4,128 texts · Page 9 of 86
Not the talking donkey one, though that’s the same guy! We find him popping up in all sorts of unexpected places in Jewish tradition, always stirring the pot. Here, we find him off...
Seriously close. We all know the story: Pharaoh, terrified by the growing Israelite population, orders all newborn Hebrew boys to be thrown into the Nile. A brutal decree born of f...
The stakes were unbelievably high. Pharaoh, consumed by his fears of a Hebrew savior, wasn't just passively waiting for something to happen. He was actively trying to prevent it. A...
It’s a story ripe with divine intervention, clever tests, and a whole lot of fire. As the tale goes, when Moses was just a babe in arms, the king – some say it was Pharaoh himself,...
The ancient texts offer some fascinating glimpses. Imagine this: the young Moses, raised in Pharaoh's court, becomes a student. But not just any student. According to Legends of th...
There's a fascinating story in Ginzberg's Legends of the Jews that tackles this very question, and it involves none other than Moses himself. So, picture this: An Arabian king comm...
We find ourselves in Egypt, where the Israelites are suffering under harsh oppression. One particularly cruel Egyptian taskmaster has not only abused his power, but has committed a...
He sees an Egyptian taskmaster brutally beating an Israelite. Something snaps. But it wasn’t brute force that Moses used. No weapon was needed. According to Legends of the Jews, Mo...
Here's Moses, destined to lead the Israelites out of slavery, to receive the Torah – the first five books of the Hebrew Bible – at Mount Sinai. Yet, according to tradition, he wasn...
That's exactly what happened. Moses arrives, ready to lead, and Dathan and Abiram, prominent Israelites, meet him with hostility. "Comest thou hither to slay us?" they ask, implyin...
A heavy scene. That's where we find ourselves with a certain king in the Legends of the Jews (Ginzberg). He's surrounded by Queen Alfar'anit and his nobles, all weeping, as he prep...
Apparently, the old king didn't go peacefully. According to Ginzberg's Legends of the Jews, he died in utter shame and disgrace, a repulsive figure to everyone. They buried him in ...
There's a lot more to that thorny shrub than meets the eye. Our tradition teaches us that the choice was far from arbitrary. In fact, the humble thorn-bush, or seneh in Hebrew, was...
Some of the Jewish mystical tradition points to a pretty incredible source: the heavens themselves. Imagine Moses, not just receiving the Torah on Mount Sinai, but first journeying...
Your name is tied to your identity, your reputation. But what about God’s name? What does that tell us? The story goes that Moses, finally convinced he had to be the one to lead th...
The story goes that Moses, up on Mount Sinai, wasn’t just getting the Ten Commandments. He was getting a download of, well, everything. The past, the present, and, crucially, the f...
Well, according to legend, Moses actually got pretty close. The stories tell us that Moses, yearning for a deeper connection with the divine, pleaded with God to reveal His Great a...
Moses certainly did. Imagine this: God asks you to go on a little errand. No biggie. But before you can even answer, God gives you a sneak peek – not just of the future, but of the...
We know the broad strokes: they demanded freedom for the Israelites. But what about the nitty-gritty of that confrontation? What exactly did they say, and how did Pharaoh react? Th...
The story of his confrontation with God, as told in Legends of the Jews (Ginzberg), is a masterclass in divine clapback. Pharaoh, the most powerful ruler on earth, puffed up with e...
It's easy to think of them as just escalating horrors, but sometimes the sequence itself holds a clue. Let's look at the plague of the frogs, the second of the ten, and see what we...
The ancient stories wrestle with these questions, too. Take the story of Pharaoh and the plagues in Egypt. We all know the story: Moses demands freedom for the Israelites, Pharaoh ...
It wasn't just about getting cheap labor back, oh no. According to the ancient stories, it was something far more sinister. The Legends of the Jews tells us the Egyptians weren't a...
