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The book of Ecclesiastes, or Kohelet, as it's known in Hebrew, grapples with this very feeling. "I said: Wisdom is better than courage, but the wisdom of the poor man is despised, ...
A seemingly insignificant phrase can carry immense weight, altering the course of destiny. to a curious observation from Shemot Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretations on ...
It might seem a little... unflattering at first glance. But as with so many things in our tradition, there's a depth and beauty to be found when we dig a little deeper. Shemot Rabb...
It’s a recurring theme in Jewish tradition, and one particularly striking example comes to us from Shemot Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Book of Exodus. Th...
The verse “Yitro…heard” (Exodus 18:1) sparks a fascinating connection to a seemingly unrelated verse from Job: “The stranger does not stay the night outside” (Job 31:32). What’s th...
It all revolves around Yitro, Moses' father-in-law. The verse we're looking at is “Yitro…heard” (Exodus 18:1), which is the start of the portion where Yitro comes to visit Moses in...
The Torah tells us in Exodus 19:8, "Moses reported the statement of the people to the Lord." According to Shemot Rabbah, this moment prompted God to want to give the Torah to the I...
It all starts with a seemingly straightforward verse from Exodus 21:37: “If a man steals an ox or a sheep and slaughters it or sells it, he shall pay five cattle for the ox and fou...
It all centers around the Hebrew word ve’eleh, meaning "these are." The Midrash opens with a question: What's so special about ve’eleh? The Rabbis of old saw in it a profound testa...
