Parshat Vayera

2,677 related texts · Page 119 of 298

Three angels visit Abraham, the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, the birth of Isaac, and the Binding of Isaac (the Akedah). Genesis 18:1-22:24.

Abram and the Origins of the World

Midrash Rabbah Bereshit Rabbah 44:18

"Know with certainty that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and they will be enslaved to them and they will oppress them, four hundred years.” That's...

CreationPatriarchs

Daniel: Abraham at the Dawn of Creation

Midrash Rabbah Bereshit Rabbah 44:19

one such verse, rich with meaning and implication. In Genesis 15:14, God tells Abraham, "And also that nation that they will serve, I will judge, and after that they will go out wi...

CreationPatriarchsJosephMoses

Gideon: Abraham and the Origins of the World

Midrash Rabbah Bereshit Rabbah 44:20

Sometimes, a single letter can unlock a whole new world of understanding. Take the verse from Genesis 15:14, promising that the Israelites would leave Egypt with "great property." ...

CreationPatriarchsMosesPrayer

Covenant of Abraham and Refa

Midrash Rabbah Bereshit Rabbah 44:23

We often think of the Torah as a clear-cut set of instructions, but sometimes, things get a little… complicated. Take the story of God's promise to Abraham in Genesis 15:19-21. God...

CreationPatriarchsDanielHoly Land

Abraham and the Origins of the World

Midrash Rabbah Bereshit Rabbah 46:3

The scene: God, in Genesis 17:1, reveals Himself to Abraham, saying "I am God Almighty [Shadai]." But what does Shadai really mean? The Rabbis, in Bereshit Rabbah 46, unpack this w...

CreationPatriarchsTorah

Remove: Abraham at the Dawn of Creation

Midrash Rabbah Bereshit Rabbah 46:4

The sages of the Midrash explored this very human feeling when grappling with God's command to Abraham to be circumcised. In Genesis 17:1, God tells Abraham, "Walk before Me, and b...

CreationNoah & FloodPatriarchsTorah

Abraham and the Origins of the World

Midrash Rabbah Bereshit Rabbah 46:7

Specifically, we're looking at Bereshit Rabbah 46, where the rabbis are puzzling over something quite profound: where in the Torah do we find the use of acronyms? And more importan...

CreationNoah & FloodPatriarchsTorah

Ministering Angels and Ptolemy

Midrash Rabbah Bereshit Rabbah 46:10

But in Bereshit Rabbah, that foundational midrashic text, the rabbis unpack layers of meaning from even a single word. The verse uses the Hebrew word "nemaltem," meaning "you shall...

CreationAngelsNoah & FloodTorah

Sarah: Isaac and the Origins of the World

Midrash Rabbah Bereshit Rabbah 47:2

But the Rabbis, in their infinite wisdom, saw so much more. The Bereshit Rabbah, that incredible collection of rabbinic interpretations of Genesis, dedicates a whole section to unp...

CreationHell/GehennaPatriarchsMatriarchs