, we find a God who isn't detached from our pain, but deeply, profoundly moved by it. Take the destruction of ...
Forget fig leaves – the story is far more dazzling than that! According to tradition, before the infamous bite of the forbidden fruit, Adam and Eve weren't just naked, they were cl...
He was pretty special. : after the tragedy with Cain, Adam needed a son who truly reflected his own essence. (Genesis 5:3) tells us that Adam begot a son "in his likeness after his...
We're talking about Cain and Abel. The story begins simply enough. As we read in Genesis (4:1-16), "Now the man knew his wife Eve, and she conceived and bore Cain…" Eve, in a momen...
Jewish tradition offers some truly wild explanations, digging into the murky origins of good and evil itself. One fascinating, and frankly disturbing, thread revolves around Cain's...
Our tradition grapples with this question in fascinating, sometimes unsettling ways. Take the story of Cain, the firstborn son of Adam and Eve. We all know he murdered his brother ...
The concept of the Yetzer ha-Ra (the evil inclination) is a fascinating one, and its origins are debated. Some say it came into being with Adam himself, while others believe it did...
When Noah was loading up the ark, Og made a deal. He swore to Noah and his sons that if they’d let him come along, he’d be their servant forever. Now, space on the ark was tight, t...
We all know the basics: Sodom is doomed, Lot and his family are warned to flee, and they're given one crucial instruction: don't look back! But Lot's wife… she just couldn't resist...
We find ourselves with the Israelites in the desert. Moses, their leader, has ascended Mount Sinai to receive the Torah, the divine law, from God. Days turn into weeks. Down below,...
There's a story in the Torah, a rather unsettling one, about two brothers, Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, and it's been echoing through Jewish tradition for millennia. We find...
Their grumbling had some pretty fiery consequences. We find ourselves in the book of Numbers (Bamidbar in Hebrew, meaning "in the wilderness") chapter 21. The Israelites are trekki...
The Talmud, specifically Bava Batra 73b, offers a startling, almost unbelievable answer through a story featuring the sage Rabbah bar Bar Hannah. Rabbah, a well-known figure in rab...
It's more than just a historical event; it’s a foundational myth, packed with layers of meaning. But what if I told you the pain, the suffering, the sheer brutality of the Egyptian...
It’s one of those enduring mysteries that captures the imagination. They were carried away, prisoners in their own land, and exiled beyond the mysterious river Sambatyon. But what ...
Jewish tradition is rich with imagery about the Olam Ha-Ba, the World to Come, and one particularly striking image involves the enthronement of the Messiah. Imagine this: the futur...
Jewish tradition has some pretty vivid ideas about that, especially when it comes to the resurrection of the dead. It’s not just a "poof" and everyone’s back. It's a process, a cos...
Jewish tradition is rich with imagery of the End of Days, and one particularly potent symbol keeps popping up: a gate. Not just any gate, but the Golden Gate of Jerusalem. Now, Jer...
A world where the divide between heaven and earth blurs, and the sacred becomes tangibly real. What if I told you that in Jewish tradition, there's a vision of the future where the...
A world where sorrow turns to song, and ruins give way to radiant hope. What does that world look like? For many Jewish traditions, the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem is cen...
It’s a concept that has pulsed through the heart of Jewish longing for centuries: the return of all scattered Jewish communities to the Holy Land. Jewish tradition paints a breatht...
Jewish tradition offers some fascinating glimpses, and one particularly dramatic scene involves Satan himself getting a sneak peek at the Messiah. The story goes that even before t...
Our tradition teaches that wisdom isn't just something you're born with. It's something you actively seek, something you pray for, something you might even… fast for. The Midrash M...
Midrash Mishlei, a collection of insightful teachings on the Book of Proverbs, begins to unpack this idea with a profound statement: “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowl...
The ancient texts grapple with this very idea, and there's perhaps no better example than the story of Joseph and his brothers. Midrash Mishlei, a collection of rabbinic teachings ...
They left us some pretty powerful guidance, hidden in plain sight within the Book of Proverbs. Let’s take a look at a fascinating passage from Midrash Mishlei, a collection of rabb...
