309 passages in Rabbinic Midrash
Individual passages from Pesikta de-Rav Kahana, shown in source order. Page 7 of 7.
David asked God to show him the path of life, and the sages turned that prayer into a glimpse of the world to come. If you want life, one teacher said, look toward the fear of Heav...
Rabbi Reuben puzzled over David. In one psalm he calls himself a king, in another a pauper. The answer lies in foresight. When David saw the righteous kings who would descend from ...
The psalmist calls on the field to exult and all its creatures to rejoice, and the sages heard in "field" the whole world that God made. Even the trees of the forest are summoned t...
"I will wash my hands in innocence and go about Your altar." The sages heard a quiet ethic in that verse. The hands washed in innocence are hands that hold what was purchased hones...
The Torah says "and you shall take for yourselves" the four species on Sukkot, and the rabbis hear two demands in those small words. The lulav must be taken by each person individu...
There’s so much more to it than just a spiritual "reset" button. on Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, tradition tells us that God sits in judgment of everyone. Then, on Yom Kippu...
Sukkot falls on the fifteenth of the month, so why does the Torah call it "the first day"? Rabbi Levi answered with the image of a king coming to collect overdue taxes from a provi...
The sages read "on the first day" with great care. By day, they ruled, not by night. Even on the Sabbath, but only on the first day of the festival does taking the lulav override t...
Rabbi Akiva heard each of the four species naming the Holy One, blessed be He. The goodly fruit recalls the One clothed in majesty (Psalms 104:1). The palm recalls the righteous wh...
Rabbi Abba bar Kahana found a great promise hidden in a single word. Because the Torah commands "and you shall take for yourselves on the first day," God pledges four returns, each...
Shemini Atzeret raises a homely question: may a Jew still eat in the sukkah on the eighth day? The sages ruled that the dwelling ends with the seventh day, and Rabbi Joshua ben Lev...
Rabbi Yitzhak named three kinds of people whom Scripture brands wicked: the one who raises a hand against his fellow, the one who borrows and never repays, and the one who stirs up...
"On a good day be in goodness, and on a bad day consider," says Kohelet. Rabbi Abba bar Kahana reads it as practical counsel: when a good day comes, seize the good at once; when a ...
One small verse from Ecclesiastes opens like a hand spreading its fingers: "Give a portion to seven, and also to eight." The sages gathered around it and each found a different tre...
Rabbi Joshua of Sikhnin, speaking for Rabbi Levi, took the line from the Psalms and turned it gently in his hands. "For the LORD delights in His people; He adorns the humble with s...
Rabbi Yochanan looked at the eighth day, the day that comes right after seven full days of Sukkot, and he refused to let it be swallowed up as a mere appendix. The eighth is a fest...
The law of the sukkah is gentle even at its ending. When the seventh day's meal is finished you do not tear the booth down in a rush; from the afternoon onward you may quietly carr...
Rabbi Isaac taught a beautiful mutual loyalty. When Israel lingers in the synagogue and the study hall, unwilling to leave, the Holy One holds His own Presence back to stay among t...
Rabbi Alexandri told it as a family scene. A king threw a great feast, and all seven days his own son ran himself ragged tending to the guests. When the week ended, the father said...
The verse about the festival offerings is worded with quiet care: "These you shall offer to the LORD on your appointed times." Rabbi Chanina noticed the tense. It does not say "the...
There’s a powerful story that illustrates just how deeply connected we are across generations, a story about the pleading of the fathers and mothers. The Jewish people have been ex...
