1,056 passages in Rabbinic Midrash
Individual passages from Bereshit Rabbah, shown in source order. Page 2 of 22.
The Rabbis of Bereshit Rabbah, that incredible collection of ancient interpretations on the Book of Genesis, dig into this very question. They offer a stunning little insight: Eret...
The Book of Genesis might just have the answer. to the creation story, specifically (Genesis 1:11): "God said, ‘Let the earth sprout grass, vegetation yielding seed, and fruit tree...
Bereshit Rabbah turns to What Made the Third Day of Creation So Special. Take (Genesis 1:13): "It was evening and it was morning, a third day." But the rabbis of the Midrash (rabbi...
In fact, the ancient Rabbis dove deep into the very first verses of Genesis to understand their roles. The Book of Genesis (1:14) tells us, "God said: Let there be lights in the fi...
Day and night, light and dark... it’s so fundamental. But have you considered it as a constant song, a perpetual praise to the One who created it all? The verse in (Psalms 74:16), ...
Take the creation story in Genesis, for example. We read in (Genesis 1:16) that God made "two great lights" – the sun and the moon – to rule the day and the night. Seems straightfo...
When the moon graces the night sky, it's like a cosmic celebrity – surrounded by a dazzling entourage of stars. But have you ever stopped to ask why? Our sages grappled with this t...
They all seem to stem from one little verse in Genesis (1:17): “God set them in the firmament of the heavens to illuminate upon the earth.” Rabbi Yoḥanan sees something special in ...
We look up, we see them... but where are they situated in the grand scheme of the cosmos? Well, according to Bereshit Rabbah, a classical collection of Rabbinic interpretations of ...
Our Sages pondered this very idea. Rabbi Levi, in Bereshit Rabbah 6, shares a profound thought: There are three things whose sound, whose impact, travels the entire world, and yet ...
The Rabbis, in Bereshit Rabbah, that treasure trove of early interpretations of Genesis, offer a fascinating debate. It’s like eavesdropping on a cosmic conversation. One perspecti...
The familiar reading treats the Creation story in Genesis and think we understand it. But what if there's a deeper layer, a secret code waiting to be unlocked? Seems straightforwar...
The beauty, the part, lies in the details, in the way the rabbis over the centuries have unpacked those seemingly simple verses. Take (Genesis 1:20): "God said: Let the water swarm...
Rabbi Yaakov of Kefar Nevorai ruled one way, Rabbi Hagai challenged him, and Bereshit Rabbah turned the dispute into a lesson about creation. Our story revolves around two rabbis: ...
Bereshit Rabbah, that magnificent collection of rabbinic interpretations of Genesis, puts it this way: "And let birds fly" (Genesis 1:20). It points out that earthly kings build pa...
Creation is often remembered as a grand, sweeping act, but Jewish tradition also explores the nitty-gritty details, the almost-missed deadlines, and the "oops, we'll get to that la...
Some traditions suggest that God didn't just create one Adam, but two. According to these accounts, this first Adam wasn't sculpted from earthly clay. Instead, he was "stamped with...
Rabbi Yoḥanan starts us off with a verse from Psalms (139:5): "Back and front [ahor vakedem], You shaped me…" Ahor vakedem, it's a phrase that hints at so much. Rabbi Yoḥanan sugge...
Our tradition acknowledges that feeling, especially when we consider the mysteries of creation. What was it like before the Big Bang of Genesis? What was God "doing"? The Rabbis of...
Rabbi Yehoshua, speaking in the name of Rabbi Levi, offers a beautiful image. He suggests that God consulted with the "works of the heavens and the earth." It's like a king who has...
The rabbis of old, confronting the very same question, offered some pretty fascinating answers. Take this story from Bereshit Rabbah, a classic collection of rabbinic interpretatio...
The story goes that when the Holy One, Barukh Hu (blessed be He), decided to create Adam, the first human, it wasn't exactly a unanimous decision up in the heavenly realms. Rabbi S...
Our sages, wrestling with the creation story itself, asked a very similar question. The Book of Psalms (8:5) asks, "What is a mortal that You remember him, a man that You take him ...
