1,613 related texts · Page 29 of 34
The Sifrei Devarim, a legal midrash on the Book of Deuteronomy, gives us a couple of stark examples, pulling no punches. The first offense? Doing "strange" things. Sounds vague. Bu...
Jewish tradition understands this feeling on a cosmic scale. Sifrei Devarim, a collection of teachings and interpretations on the Book of Deuteronomy, explores this very idea in a ...
The text paints a rather unflattering portrait of the Israelites, calling them "hafachpechanim" – turncoats, those who are inconsistent – and "runabouts." Ouch. But it gets even mo...
It talks about being "mezei with hunger and embattled by reshef." What does that even mean? The text interprets "mezei with hunger" as being so desperately hungry that you’re pract...
The ancient rabbis grappled with this feeling, particularly when thinking about the exiles of the Jewish people. They found echoes of this isolation, this sense of being utterly ab...
Jewish tradition wrestles with this feeling, especially when considering our relationship with the Divine. : how can one person chase away a thousand? It sounds impossible. Well, S...
The Jewish tradition grapples with this very idea – the absence of an advocate, the void when mercy seems to have vanished. It's a scary thought, isn't it? Sifrei Devarim, a collec...
Our tradition teaches us that the very earth can carry a burden, a responsibility for the people connected to it. The Sifrei Devarim, a collection of legal midrash (rabbinic interp...
Because according to the Sifrei Devarim, a collection of legal midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary)im on the Book of Deuteronomy, absolutely nothing in the Torah is empty or ...
The verse we're looking at is from Deuteronomy (Devarim) 32:48: "And the L-rd spoke to Moses on this very day..." Now, the Rabbis of old weren't ones to let a phrase like "on this ...
The Sifrei Devarim, a collection of legal midrash on the book of Deuteronomy, poses a fascinating question about a seemingly simple phrase: "before his death." It appears in the co...
The Sifrei Devarim, an ancient commentary on the Book of Deuteronomy, paints a vivid picture, comparing the Torah to something both awe-inspiring and essential: fire. And when you ...
And while definitive answers might elude us, Jewish tradition offers tantalizing hints and comforting assurances. Our exploration begins in Sifrei Devarim, a collection of legal an...
SHEMAIAH AND ABṬALYON RECEIVED THE TRADITION FROM THE PRECEDING. SHEMAIAH SAID: LOVE WORK AND HATE PUBLIC OFFICE, AND BECOME NOT KNOWN TO THE RULING POWER.LOVE WORK. What does this...
Leviticus 27 closes the book with a system for redeeming vows—and the Targum Jonathan stays remarkably close to the Hebrew, adding only small but telling details. When someone dedi...
Numbers 11 tells the story of Israel complaining about food in the wilderness. The Targum Jonathan adds a graven image in the camp of Dan, a wind that nearly destroyed the world, a...
When God appeared to Abram and commanded him to circumcise himself, the patriarch was already ninety-nine years old. According to the Yalkut Shimoni on Torah 80, God's words carrie...
The Yalkut Shimoni on Torah 187 preserves a terse but powerful warning about the danger of asking the wrong questions — or more precisely, about knowing when to stop asking. God de...
When God gave the Torah at Sinai, the Israelites did not simply accept it freely. According to Shabbat 88a, Rabbi Avdimi bar Hama bar Hasa taught that God uprooted Mount Sinai and ...
The full scope of Moses's argument against the angels is recorded in Shabbat 89a, and it is a masterclass in turning your opponent's own premises against them. Moses went through t...
Before you were born, you knew everything. According to Niddah 30b, an angel teaches each soul the entire Torah while the baby is still in the womb. A light burns above the child's...
"I am God, your Lord, Who brought you out of the land of Egypt" (Exodus 20:2). Targum Onkelos translates the Ten Commandments with almost no deviation from the Hebrew—a remarkable ...
The Hebrew Bible calls Moses "the man of God" (Deuteronomy 33:1). Targum Onkelos adds one word: "the prophet of God." Moses is not merely a man who belongs to God. He is a prophet—...
