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The Torah tells us God instructed Abraham: "Take your son, your favored one, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of t...
His twelve sons, the progenitors of the twelve tribes of Israel, are gathered around him. They’re not just there to say goodbye. They're there for something more. According to Targ...
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,...
It might just be thirty-six ordinary people. These aren't kings or prophets. They're not wealthy philanthropists or celebrated scholars. They are the Lamed-vav Tzaddikim (a righteo...
It’s a question that has captivated sages and storytellers for millennia, and the answer, like so many things in Jewish tradition, is layered with meaning. Imagine a world freshly ...
Jewish tradition is full of surprises. And one of the most striking is the image of the Messiah, not as a triumphant king, but as someone held captive, waiting for us to set him fr...
Jewish tradition has a lot to say about it, and it’s pretty . Imagine a world without the sun or moon. I know, sounds like science fiction. But the prophet Isaiah, in chapter 60, v...
It’s a question that’s been pondered for millennia. And while Jewish tradition offers glimpses, it often leaves us with more questions than answers. But that's part of the beauty, ...
The Jewish tradition has a lot to say about the Olam Ha-Ba, the World to Come. And some of it might surprise you. One image, found in Eliyahu Rabbah, paints a pretty cozy picture. ...
We get glimpses, whispers, from our tradition. And some of them are Take this one, about the skin of the Leviathan... So, picture this: the World to Come, Olam Ha-Ba (the World to ...
The ancient sages pondered these very feelings, especially when thinking about the fate of the Jewish people. Midrash Tehillim, a collection of interpretations on the Book of Psalm...
The ancient rabbis felt that too. And they found echoes of that feeling in the Psalms, in the very words of King David. Take Psalm 9, for instance. It contains the plea: "Chananeni...
This feeling, this sense of divine distance, is at the heart of Midrash Tehillim 10, a powerful exploration of our relationship with the Divine. The midrash, a form of Jewish bibli...
King David, a man familiar with enemies both within and without, knew exactly where to run: to God. (Psalm 11:1) starts, "To the chief musician, a psalm of David: In the Lord I hav...
That’s the kind of feeling we’re exploring today, a feeling that resonates deeply within Jewish tradition, particularly concerning the Temple in Jerusalem and the ever-present Shek...
Midrash Tehillim, a collection of rabbinic commentaries on the Book of Psalms, offers a fascinating glimpse, particularly when it comes to (Psalm 11:7): "For the Lord is righteous,...
Midrash Tehillim, an ancient collection of interpretations on the Book of Psalms, offers a powerful, almost startling answer: tzedakah, charity. But not just any kind of giving. It...
The ancient rabbis grappled with this feeling too, especially when thinking about our relationship with the land and with God. Midrash Tehillim, a collection of rabbinic interpreta...
Midrash Tehillim, a collection of interpretations on the Book of Psalms, explores this idea through a fascinating lens. It all starts with the verse from Hosea (14:6): "I will be l...
Our sages certainly did. They spoke of a profound connection to the Divine, a longing to dwell in God's presence. And they captured it beautifully in Midrash Tehillim, specifically...
Midrash Tehillim, specifically Midrash Tehillim 75, grapples with this very idea, drawing upon verses from Psalms and Genesis to paint a compelling picture. The midrash (rabbinic i...
We know the story from Genesis, but the Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary), those incredible collections of rabbinic interpretations and expansions on the Hebrew Bible, off...
The story opens with a sage, simply called Rabbi, deeply engrossed in defining the precise borders of the tribe of Benjamin. Now, Benjamin was one of the twelve tribes of Israel, e...
Really adrift. Just you and the vast, unknowable ocean. It's a powerful image, isn't it? And according to the ancient sages, it's also a pretty accurate metaphor for life itself. M...
We often take clouds for granted, but Midrash Tehillim, an ancient collection of rabbinic interpretations of the Book of Psalms, offers us a surprisingly profound peek into their s...
It’s not random. There's a beautiful and intricate choreography to our relationship with the Divine. Take, for example, the dedication of the Mishkan, the Tabernacle. The Book of N...
A fascinating and imaginative work of Jewish literature, the angels created on the second day of creation are quite the versatile bunch. When they're sent as messengers, they trans...
It paints a picture of the divine court, a place of unimaginable power and awe. It's a scene that's both terrifying and breathtaking. Imagine this: Right next to the very throne of...
Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer, an ancient and fascinating Midrashic (rabbinic interpretive commentary) text, gives us a glimpse into a truly remarkable cosmology. It paints a picture of t...
We all know the basic outline – wickedness, angels, fire and brimstone – but some of the details tucked away in Jewish tradition add layers of complexity and, frankly, a lot of hea...
It's a collection of stories and interpretations of the Torah, attributed to Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrcanus, a prominent sage from the first century. It's not quite Midrash (rabbinic i...
Our story today, drawn from Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer, a fascinating collection of stories and interpretations of the Torah, touches on just such a moment in the life of Abraham. The ...
Our story today circles around the Akeidah, the Binding of Isaac, a pivotal moment in Jewish tradition. Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer, a fascinating early medieval text filled with aggadi...
Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer, a fascinating collection of stories and teachings, explores just that. Specifically, Chapter 34 reveals five silent screams that traverse the world, unseen ...
We’re diving into some fascinating details from Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer, specifically chapter 36, a text brimming with tantalizing tidbits. Rabbi Eliezer paints a vivid picture of J...
Sometimes, digging into the details reveals surprising connections and enduring echoes. Take, for example, a seemingly obscure passage in Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer, Chapter 39. It sta...
The answer, my friends, might be more profound than you think. The text we're looking at comes from Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer, a fascinating collection of stories and interpretations ...
The Israelites certainly did, wandering in the wilderness after the incredible Exodus from Egypt. And their doubts, as we'll see, had serious consequences. Rabbi Jochanan, son of N...
Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer, chapter 45, explains why the tribe of Levi did not collapse with the rest of Israel at the Golden Calf. The Rabbi points out that "All the princes were not ...
It's a story of intense longing, divine protection, and a glimpse into the unknowable. Imagine Moses, up on Mount Sinai. He's already had quite the encounter with the Almighty, rec...
It's more than just checking the calendar. According to ancient tradition, there was a time when the connection between the earthly and heavenly realms was so clear, so palpable, t...
The prophet Yirmiyahu (Jeremiah) pulls no punches. He declares, in Yirmiyahu 32:31, that Jerusalem has aroused God's anger and wrath "since the day they built it until this day, to...
It wasn’t just about hygiene; it was deeply connected to their relationship with the Divine. to a passage from Sifrei Bamidbar, a fascinating collection of legal interpretations on...
In the book of Bamidbar – Numbers, in English – we find a fascinating passage that deals precisely with this: the idea of sacred space, separation, and the surprising presence of t...
It’s a theme that echoes even in the most ancient texts, like the story of Yithro, Moses’ father-in-law. In the Book of Numbers (Bamidbar) 10:30, we find a fascinating exchange. Mo...
Take Yitro, Moses' father-in-law. He gave Moses invaluable advice on leadership, and his descendants, well, their story is In the Book of Numbers, Bamidbar, chapter 10, verse 32, M...
Something that makes you wonder, "Why is that there?" Well, let's talk about a strange little section tucked away in the Book of Numbers, Bamidbar. Specifically, Bamidbar 10:35: "A...
It’s a seeming contradiction that the ancient rabbis grappled with. How do we reconcile these verses? The Sifrei Bamidbar, a collection of legal and narrative interpretations on th...