Instead of doing it all Himself, He delegates a portion of the task. To whom? To Chokhmah (Wisdom), Wisdom. "Let us make man," He says, as it's written in (Genesis 1:26). A seeming...
A gathering of the most righteous souls, a kind of heavenly brain trust, existing even before the universe itself. Wild. According to the Tree of Souls, these weren't just any soul...
A picture of the Heavenly Court. It's a pretty amazing concept, isn't it? The idea that even God, in all God's glory, doesn't act in a vacuum. Where does this idea come from? Well,...
It’s a thought, isn’t it? That before there was a world, there were…consultants. Where does this idea come from? It's rooted in a seemingly obscure verse from I (Chronicles 4:23): ...
Yet, Jewish tradition suggests just that. The story goes that as God dictated the Torah atop Mount Sinai, Moses, ever the diligent scribe, meticulously wrote down every word. But t...
It’s right at the beginning, in Bereshit (Genesis), when God says, “Let us make Man in our image, in our likeness” (Genesis 1:26). "Us"? Who's the "us?" It sounds like God is talki...
The story centers on Rabbi Samlai, a sage known for his sharp wit and insightful responses. He found himself confronted by "heretics" – likely members of sectarian or sectarian gro...
They almost made a pretty big faux pas! The story goes like this. When the Holy One, blessed be He, created Adam, the ministering angels were... well, a little confused. They were ...
Dig a little deeper, and you’ll find some fascinating questions and interpretations. There's a curious little detail about that verse. The Bereshit Rabbah, a classic collection of ...
Like with so much in Jewish tradition, there are layers upon layers of interpretation. Specifically, the story turns to that phrase "dominate over the fish of the sea." What does t...
Bereshit Rabbah turns to God Held the Wedding Cup for Adam and Eve. The Torah tells us, plainly enough, "God blessed them" (Genesis 1:28). But what kind of blessing was it? Rabbi A...
Bereshit Rabbah turns to What Does It Mean That Creation Was Very Good. Bereshit Rabbah, that magnificent collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Book of Genesis, dedicates a...
All the beauty, all the challenges... could it have been any other way? The rabbis of old certainly pondered this. They wrestled with the very notion of creation, asking whether th...
It’s a pretty mind-boggling thought, isn’t it? Well, in Bereshit Rabbah, a classic collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Book of Genesis, the rabbis confront this very idea...
A moment of pure creation, bringing something from absolutely nothing. What was that feeling like? What was God's immediate reaction? Well, our tradition grapples with this very qu...
It sounds shocking, I know. The story starts with a curious discovery. In Rabbi Meir's personal Torah scroll, a peculiar reading was found in the verse “And, behold, it was very [m...
Jewish tradition, in its beautiful, often paradoxical way, has some fascinating answers. to Bereshit Rabbah, one of the oldest and most important commentaries on the Book of Genesi...
Suffering, that very thing we try so hard to avoid, might actually be… good? That's what the ancient rabbis were debating in Bereshit Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretatio...
I know, it sounds crazy. But Jewish tradition often holds a mirror up to our assumptions, challenging us to see things from a different angle. Take Gehenna, for example. That’s oft...
Bereshit Rabbah turns to Why Even Death Itself Was Declared Very Good. The passage centers on the verse in (Genesis 1:31), "And God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was ver...
A reader can read the phrase "and God saw that it was good" as a simple pat on the back, a divine seal of approval. But Jewish tradition often finds layers of meaning beneath the s...
Sometimes, the smallest details hold the biggest secrets. The Rabbis, in their infinite wisdom, picked up on something fascinating in the very first chapter of Bereshit, Genesis. W...
(Genesis 1:31-2):1 tells us, "It was evening and it was morning, the sixth day, [and heaven and earth were finished.]" Seems straightforward. But Rabbi Yudan, in Bereshit Rabbah – ...
Our sages pondered that very thing, and they found a fascinating exception. The Torah portion of Bereshit, Genesis, opens with the creation. And in (Genesis 2:1), we read, "The hea...
Rabbi Ḥama kicks things off with a powerful image, quoting (Proverbs 25:4): “Remove the dross from silver [and a vessel will emerge for the smith].” It's a verse about refining, ab...
