Encyclopedia - Rabbinic Literature: Encyclopedia - Rabbinic Literature
Rabbinic literature, in the broadest sense, can mean the entire spectrum of Judaism's rabbinic writing/s throughout history. However, the...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Rabbinic Literature: Encyclopedia Ii - Rabbinic Literature - Meforshim
Meforshim is a Hebrew word meaning "(classical rabbinical) commentators" (or roughly meaning "exegetes"), and is used as a substitute for...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Rabbinic Literature: Encyclopedia Ii - Rabbinic Literature - Later Works By Category
Rabbinic literature - Jewish law. Halakha is the Jewish way of life. Notable works in this category include: The major codes of Jewish...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Rabbinic Literature: Encyclopedia Ii - Rabbinic Literature - Later Works By Historical Period
Rabbinic literature - Works of the Geonim. The Geonim are the rabbis of Sura and Pumbeditha, in Babylon (650 - 1250) : She'iltoth...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Sarah: Encyclopedia - Sarah
Sarah (שָׂרָה "Princess", Standard Hebrew Sara, Tiberian Hebrew Śārāh, Arabic: سارة) is the wife of Abraham as described in ...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Bezalel: Encyclopedia - Bezalel
In Exodus 31:1-6, Bezalel is the chief architect of the Tabernacle. Elsewhere in the Bible the name occurs only in the genealogical lists...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Arnon: Encyclopedia - Arnon
A river and wadi of eastern Palestine, known in modern times in Arabic as Wadi al-Mawjib. The Hebrew name means perhaps "noisy," a term w...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Shewbread: Encyclopedia - Shewbread
Showbread, shewbread, Schaubrot, lechem (hap)pānīm(לחם פנים) refers to the twelve cakes or loaves of bread which were continuall...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Joshua: Encyclopedia - Joshua
Joshua or Yehoshúa (יְהוֹשֻׁעַ "The LORD of/is help/court", Standard Hebrew Yəhošúaʿ, Tiberian Hebrew Yəhôšuªʿ) is a ...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Shofar: Encyclopedia - Shofar
A shofar is a ram's horn that is used as a musical instrument for religious purposes. It is used on Judaism's high holy days of Rosh Hash...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Aaron's Rod: Encyclopedia - Aaron's Rod
Aaron's rod refers to any of the staffs carried by Moses' brother Aaron, one of which was transformed into a serpent (Exodus 7:8). Anothe...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Shavuot: Encyclopedia - Shavuot
Shavuot (Hebrew שבועות), ("[seven] weeks") (pronounced: shah-voo-OH-t) is one of the three Biblical pilgrimage festivals. It is a m...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Balaam: Encyclopedia - Balaam
Balaam (Hebrew בִּלְעָם, Standard Hebrew Bilʻam, Tiberian Hebrew Bilʻām) is a prophet in the torah, his story occurring toward...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Rosh Hashanah: Encyclopedia - Rosh Hashanah
This article is about the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah. For the tractate in the Talmud with the same name, see Rosh Hashanah (Talmu...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Circumcision In The Bible: Encyclopedia - Circumcision In The Bible
Circumcision, when practiced as a rite, has its foundations in the Bible and is therefore practiced by Jews and Muslims and some Christia...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Samson: Encyclopedia - Samson
Samson or Shimshon (שִׁמְשׁוֹן "Of the sun" (perhaps proclaiming he was radiant and mighty) or "[One who] Serves [God]", Stand...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Curse: Encyclopedia - Curse
A curse is the effective action of supernatural (or psychological) cause in an individual, group, or object's existence, distinguished so...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Role Of Women In Judaism: Encyclopedia - Role Of Women In Judaism
The role of women in Judaism is determined by the Hebrew Bible, Talmud (oral law), tradition and by non-religious cultural factors. The B...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Belshazzar: Encyclopedia - Belshazzar
Belshazzar (or Baltasar; Akkadian Bel-sarra-usur) was a prince of Babylon, the son of Nabonidus, the last king of Babylon. In the Book of...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Aaron: Encyclopedia - Aaron
Aaron (אַהֲרֹן, a word meaning "bearer of martyrs" in Hebrew (perhaps also, or instead, related to the Egyptian "Aha Rw," "Warrior...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Demon: Encyclopedia - Demon
In religion, folklore, and mythology a demon or demoness is a supernatural being that has generally been described as a malevolent spirit...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Hell: Encyclopedia - Hell
