1,724 texts · Page 8 of 36
One such story features Elijah, that fiery prophet who pops up throughout our history, often in the most unexpected places. There's a fascinating tidbit in Legends of the Jews (Gin...
The story of Elisha and his disciple Gehazi is a potent reminder. Elisha, a prophet of great stature, had taken Gehazi under his wing. But Gehazi, alas, was deeply flawed. Despite ...
Jehoiada was quite the figure – the son of Benaiah, who served as commander-in-chief of the army under Solomon. Talk about living history! King Joash, guided by Jehoiada, diligentl...
Take Sennacherib, the Assyrian king who dared to threaten Jerusalem. His story takes a wild turn after his army's miraculous defeat. According to Legends of the Jews, Sennacherib, ...
He was a pretty big deal, a righteous ruler of Judah. But even the best of us stumble. And sometimes, those stumbles have… consequences. The Talmud (Berakhot 10a) tells us that Hez...
We read in the biblical books of Kings and Chronicles that he led the people astray, embracing idolatry and other abominations. But his son, Amon, well, he took things to a whole n...
It’s a question that swirls around the story of Amon, one of the kings of Judah. He was, to put it mildly, not a nice guy. His deeds were so evil, so contrary to everything the Tor...
It’s a mystical land inhabited by the Sons of Moses, and it’s a vision of communal harmony that's been whispered about for centuries. Ginzberg, in his Legends of the Jews, paints a...
Sometimes, even the most extraordinary events can bring unexpected anxieties. Take the story of those brought back from the dead – a true gift. Yet, according to Legends of the Jew...
Daniel certainly knew that feeling. After wisely advising Darius, Daniel was appointed to a powerful position, heading up a council of three administrators. He was second only to t...
Around the time of Ezra, a pivotal figure in Jewish history, Babylon, that mighty, ancient city, suffered a devastating blow. The Persians swept through, leaving only a small, impe...
It turns out, some pretty incredible stories lie behind even the most familiar phrases. Let's talk about the Shmoneh Esrei (שמֹנֶה עֶשְׂרֵי), the Eighteen Benedictions, also known ...
It wasn't just a snap decision, that's for sure. According to the Megillah, the Book of Esther, Haman was very particular in his wicked plans. He didn't just pick a date out of thi...
Yikes. Talk about a misinterpretation. The "trumpets," of course, are the shofar, the ram's horn, whose blasts are meant to awaken our souls, to call us to repentance and introspec...
That’s what happened to Mordecai. He wrote down this dream, a cryptic vision, and later, when a terrible storm threatened to engulf the Jewish people, it was this dream that he rem...
There was another challenge: communication. Mordecai, her uncle and wise counselor, understood the gravity of the situation and knew Esther was the key to saving the Jewish people....
A shadow loomed large over the Jewish community. Haman, the king's wicked advisor, had plotted their annihilation. Mordecai, a righteous leader, knew that only divine intervention ...
It's easy to imagine them through our own lens, colored by sacred texts and centuries of tradition. But what did the rest of the world see? Well, let’s start with a rather unflatte...
We're diving into the writings of Manetho, an Egyptian priest and historian, and specifically, his account of the Exodus. Now, Josephus, the first-century Jewish historian, wasn’t ...
It's more than just a historical account; it's a defense of the Jewish people and their traditions. Josephus wants to set the record straight about Moses. He argues that when our a...
The historian Flavius Josephus, writing in his treatise Against Apion, thought he had the answer, at least when it came to the Jewish people. And it all came down to a specific app...
Our guide is Josephus, the first-century Romano-Jewish historian. In his work Against Apion, he defends Judaism against its detractors. And in doing so, he offers a fascinating, an...
It started from a rooftop. Late one evening, David—king of Israel, conqueror of nations, the man after God's own heart—looked down from his palace and saw a woman bathing. Her name...
In the space of twenty years, the throne of Israel changed hands five times, and almost every transfer was soaked in blood. Zachariah, son of Jeroboam, lasted six months before his...
