1,056 passages in Rabbinic Midrash
Individual passages from Bereshit Rabbah, shown in source order. Page 7 of 22.
A reader can imagine everyone just carrying on, oblivious, but Jewish tradition suggests otherwise. The Torah tells us, "Noah was a righteous man [ish]" (Genesis 6:9). But Bereshit...
In the book of Bereshit, Genesis, we find two such words used to describe key figures: tamim and haya. What do they really mean? , because the Rabbis of old sure had some fascinati...
The Torah tells us he was "righteous in his generation" (Genesis 6:9). But what does that really mean? Bereshit Rabbah, a classic collection of rabbinic interpretations of Genesis,...
Rabbi Yehuda offers a beautiful analogy. Imagine a prince with two sons, one older and stronger, the other younger and perhaps more vulnerable. To the younger, the prince says, "Wa...
A reader can just say "God did it," but Jewish tradition wrestles with these questions. It digs deep, looking for meaning, for justice, for a reason why. Take the verse in (Genesis...
Bereshit Rabbah turns to Account of Noah. Bereshit Rabbah, that incredible collection of rabbinic interpretations of Genesis, gives us a glimpse into God's mindset right before Noa...
A reader can point to general "wickedness," but the details, as always, are far more interesting, and speak to timeless human failings. Bereshit Rabbah, that incredible collection ...
A reader can focus on the sheer scale of the destruction, but the rabbis of the Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary), those ancient interpreters of scripture, dug deeper. The...
Bereshit Rabbah, a classic collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Book of Genesis, digs into this very question. It focuses on the word ḥamas (חָמָס), often translated as "i...
Take the story of the Flood, the mabul, a cataclysmic event meant to cleanse the world of its wickedness. readers often focus on Noah, the ark, and the animals. But what about the ...
The verse in Genesis (6:14) states: "Craft for you an ark of cypress wood; you shall craft the ark with compartments, and you shall coat it within and without with pitch." Now, Rab...
It's fascinating to see how even the smallest details in the Torah, when unpacked by our Sages, can offer such profound insights. to Bereshit Rabbah 31, a section of the ancient Mi...
The familiar story is this: the flood, the animals two-by-two, a rainbow of hope at the end. But what about the blueprints? How did Noah actually build this thing? The Torah, in (G...
What about the nitty-gritty? How did Noah see in there? Where did everyone go to the bathroom? Our Sages, wrestling with the very same questions, dove deep into the Torah's descrip...
The verse in question, (Genesis 6:17), is pretty stark: “And behold, I am bringing the flood, water upon the earth, to destroy all flesh…” But the rabbis, masters of nuance, pick u...
The familiar version gives us the classic story: two of every animal, safe from the flood. But what about the things that aren't exactly animals? (Genesis 6:19) tells us, "And of e...
The familiar story is this: the flood, the ark, two of every animal… but the logistics! How did he feed them all? What did he eat? The Torah tells us, "And you, take for you from a...
The verse that kicks it all off is God's instruction to Noah: "Come, you and your entire household, into the ark, as I have seen you to be righteous before Me in this generation" (...
True greatness lies not in squashing the competition, but in celebrating it? That’s the kind of wisdom we find nestled within the ancient texts of our tradition. Take Bereshit Rabb...
Why do bad things happen to good people? It’s a question that’s haunted humanity for millennia. Our tradition grapples with this head-on, not offering easy answers, but rather invi...
It turns out, this isn't just a human tendency. The Torah itself, according to some rabbinic interpretations, goes out of its way to avoid using harsh or impure language. Take the ...
When we explore the tradition of rabbinic tradition, specifically Bereshit Rabbah, a collection of early Jewish interpretations of the Book of Genesis, we find some fascinating exp...
That’s kind of what the ancient Rabbis were wrestling with when they looked at the story of Noah, specifically (Genesis 7:6): “And Noah was six hundred years old, and the flood was...