Hell is, according to many religious beliefs, a place or a state of painful suffering. The English word 'hell' comes from the Teutonic 'H...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Satan: Encyclopedia - Satan
Satan (שָׂטָן Standard Hebrew Satan, Greek and Latin Sátanas, Tiberian Hebrew Śāṭān; Aramaic שִׂטְנָא Śaṭanâ: bot...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Nahshon: Encyclopedia Ii - Nahshon - In Rabbinical Literature:
Owing to his direct descent from Judah and to his being the progenitor of so many kings, Nahshon is extolled by the rabbis as a most nobl...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Joshua: Encyclopedia Ii - Joshua - In Rabbinical Literature
In rabbinic Jewish literature Joshua is regarded as a faithful, humble, deserving, wise man. Biblical verses illustrative of these qualit...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Jebusite: Encyclopedia Ii - Jebusite - In Rabbinical Literature
The Jebusites, who are identical with the Hittites, derived their name from the city of Jebus, the ancient Jerusalem, which they inhabite...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Bathsheba: Encyclopedia Ii - Bathsheba - In Rabbinical Literature
Bath-sheba, the granddaughter of Ahithophel, David's famous counselor, was only eight years and eight months of age when her son Solomon ...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Samson: Encyclopedia Ii - Samson - In Rabbinic Literature
Rabbinical literature identifies Samson with Bedan; Bedan was a Judge mentioned by Samuel in his farewell address (1 Samuel 12:11) among ...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Shavuot: Encyclopedia Ii - Shavuot - In Rabbinical Literature
The festival is known in the Mishnah and Talmud as Atzeret. This term is usually translated a "solemn assembly," meaning the congregation...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Samson: Encyclopedia Ii - Samson - In Rabbinic Literature
Rabbinical literature identifies Samson with Bedan; Bedan was a Judge mentioned by Samuel in his farewell address (1 Samuel 12:11) among ...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Satan: Encyclopedia Ii - Satan - In Rabbinic Literature
Early rabbinic Jewish statements in the Mishnah and Talmud show that Satan played little or no role in Jewish theology. In the course of ...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Jochebed: Encyclopedia Ii - Jochebed - In Jewish Rabbinic Literature
Jochebed is identified by some rabbis in the Talmud with Shiphrah, one of the midwives ordered by Pharaoh to kill the new-born male child...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Balaam: Encyclopedia Ii - Balaam - Balaam In Rabbinic Literature
In rabbinic literature Balaam is represented as one of seven gentile prophets; the other six being Beor (Balaam's father), Job, and Balaa...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Shofar: Encyclopedia Ii - Shofar - In The Bible And Rabbinic Literature
The shofar is mentioned frequently in the Hebrew Bible, from Exodus to Zechariah, and throughout the Talmud and later rabbinic literature...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Shofar: Encyclopedia Ii - Shofar - In The Bible And Rabbinic Literature
The shofar is mentioned frequently in the Hebrew Bible, from Exodus to Zechariah, and throughout the Talmud and later rabbinic literature...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Belshazzar: Encyclopedia Ii - Belshazzar - In Classical Rabbinic Literature
Belshazzar appears in many works of classical Jewish rabbinic literature. The chronology of the three Babylonian kings is given in the Ta...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Curse: Encyclopedia Ii - Curse - Curses In Rabbinic Literature
A number of sections of the Talmud show a belief in the power of curses (Berachot 19a, 56a.) In some cases, a curse is described as relat...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Demon: Encyclopedia Ii - Demon - In Jewish Rabbinic Literature
Rabbinical demonology has three classes of, demons, though they are scarcely separable one from another. There were the shedim, the mazzi...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Aaron's Rod: Encyclopedia Ii - Aaron's Rod - In Rabbinical Literature
The Bible ascribes similar miraculous powers to the Rod of Aaron and to the staff of Moses (compare, for example, Exodus 4:2 et seq. and ...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Rosh Hashanah: Encyclopedia Ii - Rosh Hashanah - In Rabbinic Literature
Philo, in his treatise on the festivals, calls New-Year's Day the festival of the sacred moon and feast of the trumpets, and explains the...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Minhag: Encyclopedia Ii - Minhag - Minhag And Jewish Law
Halakha (Jewish law) as derived from the Talmud is binding upon all Jews. However, in addition to these halakhot, there have always been ...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Jewish Ethics: Encyclopedia Ii - Jewish Ethics - Ethics In Rabbinic Literature
