1,036 related texts · 11 related myths · Page 21 of 22
Bereshit Rabbah, that beautiful collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Book of Genesis, dives deep into this very verse (Genesis 34:25) about Simeon and Levi avenging their ...
The ancient Rabbis certainly noticed it. They saw it woven into the very fabric of the Torah, these moments where authority seems to… loosen. Our story today comes from Bereshit Ra...
Take Jacob, for example. The Torah tells us, “The time for Israel to die approached” (Genesis 47:29). Now, At first, that seems But Reish Lakish, a prominent scholar of the Talmud,...
The verse in question is (Genesis 48:21): "Israel said to Joseph: Behold, I am dying, and God will be with you, and He will restore you to the land of your fathers." It seems strai...
In Jewish tradition, there are stories about those who tried, and what happened when they did. Our story today comes from Bereshit Rabbah, a classic collection of rabbinic interpre...
(Deuteronomy 1:10) states, "The Lord your God has multiplied you, and, behold, you are today as the stars [of the heavens in abundance larov]." Seems straightforward. God has made ...
The story picks up right after the Exodus. Imagine the scene: The Israelites have just walked out of Egypt, witnessed incredible miracles, and word is spreading like wildfire. As R...
The familiar telling remembers the plagues, the parting of the Red Sea, the mighty hand of God... But what about the internal processes, the spiritual shifts that paved the way for...
In Devarim Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic teachings on the Book of Deuteronomy, we find a powerful exploration of this very feeling, wrapped in a story about snakes and the proph...
Kohelet, or Ecclesiastes, grapples with these questions, and the rabbis of the Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary), specifically Kohelet Rabbah, offer some pretty fascinatin...
Kohelet Rabbah turns to Everything Returns to Dust But the Soul Returns to God. Simple enough. Dust to dust. But the rabbis, as they are wont to do, dive a whole lot deeper. The pa...
There’s a fascinating story in Kohelet Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic commentaries on the Book of Ecclesiastes, that tackles this very question. It involves a sharp-tongued rabbi...
"If the clouds are full of rain, they empty themselves upon the land," it says, "and if the tree falls in the south, or in the north, in the place where the tree falls, there it sh...
It all starts with a verse from Ecclesiastes (12:11): "The words of the wise are like goads, and like nails well fastened are the collectors of wisdom; they are given from one shep...
Our story begins in ancient Egypt, where the Israelites are flourishing, a little too flourishing for the liking of the Pharaoh. He sees their growing numbers as a threat, and so, ...
What exactly does that mean, "He made houses for them?" This teaching presents two perspectives, attributed to Rav and Levi. One suggests that God rewarded the midwives with priest...
"A man from the house of Levi went and he took a daughter of Levi" (Exodus 2:1). Simple enough. But the Rabbis of the Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary), in Shemot Rabbah, ...
It wasn't pretty. And it certainly wasn't subtle. Our story picks up right after Moses and Aaron deliver their fateful message: "Let my people go!" (Exodus 5:1). Pharaoh, predictab...
Even Moses, the great lawgiver, felt that way. Shemot Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Book of Exodus, offers us a fascinating glimpse into a moment where Mo...
The Book of Exodus tells us, "Moses extended his staff toward the heavens and the Lord sent thunder and hail, and fire ran down to the ground, and the Lord rained hail upon the lan...
Shemot Rabbah turns to Pharaoh — Moses and the Holy Sanctuary. Pharaoh's advisors, sensing the impending doom, had pleaded with him to release the Israelites after yet another deva...
Our starting point is the verse "This month shall be for you" (Exodus 12:2). But Shemot Rabbah, in its characteristic way, finds a connection to (Micah 6:4): "I sent Moses, Aaron, ...
Shemot Rabbah, a collection of interpretations on the Book of Exodus, recounts a fascinating episode. It begins with the verse, "This month shall be for you" (Exodus 12:2), referri...
In that moment of desperation, Moses, their leader, turned to God. But what happened next is more surprising than it first appears. The Book of Exodus, or Shemot in Hebrew, is fill...
