Parshat Vayeshev

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Joseph's dreams and his brothers' jealousy, Joseph sold into slavery, Judah and Tamar, and Joseph in Potiphar's house and prison. Genesis 37:1-40:23.

The Nazirite Vow and Why Women Can Take It Too

Midrash Rabbah Bamidbar Rabbah 10:7

The verse "Speak to the children of Israel…" (Numbers 6:2) seems simple enough, but the Rabbis unpack it with incredible detail. The Midrash immediately points out that this vow is...

HeavenAdam & EveMosesTemple

Aaron's Staff That Bloomed and Settled the Priesthood

Midrash Rabbah Bamidbar Rabbah 18:23

And sometimes, the solutions to those disagreements come in the most unexpected forms… like, say, a blossoming staff. We find this story in Bamidbar Rabbah 18, which elaborates on ...

CreationMosesKing DavidSolomon

Knowledge and Innocence of Israelites

Midrash Rabbah Bamidbar Rabbah 19:22

The Book of Numbers, in the Bamidbar Rabbah, grapples with this very question when describing the plague of fiery serpents. "The Lord sent the fiery serpents against the people, an...

Adam & EveMosesKing DavidSolomon

Kingdom of Balak

Midrash Rabbah Bamidbar Rabbah 20:2

According to the Midrash, not at all. It's a question that comes to the fore when we delve into Bamidbar Rabbah, specifically chapter 20. The passage opens with the simple statemen...

CreationNoah & FloodMosesHoly Land

How Moab Convinced Midian to Join Against Israel

Midrash Rabbah Bamidbar Rabbah 20:4

Our story today, drawn from Bamidbar Rabbah 20, a section of the classical Midrash, plunges us right into such a situation – a tale of Moabites, Midianites, a rising Israelite nati...

CreationPrayerMiraclesHoly Land

Bilam Faces Judgment

Midrash Rabbah Bamidbar Rabbah 20:11

He was a non-Israelite diviner, a kind of prophet, hired to curse the Israelites as they approached Moab. But the story takes a twist, doesn't it? Let's look at the moment when God...

Hell/GehennaDemonsSolomonJob

Zimri Beyond the Firmament

Midrash Rabbah Bamidbar Rabbah 20:24

The scene is set in Numbers 25:6: “Behold, a man from the children of Israel came and brought near to his brethren the Midyanite woman, before the eyes of Moses, and before the eye...

HeavenMosesSolomonHoly Land

Balak: Balaam's Transgression

Midrash Rabbah Bamidbar Rabbah 21:4

The Torah gives us some pretty strong clues, and it all boils down to how they chose to attack us. Think about the story of Balaam and Balak. Remember that? Balak, the King of Moab...

MosesMessiahRepentanceMiracles

Seventy Bulls for the Nations and One Bull for Israel

Midrash Rabbah Bamidbar Rabbah 21:24

The ancient rabbis certainly did. They found that very human feeling reflected in the Torah itself, specifically in the book of Numbers, Bamidbar in Hebrew. And they explore it in ...

King DavidTemplePrayerHoly Land