1,099 passages in Rabbinic Midrash
Individual passages from Sifrei Devarim, shown in source order. Page 10 of 23.
Sifrei Devarim stops over the phrase "sheep and cattle" and refuses to let even those plain words pass untouched. The text asks a pointed question: Doesn't the Pesach (Passover) of...
The law of chametz turns on timing. Sifrei Devarim asks exactly when eating leaven must stop before Pesach. Our source for this particular detail is Sifrei Devarim, a collection of...
The verse It’s a complex discussion, a real Talmudic back-and-forth about the very definition of matzah. Rabbi Shimon asks a pointed question. He challenges a particular line of re...
Like so many things in Jewish tradition, the answer, or rather the layers of answers, are richer and more meaningful than you might expect. R. Shimon, in Sifrei Devarim, tells us i...
The verse in Deuteronomy (16:4) is pretty clear: "And there shall not be seen unto you leaven in all of your border for seven days." Seems straightforward. No chametz for you! But ...
The verse says, "shall not be seen unto you." Now, what does that really mean? Is it just about not seeing the chametz with your eyes? Our sages understood it went much deeper. It’...
It all starts with the verse, "and there shall not remain of the flesh that you sacrifice in the evening on the first day until the morning." (Deuteronomy 16:4). Okay, straightforw...
Jewish law sometimes deals with similar dilemmas, where doing one good thing might unintentionally lead to a less-than-ideal outcome. the Pesach (Passover) offering, that central e...
Sifrei Devarim turns to Rabbi Shimon and Adam of Pesach. The key verse that shapes our discussion is (Deuteronomy 16:5): "You may not sacrifice the Pesach offering in any of your s...
The rabbis of old, they wrestled with this question too! The verse in Deuteronomy (16:6) tells us we should sacrifice the Passover offering "to the place that the L-rd your G-d cho...
For the Jewish people, the Exodus from Egypt is that moment. And it echoes even in the details of how we celebrate Passover, Pesach, the festival commemorating that liberation. Our...
Sometimes, digging into the details reveals the beautiful, intricate reasoning behind even the seemingly simplest rules. Take this passage from Sifrei Devarim, a collection of lega...
Sifrei Devarim turns to Six Days or Seven Days of Matzah at Passover. The question? How long exactly are we supposed to eat matzah during Passover? It But here’s the thing: one ver...
The major holidays are bookends, but what about the days in the middle? Can you run errands? Do laundry? Go to work? Well, Rabbi Yishmael kicks off our exploration with a surprisin...
Who exactly is being told to do this counting? Is it the beth-din, the Jewish court, maybe acting on behalf of the community? That's where the Sifrei Devarim, a collection of early...
Sifrei Devarim turns to Pesach at the Dawn of Creation. It doesn’t stop there. The next phrase, "in the standing corn," adds another layer. All the grain designated for the Omer ha...
Like you're about to figure something out, and then BAM! A little voice pops up to say, "Hold on a second..." Well, that’s kind of what's happening in this passage from Sifrei Deva...
The Omer offering is a big deal, marking the start of the 49-day countdown to Shavuot, the festival of weeks. But what if you were a super-efficient farmer? Could you harvest at ni...
Sifrei Devarim turns to Offerings Should Come from Non-Consecrated Goods. The Sifrei Devarim, a collection of legal interpretations on the Book of Deuteronomy, tackles this very qu...
It wasn't just about showing up; it was about the order of things, the offerings, and even… who you loved the most? to a fascinating little passage from Sifrei Devarim 138, a comme...
Sifrei Devarim turns to Mount Sinai and Joseph of Atzereth. Why mention each of these individually? Well, Sifrei Devarim suggests it’s because they aren’t mutually derivable. Each ...
Well, our Sages grappled with that very idea when it came to Sukkot, the Festival of Booths. Sukkot, as you probably know, is that joyous week where we dwell in temporary shelters,...
The holiday of Sukkot, the Feast of Tabernacles, gives us a powerful example. We're commanded to build a succah, a temporary dwelling, a booth, to remember how our ancestors lived ...
