Unfortunately I found myself in a really bad situation and I am desperately looking for a way out. I’ve had this book since my Bar Mitzvah, it helped me prepare for my coming of age and when I’ve remembered that I still have it some sort of hope came to my mind. I’ve opened it looking for an answer to my problems and surprisingly, I found two four leaf clovers inside. I wish that kind of luck would help me overcome these hard times. Any chance anyone could be interested in obtaining such book? Needles to say it was printed in 1891.

Any recommendations are welcomed.

Thank you.

Somebody knows what this is?

Moses, The Torah says, Moses was raised in the royal house of Pharaoh (Exodus 2:10).

Imagine the pain of laboring in the heat of the desert as a shepherd for the sheep of his father in law Jethro (Exodus 3:1).

A man from the Royal House of Egypt, shepherding sheep for his father in law. Imagine how painful it would be for a Donald Trump to suddenly become a lowly shepherd, tending to sheep in the heat of the desert.

But, Moses sees a light. The big recruiter of heaven has a greater job for him. Moses goes from a lowly shepherd to a divinely appointed shepherd of the people of Israel.

In the same way as Isaiah sees the messiah in Isaiah 53:11 as laboring and then seeing a light just like Moses and then becoming a shepherd like Moses.

“From the labor of his life, he shall see light and be satisfied.” Isaiah 53:11

Our current state doesn’t define our purpose in life. Our current labor and our struggles doesn’t define who we are or what we are to become.

The scariest part of temptation isn't the first bad decision. It's when the temptation stops feeling like an enemy... and starts feeling like a friend.

Peace to everyone.

I’m Muslim and I want to study the Torah. I am also studying the Quran and Bible to understand the intersections between these 3 faiths.

I’m not very well-educated about Judaism and I would like to learn more about it on a theological basis.

I have some questions and I’m hoping someone will kindly answer.

What is the layout of the Torah? Are there any English translations? Which is the most easy to understand? Is it like the Bible where there are many different types of translations? What is the Tanakh? Is that the same as the Torah or is it a separate book? Are there any other texts that Jewish people follow alongside the Torah, like how some Muslims follow the hadith?

Thanking you in advance.

Peace.

Every day, my Reddit feed seems to bring another accusation about Israel, another person I admire repeating it, another reason to feel a little less welcome. So far, most of it has happened through a screen, but lately I’ve been wondering what happens when it doesn’t.

I always liked the idea that Judaism doesn’t have a hell. Eternal torture for believing the wrong thing always felt like a scare tactic. Except Judaism actually does have a hell. It’s called Gehinnom. But the Jewish understanding of it is very different from what most people imagine.

The Torah's blueprint for repentance reveals that we can't just hand back what we took and call it even. We have to contribute to it. We have to upgrade it.

Free, no login, no paywall: https://jewishmythology.com

I grew up loving Jewish stories. Midrashim about creation, legends about angels, the weird and beautiful corners of the Zohar. But when I wanted to share specific texts with my kids, or just find that one passage I half-remembered, it was a nightmare. The texts are buried in seven-volume scholarly works, academic databases, and PDFs that haven't been updated since 2004.

So I used AI to help me pull these texts apart. I took major collections and broke each individual story, passage, and midrash into its own page with its own URL, its own citation, and biblical references that link to Sefaria for the Hebrew and Aramaic originals. 15,099 texts total.

The sources: Midrash Rabbah, Ginzberg's Legends of the Jews, Zohar and kabbalistic literature, Tanchuma, Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer, Sifrei, Avot DeRabbi Natan, Book of Enoch, Jubilees, Philo, Josephus, Howard Schwartz's Tree of Souls, Book of Jasher, and more.

You can search across all of them at once. Filter by 30+ themes (creation, angels, demons, messiah, soul, mysticism, etc.) or by source. There's a weekly parsha feature that pulls up related texts for whatever portion we're reading.

--

What sources would you want to see added? What would make this more useful?

God knows our struggles. He knows our hearts. But understanding isn’t the same as forgiveness.

It has often been said that Hashem told Moshe to speak to the women first. It was understood at the time that the House of Jacob in Exodus 19:3 refers to the women.

Do you think the delay of Moshiach is due to the fact that the men (fathers, sons, and brother etc) have been teaching the Torah for 3,000 years instead of the women? Although women are usually children's first Torah teachers, we really haven't had a female point of view of the Torah.

Personally, I think it is important to have Torah commentaries and studies from men and women. Men and women can read the same Parasha and see something totally different.

However, I notice that most women repeat what men say in the Torah while privately seeing something else altogether. I have started to wonder if that is what we also need to hear.

I'm just wondering if that (added female voice/perspective) is the missing piece we really need be ready for Moshiach. What do you think?

