1,099 passages in Rabbinic Midrash
Individual passages from Sifrei Devarim, shown in source order. Page 13 of 23.
It offers a powerful promise – and a comforting thought. It's Devarim 20:4. And it says: "For it is the L-rd your G-d who goes with you to do battle with your foes." Simple. But pa...
What could possibly offer comfort? The ancient text, Sifrei Devarim, specifically section 193, gives us a glimpse into just such a moment. It describes the role of the Kohen (a pri...
Like you've finally built that dream house, and then… boom! Duty calls. Well, Jewish tradition has something to say about that feeling, and it all starts with a verse in Devarim, t...
It turns out, quite a bit. to a fascinating little corner of Jewish law that deals with exactly this scenario. Sifrei Devarim is a collection of legal interpretations connected to ...
It wasn't just about strategy. It was about the soul. Sifrei Devarim, a part of the larger collection of legal midrashim (rabbinic interpretive commentary) connected to the Book of...
It's like peeling back layers of an onion, each layer revealing a new nuance, a deeper understanding. Our journey begins in Sifrei Devarim 195, a collection of legal interpretation...
Sifrei Devarim turns to Who Was Sent Home from War for Personal Reasons. The scene: The Israelite army is lined up, ready for battle. The Cohein, the priest, steps forward to addre...
Who gets to stay home from war, and why? The question is as old as Israel itself, and Sifrei Devarim 196, a tannaitic midrash on Deuteronomy compiled around the 3rd century CE, tak...
Deuteronomy, or Devarim in Hebrew, chapter 20 verse 8, gives us a glimpse into this often-overlooked role. It says, "Then the officers shall speak further to the people..." It But ...
In the Book of Deuteronomy (Devarim), specifically Sifrei Devarim 197, we find a fascinating passage about who is exempt from going to war. It’s not just the obvious cases – the ne...
Jewish tradition definitely thinks so, especially when it comes to matters of communal responsibility, like war. to a fascinating passage from Sifrei Devarim, a collection of early...
Not every war in the Torah is the same kind of war, and the Sifrei pulls that distinction out of a single opening clause. The rabbis of old weren't just reading the words on the pa...
Isn't it wild to think about peace even in the middle of war? them is often remembered as opposites, but Jewish tradition sees a deep connection, a need for peace that permeates ev...
Our tradition is acutely aware of this danger, especially when it comes to making peace. We see this in a fascinatingly precise reading of a verse in Sefer Devarim, the Book of Deu...
This particular passage deals with the laws of warfare laid out in the Book of Deuteronomy. It begins with a seemingly simple phrase: "then all the people found in it." But who are...
Sometimes, it really is. to a fascinating, and frankly unsettling, passage from Sifrei Devarim, a collection of legal interpretations on the Book of Deuteronomy. Specifically, The ...
Sifrei Devarim turns to Spoils of War and the Laws of Conquest. The verse says, "all of its spoil shall you take for yourself." So, what does that mean? One might assume that the s...
The Sifrei Devarim, a collection of legal interpretations on Deuteronomy, really digs into this. the story turns to (Deuteronomy 20:16): "But from the cities of these people… you s...
The Sifrei Devarim, a collection of early rabbinic legal interpretations on the Book of Deuteronomy, offers a powerful, almost startlingly simple answer. It connects sin not just t...
The phrase "many days" becomes a rule of war in Sifrei Devarim: two days for peace, then a third day when siege may begin. This teaching breaks down "many days" into its component ...
Jewish tradition does. It doesn't just say "go to war." It asks, "How do we go to war. justly?" The Sifrei Devarim, a legal commentary on the Book of Deuteronomy, opens a fascinati...
Jewish tradition certainly does. This comes through vividly in the Sifrei Devarim, a collection of legal interpretations on the Book of Deuteronomy. Here, we find a fascinating lit...
Jewish law has surprisingly strong feelings about trees in wartime. Sifrei Devarim, a collection of legal interpretations on the Book of Deuteronomy, dedicates section 204 to a see...
