11,731 related texts · Page 242 of 245
And the answer, again and again, comes back to this: God is everywhere. It's right there in the scriptures. As it says, "His presence fills all the earth" (Isaiah 6:3). We're not t...
Jewish tradition grapples with this feeling too, often through stories of angels – beings of immense power, but always, always subservient to God. What does it mean to say somethin...
You'd expect a pretty epic location. But did you know there was a whole competition to be that mountain? The story goes that when the mountains caught wind that God was planning a ...
That’s the situation the Israelites faced at the Yam Suf, the Sea of Reeds, what we often call the Red Sea. And what happened next is one of the most iconic moments in the entire T...
And God remembered Noah (Gen. 8:1). May it please our master to teach us the benediction recited upon witnessing a rainbow. Thus did our masters teach us: Upon seeing a rainbow, on...
Go forth from the ark (Gen. 8:16). Scripture says elsewhere in reference to this verse: I counsel thee: keep the king’s command, and that in regard of the oath of God. Be not hasty...
Another explanation of go forth from the ark. David said: Bring my soul out of prison (Ps. 142:8). Noah, while in the ark, prayed continually: Bring my soul out of prison, and it i...
And he planted a vineyard (Gen. 9:20). Noah was one of four men who introduced four things. Noah introduced planting, as it is written: And he planted a vineyard; cursing when he s...
And the whole earth was of one language (Gen. 11:1). May it please our master to teach us why a house with an eruv27A legal fiction which establishes the continuity of a community ...
And the Lord said unto Abram: “Get thee out of thy country” (Gen. 12:1). May it please our master to teach us whether an Israelite is permitted to take upon himself the yoke of the...
Prior to the verse After these things scripture states: And Abraham heard that his brother was taken captive (Gen. 14:14). Was Lot actually Abraham’s brother? No, indeed! This stat...
And I will make my covenant between Me and thee (Gen. 17:2). Scripture says elsewhere in allusion to this verse: The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him; and His covenant...
And Abraham fell upon his face (Gen. 14:3). Prior to his circumcision, Abraham prostrated himself whenever the Shekhinah (the Divine Presence) addressed him, but after he was circu...
And the Lord appeared unto him by the terebinths of Mamre (Gen. 18:1) May it please our master to teach us: How many benedictions must a man pray each day? Thus do our masters teac...
And the Lord appeared unto him by the terebinths of Mamre (Gen. 18:1) Why did the Holy One, blessed be He, appear by the terebinths of Mamre? May the name of the Holy One, blessed ...
And he lifted up his eyes and looked, and lo, three men stood over against him; and when he saw them, he ran to meet them (Gen. 18:1). Thereupon the blood flowed once again from hi...
And the two angels came to Sodom at evening (Gen. 19:1). What is written before this verse? And Abraham drew near and said, “Wilt Thou sweep away the righteous with the wicked?” (G...
And the two angels came to Sodom (Gen. 19:1). May it please our master to teach us the number of death penalties the Beth Din (the court of seventy-one members) was empowered to im...
But before they lay down, the men of the city, even the men of Sodom, came … and they called unto Lot and said: “Where are the men?” (Gen. 19:4–5). From this incident you learn tha...
And the Lord remembered Sarah, as he had said (Gen. 21:1). Scripture states elsewhere in allusion to this verse: God is not a man that He should lie; neither the son of man, that H...
And He said unto him: “Abraham”; and he said: “Here am I” (Gen. 22:1). What does the expression hineni (“here am I”) signify? It signifies meekness and piety. The meekness of pious...
And Abraham was old, well stricken in age (Gen. 24:1). May it please our master to teach us: What should a man do if he is riding upon an ass when the time for prayer arrives? Thus...
These are the generations of Isaac, Abraham’s son: Abraham begot Isaac (Gen. 25:19). It is written in Scripture: No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tong...
And it came to pass, that when Isaac was old (Gen. 27:1). Scripture states elsewhere in reference to this verse: Instead of thy fathers shall be thy sons, whom thou shalt make prin...