Not just the big picture of Noah and the ark, but some of the why and the how behind this cataclysmic event. It's a story The familiar version gives us, but Bereshit Rabbah 32 offe...
Sometimes, it's in the details, in the seemingly small phrases, that we find the biggest insights. Take the story of Noah, for instance. The familiar version gives us the basics: f...
Bereshit Rabbah turns to How the Ark Was Lifted and Raised Above the Earth. What does it mean that the flood was forty days, before the ark was lifted? Rabbi Pinchas, quoting Rabbi...
Because sometimes, the universe has a funny way of showing us that insight isn't exclusive to the scholars and sages. We find a perfect example in Bereshit Rabbah, specifically sec...
The rabbis of old grappled with this very question. How high did the water actually get? The Bereshit Rabbah, a classic collection of rabbinic interpretations of Genesis, dives int...
Our journey begins with the story of Noah and the flood. (Genesis 8:1) tells us, "God remembered Noah, and all the beasts, and all the animals that were with him in the ark; God ca...
(Ecclesiastes 9:14) tells a strange little story: "There was a small city, with few men in it, and a great king came against it and surrounded it." What does it mean? In Bereshit R...
Bereshit Rabbah, a classic collection of rabbinic interpretations of the Book of Genesis, explores this very idea, exploring how God’s mercy permeates everything. The verse from (P...
The rabbis of old, in Bereshit Rabbah, one of the most important collections of rabbinic interpretations of Genesis, saw layers of meaning in these few words. Specifically, the phr...
Genesis Rabbah turns to Noah And The Raven. The Torah tells us, "Noah opened the window of the ark that he had made and sent out the raven; it went to and fro until the waters had ...
Bereshit Rabbah turns to Noah and Creation of Abba. “It was at the end of forty days, and Noah opened the window of the ark that he made” (Genesis 8:6). Remember that mysterious wo...
The story of Noah's Ark and the dove, as told in Genesis, is layered with meaning, and the Rabbis of the Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary) find deep lessons in even the sm...
It’s fascinating to dive into the details, and Bereshit Rabbah, the ancient collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Book of Genesis, does just that. (Genesis 8:13) tells us, ...
Not in your house, not in your apartment… but in a floating zoo. That’s Noah’s story. And in Bereshit Rabbah 34, we get a glimpse into his heart as the floodwaters recede and the p...
Is there any rhyme or reason to it all? Our sages grappled with this, too, and in Bereshit Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretations of the Book of Genesis, we find some rat...
There's a powerful lesson hidden in the story of Noah and the Flood. Rabbi Yudan, quoting Rabbi Aivu, kicks us off with a verse from Proverbs: "In the transgression of the lips the...
Maybe you're in a job you don't love, a relationship that's run its course, or even just a prolonged period of feeling…blah. Well, Noah, yes that Noah of ark fame, knew that feelin...
The familiar story is this: the flood, the animals, the ark bobbing along on a chaotic sea. But what happened after? The waters receded, the dove returned with the olive branch… an...
What about the human side of things? What were Noah and his family actually doing on that boat for all those months? Well, the Rabbis of the Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commenta...
It is often remembered as a storybook tale, but the details, as the Torah and later rabbinic interpretations reveal, are surprisingly strict. The verse in (Genesis 8:17) commands N...
It wasn't just a knee-jerk reaction of gratitude. According to Bereshit Rabbah, the ancient midrashic (rabbinic interpretive commentary) (interpretive) text on Genesis, there was s...
Bereshit Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretations of the Book of Genesis, tackles this very question, and it turns out, it's a battle as old as time. The passage starts wit...
We make them all the time – to loved ones, to ourselves, and, if we believe, God makes promises to us. But what happens when the very foundations of the world seem to shift? What t...
It turns out, our tradition has some fascinating ideas about this, rooted in the stories of Noah and the Flood. We find in (Genesis 9:1), immediately after the Flood, that “God ble...
The very beginning of that relationship, after the flood, is what Specifically, the verses in Genesis 9 that deal with what we can and cannot do in this new world. These verses mig...