Hillel the elder formulated the Golden rule of Jewish ethics "What is painful to you, do not do unto others". (Talmud, tracate Shabbat 31...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Idolatry In Judaism: Encyclopedia Ii - Idolatry In Judaism - In Classical Rabbinic Literature
The Talmud has a treatise on idolatry, Avodah Zarah, and discusses the subject elsewhere in many passages. A passage in the midrash liter...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Joseph Hebrew Bible: Encyclopedia Ii - Joseph Hebrew Bible - Joseph In Rabbinical Literature
Joseph occupies a very important place in Rabbinical literature, and no patriarch was the subject of so many Midrashic traditional narrat...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Shewbread: Encyclopedia Ii - Shewbread - In Josephus
The foregoing rather scanty data from the Biblical sources are confirmed and complemented by information vouchsafed by Josephus. The cake...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Shewbread: Encyclopedia Ii - Shewbread - Composition And Presentation
Shewbread - Biblical Data:. Twelve cakes, with two-tenths of an ephah in each, and baked of fine flour, which were ranged in two rows (...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Shewbread: Encyclopedia Ii - Shewbread - The Table
The Biblical descriptions of the table of the showbread make no mention of such provisions to admit the air or hold the bread in position...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Joshua: Encyclopedia Ii - Joshua - Conquest
Now began the wars of conquest which Joshua carried on for many years, the record of which is in the Book of Joshua. Jericho was the firs...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Circumcision In The Bible: Encyclopedia Ii - Circumcision In The Bible - In Judaism
Judaism teaches that the Bible was transmitted in parallel with an oral tradition, known as the oral law. Jewish practices and beliefs, t...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Role Of Women In Judaism: Encyclopedia Ii - Role Of Women In Judaism - Biblical Times
The role of women in the Bible is contradictory: few women are mentioned by name and role, suggesting that they were rarely in the forefr...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Balaam: Encyclopedia Ii - Balaam - Balaam And Other Gods
In 1967, an archaeological mission found in Deir Alla, Jordan, an ancient Aramaic (Ammonite dialect) inscription written in red and black...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Samson: Encyclopedia Ii - Samson - Samson As Myth
Samson - Samson's name and birthplace. In the Hebrew text that English translations of the book of Judges are based on, Samson is named...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Samson: Encyclopedia Ii - Samson - Samson's Life
Samson - Samson's name and birthplace. In the Hebrew text which English translations of the book of Judges are based on, Samson is name...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Balaam: Encyclopedia Ii - Balaam - Etymology
The etymology of the name Balaam is uncertain, and several Jewish, and Christian, sources translate it either glutton, or foreigner. The ...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Circumcision In The Bible: Encyclopedia Ii - Circumcision In The Bible - Introduction
Circumcision has a long history, and is mentioned frequently in the Bible. However, it should be noted that the Bible means different thi...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Balaam: Encyclopedia Ii - Balaam - Balaam And The Donkey
While speaking animals are a common feature of folklore, the only other case in the Old Testament is that of the serpent in Eden. Classic...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Circumcision In The Bible: Encyclopedia Ii - Circumcision In The Bible - In The Apocrypha
The Apocrypha reveals the cultural clash between Jews and Greeks in Palestine. Greeks valued the foreskin and when they took part in athl...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Rosh Hashanah: Encyclopedia Ii - Rosh Hashanah - Date
Rosh Hashanah extends over the first two days of the Hebrew month of Tishrei, even in Israel where most holidays last only one day. (Sinc...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Rosh Hashanah: Encyclopedia Ii - Rosh Hashanah - Traditions And Customs
This holiday is characterized by the blowing of the shofar (as per Leviticus 23:24), a trumpet made from a ram's horn. In fact, the shofa...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Rosh Hashanah: Encyclopedia Ii - Rosh Hashanah - In The Hebrew Bible
In the earliest times the Hebrew year began in autumn with the opening of the economic year. There followed in regular succession the sea...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Rosh Hashanah: Encyclopedia Ii - Rosh Hashanah - In The New Testament
