906 related texts · Page 15 of 19
Rabbi Ishmael, a central figure in the Heikhalot (the heavenly palaces) literature (texts describing mystical ascents to heaven), once posed this very question. He asks, what did Z...
It's not just about a distant, untouchable God, but about a God intimately involved with creation and revelation. The Heikhalot (the heavenly palaces) texts, by the way, are a coll...
The Ramchal, Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto, in his work Derech Etz Chayim, the "Path of the Tree of Life", presents us with just such a choice. He points out something profound: We ea...
The Kalach Pitchei Chokhmah, a Kabbalistic text, wrestles with this very problem. It's not about breaking Eyn Sof into pieces, because the text emphatically states "we are not sayi...
And the Kalach Pitchei Chokhmah, a profoundly important kabbalistic text, offers a striking image to help us grasp this relationship. Imagine the Eyn Sof, the Infinite, as a boundl...
According to Kalach Pitchei Chokhmah (Wisdom), various kinds of radiations emerge from Zeir Anpin. And these radiations aren't just vague, undefined energies. They manifest in spec...
Yeah, you heard me right. Tears. The Tikkun (spiritual repair)ei Zohar, a central text of Kabbalah and a companion to the Zohar, tells us that the only gate that’s always open is t...
The passage begins with "Be-REiShYT" – "In the beginning." This isn't just a starting point; it's described as "an Utterance which is the first of all, comprised of all 'ten saying...
Specifically, Tikkun (spiritual repair)ei Zohar, one of the core texts of Kabbalah, offers a fascinating, and perhaps a little unsettling, perspective. It all starts with the idea ...
Here, we get a peek into a truly mind-bending scene involving God, the Shekhinah, and some seriously impressive angelic creatures. The text speaks of the Blessed Holy One – that's ...
to a fascinating passage from Tikkun (spiritual repair)ei Zohar 291 and see what secrets we can unlock. The passage begins with a seemingly simple phrase: "Your neck." But in the m...
Moses told the Israelites to take a lamb for the Passover offering, and they were terrified. The Mekhilta preserves their fearful protest: "Will we slaughter the abomination of Egy...
"on this night": I might think, the entire night; it is, therefore, written (Ibid. 10) "You shall not leave over anything of it until morning, and what is left over of it until mor...
R. Yoshiyah said to him: Why is this different from all of the "sayings" in the Torah, which were from Moses to say to Israel? Here, too, from Moses to say to Israel. Why, then, is...
"And the habitation of the children of Israel in Egypt and in other lands was four hundred and thirty years." This is one of the verses that they (the seventy-two elders changed) i...
The Torah commands: "And the priest shall burn wood upon it every morning" (Leviticus 6:5), referring to the daily kindling of fire on the altar. The Mekhilta immediately asks: why...
(Exodus 13:18) "And G–d led the people circuitously by way of the desert to the Red Sea": in order to perform miracles and mighty acts with the manna and the quail and the well. R....
Joseph spoke a prophecy to his brothers before he died: "God will surely remember you" (Genesis 50:25). The Hebrew uses a doubled verb — "pakod yifkod" — and the Mekhilta finds in ...
(Ibid. 20) "And they journeyed from Succoth and they encamped in Eitam." Just as Eitam is a place, so, Succoth. R. Akiva said "Succoth" refers to the clouds of glory, viz. (Isaiah ...
(Ibid. 21) "And the L–rd went before them by day with a pillar of cloud": We find there to have been seven clouds: here, (Numbers 14:14) twice, (Ibid. 9:19), (Exodus 40:36), (Ibid....
And thus do you find that the Holy One Blessed be He is destined to exact punishment of the wicked in Gehinnom (the place of spiritual purification after death) with the east wind,...
And thus do you find with the men of Sodom, that You gave them a grace period for repentance and they did not repent. As it is written (Genesis 18:20-21) "And the L–rd said: The ou...
The Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael presents a teaching about the direct connection between Israel's obedience and God's wrath, expressed through two contrasting verses that form a perfe...
Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, stood as the supreme example of human arrogance brought low. The Mekhilta recounts how this mighty ruler dared to place himself above all creation....
