3,279 texts · Page 8 of 69
The Book of Bamidbar Rabbah (Numbers Rabbah), in its 15th section, delves into just that, using the seemingly simple instruction of crafting silver trumpets as a springboard. "Craf...
The text hinges on the seemingly simple phrase, "Craft for you." (Numbers 10:2) It's all about the personal nature of leadership and the instruments that come with it. "Craft for y...
The passage opens with the idea of kingship and privilege. The text tells us, "Craft for you – you use them, as you are king, but no one else may use them other than King David." T...
It’s a question the rabbis grappled with centuries ago, and their insights, drawn from the Torah itself, are surprisingly relevant today. We find a fascinating discussion in Bamidb...
Jewish tradition teaches that there's a profound spiritual power in gathering together, a power that even resonates in the heavens. But is any gathering automatically holy? The Mid...
to a story from Bamidbar Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic teachings on the Book of Numbers, that explores just this. The story goes that God tells Moses to gather seventy men to he...
The book of Bamidbar Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic teachings on the Book of Numbers, sheds light on this very question. We find ourselves at a pivotal moment in the Israelites' ...
The Book of Numbers, Bamidbar in Hebrew, picks up the story after the tumultuous events at Sinai. In Bamidbar Rabbah 15, a Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary), or interpreti...
In Bamidbar Rabbah – that’s a collection of rabbinic teachings connected to the Book of Numbers – there's a fascinating passage about how God commanded Moses to gather seventy men....
It's like a secret code, hinting at deeper meanings. Take this verse from (Numbers 11:16): "Gather to Me seventy men [ish]..." Why ish, and not the more common Hebrew word for men,...
Moses knew the feeling. Leading the Israelites through the desert? No small feat! And it seems even he needed a little help. We find ourselves in Bamidbar Rabbah 15, a section of t...
It all starts with a seemingly simple instruction: "Send you men that they may scout the land of Canaan that I am giving to the children of Israel" (Numbers 13:2). But before we di...
The Torah tells us even MOSES and AARON, the very leaders who led us out of Egypt, experienced that feeling. It all stems from the story of the spies, doesn't it? We read in Bamidb...
Bamidbar Rabbah 16 opens with a powerful quote from (Isaiah 40:8): "The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever." Rabbi Aḥa the Great uses this ...
The verse in (Numbers 13:2), “Send you men,” seems simple enough. But Bamidbar Rabbah, a fascinating collection of Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary)ic interpretations on t...
The verse from Proverbs (26:6) sets the stage: “One who sends things by the hand of a fool cuts off his feet and drinks rancor.” Ouch. Strong words. But here's the puzzle: were the...
We're good at selective hearing. Well, Jewish tradition suggests this happened big time with the story of the spies sent to scout the land of Canaan. Our story comes from Bamidbar ...
Like checking the price tag after you’ve already won the lottery. Well, according to Bamidbar Rabbah 16, part of the larger collection of Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary)...
We all know the story of the spies. The Israelites, poised to enter the Promised Land, get cold feet. "Let's send some scouts ahead," they suggest to Moses. But what was really goi...
The Torah tells us, "Moses called Hoshea son of Nun, Joshua [Yehoshua]" (Numbers 13:16). But here's the question: why did Moses change Hoshea's name to Joshua? What prompted this a...
Does a name shape destiny? Does it reflect character? Or is it just… a label? The book of Numbers, Bamidbar in Hebrew, gives us a lot to chew on in that regard. Specifically, Bamid...
The story of the spies sent to scout the Land of Canaan in the Book of Numbers is a powerful example of how fear and negative speech can derail even the most promising journeys. Th...
Even in the Bible, the order in which things are presented can tell a whole story. Take the story of the spies sent by Moses to scout out the Land of Canaan, the Promised Land, bef...
The verse sets the scene: “They ascended and scouted the land from the wilderness of Tzin to Rehov, at the approach to Hamat” (Numbers 13:21). But, Bamidbar Rabbah asks, how exactl...
