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The Mekhilta presents one of the most hopeful arguments in all of rabbinic literature, built on a simple logical structure called kal va-chomer — an argument from lesser to greater...
—in Torah. You say, the wise in Torah, but perhaps (the meaning is) "the wise," literally; it is, therefore, written "blinds pikchim"—the bright of mind, who rule clean or unclean ...
Rabbi Nathan interpreted the verse "and perverts the words of the righteous" (Exodus 23:8) as referring to something far more severe than ordinary judicial corruption. The one who ...
(Exodus 23:10) commands: "Six years shall you sow your land." Rabbi Eliezer taught that this verse reveals two different agricultural realities, depending on Israel's spiritual sta...
"and you shall gather in its produce (11) and the seventh year, etc.": to include (as forbidden) the fruits of the sixth year which enter the seventh year. This tells me only of th...
"And the seventh year you shall leave it" — the Torah commands that the land be left fallow during the shemitah year. But the Mekhilta anticipates a well-intentioned objection. Som...
"And the poor of your people shall eat it" — during the shemitah year, the produce that grows on its own is available to the poor. But (Leviticus 25:6) says something different: "f...
"And what they leave shall be eaten by the animals of the field" — the Torah establishes that shemitah produce left uneaten by humans may be consumed by wild animals. But the Mekhi...
The Torah says, "Six days shall you do your work" (Exodus 23:12), a commandment to labor for six days and rest on the seventh, the Shabbat (the Sabbath). But the Mekhilta noticed s...
The Torah commands that animals must rest on the Sabbath, just as humans do. But the Mekhilta raises a sharp question about what "rest" actually means for an animal. The answer rev...
"And there be refreshed the son of your maid-servant" — this verse about Sabbath rest mentions a "maid-servant's son." The Mekhilta identifies this as an uncircumcised Canaanite se...
"and the stranger": This refers to a ger toshav (a "sojourning stranger [one who shuns idolatry and observes the seven Noachide laws]). But perhaps it refers to a ger tzedek (a "ri...
Rabbi Akiva, one of the greatest sages of the Talmudic era, offered a distinctive legal ruling about when non-Jewish residents in the Land of Israel render wine forbidden to Jews. ...
(Exodus 23:13) says: "And everything that I have spoken of to you, you shall observe." The Mekhilta asks what this general command adds to the specific Sabbath prohibition of (Exod...
The Torah commands in (Exodus 23:13): "And the name of other gods you shall not mention." The Mekhilta expands this prohibition far beyond what a casual reading might suggest. It i...
Rabbi Nathan uncovered a hidden connection between the Tower of Babel and the prohibition against idolatry — a link embedded in a single word that appears in both contexts: "name."...
The Mekhilta catalogs the names used to describe idolatry and contrasts them with the names used to describe God. The contrast is devastating. Idolatry is mentioned only in derogat...
(Exodus 23:14) commands: "Three festivals shall you celebrate for Me in the year." The Mekhilta asks why this verse is needed when (Exodus 23:17) already says "Three times shall ev...
The Torah commands that three times a year, "all your males shall be seen" before God. The Mekhilta systematically identifies who is excluded from this obligation through a series ...
The Jewish calendar is not purely lunar. It is lunisolar — adjusted periodically so that the festivals fall in their proper seasons. The Mekhilta traces this practice of calendar a...
"They shall not appear before Me empty-handed" — the Torah requires that the pilgrims who come to the Temple on the three festivals must bring something. But what? The Mekhilta say...
Variantly: "They shall not appear before Me empty-handed": but with burnt-offerings. But perhaps, with peace-offerings. It follows (that it is with burnt-offerings), viz.: "Rejoici...
(Exodus 23:16) refers to Shavuot (the Festival of Weeks)h as "the festival of the harvest, the first-fruits of your labor." The Mekhilta notes that this description appears within ...
The Shema — "Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One" (Deuteronomy 6:4) — is the most foundational declaration in all of Judaism. But the Mekhilta noticed something odd a...
The prophet declares in (II Kings 21:12): "Thus said the L-rd, the God of Israel." The Mekhilta stops on this phrase and asks a question that seems almost impertinent. Is God only ...
The Mekhilta cites (Psalms 50:7-8) to illustrate God's unique relationship with Israel: "Hear, My people, and I will speak; Israel, and I will exhort you. I am God, your God. I wil...
(Exodus 23:18) "You shall not slaughter in the presence of chametz the blood of My sacrifice": You shall not slaughter the Pesach (Passover) offering while chametz is still present...
The Torah commands regarding the Passover sacrifice that "there shall not remain the fat of My festival offering until morning." The Mekhilta takes this verse and extracts from it ...
(Exodus 23:19) commands: "The first of the first-fruits of your land you shall bring to the house of the Lord your God." The Mekhilta asks what this verse adds to (Deuteronomy 26:2...
"The first-fruits of your land" — the Mekhilta uses this phrase to identify who is excluded from the obligation to bring first-fruits. The key word is "your" — your land. Only thos...
(Exodus 23:19) prohibits: "You shall not cook a kid in its mother's milk." Rabbi Shimon asked why this prohibition is stated three times in the Torah — here, in (Exodus 34:26), and...
R. Yoshiyah says: The first was stated first, and "firsts" are not expounded. Why is the second stated? A clean animal confers tumah (uncleanliness) by being carried, and an unclea...
Variantly: whether non-consecrated or consecrated (animals). Rebbi says: Because it is written (in the same context as meat and milk) "the first of the fruits of your land," I migh...
Rabbi Yossi Haglili derived an important rule about the meat-and-milk prohibition from the juxtaposition of two verses. The Torah places "You shall not eat all carrion" next to "Yo...
"You shall not cook" — the Torah explicitly prohibits cooking meat in milk. But what about eating the cooked mixture? The verse says "cook," not "eat." Does the absence of an expli...
The Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael records a sharp legal debate about the prohibition against cooking meat and milk together. The rabbis use a technique called kal va-chomer — reasoning...
Rabbi Akiva offered his own proof that eating meat cooked in milk is forbidden, using a different a fortiori argument. His starting point was not the Passover offering but the thig...
The Mekhilta raises a fascinating question about the relationship between laws that existed before the giving of the Torah at Sinai and those that were introduced at Sinai itself. ...
The Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael presents a step in a larger legal argument about why meat cooked in milk is forbidden to eat. The passage uses a technique called refutation — counter...
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...
Issi ben Guria demonstrated that eating meat cooked in milk is forbidden through a verbal comparison between two passages. The word "holiness" appears in (Deuteronomy 14:21), where...
The Mekhilta has established that eating meat cooked in milk is forbidden. But what about deriving other forms of benefit — selling the mixture, using it as animal feed, or extract...
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...
"You shall not cook a kid" — but the Torah speaks of cooking a kid specifically in its mother's milk. What about cooking it in the milk of an animal that is not its mother — say, a...
The Mekhilta pushes the meat-and-milk prohibition further. What about cooking an animal's flesh in its own milk? Not the mother's milk, not a sister's milk, but the milk the animal...
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...
This tells me only of non-consecrated food (as being thus forbidden). Whence do I derive (the same for) consecrated food? How can you ask? If it is forbidden with non-consecrated f...
