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Judah Maccabee did not wait to be attacked. According to the Chronicles of Jerahmeel, a 12th-century Hebrew chronicle preserved by Moses Gaster in 1899, when the Macedonian general...
When Judah Maccabee and the Hassidim entered Jerusalem, the Temple was an abomination. According to the Chronicles of Jerahmeel, a 12th-century Hebrew chronicle preserved by Moses ...
Antiochus Eupator, son of the infamous Antiochus Epiphanes, inherited his father's hatred of the Jews. According to the Chronicles of Jerahmeel, a 12th-century Hebrew chronicle pre...
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...
After Antiochus Eupator fell to Demetrius son of Seleucus, a new threat emerged—and this time it came from a Jewish traitor. According to the Chronicles of Jerahmeel, a 12th-centur...
The stone god fell on its face. That was the beginning of everything. Abraham worked in his father's idol shop. Every day he carved gods out of stone and wood and metal for Terah, ...
The vision shifted. Abraham saw something that struck closer to home than the cosmic sins of Cain and Desire. He saw an idol standing inside a Temple. The idol of jealousy. It look...
A demon was feeding on a child. Every evening, after the workers building the Temple in Jerusalem finished their labor, a spirit called Ornias descended upon the boy who served the...
The boy dragged the demon Ornias to the palace gates. The spirit stood there shuddering, trembling, crying out and offering silver and gold to anyone who would free him. But no one...
Solomon asked Onoskelis one final question: "Under what star do you pass?" "Under the full moon," she answered, "because the moon travels over most things." "And what angel defeats...
Solomon pressed Beelzeboul further. "If you want a respite from your labor, tell me about the things in heaven." The prince of demons leaned forward. "If you burn gum, incense, and...
A demon without a head was brought before Solomon. It had all the limbs of a man — arms, legs, torso — but where the head should have been, there was nothing. Just a stump above th...
A winged dragon with the face and hands of a man rolled into Solomon's court. Its body was scaled like a serpent, but its limbs were human, and great wings folded against its back....
The thirty-sixth and final zodiac demon, Bianakith, confessed: "I lay waste houses and cause flesh to decay. But if a man writes certain holy names on the front door of his home, I...
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...
It’s a question that’s captivated mystics and theologians for centuries. Our tradition offers some pretty wild and wondrous answers! According to Legends of the Jews, that incredib...
Jewish tradition has some pretty incredible answers. to the very first day of creation. According to Legends of the Jews by Ginzberg, on day one, God brought forth ten things. : te...
Just as fish were formed from water and birds from boggy earth, mammals were formed from solid earth. And among these, we find some truly remarkable beings. Take Behemot, for examp...
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...
Jewish tradition offers some breathtakingly beautiful, and frankly, wild, ideas about the journey of the soul. One particularly vivid picture involves Adam, the first man, acting a...
It wasn't always peaceful. The story of Cain and Abel, the first brothers, is a chilling tale of jealousy, resentment, and ultimately, fratricide. But according to tradition, the s...
He wasn't just wandering aimlessly, marked by God. According to the Legends of the Jews, as retold by Ginzberg, Cain was acutely aware of the divine decree that his blood-guiltines...
We often hear about the wickedness of humankind, but some fascinating stories lurk beneath the surface, involving fallen angels, giants, and divine justice. According to Legends of...
Sounds… intense. That’s what Noah faced. But what happened after the floodwaters receded? You might think it was all sunshine and rainbows, but the story, as the Legends of the Jew...
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...
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 ...
We often think of Abraham's journey as beginning with the covenant God made with him, the "covenant of the pieces," promising him descendants as numerous as the stars. But as Legen...
As retold by Ginzberg, the angels who were sent to destroy these cities didn't rush in with fiery vengeance. No, these were angels of mercy. They lingered, hoping, perhaps against ...
The story, as we find it elaborated upon in Legends of the Jews by Ginzberg, takes us far beyond the spare verses of Genesis. It paints a vivid picture, filled with dialogue and em...
The story begins with Abraham, who, concerned about finding the right wife for his son Isaac, sends his trusted servant Eliezer on a mission to Haran. Eliezer is laden with gifts a...
That's precisely what happened to Abraham. The story goes that the archangel Michael, under divine command, took Abraham on a whirlwind tour high above the earth. Picture this: Abr...
Trust me, this is a tale you won't soon forget. According to the Legends of the Jews, Isaac, son of Abraham, was a chip off the old block. He mirrored his father in every way—beaut...
Isaac's life was, in many ways, a mirror image of his father Abraham's. : Abraham had to leave his birthplace. So did Isaac. Abraham faced the risk of losing his wife. Isaac, too. ...
The story of Isaac blessing Jacob instead of Esau is definitely one of those moments. It’s a story filled with deception, family drama, and a bit of divine intervention, and it's f...
The traditional texts offer some fascinating, and frankly, unsettling insights into Esau's true character and the events surrounding that infamous stolen blessing. According to Leg...
His journey to Haran was no ordinary trip – it was, according to tradition, a day absolutely packed with divine intervention, a veritable whirlwind of the wondrous! Ginzberg, in hi...
The Torah tells us that after wrestling with an angel all night, Jacob was left with a limp. But that wasn't the end of the story! According to Legends of the Jews by Ginzberg, the...
The weight of a vow to the Almighty, left unfulfilled. According to Legends of the Jews, as retold by Ginzberg, Jacob found himself in just such a predicament. He'd made a vow at B...
In the house of Jacob, that dance of happiness and grief played out on a grand scale. Let's rewind. Remember Deborah, Rebekah's nurse? She wasn't just a caregiver; she was family. ...
That's the story of Joseph, whose relationship with his brothers is one of the most dramatic and heartbreaking in the Torah. It all started with Joseph's "talebearing," as Ginzberg...
The story of Joseph, sold into slavery by his own brothers, is a prime example. It's a painful tale, but rich with layers of meaning. The brothers, remember, are plotting Joseph's ...
It all revolves around Joseph’s coat – that infamous coat of many colors. The story goes that after selling Joseph into slavery, Jacob's sons were immediately overcome with regret....
They'd already made one harrowing trip to Egypt for food during a devastating famine. But now, the meager supplies they brought back were gone. The little children were crying, beg...
That's the situation Joseph finds himself in as the story in Genesis reaches its climax. We've seen Joseph rise to power in Egypt, second only to Pharaoh himself. We've seen his br...
That’s kind of the place Jacob was in. Years had passed since he last saw his beloved son, Joseph. He believed Joseph was dead, and the grief was a heavy cloak he wore every day. B...