Some Christian groups, most notably those 7th day Church of God groups with origins in the Worldwide Church of God also observe Rosh Hosh...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Balaam: Encyclopedia Ii - Balaam - The Stories
There are two fairly separate accounts of Balaam in the Bible: Balaam and Balak, containing a brief aside concerning Balaam and the donk...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Circumcision In The Bible: Encyclopedia Ii - Circumcision In The Bible - In The Hebrew Bible
According to the Hebrew Bible, circumcision was enjoined upon the biblical patriarch Abraham, his descendants and their slaves as "a toke...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Tanakh: Encyclopedia Ii - Tanakh - Terminology
The threefold division reflected in the acronym Tanakh is well attested to in documents from the Second Temple period and in Rabbinic lit...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Circumcision In The Bible: Encyclopedia Ii - Circumcision In The Bible - In Christianity
According to the Acts of the Apostles, chapter 15, the leaders of the Christian Church at the Council of Jerusalem rejected circumcision ...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Balaam: Encyclopedia Ii - Balaam - The Poems
All the prophecies that Balaam makes take the form of (Hebrew) poems: The first, Numbers 23:7-10, prophesies the unique exhaltation of t...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Samson: Encyclopedia Ii - Samson - Biblical Story
Samson is said to have lived during the period when the Israelites were oppressed by the power of the Philistines. At this time an angel ...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Samson: Encyclopedia Ii - Samson - Biblical Story
Samson is said to have lived during the period when the Israelites were oppressed by the power of the Philistines. At this time an angel ...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Jewish Ethics: Encyclopedia Ii - Jewish Ethics - Animals And The Environment
The Biblical commands regarding the treatment of the brute (Ex. xx. 10; Lev. xxii. 28; Deut. xxv. 4; Prov. xii. 10) are amplified in rabb...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Jewish Ethics: Encyclopedia Ii - Jewish Ethics - Sanctification Of God's Name
The idea of God's holiness became in rabbinical ethics one of the most powerful incentives to pure and noble conduct. "Thou shalt love th...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Jewish Ethics: Encyclopedia Ii - Jewish Ethics - Truth And Peace
"The first question asked at the Last Judgment is whether one has dealt justly with his neighbor" (Talmud, tractate Shabbat 31a). "A good...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Shofar: Encyclopedia Ii - Shofar - Use In Modern Times
In modern times, the shofar is used only at Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. It is blown in synagogues to mark the end of the fast at Yom Ki...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Shofar: Encyclopedia Ii - Shofar - Construction
The shofar may be the horn of any kosher animal, except that of a cow or calf, which would be a reminder of the golden calf incident. Sh...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Shofar: Encyclopedia Ii - Shofar - The Sounds
The tekiah and teruah sounds mentioned in the Bible were respectively bass and treble. The tekiah was a plain deep sound ending abruptly;...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Role Of Women In Judaism: Encyclopedia Ii - Role Of Women In Judaism - Present Day
Role of women in Judaism - Orthodox Judaism. Orthodox Judaism views men and women as having different but complementary roles, and thus...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Jewish Ethics: Encyclopedia Ii - Jewish Ethics - Charity
The Jewish idea of righteousness ("tzedakah") includes benevolence and charity. The owner of property has no right to withhold from the p...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Jewish Ethics: Encyclopedia Ii - Jewish Ethics - Peace And Hatred
Peace is everywhere recommended, and urged as the highest boon of man (Midrash Numbers Rabbah xi.; Talmud Pesachim i. 1.) Hatred, quarrel...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Jewish Ethics: Encyclopedia Ii - Jewish Ethics - Jewish Family Ethics
Great stress is laid on reverence for parents. Central to society is the nuclear family. Its head is the father; yet the mother as his eq...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Jewish Ethics: Encyclopedia Ii - Jewish Ethics - Altruistic Virtues
Honesty and truthfulness are absolutely prerequisite. Stealing, flattery, falsehood, perjury and false swearing, oppression, even if only...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Jewish Ethics: Encyclopedia Ii - Jewish Ethics - Prophetic Ethics
The Biblical prophets exhort all people to lead a righteous life. The ritual elements and sacerdotal institutions incidental to Israel's ...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Jewish Ethics: Encyclopedia Ii - Jewish Ethics - Justice
