Parshat Chukat

967 related texts · Page 66 of 108

The red heifer purification ritual, the deaths of Miriam and Aaron, Moses strikes the rock, and the bronze serpent. Numbers 19:1-22:1.

Divine Presence and Samaritan

Midrash Rabbah Bereshit Rabbah 4:4

The ancient rabbis certainly did. They grappled with questions of creation, divine presence, and the seeming paradoxes of faith. And sometimes, they used the most unexpected method...

CreationHeavenNoah & FloodMoses

Gates of Heaven

Midrash Rabbah Bereshit Rabbah 4:5

Imagine this: the rakia, the firmament – that expanse we see as the sky – is like a gigantic pool of water. Above that pool, there's a dome. And because of this cosmic pool, you ge...

CreationHeavenJobProphecy

Joshua: Moses and the Origins of the World

Midrash Rabbah Bereshit Rabbah 5:5

Rabbi Yoḥanan, a towering figure in the Talmudic era, offers a startling idea. He suggests that when God created the sea, He made a deal. A condition (tna’o in Hebrew) that it woul...

CreationMosesElijahDaniel

Light of the First Day and Adam

Midrash Rabbah Bereshit Rabbah 8:1

The passage opens with that foundational verse, Genesis 1:26: "And God said: Let us make Man in our image, in our likeness, and let them dominate…” But what does it mean? Rabbi Yoḥ...

CreationHell/GehennaAngelsAdam & Eve

Heavens: Levi at the Dawn of Creation

Midrash Rabbah Bereshit Rabbah 12:5

Specifically, we're looking at Bereshit Rabbah 12. Rabbi Nehemya of Kefar Sihon starts us off by referencing Exodus 20:11: "For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth,...

CreationHeavenCreaturesAdam & Eve

When God Created and Adam

Midrash Rabbah Bereshit Rabbah 18:4

The Midrash, those collections of rabbinic commentaries and stories that expand on the Hebrew Bible, often offer surprising perspectives. Here, in Bereshit Rabbah, a midrash on the...

CreationAdam & EveMosesTorah

Acts of Creation and Abahu

Midrash Rabbah Bereshit Rabbah 18:5

We get a glimpse into that, and a whole lot more about marriage, divorce, and forbidden relationships in this fascinating passage from Bereshit Rabbah 18. It all starts with the fa...

CreationAdam & EvePatriarchsMatriarchs

The Garden of Eden and Cain

Midrash Rabbah Bereshit Rabbah 21:9

At least, that's what we learn from Bereshit Rabbah 21, a fascinating passage in the ancient rabbinic commentary on Genesis. Rav tells us that "in every place, the eastern directio...

CreationHeavenAngelsAdam & Eve

Cain: Adam and Creation

Midrash Rabbah Bereshit Rabbah 22:13

The Torah tells us, "Cain departed from the presence of the Lord, and lived in the land of Nod, east of Eden" (Genesis 4:16). But where did he really go? The Rabbis of the Bereshit...

CreationAdam & EveMosesKing David