801 related texts · Page 69 of 89
It’s a deeply human dilemma, and it appears even in the stories of our greatest leaders. to a fascinating passage from Bamidbar Rabbah, specifically section 22, to uncover just suc...
The text opens with a powerful image. "The power of His deeds He told to His people" (Psalms 111:6). According to Bamidbar Rabbah, God could have simply created a new land for the ...
We all know the story: they ate the forbidden fruit, gained knowledge, and were banished. But what was the nature of that banishment? Was it a final, crushing blow, or something…el...
The story of Cain and Abel, right at the beginning of Genesis, gives us a clue, but also raises some fascinating questions about sacrifice itself. "Cain brought an offering of the ...
Today, let's consider Ishmael, son of Abraham and Hagar, and a rather cryptic verse from Genesis (16:12) that attempts to define him: "He will be a wild man: His hand will be again...
It's right there in Genesis 17:17: "Abraham fell upon his face, and he laughed. He said in his heart: Shall a child be born to one who is one hundred years old? And shall Sarah, a ...
Our story begins with the seemingly simple phrase, “After these matters [devarim]…”. The Hebrew word devarim can mean both "matters" and "words," and as we delve into Bereshit Rabb...
The story of Abraham and the binding of Isaac, the Akeidah, is a powerful lens through which to explore this idea. Our text today comes from Bereshit Rabbah 55, a collection of rab...
This story, found in Bereshit Rabbah 61, takes us right into the middle of just such a scene. The verse that sparks this whole episode is from Genesis 25:6: "But to the sons of the...