Rabbi Yehuda tells us that the Israelites reasoned, "The Holy One, blessed be He, only took us out of Egypt for five things!" What were those five things? First, to give us the plu...
Shemot Rabbah turns to God Rains Down Bread From Heaven for Israel. Think about the manna, that miraculous bread that sustained the Israelites in the desert. In (Exodus 16:4), God ...
The Israelites certainly did. In the book of Exodus, right after the incredible miracle of being freed from Egypt, they find themselves wandering in the desert, thirsty and complai...
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. Re...
The book of Deuteronomy (4:33) asks a pretty profound question: “Has a people heard the voice of God [Elohim] speaking [medaber] from the midst of the fire, as you heard, and lived...
Rabbi Meir shares a profound insight: "These are the ordinances,” says the verse, and the Holy One, blessed be He, entrusted justice to the elders of Israel. But why these elders? ...
Our story begins with the verse, "They shall take Me a gift" (Exodus 25:2). But where does this gift come from? Shemot Rabbah dives into this, connecting it to a verse in Psalms: "...
Our tradition teaches us that something else holds even greater worth: a good name. And it's not just about reputation, but about the power and blessing inherent in a name earned t...
In fact, they found an answer – a surprising one – in the power of remembering the righteous dead. Shemot Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Book of Exodus, ex...
The Torah gives us glimpses, but the Rabbis, in their wisdom, fill in the colors, adding depth and humanity to these sacred moments. The verse Imagine the scene. Every time Moses e...
That image, that feeling, is captured beautifully in the ancient interpretations of the Shir HaShirim, the Song of Songs. Rabbi Huna uses the image of a lily among thorns to descri...
It's a book filled with passionate love poetry, and this verse, 2:5, is especially intriguing: "Support me with raisin cakes, cushion me with apples, for I am lovesick." Simple eno...
The ancient rabbis certainly did. In Shir HaShirim Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Song of Songs, we find a powerful, poignant lesson woven into the seeming...
Some verses in the Song of Songs sound almost too tender for angels. And then the midrash shows you that angels were exactly who they were meant for. Take (Song of Songs 7:10): "Yo...
The Song of Songs, or Shir HaShirim in Hebrew, is filled with that kind of raw, powerful emotion. It’s a love poem, yes, but according to Jewish tradition, it’s also a profound all...
Consider the instructions for bringing a minchah, a meal offering, found in Leviticus. It might seem like a simple act, but the Rabbis find layers of meaning and insight within it....
It centers on the verse: "And the fire of the altar shall be kept burning in it" (Leviticus 6:2). Now, Rabbi Pinchas makes a subtle but profound observation. He points out that the...
This idea through a fascinating interpretation found in Vayikra Rabbah, a midrashic (rabbinic interpretive commentary) collection of rabbinic teachings on the Book of Leviticus. Ou...
Take the story of Aaron’s sons, Nadav and Avihu. Their sudden, tragic deaths after offering "alien fire" before the Lord (Leviticus 10:1-2) is one of the most jarring moments in th...
The story centers around Nadav and Avihu, the sons of Aaron, Moses' brother and the High Priest. These two weren’t just any ordinary guys. They were close to the top, practically J...
The rabbis of old grappled with this question, especially concerning the laws around building altars for sacrifice outside the designated Temple in Jerusalem. This wasn't some free...
Vayikra Rabbah turns to Moses the Lawgiver of Israelites. Vayikra Rabbah, a fascinating Midrashic (rabbinic interpretive commentary) collection, quotes Job (37:21), "Now they do no...
The ancient rabbis grappled with this question, and their answers, preserved in texts like Vayikra Rabbah, are pretty . Vayikra Rabbah, a midrashic (rabbinic interpretive commentar...
Vayikra Rabbah, a fascinating collection of rabbinic interpretations of the Book of Leviticus, gives us a glimpse into that idyllic vision. Specifically, it discusses the verse “I ...
