270 passages in Rabbinic Midrash
Individual passages from Kohelet Rabbah, shown in source order. Page 3 of 6.
Kohelet Rabbah turns to How Bribery and Corruption Cloud Even the Wisest Mind. So, what's the connection? The text suggests that even disagreements amongst Torah scholars can muddl...
It tells us: “Go, eat your bread joyfully, and drink your wine goodheartedly, as God has already accepted your actions” (Ecclesiastes 9:7). But what does that mean? Kohelet Rabbah,...
The book of Ecclesiastes, or Kohelet as it's known in Hebrew, certainly did. It observes, "I have seen servants upon horses, and princes walking on the ground like servants" (Eccle...
Uplifting, even. The book of Ecclesiastes, or Kohelet as we know it in Hebrew, captures this feeling perfectly: "The light is sweet, and it is good for the eyes to behold the sun."...
The Rabbis in Kohelet Rabbah delve deep into this verse, unpacking its layers of meaning. Rabbi Pinḥas and Rabbi Ḥilkiya, in the name of Rabbi Simon, pose a crucial question: When ...
The sages in Kohelet Rabbah 7 explore this very question, offering some fascinating possibilities. Rabbi Yehuda paints a picture of something like the Nile River. the Nile doesn't ...
These questions, and more, bubble to the surface as we explore a fascinating passage from Kohelet Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Book of Ecclesiastes. Our ...
Kohelet Rabbah, a fascinating collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Book of Ecclesiastes, explores the verse "All streams flow into the sea, yet the sea is never full; to t...
Kohelet Rabbah, the rabbinic commentary on Ecclesiastes, grapples with this very feeling. It opens with the powerful image of rivers flowing into the sea: "All the rivers go to the...
The sages of old certainly did. And they saw that natural flow as a parallel to something quite profound about conversion to Judaism. Kohelet Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic teach...
The ancient rabbis grappled with it too. In fact, the book of Kohelet, or Ecclesiastes, dives headfirst into the cyclical nature of existence. And Kohelet Rabbah, a rabbinic commen...
That feeling resonates deeply within Jewish tradition. We see it reflected in the ancient text of Kohelet Rabbah, specifically in its interpretation of the verse "all the rivers go...
They found a surprisingly relevant metaphor in the Book of Ecclesiastes, or Kohelet. The verse says, "all the rivers go to the sea." Kohelet Rabbah, a Midrashic (rabbinic interpret...
The book of Ecclesiastes, or Kohelet, gets it. "All matters are wearying; man cannot utter it, the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing" (Ecclesiastes ...
Kohelet, the book of Ecclesiastes traditionally attributed to Solomon, wrestles with just that. And Kohelet Rabbah, the rabbinic commentary on Ecclesiastes, digs even deeper. The s...
The Book of Ecclesiastes, or Kohelet as it's known in Hebrew, certainly thought so. And the Rabbis, plumbing its depths in Kohelet Rabbah, took that idea and ran with it. Consider ...
The book of Ecclesiastes, or Kohelet as it’s known in Hebrew, dives right into that feeling. One particular verse, (Ecclesiastes 4:8), really hits home: "There is one and not anoth...
The book of Ecclesiastes, or Kohelet, as it's known in Hebrew, wrestles with these very questions. And Kohelet Rabbah, the Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary) that elaborate...
The Kohelet Rabbah, a fascinating collection of rabbinic interpretations on Ecclesiastes, wrestles with this very question. It's not just about being smart; it’s about how knowledg...
The verse in question is (Ecclesiastes 7:8): "The end of a matter is better than its beginning; one of patient spirit is better than one of proud spirit." The rabbis, as they often...
Kohelet Rabbah turns to No One Rules the Spirit or Controls the Day of Death. The opening line, “There is no man who rules the spirit,” is interpreted in multiple ways. One fascina...
It all starts with the verse, "May your garments be white at all times, and may the oil on your head not be lacking" (Ecclesiastes 9:8). What does that even mean? Is it literally a...
