705 related texts · Page 21 of 79
It's more than you might think. Imagine the scene: After decades in exile, a weary but hopeful band of Jews finally returns to Jerusalem. Among them are three figures of immense im...
Not inside a synagogue, not in the comfort of their homes, but out in the open, exposed and vulnerable. They brought the Aron Kodesh, the Ark, containing the very scroll of the law...
Bamidbar Rabbah, the rabbinic commentary on the Book of Numbers, dives right into this question with a surprisingly poetic starting point. The verse we're looking at is "The Lord s...
It all starts with a simple verse: "These are those who were counted of the children of Israel…" And from there, it launches into a deep dive about blessings, promises, and the end...
That feeling isn't new. In fact, the ancient Israelites grappled with it too, as we learn from Bamidbar Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic teachings on the Book of Numbers. Our story...
We tend to focus on the big, dramatic stuff, like the Ark of the Covenant. But what about the meticulous work of the Gershonites? Our story comes from Bamidbar Rabbah, a fascinatin...
Take, for instance, the ritual of the sotah, the suspected adulteress, described in the Book of Numbers (Bamidbar). It’s… complicated. The priest writes curses on a scroll and then...
We all know the story of the spies. The Israelites, poised to enter the Promised Land, get cold feet. "Let's send some scouts ahead," they suggest to Moses. But what was really goi...
Even in the Bible, the order in which things are presented can tell a whole story. Take the story of the spies sent by Moses to scout out the Land of Canaan, the Promised Land, bef...
