10,602 related texts · Page 106 of 221
The Mekhilta preserves a beautiful declaration attributed to King David, addressed directly to God: "You are a trust, a help, and a support to all who enter the world — but to me m...
The Mekhilta presents yet another parable about human warriors, this time addressing the most dangerous flaw of all: uncontrolled rage. A warrior in a province, it says, may become...
The Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael connects the drowning of the Egyptians at the Red Sea to the apocalyptic prophecy of Ezekiel about the war of Gog and Magog. The link between these tw...
The Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael takes the phrase "working wonders" from the Song at the Sea (Exodus 15:11) and expands it far beyond the events at the Red Sea. The Torah describes Go...
The Mekhilta interprets the verse "You have led forth in lovingkindness" (Exodus 15:13) as a startling admission: Israel had no merit of their own when they were redeemed from Egyp...
The Mekhilta makes a striking observation about the phrase "in the mountain of Your inheritance." The Temple is beloved by God in a way that surpasses even creation itself. How? Th...
The Mekhilta asks a question about Kazbi (also known as Cozbi), the Midianite woman who played a central role in the sin at Baal Peor. The verse calls her "the daughter of a prince...
A small detail in (Exodus 16:1) caught the attention of the rabbis of the Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael. The verse states that the Israelites journeyed from Eilim and arrived in the Wi...
"from the heavens": from the goodly treasure trove of the heavens, viz. (Devarim 28:12) "The L–rd will open for you His goodly treasure trove, the heavens, etc." R. Shimon b. Gamli...
The Mekhilta preserves a striking teaching about the limits of human knowledge: seven things are permanently hidden from the eyes of every person. No amount of wisdom, prophecy, or...
When the Torah says that Israel "encamped in Refidim" (Exodus 17:1), the Mekhilta hears more than a place name. The rabbis break the word apart: "rafu yadam" — "their hands weakene...
Moses responded to Israel's complaints with a question that reframed the entire conflict: "Why would you quarrel with me? Why would you try the Lord?" (Exodus 17:2). He was telling...
The Mekhilta identifies a remarkable pattern in the relationship between God and Moses: sometimes God "lowers" Himself while Moses "raises" himself, and other times the dynamic rev...
Rabbi Yossi ben Zimra noticed a single word in the Torah that most readers skip right past — and from it, he derived an astonishing claim about the staff of Moses. When God instruc...
The Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael records a teaching by Rabbi Eliezer about the nature of Amalek's attack on Israel in the wilderness. His interpretation turns on a single word, reveal...
The Mekhilta describes a stunning moment in which God showed Moses a panoramic vision of the future, including the mighty Samson, son of Manoach. The proof that Samson was included...
The Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael explores a tradition about what God revealed to Moses at the end of his life. Among the many visions granted to Moses before his death, the rabbis ask...
Before Moses died, God took him to the summit of Mount Nebo and showed him the entirety of the Promised Land — every region, every valley, every corner of the territory his people ...
The Mekhilta reveals one of the most intimate teachings about the relationship between God and Israel: whenever a miracle is performed for the Jewish people, that miracle is not ju...
R. Elazar Hamodai offered a different explanation for what made Yithro rejoice. It was not the manna, he argued, but the miraculous well — the portable spring of water that travele...
The Mekhilta offers a striking interpretation of the phrase "from the hand of Egypt and from the hand of Pharaoh" (Exodus 18:10). Why does the verse mention both Egypt and Pharaoh ...
(Exodus 18:13) "And it was on the morrow that Moses sat to judge the people.": on the morrow of Yom Kippur (after Moses had descended with the second tablets.) "from morning to eve...
Jethro watched his son-in-law Moses judging the entire nation of Israel alone, from morning until evening, and he gave him a piece of advice wrapped in a parable. "Look at that bea...
Yithro's plan for restructuring Israel's judicial system was built on precise mathematics. He told Moses to appoint "officers of thousands, officers of hundreds, officers of fiftie...
The Torah records that the Israelites left Egypt "in the first month" (Numbers 33:3). This establishes a clear date for the Exodus — the month of Nisan, the first month of the Jewi...
And the sages say twelve monuments for each tribe. He built an altar, sacrificed thereon a burnt-offering and peace-offerings, took of the blood of the burnt-offering in two recept...
"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...
Before offering the Torah to Israel, God first approached every other nation on earth. The Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael explains that this was not because God expected them to accept....
The Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael records a teaching from Rabbi Akiva about just how far the prohibition against making images extends. The verse in (Exodus 20:18) states "which is in ...
The Torah's treatment of adultery presents a puzzle that the Mekhilta refuses to ignore. In one verse, the commandment thunders from Sinai: "You shall not commit adultery." In anot...
(Devarim 5:26) "Would that this heart of theirs (were in them to fear Me and to keep all of My mitzvot (commandments)h all of the days so that it be good for them and for their chi...
The Torah describes a young woman sold into servitude by her father and establishes the conditions under which she goes free. Rabbi Eliezer interprets the verse "Then she shall go ...
The Mekhilta records the precise procedure for carrying out the judicial penalty of strangulation — one of the four methods of capital punishment prescribed by Torah law. Far from ...
Rabbi Yonathan argued that the explicit mention of "a man or a woman" in (Exodus 21:29) was not even necessary to include women in injury law. Two other verses already accomplished...
The Torah requires that for a killing to be classified as murder — and thus subject to the death penalty — the blow must be struck in a place on the body where it could actually ca...
The Torah grants freedom to a bondservant whose master knocks out a tooth or blinds an eye. But does this apply only to adult bondservants? What about a minor — a child bondservant...
R. Yehudah b. Betheira says: Opening (a pit) is not like digging, or digging, like opening. What is common to them is that wherever one is liable for guarding it, he is liable for ...
"Then he shall be sold for his theft" — the Torah prescribes that a thief who cannot pay the required restitution is sold into servitude to raise the funds. But the Mekhilta adds a...
When a dispute over property arises and the facts remain unclear, the Torah provides a striking instruction: "Then the master of the house shall draw near" (Exodus 22:7). But draw ...
"He shall pay double to his neighbor" — the Torah requires a thief who is caught to pay twice the value of what he stole. But Rabbi Shimon noticed a conflict with another verse. (L...
"The oath of the Lord shall be between the two of them" — the Mekhilta focuses on the divine Name used in this verse. The oath is described as "the oath of the Lord" — using the Te...
The Mekhilta examines a specific scenario in the laws governing borrowed property. If an animal passes from the domain of a lender to that of a borrower, even for a single moment, ...
The Torah addresses the case of a father who refuses to allow his daughter's betrothal. The verse uses the phrase "if her father refuse, refuse," repeating the word in a way that i...
(Exodus 22:18) "Whoever lies with a beast shall be put to death": What is the intent of this? It is written (Leviticus 20:15) "And a man who cohabits with a beast shall be put to d...
Beloved are the strangers, for by every epithet that Israel is called, the strangers are called. Israelites are called "servants," as it is written (Leviticus 25:55) "For unto Me t...
(Exodus 22:21) commands: "Every widow and orphan you shall not afflict." The Mekhilta immediately pushes beyond the literal categories. This verse mentions only widows and orphans....
The Mekhilta addresses one of the most dramatic scenarios in ancient Jewish jurisprudence: a capital case in which the court is perfectly deadlocked. Eleven judges vote to acquit. ...
(Exodus 23:10) commands: "Six years shall you sow your land." Rabbi Eliezer taught that this verse reveals two different agricultural realities, depending on Israel's spiritual sta...