Take the verse from Ecclesiastes (10:8): “One who digs a pit will fall into it; and one who breaches a fence, a serpent will bite him.” It's a powerful image. But what does it real...
The book of Ecclesiastes, or Kohelet in Hebrew, grapples with these very questions. And the rabbis of the Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary), in Kohelet Rabbah, offer a fas...
Kohelet Rabbah, the commentary on Ecclesiastes, gets it. It starts with the line "all matters are wearying." But it doesn't stop there with the doom and gloom. It actually dives in...
Kohelet, or Ecclesiastes, grapples with these questions, and the rabbis of the Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary), specifically Kohelet Rabbah, offer some pretty fascinatin...
A time for everything, as the saying goes. But what does that really mean? Well, one fascinating interpretation comes to us from Rabbi Yehoshua of Sikhnin, found within Kohelet Rab...
Kohelet Rabbah turns to The Advantage of Cultivated Land Is in Every Way. Well, according to Rabbi Nehemya, "The advantage of land is in every way." Now, what does that even mean? ...
Kohelet Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Book of Ecclesiastes, suggests that "all matters are wearying" – especially matters of heresy. But what does that re...
Like that perfect cup of coffee, or maybe... mitzvot (commandments)? That’s the question bubbling up from Kohelet Rabbah, a fascinating exploration of the book of Ecclesiastes. In ...
Kohelet Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretations on the book of Ecclesiastes, wrestles with this very question, offering us some pretty intense stories. One tale recounts a...
It's a reminder that divinity can work through anything. Kohelet Rabbah, a fascinating collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Book of Ecclesiastes, puts it this way: "The ad...
The book of Kohelet, or Ecclesiastes, really digs into that feeling. And the rabbis of Kohelet Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretations of Kohelet, pick up on that theme in...
The ancient Rabbis certainly did. In Kohelet Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Book of Ecclesiastes, we find a series of stories, almost like little parables,...
Kohelet Rabbah, in its wonderfully enigmatic way, wrestles with this very question, using the verse, "The eye is not satisfied..." as its jumping-off point. It’s a verse that speak...
"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). Is that really true? Are we just doomed to...
It’s a thought that runs through the heart of Ecclesiastes, that most enigmatic of biblical books. And it pops up especially vividly in the verse from (Ecclesiastes 2:9): “I grew g...
The rabbinic commentary on it, Kohelet Rabbah, digs even deeper. " (Ecclesiastes 3:9). It's a question King Solomon, traditionally believed to be the author of Ecclesiastes, poses....
It turns out, that feeling has deep roots in Jewish thought. We find it beautifully expressed in (Ecclesiastes 4:9-12): “Two are better than one; because they have a good reward fo...
That feeling of grasping at smoke..of the wind slipping through your fingers. Well, the ancient wisdom of Kohelet, or Ecclesiastes, speaks directly to this feeling. Kohelet Rabbah,...
We all do. But what if I told you that ancient wisdom offers a powerful image to help us understand – and maybe even control – that inner fire? The verse from Ecclesiastes, 7:9, wa...
Power over another human being is one of the most dangerous things a person can hold, and Ecclesiastes names this danger directly. In (Ecclesiastes 8:9), it says, "All this I have ...
Kohelet Rabbah turns to Enjoy Life With the One You Love Says Ecclesiastes. The sages of the Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary), in Kohelet Rabbah 9, explore this verse, an...
It’s a book known for its wisdom, but sometimes couched in rather…opaque language. Take this verse from (Ecclesiastes 10:9): "One who transports stones will be saddened by them; an...
The book of Ecclesiastes, or Kohelet as it's known in Hebrew, wrestles with that very idea. It's a book of wisdom, attributed to King Solomon, but some of its verses have sparked d...
That nagging sense of "Is this all there is?" That, my friends, is a feeling as old as time itself. The book of Ecclesiastes, or Kohelet as it’s known in Hebrew, grapples with this...
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...
The book of Ecclesiastes, or Kohelet as it's known in Hebrew, wrestles with these very questions. And Kohelet Rabbah, a rabbinic commentary on Ecclesiastes, dives even deeper. one ...