The succah, of course, is that temporary dwelling we construct during the festival of Succot, a reminder of our ancestors' journey through the desert after the Exodus. The lulav is...
It might seem arbitrary, but there's actually a beautiful reason woven into the very fabric of our tradition, one that speaks to God's care for us. Rabbi Shimon, in Sifrei Devarim,...
Rabbi Akiva, a towering figure of Jewish law and thought, brings up a really interesting point about how we determine the order of tithing. He uses the example of the threshing flo...
What offerings come to mind? Maybe you’d consider bringing fowl or even a meal-offering. But hold on! The text subtly guides us. "I might think, even with fowl and meal-offerings; ...
Sifrei Devarim turns to Making Up a Missed Festival Sacrifice on Later Days. It starts with the seemingly straightforward instruction about offering a chagigah, a festive sacrifice...
Can we fulfill the obligation to rejoice during festivals with just any sacrifice? You know, like maybe with fowl or even a meal-offering? The answer, surprisingly, is no. Sifrei D...
It's not as simple as "everyone," that's for sure. to what the ancient texts tell us about who’s in, who’s out, and why. The verse we’re unpacking is from Sifrei Devarim, a collect...
The ancient text, Sifrei Devarim, offers a radical idea about that very possibility. It starts with a verse from Deuteronomy (16:16): "…the presence (pnei) of the L-rd your G-d." T...
The ancient text of Sifrei Devarim, a commentary on the book of Deuteronomy, sheds some light on this, focusing on the commandment that we shouldn’t appear before God "empty-handed...
It couldn't have been easy. Turns out, the Torah already had a plan for that! This week, Specifically, But the Rabbis, in their infinite wisdom, saw much more within these words. T...
It all comes down to a fascinating system of appointments, a hierarchy of leadership that, according to our sages, can all be found hinted at in the book of Deuteronomy (Devarim). ...
" Simple enough. But the rabbis of old saw more. They understood this as referring directly to the very act of appointing judges. It's not just about having judges, it's about the ...
The ancient text of Sifrei Devarim, a collection of legal interpretations on the Book of Deuteronomy, tackles this very issue head-on. In a few short verses, it delivers a powerful...
The verse Seems straightforward enough. But like so much in Jewish tradition, there's more than meets the eye. The rabbis of old weren't content with simple readings; they wanted t...
Sifrei Devarim turns to Appointing Judges So That Israel Lives. The Sifrei Devarim, a legal commentary on the Book of Deuteronomy, offers a profound insight into this very idea. Wh...
Sifrei Devarim turns to Why No Portico Was Allowed in the Temple Courtyard. His answer lies in the Book of Deuteronomy (Devarim) itself, specifically 16:21: "You shall not plant an...
Jewish law certainly thinks so! Sacrifices might seem like an ancient practice, far removed from our modern lives, but the principles behind them, the importance of intention, the ...
The ancient rabbis certainly considered the importance of order, especially when it came to sacred rituals. to a fascinating little corner of Jewish law, specifically from Sifrei D...
Ever stumble upon something that just feels... wrong? Like a violation of an unspoken rule? Well, Jewish tradition grapples with that feeling in some fascinating ways, especially w...
Sometimes, buried in the details of ritual and law, are surprisingly relevant insights into justice and fairness. Let's take a little journey into the Sifrei Devarim, a collection ...
A reader can breeze past those moments, but often, they're invitations to delve deeper. It wrestles with a seemingly simple phrase: "in one of your cities." It appears in the conte...
The core question revolves around the phrase "a man or a woman" in (Deuteronomy 17:2), which deals with idolatry. Seems straightforward. But the rabbis weren’t ones to take things ...
It wasn't just a difference of opinion, a harmless cultural practice. Oh no. According to them, idolatry was a spiritual cancer, a plague on the soul. Sifrei Devarim, one of the ea...
The Sifrei Devarim, an ancient Jewish legal commentary on the Book of Deuteronomy, wrestles with this very question. It explores the prohibition against worshipping other gods, and...
Sifrei Devarim 149 illuminates this, offering a powerful interpretation of the phrase "which I did not command," found in Deuteronomy. It's not just about what God did command, but...
