Parshat Vayera

2,711 related texts · Page 70 of 302

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.

Abraham: From Nothing to Everything

Midrash Rabbah Bereshit Rabbah 84:4

It wasn't just about being born into the right family. According to ancient texts, active conversion played a huge role. to a fascinating passage from Bereshit Rabbah that sheds li...

CreationHeavenPatriarchsMatriarchs

Isaac's Offering and Jacob

Midrash Rabbah Bereshit Rabbah 94:5

It centers around the verse: "He slaughtered feast-offerings to the God of his father Isaac" (Genesis 46:1). Why Isaac? Why not Abraham, the patriarch of them all? Rabbi Yehoshua b...

CreationNoah & FloodPatriarchsJoseph

Abraham and the Origins of the World

Midrash Rabbah Devarim Rabbah 3:7

Devarim Rabbah, a compilation of rabbinic teachings on the Book of Deuteronomy, offers a powerful parable about just that – the relationship between God and Israel. It's a story of...

CreationNoah & FloodPatriarchsTorah

Abraham Beyond the Firmament and Moses

Midrash Rabbah Devarim Rabbah 7:8

Take reading from the Torah, for example. The verse we're looking at is from Deuteronomy 29:2: "Moses summoned all Israel, and he said to them: You have seen everything that the Lo...

HeavenPatriarchsJosephMoses

Abraham and the Origins of the World

Midrash Rabbah Kohelet Rabbah 14:1

Kohelet Rabbah, a rabbinic commentary on the Book of Ecclesiastes, grapples with this very question, using the verse, "The wise man, his eyes are in his head; but the fool walks in...

CreationPatriarchsSolomonWisdom

Abraham Among the Fathers and Moses

Midrash Rabbah Kohelet Rabbah 28:1

The Book of Ecclesiastes, or Kohelet as it's known in Hebrew, wrestles with this very feeling. And one verse in particular, Kohelet 7:28, has sparked a lot of discussion: "What my ...

PatriarchsMatriarchsMosesKing David

Yehuda: Abraham at the Dawn of Creation

Midrash Rabbah Kohelet Rabbah 2:1

But it’s actually a question pondered in Kohelet Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretations of the Book of Ecclesiastes. to the fascinating ways our Sages understood the seem...

CreationPatriarchsSolomonWisdom

Choirs of Angels and Moses

Midrash Rabbah Shemot Rabbah 1:31

The book of Exodus tells us that Moses fled Pharaoh after killing an Egyptian who was beating a Hebrew slave (Exodus 2:15). But Shemot Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretati...

AngelsMosesSolomonEgypt

Abraham Before the Flood and Israelites

Midrash Rabbah Shemot Rabbah 1:36

to one, from Shemot Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Book of Exodus. The verse we're looking at is simple, yet profound: “God saw the children of Israel, and...

Noah & FloodPatriarchsMosesKing David