The Hebrew Bible promises: "A prophet from your midst, of your brethren, like me, will God establish for you" (Deuteronomy 18:15). Targum Onkelos translates this verse without alte...
Eikha Rabbah: A midrash (Jewish rabbinic literature) on the Book of Lamentations (Eikha). It is also called Eikha Rabati, Aggadat Eikha, or Midrash Kinot. In the Tosefta (supplemen...
The Holy One created twenty-two good attributes in His world. All of them were nullified and in the future the Holy One will return them to Israel in the time to come. They are: fo...
The Book of the Wellspring of Wisdom When Moses ascended on high, a cloud came up against him, and Moses our teacher did not know if one rides it or holds it. Immediately, the clou...
The Small Letters and their Purposes The ALEPH in ויקרא And He called (Leviticus 1:1) is small, to teach that the Holy Blessed One is only revealed to the nations of the earth thro...
The Jews being prevented by decree from studying, Pappos met R. Akiba who had defied that decree. Rebuked by Pappos Akiba replied: “A fox on the shore of the sea saw some fish hidi...
R. Eleazar b. Shimeon, who was appointed an official of the government, was accustomed to catch thieves in a very clever way when he found them drinking very heavily in the drinkin...
13. Rabbi Meir once left synagogue earlier than usual. Wonder at the reason. He had overheard a snake saying, “I am sent to kill R. Judah the Antoti and his whole family because ha...
Three clever Jewish slaves, sold into captivity after the destruction of the Temple, outwitted their Roman masters using nothing but their wits. Each was given an impossible task, ...
When the Babylonians breached the walls of Jerusalem and stormed the Temple, they found something in the courtyard that stopped them cold. A pool of blood. Bubbling. Boiling. Churn...
Moses stood apart from every other prophet who ever lived. The rabbis taught that while other prophets saw God through clouded glass, Moses alone saw through a clear lens — an unob...
After Sodom's destruction, Abraham journeyed on. He left the ruined plain behind and moved — not fleeing, not grieving, just continuing. Job had the language for this: "The mountai...
Abimelech ruled over Israel for three years (Judges 9:22). Aggadat Bereshit uses this strange opening — about a king in the book of Judges — to arrive at the first murder. The path...
What made Eli the priest live so long? The midrash gives a simple answer: Torah study. "Fortunate is the man who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of ...
"Jacob fled to the land of Aram" (Hosea 12:13). The prophet is not describing geography — he is making a theological point about the interior life. Isaiah completes it: "My people,...
The vision of Obadiah — the shortest prophetic book in the Hebrew Bible — is entirely about the punishment of Edom. Rabbi Berachiah asked: why did God choose Obadiah specifically f...
"I will assemble Jacob, all of you; I will bring together the remnant of Israel" (Micah 2:12). The end of Aggadat Bereshit's prophetic arc arrives here: not the death of Jacob, not...
Yet, Jewish tradition suggests just that. The story goes that as God dictated the Torah atop Mount Sinai, Moses, ever the diligent scribe, meticulously wrote down every word. But t...
Let’s rewind a bit. Remember the story of the golden calf? MOSES smashes the first set of tablets. Talk about a bad day! Afterward, Moses pleads with God, reminding Him that He bro...
That raw, visceral feeling is at the heart of a powerful story about Moses and the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem. Imagine Moses, our leader, the one who brought us out of ...
Today, let’s dive into one tiny, but fascinating corner of that history, exploring the origins of prayer times and blessings. Our story begins in the Book of Numbers, in Hebrew, Ba...
The ancient rabbis certainly wrestled with this idea, especially when pondering the future of the Jewish people. to a fascinating passage from Bamidbar Rabbah, a collection of rabb...
We're diving into Bamidbar Rabbah, specifically section 2, which is like a treasure trove of rabbinic interpretations and stories drawn from the Torah and the Prophets. What's so f...
We're talking about the kind of details that, when you unpack them, reveal layers of meaning and connection to the very heart of Jewish tradition. to a passage from Bamidbar Rabbah...
That's the situation the sons of Kehat found themselves in, in the Book of Numbers. Our story begins in Bamidbar Rabbah, specifically section 5, which delves into the passage about...