The Temple was rebuilt, but the real crisis was internal. Josephus records that when the returnees from Babylon laid the foundation, the Samaritans—descendants of foreigners whom A...
Jewish mysticism, specifically through the lens of gilgul (reincarnation), offers an intriguing perspective on this feeling. The Sha'ar HaGilgulim, a core text on the Kabbalistic u...
The Sha’ar HaGilgulim (the reincarnation of souls), the "Gate of Reincarnations," part of the teachings of the Ari, Rabbi Isaac Luria, a 16th-century Kabbalist, offers a fascinatin...
The Kabbalists, especially in texts like Sha'ar HaGilgulim (the reincarnation of souls), the "Gate of Reincarnations," offer a fascinating, intricate, and ultimately hopeful perspe...
The "Gate of Reincarnations," Adam's sin didn't just affect him; it fractured the very essence of his being. Think of it like this: just as our physical bodies are made up of count...
Jewish mysticism offers a fascinating, and sometimes challenging, answer: gilgul (the reincarnation of souls), or reincarnation. Now, reincarnation isn't exactly a mainstream Jewis...
The Kabbalists have a fascinating way of looking at it, especially when it comes to the concept of gilgul (the reincarnation of souls), or reincarnation. It's not just about coming...
We're diving into Sha'ar HaGilgulim (the reincarnation of souls) (the reincarnation of souls), "The Gate of Reincarnations," specifically section 3. It’s a dense text, but it revea...
Jewish mysticism offers a fascinating, if complex, answer: gilgul (the reincarnation of souls), or reincarnation. Now, when we talk about gilgul, we're not just talking about a sim...
Today, we’re diving into a specific scenario: what happens when someone dies without children, failing to fulfill the mitzvah, the commandment, of Pru u'rvu, "be fruitful and multi...
The concept of gilgul (the reincarnation of souls), or reincarnation, in Jewish mysticism offers some fascinating perspectives on just that. We find some intricate details in the S...
Today, we're diving into a particularly intriguing text, Sha’ar HaGilgulim (the reincarnation of souls) (the reincarnation of souls) – "The Gate of Reincarnations" – specifically s...
Jewish mystical tradition offers a fascinating perspective on this, particularly through the lens of reincarnation, or gilgul. Now, reincarnation isn't just about one soul bouncing...
The Kabbalists certainly did, and they developed intricate systems to explain it. One of the most fascinating? The concept of gilgul (the reincarnation of souls), or reincarnation....
It's about a fundamental change, a deep cleansing of the soul. But how deep does that cleansing need to go? Baal HaSulam, in his introduction to the Zohar, delves into this very qu...
He saw a spiritual drought gripping his generation, a darkness born from something quite specific: a decline in faith. Not just any faith, but faith in the wisdom of the ages, in t...
That's the atmosphere that hangs heavy in the opening of Heikhalot (the heavenly palaces) Rabbati, a mystical text describing heavenly ascents and divine secrets. Rabbi Ishmael, a ...
It's a wild ride of heavenly ascent and divine secrets. In this particular passage, Rabbi Ishmael encounters Seganzegael, a powerful angelic being, the Prince of the Presence. Now,...
It’s a powerful image, isn’t it? The freedom, the potential… “Blessed be thou, O Lord, who art wise in secrets and master of hidden things. Amen. Amen...." But what if that ladder ...
You've brushed up against the world of the Heikhalot (the heavenly palaces) literature, the mystical ascent to God's throne room. And within that, we find passages like this one fr...
Not intentionally, of course. But perhaps it sparked a thought that took you down a winding path, further and further from where you started? Jewish tradition certainly grapples wi...
That’s the tightrope walk described in Mitpachat Sefarim, a text whose name literally means "The Wrapping of Books." It's a fascinating glimpse into the editorial choices made when...
That's the raw emotion pouring out of this passage from Mitpachat Sefarim, a text whose name literally means "Wrapping of Books." It’s a passionate, almost desperate plea, a defens...
It’s not just about planting saplings and hugging trunks (though, hey, those are good too!). The celebration of Tu BiShvat, the 15th of the Hebrew month of Shevat, as a "New Year f...
