1,036 related texts · 11 related myths · Page 6 of 22
She was celebrated as a prophetess, a leader, a woman of immense faith. The book of Exodus (15:20) tells us, “Miriam the prophetess took a timbrel…” and led the women in joyous son...
The story revolves around Miriam's affliction with tzara'at, often translated as leprosy, after she and Aaron speak critically of Moses. When Moses witnesses his sister's suffering...
The Book of Job, that epic poem of suffering and faith, contains a verse that hints at this: "Behold, all these God will do, twice, three times to a man" (Job 33:29). The Midrash (...
The verse But the Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary), specifically Shemot Rabbah 16, doesn't just read it at face value. It asks: why the elders? Why were they the ones cal...
He appears in the narrative, offers Moses some crucial advice, and then… well, what do we really know about him? The Book of Exodus tells us, “Yitro heard…” (Exodus 18:1). But hear...
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 f...
Shemot Rabbah turns to A Woman Betrayed Her Lover and So Did Israel. Imagine, he says, all the miracles, all the mighty acts that God performed for the Israelites in the desert. Bu...
The mystics of old certainly did. to a fascinating interpretation of a verse from the Song of Songs, a book overflowing with symbolism and hidden meanings. "Your branches [shelaḥay...
"The elders of the congregation shall lay their hands on the head of the bull before the Lord and one shall slaughter the bull before the Lord." Okay, so far so good. It’s a very s...
It wasn't just a quick glance. The Torah tells us in (Leviticus 13:12) that the priest examines the afflicted individual in “the entire view of the eyes of the priest.” But what ex...
Vayikra Rabbah, specifically chapter 16, dives deep into this, starting with the verse, "This shall be the law of the leper." (Leviticus 14:2). Seems strange. What does leprosy hav...
Take the story of Nadav and Avihu, the sons of Aaron, who died suddenly after offering a "strange fire" before the Lord (Leviticus 10:1-2). What really happened? What led to such a...
Rabbi Abba bar Avina, a sage of old, pointed out a curious juxtaposition in the Torah. Why, he asked, is the story of Miriam's death placed right next to the passage describing the...
Vayikra Rabbah opens a hard teaching about giving and withholding kindness, and the stakes begin with the poor at the door. The first example? None other than Abraham. Abraham as a...
There was an incident involving Miriam daughter of the baker, who was taken captive with her seven sons. The emperor took them and placed them behind seven partitions. He brought t...
“How the Lord has clouded the daughter of Zion in His wrath. He cast the splendor of Israel from the heavens to the earth, and did not remember His footstool on the day of His wrat...
“How the Lord has clouded [ya’iv] the daughter of Zion in His wrath.” Rabbi Ḥama bar Rabbi Ḥanina said: How did the Lord condemn in His wrath the daughter of Zion?8Rabbi Ḥama inter...
“I am the man who has seen affliction by the rod of His fury” (Lamentations 3:1).“I am the man” – Rabbi Ḥama bar Ḥanina began: “Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to Barukh s...
It's a harsh rebuke, a stark reminder of the damage that lashon hara – evil speech – can inflict. The writer directly confronts his friend, accusing him of believing falsehoods wit...
And he looked; and behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed (Exod. 3:2). Because of this verse they held: The heavenly fire branches upwards as it burns, bu...
And Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the children of Israel (Exod. 4:29). He told them: The Holy One, blessed be He, has said: I have surely remembered ...
And thou shalt overlay it with brass (Exod. 27:2). R. Judah the son of Shalum stated: Moses had said to the Holy One, blessed be He: Master of the Universe, You told me to make an ...
(Numb. 22:4:) “So Moab said unto the elders of Midian.” What is the relevance of [mentioning] the elders of Midian here?7Numb. R. 20:4. It is simply that they saw Israel conquering...
The Israelites, fresh out of Egypt, certainly did. And their story, as told in the book of Bamidbar (Numbers), offers a pretty stark warning about unchecked desire. The familiar st...