And Isaac trembled very exceedingly (Gen. 27:33). What is written before this? Jacob was yet scarce gone out from the presence of Isaac, his father (ibid., v. 30). This indicates t...
And Isaac trembled exceedingly (Gen. 27:33). Scripture states elsewhere in allusion to this verse: The hearing ear, and the seeing eye, the Lord hath made even both of them (Prov. ...
And God remembered Rachel (Gen. 30:22). May our master teach us whether a man may recite the prayer “May it be Your will that my wife give birth to a son” if she is already pregnan...
And God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream of the night (Gen. 31:24). This is one of the occasions on which the Holy One, blessed be He, contaminated the purity of His divine glo...
And God said unto Jacob (Gen. 35:1). Scripture states elsewhere in allusion to this verse: Thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness; evil shall not sojourn with Thee (Ps...
His master’s wife cast her eyes upon Joseph (Gen. 38:7). Scripture states elsewhere in allusion to this verse: Death and life are in the power of the tongue; and they that indulge ...
But he refused, and said unto his master’s wife (Gen. 39:8). Scripture states elsewhere in reference to this verse: Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord (Jer. 17:7). You fi...
And, behold, there came up out of the river seven kine … and it came to pass in the morning that his spirit was troubled (Gen. 41:2–8). In this verse the word “troubled” is written...
42:1). May it please our master to teach us the number of days during which a mourner is forbidden to work. Thus did our master teach us: A mourner is forbidden to work during the ...
42:1). Scripture states elsewhere in reference to this verse: Happy is He whose help is the God of Jacob (Ps. 146:5). Why does this verse say the God of Jacob and not “the God of A...
Then Judah came near unto him (Gen. 44:18). Scripture states elsewhere in reference to this verse: And the envy of Ephraim shall depart (Isa. 11:13). Concerning whom did Isaiah utt...
And he sent Judah before him (Gen. 46:28). Scripture says elsewhere in reference to this verse: The wolf and the lamb shall feed together (Isa. 65:25). Observe that whomever the Ho...
And the time drew near that Israel must die (Gen. 47:29). Scripture states elsewhere in allusion to this verse: There is no man that hath power over the spirit to retain the spirit...
And it came to pass after these things, that one said to Joseph: “Benold, thy father is sick” (Gen. 48:1). May it please our master to teach us whether a benediction may be recited...
And it came to pass after these things (Gen. 48:1). Scripture states in response to this verse: For such as are blessed of Him shall inherit the land; and they that are cursed of H...
And Jacob called unto his sons (Gen. 49:1). Scripture states elsewhere in allusion to this verse: He removeth the speech of men of trust, and taketh away the sense of the elders (J...
Benjamin is a wolf that raveneth (Gen. 49:27). Scripture states elsewhere: For the Lord will do nothing, but He revealeth His counsel unto His servants the prophets (Amos 3:7). At ...
And Moses went and returned to Jethro, his father-in-law (Exod. 4:18). Scripture states elsewhere: But he is at one with Himself, and who can turn Him? And what His soul desireth, ...
And Jethro said to Moses: “Go for peace” (Exod. 3:18). You find that everyone about whom it is written Go for peace departs and returns in peace, and that everyone concerning whom ...
And Moses took his wife and his sons, and set them upon an ass (Exod. 4:20). This is one of the ten verses our rabbis altered when they translated the Torah into Greek for King Pto...
And Moses took his wife and his sons, and set them upon an ass (Exod. 4:20). The singular form ass is employed here, as when a man says: “Lead out the animal” (though he may have m...
And the Lord said to Aaron: “Go into the wilderness to meet Moses” (Exod. 4:27). Scripture states elsewhere in allusion to this verse: God thundereth marvelously with His voice; gr...
And Moses told Aaron all the words of the Lord (Exod. 4:29). Moses began to reveal to him everything that the Holy One, blessed be He, had told him, and that he was to go perform t...
When Pharaoh shall speak unto you (Exod. 7:9). Scripture says elsewhere: A fool spendeth all his spirit; but a wise man stilleth it within him (Prov. 29:11). That is, the fool says...
