Midrash Rabbah

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The great Midrash Rabbah, a collection of aggadic midrashim on the Torah and the Five Megillot. These rabbinic commentaries explore the deeper meanings of Scripture through parable, allegory, and legend.

Moses and the King of Rabbis

Midrash Rabbah Kohelet Rabbah 9:1

"What was is what will be," it says, "and what was done is what will be done; and there is nothing new under the sun" (Ecclesiastes 1:9). But is that really true? Are we just doome...

MosesKing DavidSolomonTemple

Levi: Eve and Creation

Midrash Rabbah Kohelet Rabbah 10:1

The book of Ecclesiastes, or Kohelet, touches on this very feeling. It asks: "Is there anything of which one can say, 'Look! This is new'? It has already existed long ago, before o...

CreationMosesSolomonTorah

Amalekites and Noah

Midrash Rabbah Kohelet Rabbah 11:1

And it's a question that the book of Ecclesiastes, or Kohelet, wrestles with head-on. The verse in question, from Ecclesiastes 1:11, states, "There is no memory of the former ones;...

Noah & FloodJosephKing DavidSolomon

First Days of Existence and Shmuel

Midrash Rabbah Kohelet Rabbah 12:1

You're dropped right into the action, and you wonder, "Wait, shouldn't this have been explained earlier?" Well, the ancient rabbis grappled with a similar feeling about the Book of...

CreationMosesKing DavidSolomon

Solomon and Creation

Midrash Rabbah Kohelet Rabbah 13:1

The Book of Ecclesiastes, or Kohelet as it's known in Hebrew, grapples with this very feeling. It's a wisdom text, a philosophical exploration of life's meaning, or sometimes, its ...

CreationAdam & EveSolomonJob

Solomon at the Dawn of Creation

Midrash Rabbah Kohelet Rabbah 14:1

The book of Ecclesiastes, or Kohelet as it's known in Hebrew, grapples with this very feeling. "I have seen all the actions that were performed under the sun; and, behold, everythi...

CreationSolomonRepentanceWisdom

David the Shepherd King

Midrash Rabbah Kohelet Rabbah 15:1

The book of Ecclesiastes, or Kohelet as it's known in Hebrew, touches on this very feeling. Specifically, there's a line in Ecclesiastes 1:15 that says, "That which is warped canno...

King DavidSolomonProphecyRepentance

Sin of the First Pair and Yehuda

Midrash Rabbah Kohelet Rabbah 15:2

Our tradition wrestles with this very feeling. The book of Kohelet, or Ecclesiastes, famously explores the futility of life, that "all is vanity." But within the rabbinic expansion...

CreationAdam & EveNoah & FloodKing David

Foundations of Being and Jerusalem

Midrash Rabbah Kohelet Rabbah 16:1

We often talk about the heart as the seat of our emotions, but what does that really mean? The ancient rabbis certainly pondered this. In Kohelet Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic i...

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