Social ethics is defined by Rabbi Simeon ben Gamaliel's words: "The world rests on three things: justice, truth, and peace" (Avot 1:18). ...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Jebusite: Encyclopedia Ii - Jebusite - During The Israelite Period
When the Israelites arrived in Canaan around 1200 BC the Jebusites were ruled by a king named Adonizedek (Joshua 10:1,23), whose name, ac...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Jebusite: Encyclopedia Ii - Jebusite - Ethnic Origin
The Bible is the only surviving source that uses the term Jebusite to describe the pre-Israelite inhabitants of Jerusalem. It identifies ...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Bathsheba: Encyclopedia Ii - Bathsheba - Biblical Data
The daughter of Eliam (II Samuel 11:3; but of Ammiel according to I Chronicles 3:5), who became the wife of Uriah the Hittite, and afterw...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Demon: Encyclopedia Ii - Demon - Demons In Ancient Persia
During the time of Zarathustra the same word (Div) received the notion of demon in the Iranian tradition. In Zoroastrianism and the Avest...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Hell: Encyclopedia Ii - Hell - Hell In Literature
Many of the great epics of European literature include episodes that occur in Hell. In the Roman poet Virgil's Latin epic, the Aeneid, Ae...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Bathsheba: Encyclopedia Ii - Bathsheba - In The Qur'an
The only passage in the Quran which has been brought into connection with the story of Bath-sheba is sura xxxviii. 20-25: "And has the s...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Demon: Encyclopedia Ii - Demon - In Art Literature And Television
Many classic books and plays feature demons, such as the Divine Comedy, Paradise Lost and Faust. Anton Rubinstein's lushly chromatic oper...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Midrash Halakha: Encyclopedia Ii - Midrash Halakha - Abstract And Midrash Halakah
It is to a law stated in this form - i.e., together with the Biblical passage from which it is derived - that the name midrash is applied...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Demon: Encyclopedia Ii - Demon - In Art Literature And Television
In Mikhail Lermontov's long poem (1840), the Demon makes love to the virgin Tamara in a scenic setting of the Causcaus mountains. Many cl...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Demon: Encyclopedia Ii - Demon - In Art Literature And Television
In Mikhail Lermontov's long poem (1840), the Demon makes love to the virgin Tamara in a scenic setting of the Caucasus mountains. Many cl...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Demon: Encyclopedia Ii - Demon - Demons In The Hebrew Bible
Demons as described in the Tanakh are not the same as "demons" commonly known in popular or Christian culture. The demons mentioned in th...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Demon: Encyclopedia Ii - Demon - Demons In The Hebrew Bible
Demons as described in the Tanakh are not the same as "demons" commonly known in popular or Christian culture. The demons mentioned in th...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Joseph Hebrew Bible: Encyclopedia Ii - Joseph Hebrew Bible - In Arabic Literature
The story of Joseph or Yusuf as it is told in Arabic literature has the same general outlines as the Biblical narrative; but in the Arabi...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Hell: Encyclopedia Ii - Hell - Religious Accounts
Hell appears in several mythologies and religions in different guises, and is commonly inhabited by demons and the souls of dead people. ...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Hell: Encyclopedia Ii - Hell - Religious Accounts
Hell appears in several mythologies and religions in different guises, and is commonly inhabited by demons and the souls of dead people. ...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Joseph Hebrew Bible: Encyclopedia Ii - Joseph Hebrew Bible - Differences Of Tradition
There are certain minor points in which the Islamic story differs from the Biblical. In the Qur'an the brothers ask Jacob to let Joseph g...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Joseph Hebrew Bible: Encyclopedia Ii - Joseph Hebrew Bible - Critical View
The narratives concerning Joseph (Gen. 37 and 39) are composed of two principal strata: a Yahwistic stratum and an Elohistic one, with a ...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Aaron's Rod: Encyclopedia Ii - Aaron's Rod - In Islam
The rod is likewise glorified in Mohammedan legend, which, as is usually the case with the Biblical accounts of the Mohammedans, is plain...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Joseph Hebrew Bible: Encyclopedia Ii - Joseph Hebrew Bible - The Genesis Story Of Joseph
According to Genesis, Joseph was the elder of the two sons of Jacob by Rachel (Gen. 30:23, 24), who, on the occasion of his birth, said, ...   » Read the article