5,112 texts · Page 38 of 107
The Mekhilta continues its analysis of how the prohibition against eating meat cooked in milk is established in Torah law. The argument proceeds by comparing meat and milk to other...
Rebbi — Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi — examines one of the most famous dietary laws in the Torah: "You shall not cook a kid in its mother's milk" (Exodus 23:19). This prohibition appears t...
Can goat's milk be used to cook sheep's flesh? The species are different — goats and sheep — but both are domesticated livestock. The Mekhilta extends the prohibition through yet a...
"You shall not cook a goat in its mother's milk" — the Mekhilta derives from this verse that the cooking prohibition applies specifically to meat and milk, and not to other combina...
"It is a sign forever" — the Mekhilta derives from this phrase that the Sabbath will never be lost from Israel. No matter what happens — exile, persecution, assimilation pressures ...
Jewish tradition has some fascinating, and surprisingly relatable, ideas. One captivating story, found in Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary) Aleph Bet (5:8-9), suggests tha...
Jewish tradition has a powerful and beautiful answer: the Ruah ha-Kodesh, the Holy Spirit. According to tradition, before the Throne of Glory, before angels, before even the stars ...
One of my favorite images is this: God carries everything beneath His arms. Not just a gentle embrace, but a sustaining act of holding. According to some mystical traditions, God's...
Jewish tradition, especially in the mystical and rabbinic realms, actually gives us some fascinating imagery about this. It suggests that God didn't just speak the world into exist...
The Torah actually grapples with this very question, and the answer, as you might expect, is layered and fascinating. : Moses, standing before the burning bush, is tasked with lead...
The story I want to share with you comes from the Talmud and it’s about Rabbi Ishmael ben Elisha, the High Priest, and a truly extraordinary encounter. Imagine this: Rabbi Ishmael ...
Jewish tradition paints a picture of a voice so powerful, so overwhelming, that it's almost beyond comprehension. We're told that God saved His full voice for a pivotal moment in h...
It’s a question that’s haunted mystics and theologians for centuries. And while Jewish tradition generally holds that no one can see God and live, there are whispers and echoes in ...
The Torah, in its own way, grapples with this very question. We find ourselves in the Book of Exodus, a pivotal moment in the story of the Israelites. Moses is about to ascend Moun...
We often think of God as all-knowing, all-powerful, the ultimate authority... but what if I told you there's a tradition that suggests God, too, is a student? It's a fascinating id...
Jewish tradition, in its wonderfully audacious way, even imagines God putting on a tallit and tefillin (leather phylacteries worn during prayer). Yes, you read that right. God, wra...
We often think of prayer as something we do, a way to connect with the Divine. But Jewish tradition sometimes paints a different picture, one where God, in a sense, prays too. How ...
We often picture God as all-powerful, creating worlds and intervening in human affairs. But did you know there's a tradition that imagines God as… a Torah scholar? It’s true! The B...
We, with our messy emotions and tear-streaked faces, tend to project a lot onto the Divine. But Jewish tradition actually gives us some incredibly vivid, even surreal, images of Go...
The Talmud tells us a wild story about Rabbah bar Bar Hannah, a figure whose legendary travels are filled with unbelievable encounters (B. Bava Batra 73a). On one of these journeys...
They’ve journeyed far, and now, they're about to experience something beyond comprehension. Exodus 19 tells us that on the third day, as morning broke, the atmosphere crackled with...
There is a way, a glimpse, perhaps, of the Divine Presence – the Shekhinah (the Divine Presence)? The Shekhinah, a Hebrew word often translated as "dwelling" or "presence," represe...
In Jewish tradition, we have a name for that Divine Presence: the Shekhinah (the Divine Presence). And there's a place where the veil between worlds is said to be especially thin: ...
Bava Metzia 59b), a story about rabbinic authority and, surprisingly, God's good-natured acceptance of it. It all starts with a disagreement. Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrcanus, a renowned...
It might surprise you. Imagine all the angels gathered, a celestial court in session. They turn to the Master of the Universe himself and ask, "What day is Rosh ha-Shanah?" That's ...
It's more than just a colorful arc in the sky. It's a promise, a symbol, and, according to some, a glimpse of something truly extraordinary. The most familiar story, of course, con...
In Judaism, there's a pretty firm foundation: God created the world precisely when He chose to. But that leads to a whole host of other questions, doesn't it? What was before that ...
Before the sun, the moon, the stars... What illuminated the very first moments of creation? Jewish tradition tells us that the first thing God created wasn't a physical object, but...
The Torah tells us, "Let there be light" (Gen. 1:3). But what was that light? Jewish tradition answers with something truly special: the primordial light. And it wasn't just any li...
We're talking about a figure so powerful that, according to some, it was this angel who brought everything into existence. Think of it: this angel created not just the physical wor...
The Torah gives us a beautiful, evocative image: "Such is the story of heaven and earth when they were created. When the Lord God made earth and heaven—when no shrub of the field w...
Some traditions suggest that Adam, the first human, wasn't just made on Earth, but actually brought something vital to Earth – fire and light themselves! Imagine this: Before Adam ...
I'm not talking about some sci-fi creature, but a being from Jewish lore: the Ziz. Imagine this: a colossal bird, its feet planted in the ocean, the water only reaching its ankles....
The ancient rabbis certainly understood that feeling. They knew that the divine, in all its glory, could be both awe-inspiring and, frankly, terrifying. And sometimes, a good story...
We all know the story: Abraham, his faith tested to the absolute limit, is commanded to sacrifice his beloved son. But what about the ram, the creature that ultimately takes Isaac'...
Jewish tradition, particularly Kabbalah, offers some fascinating and intricate possibilities. It's not just about heaven or hell, but a whole cycle of transformation and, sometimes...
We all know the story: Abraham, tested by God, is commanded to sacrifice his beloved son. But what happened to Isaac in those heart-stopping moments? The familiar Genesis account l...
It's about four great sages who dared to enter Pardes – Paradise. The implications of this seemingly simple story have echoed through Jewish mysticism for centuries. Who were these...
This journey, often called "descending to the Merkavah (the Divine Chariot)" – the divine chariot – is fraught with peril. And perhaps the most dangerous point of all? The entrance...
Kafka’s parable, "Before the Law," from his novel The Trial, speaks to that feeling in a way that few stories can. It's a tale that resonates deeply, and while it's often interpret...
Jewish tradition hints at such possibilities, particularly through the mystical exploration of the Divine Chariot, the Ma’aseh Merkavah (the Divine Chariot). Let's journey back in ...
Jewish mystical tradition speaks of something called the Pargod, and it's more fascinating than you might imagine. The Pargod (פרגוד) is described as an extraordinary curtain, a co...
We often think of the afterlife in terms of reward and punishment, but Jewish tradition offers a richer, more nuanced picture. It speaks of palaces in heaven, shimmering with light...
We often think of it as a place of eternal rest, but Jewish tradition paints a far more dynamic picture, especially when it comes to the Celestial Academy. Imagine a place where Go...
The most common tradition identifies Metatron as the angel who was once Enoch, the mortal man who "walked with God" (Genesis 5:24) and was transformed into the mightiest angel in h...
Jewish tradition has a fascinating answer, a story whispered through generations about an angel named Lailah. Lailah, the Angel of Conception, is like the midwife of souls. Accordi...
Jewish tradition holds a beautiful, almost whimsical idea about friendship: that it actually creates an angel. It’s said that each of us has a unique light burning for us in the wo...
Jewish tradition has some fascinating – and sobering – ideas about that transition. It's a moment watched over, judged, and ultimately, a reckoning. Imagine this: As a person breat...
