1,056 passages in Rabbinic Midrash
Individual passages from Bereshit Rabbah, shown in source order. Page 16 of 22.
Dreams have always held a special fascination, and Jewish tradition is no exception. Take the famous dream of Jacob in (Genesis 28:12): "He dreamed, and behold, a ladder was set on...
Take the story of Jacob's dream in Genesis 28, where he rests his head on a stone and sees a ladder stretching to heaven. On that ladder, angels ascend and descend. A seemingly sim...
Remember Jacob's famous dream? He's fleeing from his brother Esau, sleeps on a stone, and sees a ladder stretching to heaven, with angels ascending and descending (Genesis 28:12). ...
It all starts with a dream. Jacob, fleeing his brother Esau, lays down to sleep, using a stone as a pillow. And he has a vision. A ladder stretching to heaven, angels ascending and...
It turns out, this isn't just a modern observation. Our sages recognized this dynamic thousands of years ago. Rabbi Ḥama bar Ḥanina, in Bereshit Rabbah 69, starts us off with a quo...
Rabbi Ḥanina, quoting Rabbi Pinḥas, makes a striking observation in Bereshit Rabbah. He points out that the patriarchs – Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob – are mentioned eighteen times in...
Bereshit Rabbah turns to Cosmic Origins of Rabbis. What does it mean to be "as the dust of the earth"? That’s where the Rabbis, in their infinite wisdom, step in to unpack this wei...
That’s almost what happened to Jacob in a pivotal moment of his life, a moment beautifully captured in Bereshit Rabbah, a classic collection of rabbinic interpretations of the Book...
He jolted awake and said, "In truth, the Glory of the Shekhinah (the Divine Presence) dwells in this place, and I did not know it!" Then, shaken, "How awesome is this place!" (Gen....
It's like you've stumbled onto sacred ground without even realizing it. That's kind of what happened to Jacob in the Book of Genesis, and it's explored in a beautiful passage in Be...
Bereshit Rabbah turns to Jacob Anoints the Stone Pillar with Heavenly Oil. We find ourselves in (Genesis 28:18). Jacob, after his famous dream of the ladder stretching to heaven, w...
That feeling isn't new. Our ancestor Jacob felt it too. And how he responded offers a powerful lesson about vows, faith, and the power of words. The story begins in Parashat Vayetz...
The verse in question comes from (1 Chronicles 29:9): “The people rejoiced in their donation, because they donated to the Lord wholeheartedly, and King David too rejoiced with grea...
Bereshit Rabbah, that incredible collection of rabbinic interpretations on the book of Genesis, presents us with a stark contrast: four individuals who made vows, or nedarim, but w...
Bereshit Rabbah 70, the classical midrash on Genesis, wrestles with a tricky part of Jacob's story. After his dream of the ladder, Jacob makes a vow, saying, "If God will be with m...
The story begins with Akilas, a convert to Judaism – a ger tzedek, as we say in Hebrew. He approaches Rabbi Eliezer with a question, a concern, really. Akilas points to the verse i...
Rabbi Yehoshua of Sikhnin, quoting Rabbi Levi, shares a profound idea: God took the conversations of the patriarchs – Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob – and transformed them into the very...
Seems straightforward. But a curious question arises, a question that leads us into a fascinating rabbinic debate found in Bereshit Rabbah 70. The scene opens with an idolater tryi...
There's something to that. In fact, the rabbis saw that connection way back when. We find ourselves in (Genesis 29:1), where it says, "Jacob lifted his feet, and went to the land o...
The Rabbis, masters of drash (interpretive storytelling), loved to find echoes and allusions throughout the Torah. They saw connections where we might only see separate stories. An...
Take the story of Jacob meeting Rachel at the well. It seems straightforward: boy meets girl, asks about her family, gets the scoop. But according to Bereshit Rabbah, ancient rabbi...
Even a casual "How's it going?" can hold a world of unspoken understanding. the tradition turns to Bereshit Rabbah, specifically section 70, for a gem on just this. The scene: Jaco...
The Torah is full of moments that, The first reading, might seem straightforward, but when we delve deeper, we uncover layers of meaning and significance. Take, for instance, the s...
Take the meeting of Jacob and Rachel at the well. We read in (Genesis 29:12), "Jacob told Rachel that he was her father’s brother, and that he was Rebecca’s son, and she ran and to...
