6,487 related texts · Page 151 of 721
It’s a question that echoes through the story of Moses and the waters of Mei Meriva – the waters of dispute. "These are the waters of dispute, where the children of Israel quarrele...
The text opens with God's command to Moses: "Take the vengeance of the children of Israel against the Midianites; then you will be gathered to your people" (Numbers 31:2). It seems...
Our sages grappled with these questions ages ago, and in Bereshit Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretations of Genesis, they offer some pretty striking analogies. Imagine a ...
It turns out, our sages have been wrestling with that feeling for centuries. Rabbi Yoḥanan opens with a powerful proverb: "One who repays good with evil, evil will not move from hi...
We all know the basics: humanity, united by a single language, attempts to build a tower reaching the heavens. God, seeing this as a threat, scatters them and confuses their langua...
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...
It opens with the seemingly simple phrase: "At the entrance [petaḥ] of the tent [ohel]." This refers to Abraham sitting at the entrance of his tent, welcoming guests. But, as is so...
After decades of barrenness, at a very, very advanced age, she miraculously conceives and gives birth to Isaac. In Genesis 21:6, she exclaims, "God has made laughter for me; everyo...
Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥman begins our story in Bereshit Rabbah 68, by interpreting a verse from Psalms (121:1) as referring directly to Jacob’s experience. “A song of ascents. I lift ...
