3,588 related texts · Page 93 of 399
But the rabbis of the Talmud saw something more. Rabbi Yudan offers one explanation: Rachel died first "because she spoke before her sister." It's a fascinating idea, suggesting pe...
We're in Genesis 34, the story of Dina, Jacob's daughter, and Shechem, the son of Hamor, the prince of the land. Shechem has taken Dina, and now Hamor is trying to negotiate a marr...
I was reading in Bereshit Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Book of Genesis, and I stumbled across just such a moment. It revolves around a rather pointed exc...
The passage centers around Jacob's blessing to his son Judah: "Judah, you shall your brothers acknowledge; your hand will be at the nape of your enemies; your father’s sons will pr...
We find ourselves in Bereshit Rabbah, a treasure trove of rabbinic interpretations on the Book of Genesis, wrestling with Jacob's final blessings to his sons. And when he gets to D...
That's the situation Moses found himself in. In Exodus 3:11, Moses cries out to God, "Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should take the children of Israel out of Eg...
We know the story: the Israelites trapped, the Egyptians bearing down, then – miraculously – the waters split, a path appears, and they escape to freedom. But what about the unseen...
Shemot Rabbah, the collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Book of Exodus, offers a fascinating glimpse. Specifically, Shemot Rabbah 51 dives into the idea that the Israelite...
We start with the verse, "When a person presents a meal offering to the Lord" (Leviticus 2:1). But the Rabbis cleverly link this to Psalm 22:24: "Those who fear the Lord, praise Hi...
