329 passages in Rabbinic Midrash
Individual passages from Vayikra Rabbah, shown in source order. Page 3 of 7.
Our ancestors grappled with similar feelings, and the rabbis of old explored this through beautiful metaphors in the Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary). to a fascinating pa...
Vayikra Rabbah turns to Marriage of Solomon. That night, there were two dances, two celebrations intertwined. One for the Temple, a beacon of holiness, and the other for the Pharao...
A passage from Vayikra Rabbah 13 that explores just that. It all starts with the verse, "The Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying to them" (Leviticus 11:1). Seems straightforwa...
Vayikra Rabbah, specifically section 13, offers a fascinating glimpse into their thought process, starting with a powerful verse from Habakkuk: "He stood and assessed the earth" (H...
Midrash Vayikra Rabbah turns to The Changing Torah. It’s a mind-bending thought, isn’t it? For so many, the Torah – with its 613 mitzvot (commandments) and timeless stories – is th...
As Rav teaches us, the mitzvot (commandments) were given to Israel to refine us, to elevate us. Why? "He is a shield for all who rely on Him" (Proverbs 30:5). Because God protects ...
the verse from (Leviticus 11:2): "Speak to the children of Israel saying: These are the living beings that you may eat from all the animals that are on the earth." Simple enough. B...
Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥman tells us that all the prophets, in their visions, saw the rise and fall of kingdoms, particularly their impact on Israel. It all starts with a seemingly inn...
The familiar version gives us the basics from Genesis, but the Rabbis of the Talmud and Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary) dove deep, exploring every nuance, every implicat...
Vayikra Rabbah, a collection of Midrashic (rabbinic interpretive commentary) interpretations on the book of Leviticus, dives deep into this very topic, using the verse "when a woma...
Vayikra Rabbah turns to The Divine Care Hidden in Every Moment of Human Birth. Rabbi Abba bar Kahana kicks things off with a series of analogies. Imagine, he says, holding a purse ...
The ancient rabbis certainly did. And they found profound metaphors in the everyday to explain the divine orchestration of it all. We find a fascinating exploration of this in Vayi...
Vayikra Rabbah turns to Yishai and the King. Instead of a straightforward biological explanation, we explore something far more profound: the nature of intention, and even, dare I ...
The book of Leviticus, or Vayikra in Hebrew, opens with laws about sacrifices. But within Vayikra Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretations on Leviticus, we find ourselves c...
Seven, for instance, pops up everywhere – the seven days of creation, the seven days of mourning (shiva), the seven weeks between Passover and Shavuot (the Festival of Weeks). But ...
We've all been there, but none of us remember. Jewish tradition, though, offers some pretty fascinating, almost poetic descriptions. Imagine, if you will, the very beginnings of li...
It turns out, these two seemingly unrelated topics are deeply intertwined in some fascinating rabbinic discussions. We find a compelling debate in Vayikra Rabbah 14, a section of t...
It all starts with a rather clinical verse: "A man, if he will have on the skin of his flesh a spot, or a scab, or a bright spot, and it will become a mark of leprosy on the skin o...
In Vayikra Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Book of Leviticus, we find this very idea explored. It all starts with the seemingly simple phrase, "to set calib...
Consider the opening of Vayikra (Leviticus), which discusses skin ailments. Vayikra Rabbah, a Midrashic (rabbinic interpretive commentary) collection expounding on Leviticus, dives...
The ancient rabbis grappled with these questions too, and sometimes their answers can surprise us. to a passage from Vayikra Rabbah (Leviticus Rabbah), a fascinating collection of ...
Sometimes, the answers lie in the most unexpected connections, bridging seemingly unrelated passages of Torah. to one such fascinating interpretation found in Vayikra Rabbah, a col...
Vayikra Rabbah, the great midrash on the Book of Leviticus, is all about unlocking those secrets. It's about diving deep into the connections between verses that might seem, At fir...
Rabbi Levi, in Vayikra Rabbah (Leviticus Rabbah) 15, cuts right to the heart of it. He teaches that blessed actions – acts of kindness, of justice, of integrity – bring blessing ri...