Sometimes, a few simple words open up a whole world of interpretation. Take the phrase "and you shall cut" from Sifrei Devarim 205. But it's a springboard for a fascinating discuss...
It deals with a ritual called eglah arufah (עגלה ערופה), the "broken-necked heifer." Now, before you imagine something gruesome, remember that this isn't about cruelty, but about a...
Before you get too caught up in the image, remember this wasn't about punishing the calf! It was a symbolic act, a communal atonement when a murder occurred and the perpetrator rem...
Ever stumble upon a mystery so perplexing, so deeply rooted in ancient law, that it makes you scratch your head and wonder, "How did they even figure this out?" Well, pull up a cha...
Ever stumble upon a mystery so ancient, so… rural, that it makes you scratch your head and wonder, "How did they even figure this out?" It all revolves around an unsolved murder. I...
Sifrei Devarim, a portion of the book of Deuteronomy, explores the laws concerning warfare, and it raises some fascinating points about who gets to participate, and what their role...
An unsolved murder in the field becomes a public crisis, and Sifrei Devarim makes the nearest city answer for it. Specifically, It grapples with the strange ritual of the eglah aru...
There's one in particular, the ritual of the eglah arufah, the "broken-necked heifer," that always gets me. It deals with a murder where the perpetrator is unknown and how the elde...
Ever stumble upon a ritual in the Torah and think, "Wait, what exactly are they doing… and why?" It's a strange, evocative ritual performed when a body is found slain between citie...
You stumble upon something like this, from Sifrei Devarim 208, and you think, "Wait, what's going on here?" It all revolves around a passage in Deuteronomy (21:5) about a very spec...
It's fascinating to consider how seemingly disparate aspects of life were connected, and Sifrei Devarim 208 offers us a tantalizing glimpse into this very connection. " What's stri...
Sifrei Devarim turns to Three Judges for Money, More for Matters of Life. It starts with a logical leap, a classic a fortiori argument, which is Hebrew for "how much more so!" The ...
This ritual is performed when a murder occurs and the perpetrator is unknown. It’s a heavy, somber moment, designed to atone for the bloodshed and absolve the community of guilt. T...
That feeling, that pervasive sense of collective responsibility, echoes powerfully in a passage from Sifrei Devarim, a collection of legal interpretations on the Book of Deuteronom...
The ancient text, Sifrei Devarim, a commentary on the Book of Deuteronomy, grapples with this very issue. It centers on a specific passage dealing with an unsolved murder. a body i...
This particular section, 211, deals with the laws of war, and specifically, what happens when an Israelite soldier encounters a captivating woman amongst the captives. It all start...
Sifrei Devarim turns to The Captive Woman and the Limits of Ancient Warfare Law. The passage states, "then you may take her for yourself as a wife." Okay, But the commentary in Sif...
The verse in question (Deuteronomy 21:12) deals with the laws concerning a captured woman whom a Jewish man wishes to marry. It says, "...and she shall shave her head and she shall...
It’s not quite the bodice-ripping romance novel you might (wrongly) imagine. Instead, there’s a fascinating, and frankly, surprisingly sensitive, layer of detail tucked away in the...
There's a fascinating passage in Sifrei Devarim, a collection of legal interpretations on the Book of Deuteronomy, that dives right into this thorny territory. It deals with the ca...
Sifrei Devarim turns to The Captive Woman and the Process of Humanizing War. The text outlines a specific process. The man can bring her into his house. She shaves her head, remove...
The Torah, in its surprisingly blunt way, actually addresses this very human experience. We find it in the book of Devarim (Deuteronomy), specifically 21:14. It deals with the laws...
The verse says, "then you shall send her on her own." Seems straightforward. But the Rabbis, in their infinite wisdom, see more. The text specifies that she must be sent "on her ow...
It's astounding, really. Consider a passage in Sifrei Devarim, a collection of legal interpretations on the Book of Deuteronomy. It dives deep into the nuances of marriage, love, a...
This particular passage in Sifrei Devarim 215, grapples with a challenging scenario, a man who has both a "loved" wife and a "hated" wife, as the Torah phrases it. It comes from (D...
