10,602 related texts · Page 129 of 221
The Hebrew Bible says the "sons of God" saw that human women were beautiful, and took wives from among them (Genesis 6:2). That's all it says. The Targum Jonathan rewrites the scen...
When the Flood ended, the Hebrew Bible says God sent a wind to dry the earth (Genesis 8:1). The Targum Jonathan says God sent "the wind of mercies." One word changes the theology. ...
Genesis 17 records the moment God commands Abraham to circumcise himself at ninety-nine years old. The Hebrew text says Abraham "fell on his face" when God spoke to him. It reads l...
Midrash HaGadol: Several manuscripts of this midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary) are found in well-known libraries, and one belonged to Dr. Alexander Kohut, who used it in t...
Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary) Levanat HaSapir is a midrash on the Torah in the style of kabbalah, in Aramaic like the Zohar. It is not extant before us today. The Yuha...
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...
These are the ten questions that Rabbi Eliezer asked regarding the resurrection of the dead: The first one is - will God resurrect some of Israel or all of them? The answer is that...
Zophnat, daughter of the high priest, was torn from everything she had ever known. Sold into slavery, she stood on the auction block while the seller stripped away her garments one...
Rabban Gamliel's pride cost him his position — and the way it happened revealed how even the greatest leader can be brought low by arrogance. The Talmud (Berakhot 27b-28a) records ...
It’s a question that's haunted philosophers and theologians for millennia, and Jewish tradition definitely has some answers. At the very heart of it all, there is ONE God. Absolute...
But Jewish tradition paints a surprisingly collaborative picture. A picture of the Heavenly Court. It's a pretty amazing concept, isn't it? The idea that even God, in all God's glo...
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 ...
The Bible, especially the Book of Genesis, grapples with this tension in some truly epic ways. And one of the most intriguing—and troubling—is the story of the "sons of God" and th...
Turns out, the rabbinic tradition has quite a bit to say about its motivations and character. The Torah tells us, "Noah opened the window of the ark that he had made and sent out t...
Yet, Jewish tradition whispers of just such a mystery: that the Messiah himself will descend from the side of evil. How can this be? Well, the story starts with King David, the anc...
The ancient sages pondered similar questions when interpreting the very first verse of the Book of Numbers, Bamidbar, which begins: “The Lord spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Si...
It wasn't a random free-for-all. The Book of Numbers gives us a fascinating glimpse into a highly structured encampment around the Mishkan, the Tabernacle. And Bamidbar Rabbah, a c...
We tend to focus on the big, dramatic stuff, like the Ark of the Covenant. But what about the meticulous work of the Gershonites? Our story comes from Bamidbar Rabbah, a fascinatin...
It's not just a stylistic choice. Our sages teach that each word carries a world of meaning. Take the word tzav (צו), for instance. What does it really mean when God commands? In t...
Jewish tradition grapples with this very idea. Bamidbar Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic teachings on the Book of Numbers, dives deep into the concept of actions that leave irrepar...
And believe it or not, our ancient texts have something profound to say about it. The Bamidbar Rabbah, a collection of Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary)ic teachings on the...
It wasn't just whispers and rumors. The Torah outlines a dramatic, almost unbelievable, ritual involving a priest, an oath, and... bitter water. We find the details of this in Bami...
Take the case of the nazir, or Nazirite, described in the Book of Numbers. We're talking about someone who takes a special vow to abstain from wine, avoid contact with the dead, an...
The passage in Bamidbar Rabbah 12 kicks off with a seemingly simple word: "Vayhi" – usually translated as "it was." But in the world of Jewish interpretation, nothing is ever just ...
But from that small verse, the Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary) launches into a fascinating exploration of Judah, the tribe of lions, fiery furnaces, and ultimately, God'...
They saw hidden depths and endless possibilities in the very fabric of the Hebrew language, and one fascinating example of this is their discussion of the words vayhi and vehaya. T...
We find in Bamidbar Rabbah 14 a fascinating exploration of the verse, "Lift up your heads, O you gates! And be lifted up, you everlasting doors! And the King of glory shall come in...
to a fascinating passage from Bamidbar Rabbah 14, a Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary), or interpretation, on the Book of Numbers, that explores this very tension. The pass...
In Jewish tradition, even the sequence of seemingly minor details can hold profound meaning. Take, for instance, the offerings of the princes in the Book of Numbers. Why does the p...
Bamidbar Rabbah, that incredible collection of Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary)ic teachings on the Book of Numbers, dives deep into this very question. It’s not just a ma...
The verse sets the scene: “They ascended and scouted the land from the wilderness of Tzin to Rehov, at the approach to Hamat” (Numbers 13:21). But, Bamidbar Rabbah asks, how exactl...
That feeling resonates deeply in a powerful passage from Bamidbar Rabbah 16. It explores the fraught relationship between God and the Israelites, focusing on their repeated rejecti...
Rabbi Zakai of She'av offers a beautiful insight. He imagines the Israelites asking God: "Master of the universe, everywhere else You call it the land of Canaan, but here, ‘the lan...
According to the Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary), not at all. It's a question that comes to the fore when we delve into Bamidbar Rabbah, specifically chapter 20. The pas...
The Torah gives us a fascinating glimpse of such a moment in the story of Bilam, the non-Jewish prophet hired to curse the Israelites. In Numbers, chapter 22, verse 31, we read: “T...
to the story as told in Bamidbar Rabbah 20, a fascinating peek behind the curtain of this dramatic encounter. “Balak heard that Bilam had come,” the verse tells us. But Bamidbar Ra...
That even the greatest among us can have their moments of… well, let’s call it humility. Today, we’re diving into a fascinating passage from Bamidbar Rabbah, a collection of rabbin...
Like after all the hard work, the dedication, the striving... shouldn't there be a bonus round of celebration? Well, Jewish tradition understands that feeling perfectly. to a fasci...
The story centers on Rabbi Samlai, a sage known for his sharp wit and insightful responses. He found himself confronted by "heretics" – likely members of sectarian or sectarian gro...
It's a loaded question. The philosopher is implying that circumcision isn’t a divine command at all, but just… pointless. (Bereshit Rabbah 11). Rabbi Hoshaya, being the wise person...
In the Torah, the word heḥel (הֵחֵל), meaning "began," is one of those words. It pops up in some pretty unsettling contexts. In Bereshit Rabbah 26, a classic collection of rabbinic...
Rabbi Yoḥanan, a prominent Jewish sage, offers a fascinating, and perhaps surprising, perspective. He says that the sentence, the punishment, of the generation of the Flood lasted ...
It's not just filling space, but rather, like a master musician hitting a note again and again until it resonates deep within us. Take the story of Noah. (Genesis 6:9) tells us: "T...
It's easy to just say "God did it," but Jewish tradition wrestles with these questions. It digs deep, looking for meaning, for justice, for a reason why. Take the verse in (Genesis...
But what if I told you that true greatness lies not in squashing the competition, but in celebrating it? That’s the kind of wisdom we find nestled within the ancient texts of our t...
Because sometimes, the universe has a funny way of showing us that insight isn't exclusive to the scholars and sages. We find a perfect example in Bereshit Rabbah, specifically sec...
And wouldn't you know it, our sages wrestled with it too, finding fascinating answers hidden in the verses of Torah. Our journey begins with the story of Noah and the flood. (Genes...
But what about the human side of things? What were Noah and his family actually doing on that boat for all those months? Well, the Rabbis of the Midrash (rabbinic interpretive comm...