It wasn't just a quick glance. The Torah tells us in (Leviticus 13:12) that the priest examines the afflicted individual in “the entire view of the eyes of the priest.” But what ex...
They saw those patterns reflected even in the seemingly mundane laws about skin diseases in the book of Leviticus. In Vayikra Rabbah, a fascinating collection of rabbinic interpret...
Disease is often remembered as random, a matter of bad luck. But what if certain behaviors, certain flaws in our character, actually pave the way for illness and hardship? That’s w...
That secret to a long, happy, and fulfilling existence. Well, maybe, just maybe, the answer has been staring us in the face all along. Vayikra Rabbah, a fascinating midrashic (rabb...
Vayikra Rabbah turns to Skin Disease as Punishment and the Parallel to Job. The passage begins by drawing a parallel between the arrogance of a haughty person and the fate of a lep...
Who Is Worthy to Speak of God's Laws and Invoke His Name is the question behind this passage from Vayikra Rabbah. The text then tells an intriguing story about Ben Azai. He was exp...
Vayikra Rabbah, specifically chapter 16, dives deep into this, starting with the verse, "This shall be the law of the leper." (Leviticus 14:2). Seems strange. What does leprosy hav...
It's about something far deeper. Something that touches on the very fabric of our community and our souls. In Vayikra, Leviticus, we find the word torat – law or teaching – repeate...
The verse in question, from (Leviticus 14:4), describes a ritual for purifying someone who has been healed from a skin disease: “The priest shall command, and one shall take for th...
In Vayikra Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Book of Leviticus, we find a fascinating discussion about the source of illness, one that goes far beyond simple ...
The verse in question comes from (Leviticus 14:5): "The priest shall command and one shall slaughter the one bird in an earthenware vessel over springwater." Okay, makes sense so f...
Our jumping-off point is a seemingly odd verse from Leviticus (14:34): “When you will come to the land of Canaan, which I am giving to you as a possession, and I will place a mark ...
Vayikra Rabbah, a fascinating collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Book of Leviticus, explores this very idea, using the strange and unsettling phenomenon of leprosy in ho...
In the rabbinic imagination, as we see in Vayikra Rabbah 17, tzara'at becomes a physical manifestation of spiritual failings. It's a fascinating, if unsettling, idea. Vayikra Rabba...
In Vayikra Rabbah 17, a fascinating midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary) – that's a story that unpacks the deeper meaning of a biblical text – explores this very idea. Specif...
After all, it's not exactly a flattering name given Canaan's, shall we say, complicated backstory. Vayikra Rabbah, a fascinating collection of rabbinic teachings on the Book of Lev...
Sometimes, the most unexpected things can lead us to hidden riches. Take leprosy, for example. Yes, leprosy. I know what you're thinking. Leprosy? Good tidings? Seems impossible. B...
Stick with me. In Vayikra, Leviticus, chapter 14, we find a curious passage about a plague that can afflict houses. Now, Vayikra Rabbah, a Midrashic (rabbinic interpretive commenta...
In fact, they found some pretty profound answers hidden within the verses of the Torah. We begin with a seemingly straightforward passage in Leviticus (15:2): "Speak to the childre...
One such example, a passage from Vayikra Rabbah 18, which tackles a seemingly simple verse from Leviticus: "Any man, when he has a discharge from his flesh.." (Leviticus 15:2). Hol...
As readers often find, the ancient texts of our tradition offer powerful, if sometimes unsettling, insights. Vayikra Rabbah 18 – a midrash, a Rabbinic interpretation, on the Book o...
Rabbi Shimon ben Yoḥai paints a powerful picture of that experience. He teaches that when the Israelites stood at Sinai and proclaimed, "Everything that God said we will perform an...
A king, a ruler of flesh and blood. What powers does he wield? He can exile his subjects, throw them into prison, banish them from his kingdom. But is he alone in these actions? In...
That’s because, often, it is! one such instance. We find ourselves in Vayikra Rabbah (Leviticus Rabbah) 19, diving into a seemingly straightforward verse from (Leviticus 15:25), de...