We see that play out in the story of Jacob and Laban. In (Genesis 29:14), we read, "Laban said to him: Indeed, you are my bone and my flesh, and he stayed with him a month’s time."...
Bereshit Rabbah turns to Leah — Laban at the Dawn of Creation. Take Laban, for example. You remember Laban. Jacob's wily uncle and father-in-law. (Genesis 29:16) simply states: "La...
The familiar story centers on Jacob, Rachel, and Leah. But have you ever paused to really consider Leah's eyes? (Genesis 29:17) tells us, "Leah’s eyes were delicate and Rachel was ...
Bereshit Rabbah turns to Rachel — Jacob at the Dawn of Creation. The verse in Genesis (29:18) tells us, "Jacob loved Rachel, and he said: I will work for you seven years for Rachel...
Bereshit Rabbah turns to Jacob in Battle of Laban. The verse in question? (Genesis 29:21): “Jacob said to Laban: Give me my wife, as my time is fulfilled, and I will consort with h...
Jacob certainly had that experience. The familiar story is this: from Genesis 29: Jacob, working for his uncle Laban, falls head-over-heels for the younger daughter, Rachel. He agr...
You remember the story. Jacob, madly in love with Rachel, agrees to work for her father, Laban, for seven long years to earn her hand in marriage. But Laban, that sly trickster, sw...
The verse in question is (Genesis 29:31): “The Lord saw that Leah was unloved, and He opened her womb, and Rachel was barren.” Seems straightforward. But Rabbi Binyamin links this ...
It reminds us that even in the depths of despair, we are noticed, and our fortunes can change. The verse in Psalms (145:14) tells us, "The Lord supports all those who fall and He s...
Our journey begins with Leah, one of the matriarchs of the Jewish people. (Genesis 29:32) tells us, "Leah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Reuben; she said: Becaus...
They're often far more than just labels; they're prophecies, reflections of emotions, and even glimpses into the future. Remember the story? Leah, unloved by her husband Jacob, fin...
The ancient rabbis certainly did. to a fascinating passage from Bereshit Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Book of Genesis, and see what they had to say about...
The Torah tells us, "Rachel saw that she did not bear children for Jacob; Rachel envied her sister and she said to Jacob: Give me children, and if not, I am dead" (Genesis 30:1). B...
The Torah, in its profound wisdom, doesn't shy away from showing us even our greatest heroes making these kinds of mistakes. Take Jacob and Rachel, for example. We find them in a m...
Bereshit Rabbah turns to Jacob — Birth of Rachel. We find ourselves in (Genesis 30:7): "And she conceived again, and Rachel’s maidservant Bilha gave birth to a second son to Jacob....
Bereshit Rabbah turns to Birth of Elijah. "Zilpa, Leah’s maidservant, bore Jacob a son" (Genesis 30:10). And there's a subtle difference here. With all the other births, the text s...
Sometimes, the answer lies hidden in the stories of our ancestors, like the tale of Asher, one of Jacob's twelve sons. In (Genesis 30:12), we read, "Zilpa the maidservant of Leah g...
It all starts simply enough: "Reuben went during the days of wheat harvest, found mandrakes in the field, and brought them to Leah, his mother. Rachel said to Leah: Please give me ...
It’s truly fascinating. In (Genesis 30:14), we read about Reuben, Jacob’s eldest son, finding dudaim (דּוּדָאִים) in the field. The verse states: "Reuben went during the days of wh...
It all comes to mind when we look at the story of Rachel and Leah, and those fateful dudaim, the mandrakes. The scene is set in (Genesis 30:15). Rachel, unable to conceive, is desp...
Take the story of Jacob, Leah, and some very potent mandrakes in (Genesis 30:16-17). Seems like a simple domestic scene. But the sages of the Bereshit Rabbah (Genesis Rabbah), a cl...
The ancient rabbis certainly did.It illuminates the complex relationship between Leah, Jacob, and the birth of the tribes of Israel. In this, Midrash, a rabbinic interpretation, Le...
Bereshit Rabbah turns to Leah — Zebulun at the Dawn of Creation. Bereshit Rabbah, that incredible collection of rabbinic interpretations of Genesis, takes this a little further. It...
Our verse for today comes from (Genesis 30:22): “God remembered Rachel, and God heeded her, and He opened her womb.” A simple verse. But like so much in Torah, it’s a doorway into ...