Rabbi Nachman of Breslov taught that in the future, all suffering will be revealed as good. Not philosophically. Experientially. You will bless God for your pain the same way you b...
The Mekhilta takes a phrase from the Passover laws, "it shall be to you for a keeping" (Exodus 12:6). And asks what seems like a technical question with surprising depth. Does "kee...
"And they shall slaughter it": whether on a weekday or on a Sabbath. And how would I satisfy (Exodus 31:14) "Its (Sabbath's) profaners shall be put to death"? With other labors, as...
R. Yonathan said to him: But we still have not heard! R. Yoshiyah: It is written (Ibid. 28:2) "Command the children of Israel and say to them: My offering, My bread … shall you obs...
It's one of those customs that's so familiar, so deeply woven into the fabric of Jewish home life, that we might not always stop to ask why. But the reasons, as you might guess, ar...
Rabbi Yishmael asks Metatron a question that sounds simple. Why are you called by so many names? Otzar Midrashim's Seventy Names of Metatron answers with a flood. Metatron is calle...
"Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary) Esfah": This midrash is based on the verse "Gather for me seventy men" (Numbers 11:16), explaining the names of those seventy individual...
Before the sun existed, there was light. This is one of the oldest puzzles in Genesis, God creates light on the first day, but the sun and moon don't appear until the fourth. The r...
Jacob said: "My way is hidden from the Lord, and my justice has passed away from my God" (Isaiah 40:27). This was Israel speaking, the whole nation's complaint condensed into one v...
Jews have always taken dreams seriously. The Talmud devotes pages to their meaning. But not every dream comes with an interpretation, and not every dreamer has a Joseph nearby to d...
There is a right way to speak of offerings, and the wrong way offends the Holy One. Midrash Tanchuma Buber, Bereshit 6:1 preserves a sharp teaching from R. Shimon ben Yochai, the s...
“He brought the contents of His quiver into my kidneys” (Lamentations 3:13).“He brought the contents of His quiver [benei ashpato] into my kidneys” – Rav and Shmuel: Rav said: His ...
A reader can get caught up in the now, in what’s shiny and new. But what about the wisdom that comes from years of living, years of observing, years of learning? Ben Sira, that sag...
Ben Sira turns to When Rash Speech Sets a Town on Fire. Ben Sira doesn't stop there. He connects this incendiary speech to power dynamics. He continues, "a man of tongues and those...
This is a text from the Apocrypha, a collection of Jewish writings not included in the Hebrew Bible but considered sacred by some. Ben Sira tackles a question that's plagued humani...
Sometimes, it's about being in the right place at the right time. Sometimes, it's about something more.. something divinely ordained. The source looks at two figures who stepped in...
Our tradition, Jewish tradition, certainly doesn’t shy away from trying to answer it. The Book of Jubilees, a text that, while not part of the standard Hebrew Bible canon, offers a...
They're not messing around. The verse reads, "they began to build, and in the fourth week they made brick with fire, and the bricks served them for stone, and the clay with which t...
This ancient Jewish text, considered canonical by some but not included in the standard Hebrew Bible, gives us a vivid, almost apocalyptic, picture. It paints a stark image of divi...
Book of Jubilees turns to Judah and the Fires of Gehenna of Tamar. Our focus today is on a snippet from chapter 41. What's it about? The text lays down some pretty stark directives...
The people are desperate, their water supply dwindling, and their faith is being tested. The city leaders, Uzziah, Chabris, and Charmis, have made a desperate gamble: they've vowed...
The familiar story centers on the Maccabees, the brave Jewish warriors who fought against the oppressive decrees of the Seleucid king Antiochus. But what happened after they won? W...
You remember who you are, what you stand for, and you fight back. That's the spirit that leaps off the page when we explore the story of Maccabees. The Temple, once a beacon of hop...
The Book of Susanna turns to Susanna Falsely Accused by Two Lustful Elders. The scene is stark. Susanna is confronted, the elders point their fingers, and the community, swayed by ...