Sometimes, a seemingly simple verse can open up a whole world of interpretation and insight. Let’s take a look at a moment in the Book of Numbers, Bamidbar, specifically chapter 13...
Forty days! Now, think about that journey, from the south all the way to the north. That's a long walk. Could they really have covered all that ground, the entire breadth of the la...
We're in the thick of the story of the spies, sent to scout out the Land of Israel. They return with tales of giants and fortified cities, sowing fear among the Israelites. But bef...
It all starts with a seemingly simple verse: “Amalek dwells in the region of the south” (Numbers 13:29). But the rabbis of the Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary) ask a poin...
It’s a story found within Bamidbar Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Book of Numbers. The scene is set: Moses has sent out spies to scout the Land of Israel. ...
The scene is set in (Numbers 14:1): “The entire congregation raised and sounded their voice and the people wept that night.” It sounds dramatic, doesn't it? But what was behind all...
Believe it or not, there's a story about that – a powerful one, drawn from Bamidbar Rabbah, specifically section 16. It's a tale of complaining, consequences, and a little bit of d...
Talk about a tough crowd! We find ourselves in the book of Numbers, Bamidbar in Hebrew, and the people are, shall we say, less than grateful. They're constantly complaining, doubti...
We find ourselves in a similar place in Bamidbar Rabbah 16, grappling with the aftermath of the Israelites' lack of faith and their subsequent punishment of wandering the desert fo...
That feeling resonates deeply in a powerful passage from Bamidbar Rabbah 16. It explores the fraught relationship between God and the Israelites, focusing on their repeated rejecti...
In the book of Numbers, we find Moses doing just that, wrestling with God over the fate of the Israelites. It’s a moment of incredible intensity, revealing a deep and complex relat...
It’s a question that echoes throughout Jewish tradition, and one place we find it wrestled with is in Bamidbar Rabbah – specifically, in section 16. Bamidbar Rabbah, if you're not ...
It’s a question that resonates throughout Jewish tradition, and one that the Bamidbar Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic teachings on the Book of Numbers, tackles head-on. The passag...
That’s kind of the situation the Israelites found themselves in after the sin of the spies. They'd just heard a terrifying report about the Land of Israel and, gripped by fear, the...
The ancient rabbis pondered this very question, drawing a profound parallel between a human father and God, our ultimate Father. to Bamidbar Rabbah, specifically section 17, to unp...
It wasn't just about following the rules, but about heart and intention. to a fascinating passage from Bamidbar Rabbah 17 and see what we can uncover. Rabbi Tanhuma bar Abba, quoti...
Rabbi Zakai of She'av offers a beautiful insight. He imagines the Israelites asking God: "Master of the universe, everywhere else You call it the land of Canaan, but here, ‘the lan...
We find ourselves in chapter 17, exploring the meaning behind the verse in (Numbers 15:3): "And you will perform a fire offering to the Lord, a burnt offering, or a peace-offering ...
The passage begins with the famous verse from (Numbers 15:38), commanding us to wear tzitzit (ritual fringes worn on garments), fringes, on the corners of our garments, including a...
It zeroes in on the verse, "You shall not rove after your heart" (Numbers 15:39), explaining that our hearts and eyes often act as mediators of temptation, leading us down paths we...
It all starts in (Numbers 16:1): “Koraḥ, son of Yitzhar son of Kehat son of Levi, and Datan and Aviram, sons of Eliav, and On, son of Pelet, sons of Reuben, took…” Took what, you a...
We often think of it as pure power-grabbing, but the ancient texts suggest a more nuanced, almost heartbreaking, story of ambition, family, and perceived injustice. The Book of Num...
It all begins with the tzitzit (fringes) on a garment. The Torah tells us, "They shall make for themselves a fringe [tzitzit]" (Numbers 15:38). Now, Korah, ever the instigator, see...
His story, recounted in Bamidbar Rabbah (Numbers Rabbah) 18, is a wild ride of ambition, rebellion, and some seriously bad consequences. So, "Korah took…" That's how the story begi...