The sea has no heart, and He gave it a heart. A terebinth has no heart, and He gave it a heart, viz. (II Samuel 18:4) "He (Avshalom) was yet alive in the heart of the terebinth." T...
Variantly: Who is like You among those whom others call "gods" and who are without substance, those of whom it is written (Psalms 115:5) "hey have a mouth but cannot speak, etc." B...
The Mekhilta asks a practical question that most readers skip right over. The verse says Miriam took "the timbrel in her hand" and led the women in song after the crossing of the R...
The expounders of metaphors said: They did not "find" words of Torah, which are compared to water. Where is this seen? (Isaiah 55:1) "Ho! all who thirst, go to the waters!" Because...
The Mekhilta presents two sharply different readings of the verse "And the people caviled against Moses, saying: What shall we drink?" Rabbi Yehoshua takes the generous view: the p...
The Mekhilta immediately balances its teaching about short prayers with a counter-example. On another occasion, a disciple led the prayer service before Rabbi Elazar and was extrem...
When the Israelites ran out of food in the desert, they did not handle it well. (Exodus 16:2) records that "the entire congregation of the children of Israel caviled against Moses ...
The Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael draws a sweeping conclusion from the verse "and you will know that the L-rd took you out of the land of Egypt" (Exodus 16:6). The teaching here is not...
Moses and Aaron delivered a pointed warning to the Israelites who kept complaining about their food in the wilderness. The manna had been given with a "radiant countenance" because...
When the Torah says "the people quarreled with Moses" (Exodus 17:2), it sounds like a straightforward complaint. But the Mekhilta sees something far worse. Israel "transcended the ...
When Amalek attacked the Israelites at Rephidim—the first nation to wage war against the newly freed slaves—Moses turned to his student Joshua with a command (Exodus 17:9): "Choose...
Rabbi Eliezer Hamodai offered a different interpretation of why Moses told Joshua to "go out" and fight Amalek—and his version cuts deeper. According to Rabbi Eliezer, Moses challe...
(Exodus 17:14) "And the L–rd said to Moses: Write this as a remembrance in the book and place it in the ears of Joshua": The early elders said: So is it with all the generations. T...
(Exodus 18:1) "And Yithro heard": What did he hear that caused him to come (and join Israel)? The war with Amalek, which is juxtaposed with this section. These are the words of R. ...
The Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael describes the extraordinary reception that Jethro received when he arrived at the Israelite camp in the wilderness. The verse states simply: "And Mose...
The Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael examines God's words to Moses in the days before the revelation at Sinai: "Behold, I shall come to you in the thickness of the cloud" (Exodus 19:9). T...
When God descended upon Mount Sinai to give the Torah, the mountain erupted with phenomena that defied nature. The Mekhilta de-Rabbi Ishmael pauses on the word "lightnings" in (Exo...
(Exodus 19:18) "And the whole of Mount Sinai smoked": I might think the place of the divine Presence alone; it is, therefore, written "the whole." "for the L–rd had come down upon ...
"And its smoke rose like the smoke of a lime kiln" (Exodus 19:18) — this is how the Torah describes Mount Sinai when God descended upon it. But the Mekhilta immediately senses a pr...
(Ibid. 20:8) "Remember the Sabbath day to sanctify it": "Remember" and "Keep" (the Sabbath day to sanctify it [Devarim 5:12]) were both stated in one pronouncement. (Exodus 31:14) ...
R. Nathan says: Whence is it derived that the L–rd showed our father Abraham, Gehennom, the giving of the Torah and the splitting of the Red Sea? From (Genesis 15:17) "And it was, ...
R. b. R. Ilai says: Because they were scorched by the sun above them, the Holy One Blessed be He said to the clouds of glory: Drip the dew of life upon My children, etc. (Psalms, I...
When Moses ascended Mount Sinai to receive the Torah, the Torah records that "Moses entered into the mist, where God was" (Exodus 20:21). The Mekhilta reveals that this approach to...
Two biblical verses about Sinai appear to contradict each other directly. (Exodus 20:19) says God spoke "from the heavens." But (Exodus 19:20) says "the Lord went down upon Mount S...