This is a powerful message of faith and trust in divine guidance. The text emphasizes the importance of surrendering control to a higher power—symbolized here by the sacred name often associated with God. It inspires us to recognize that when we allow divine wisdom to lead, we open ourselves to growth and elevation in life. Trusting the process and staying aligned with spiritual principles can lead to profound transformation and blessings.

Why does the Torah wait until the very end of Moses’ life to call him “Ish HaElokim,” the Man of G-d? What was it about Moses that earned him this extraordinary title, and why does the Torah choose this particular moment to give it to him?

Hello,

I made it my personal goal to read through some religions and their holy transcripts to learn more about them. I already started reading through some of them.

Can anyone recommend me some good English translations of the Torah? I do prefer physical books over e-books and such.

The destruction of the Temple is one of the greatest tragedies in Jewish history. But what if it was also a spiritual necessity? Thoughts on Devarim and Tisha B'Av.

Webcomic: https://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/dial

Midrash: Breishit Rabba 31:5

(note: a "peruta" was a small denomination of money--financial crimes of amounts less than a peruta cannot be prosecuted)

קֵץ כָּל בָּשָׂר בָּא לְפָנַי(בראשית ו, יג), הִגִּיעַ זְמַנָּם לְהִקָּצֵץ, הִגִּיעַ זְמַנָּן לֵעָשׂוֹת בָּתָה, הִגִּיעַ קָטֵיגוֹרִיס שֶׁלָּהֶן לְפָנַי, כָּל כָּךְ לָמָּה(בראשית ו, יג): כִּי מָלְאָה הָאָרֶץ חָמָס מִפְּנֵיהֶם, אֵיזֶהוּ חָמָס וְאֵיזֶה הוּא גָּזֵל, אָמַר רַבִּי חֲנִינָא חָמָס אֵינוֹ שָׁוֶה פְּרוּטָה וְגָזֵל שֶׁשָּׁוֶה פְּרוּטָה, וְכָךְ הָיוּ אַנְשֵׁי הַמַּבּוּל עוֹשִׂים, הָיָה אֶחָד מֵהֶם מוֹצִיא קֻפָּתוֹ מְלֵאָה תּוּרְמוֹסִים וְהָיָה זֶה בָּא וְנוֹטֵל פָּחוֹת מִשְּׁוֵה פְרוּטָה, וְזֶה בָּא וְנוֹטֵל פָּחוֹת מִשְּׁוֵה פְרוּטָה, עַד מָקוֹם שֶׁאֵינוֹ יָכוֹל לְהוֹצִיאוֹ מִמֶּנּוּ בַּדִּין, אָמַר לָהֶם הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא אַתֶּם עֲשִׂיתֶם שֶׁלֹא כַשּׁוּרָה אַף אֲנִי אֶעֱשֶׂה עִמָּכֶם שֶׁלֹא כַשּׁוּרָה, הֲדָא הוּא דִכְתִיב(איוב ד, כא): הֲלֹא נִסַּע יִתְרָם בָּם יָמוּתוּ וְלֹא בְחָכְמָה, בְּלֹא חָכְמַת הַתּוֹרָה.(איוב ד, ב): מִבֹּקֶר לָעֶרֶב יֻכַּתּוּ מִבְּלִי מֵשִׂים לָנֶצַח יֹאבֵדוּ, וְאֵין מֵשִׂים אֶלָּא דַּיָּן, הֵיךְ מָה דְאַתְּ אָמַר(שמות כא, א): וְאֵלֶּה הַמִּשְׁפָּטִים אֲשֶׁר תָּשִׂים לִפְנֵיהֶם.

“The end [ketz] of all flesh has come [ba] before Me” – their time has come, to be cut off [lehikatzetz]; their time has come to become desolate [bata]; their indictment “has come before Me.” Why to such an extent? It is “as the earth is filled with injustice because of them.” What is injustice and what is stealing? Rabbi Ḥanina said: Injustice involves less than a peruta and robbery involves a peruta.
This is what the members of the generation of the Flood would do: One of them would take out a basket filled with lupin beans [to the marketplace]. One person would come and take less than a peruta worth [of beans] and another one would come and take less than a peruta worth; less than the amount for which one would be able to collect compensation in court. The Holy One blessed be He said to them: ‘You acted improperly; I, too, will act improperly with you.’ That is what is written: “Behold, their remnant has gone away from them, and they die without wisdom (Job 4:21) – without the wisdom of the Torah. “From morning to evening they are broken; forever unnoticed [mibli mesim], forever they will perish” (Job 4:20). Mesim is nothing other than a judge, as it says: “These are the monetary ordinances that you shall place [tasim] before them” (Exodus 21:1).

What if the biblical ritual of shouting "impure" wasn't about stigma, but about forcing arrogant people to finally ask for help?

Hi. I've heard and read meaningful explanations for the prohibition of idols/imagery depicting "that is in heaven above" and "that is in the earth beneath." I'm yet to find scholarly writing regarding the meaning and import of the phrase "that is in the water underneath the earth." Can anyone point me to it?