Panic sets in. What do you do? This is the situation the Israelites found themselves in, fleeing slavery, with the seemingly endless Red Sea before them and Pharaoh's forces hot on...
The story begins with God convening His celestial court, His "family" of angels. He's about to make a case, and He wants their input. As we learn in Legends of the Jews, God addres...
We know the biblical account, but what about the legends, the stories whispered in hushed tones across generations? Well, according to those whispers, Pharaoh never truly died. Ima...
That's what happened after the parting of the Red Sea. We all know the story: the Israelites, fleeing slavery in Egypt, trapped between the pursuing Egyptian army and the seemingly...
Real, desperate thirst in the desert. Then imagine spotting water! Relief washes over you, you rush to drink… and it’s bitter. Undrinkable. That’s what happened to the Israelites i...
They weren't just seeing the world; they were reading it like a sacred text. They saw more than just a landscape; they saw a mirror reflecting the destiny of their people. What did...
Some enemies hate you for what you've survived. No sooner did Amalek hear that the Israelites had finally escaped Egypt than he sprang into action. He raced after them, interceptin...
His father-in-law, JETHRO, saw it happening right before his eyes. The story goes that Moses, after the Exodus, was single-handedly acting as judge for the entire Israelite nation....
After the Exodus, leading the Israelites wasn't just about miracles and divine guidance. It was about… people. And as any leader knows, people can be complicated. We read in Legend...
It wasn't as simple as picking names out of a hat, that's for sure! After delivering his blessings, Moses tasked the people with finding suitable individuals to serve as judges and...
Today, let's talk about the descendants of Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law. You know, Jethro, the Midianite priest who gave Moses refuge and wise counsel. What happened to his family ...
It wasn't just about God wanting to give the Torah, you see. According to the legends, it was about who was receiving it. : right after the Exodus from Egypt, the Israelites weren'...
Turns out, according to some pretty amazing stories, it wasn't as simple as just saying "yes." Before that earth-shattering covenant, before the words were etched in stone, Moses, ...
The very voice of the Divine, booming forth, caused heaven and earth to shake. Can you picture it? The sheer power of it was so overwhelming that the people could barely stand. It ...
We often picture it as a booming voice echoing across the desert, but the rabbinic tradition paints a far more intricate – and frankly, – picture. Imagine this: to truly drive home...
We’re not just talking about the roof over your head when you were a kid, or the endless carpools. Jewish tradition takes it way deeper. It’s about the very building blocks of your...
He addressed them with words that still resonate today. He said: "God gave you the Torah and wrought marvels for you." It wasn’t just about receiving the law; it was about being ch...
We often talk about Moses receiving the Torah, but sometimes we forget the sheer, overwhelming experience of the Israelites at that moment. They didn't just get handed a book; they...
Jewish tradition has some pretty fascinating answers, and they all seem to point to one powerful angel: Raziel. Now, in some texts, he's known as Gallizur, but let's stick with Raz...
The luchot—that's Hebrew for "tablets"—were divine creations themselves, crafted by God's own hand during that mystical twilight time at the end of the first Sabbath. Ginzberg, in ...
The story goes that Moses actually fetched the tablets himself, from a diamond quarry that God pointed out to him. Imagine that! Not just receiving the word of God, but actively pa...
The story of Bezalel, the architect of the Mishkan (Tabernacle), offers a glimpse into that sacred space. Now, Bezalel wasn't just any craftsman. He came from impressive stock. Acc...
He was the master craftsman chosen to bring the Tabernacle to life. A true artist, filled "with the spirit of God, with wisdom, with understanding, with knowledge and with all kind...
Jewish tradition certainly thinks so, and it gives us some pretty compelling stories to illustrate this point. Think about the building of the Mishkan, the Tabernacle, that portabl...
God, in all His glory, gave Moses meticulous instructions on how to build it. Seems straightforward. Wrong. According to Ginzberg's retelling in Legends of the Jews, poor Moses des...
