10,602 related texts · Page 58 of 221
The Hebrew Bible says God told Abraham, "Fear not, I am your shield" (Genesis 15:1). Targum Onkelos renders this as "My Word is your strength." The shield becomes a Word. The prote...
The Hebrew Bible says Jacob dreamed of a ladder "set up on the earth, and the top of it reached toward heaven" (Genesis 28:12). Targum Onkelos says the ladder was "planted in the e...
The Hebrew Bible says Jacob "wrestled a man" until dawn (Genesis 32:25). Targum Onkelos stays with the Hebrew here—it was "a man," not an angel, not a demon, not a divine being. Bu...
...As if a man flees from the lion and the bear meets him, and he comes to the house and leans his hand on the wall, and a serpent bites him. (Amos 5:19) ‘As if a man flees from th...
"Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary) Vayisu": It is based on the verse "They journeyed, and the terror of God was upon the cities that were around them, and they did not pur...
There was an inn on a certain road where travelers learned, too late, that the hospitality was a trap. The innkeeper welcomed his guests warmly, fed them well, and showed them to c...
When Moses sent twelve spies into the land of Canaan to scout the territory before the Israelite invasion, ten of them came back terrified. "We saw giants there," they reported. "T...
A bird served as a witness in a case of justice — and its testimony was accepted because God uses all of creation, even the smallest creatures, to ensure that truth is revealed. Th...
This comprehensive article examines cosmogony (theories of universe origin) across biblical, post-biblical, and rabbinical Jewish traditions, comparing them with Babylonian and oth...
The article presents Eden as an "earthly paradise" described in Genesis ii-iii where Adam and Eve resided before their fall. The term "Eden" likely derives from Assyrian "edinu" (m...
This word occurs only once in the Bible, in Ps. cxxxix. 16, where it means "embryo." In tradition everything that is in a state of incompletion, everything not fully formed, as a n...
The cherub represents a winged celestial being frequently referenced throughout Scripture. According to the prophet Ezekiel's vision, cherubim appear as a group of four living crea...
"Behemoth" denotes the hippopotamus, though the Biblical description contains mythical elements suggesting these were not ordinary animals. The creatures appear in Job xl, where be...
Rachel had watched her sister enter the wedding canopy and had not envied her — not then. But when the children came, one after another from Leah's womb, Rachel's patience broke. "...
"And it came to pass at that time that Judah went down" (Genesis 38:1). The rabbis heard in "went down" more than geography. Judah left his brothers, married a Canaanite woman, and...
It wasn't just a matter of tossing everything into a wagon. There was a precise order, a sacred choreography, and it all begs the question: Why this order? Bamidbar Rabbah, specifi...
We’re diving into a fascinating passage from Bamidbar Rabbah 14, which wrestles with a seemingly redundant verse in (Numbers 7:85): “One hundred and thirty was each silver dish, an...
The Bamidbar Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic teachings on the Book of Numbers, sheds light on this very question. It tells us that the well, a miraculous source of water that acco...
The sages of old grappled with this very question, and their insights are captured in Bereshit Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Book of Genesis. to the very ...
The philosopher's challenge cuts right to the heart of things. He essentially says, "Your God is impressive, sure, but didn't He have a little help? All that…stuff…the emptiness, t...
Our sages grappled with these questions ages ago, and in Bereshit Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretations of Genesis, they offer some pretty striking analogies. Imagine a ...
The Bereshit Rabbah, a classic Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary)ic collection that expands on the Book of Genesis, dives deep into the creation story. And in Bereshit Rabb...
Day and night, light and dark... it’s so fundamental. But have you considered it as a constant song, a perpetual praise to the One who created it all? The verse in (Psalms 74:16), ...
Take the creation story in Genesis, for example. We read in (Genesis 1:16) that God made "two great lights" – the sun and the moon – to rule the day and the night. Seems straightfo...
We look up, we see them... but where are they situated in the grand scheme of the cosmos? Well, according to Bereshit Rabbah, a classical collection of Rabbinic interpretations of ...
We’re talking about the primordial stuff, the ingredients God used when He, blessed be He, created everything. It’s a question that’s captivated mystics and philosophers for millen...
Before (Genesis 1:1), when "the earth was without form and void?" Jewish tradition grapples with this very question. It's a question about origins, about chaos, and about the very ...
The sages of old grappled with this very question. How could a benevolent God create a world so full of suffering? The answer, according to Bereshit Rabbah, a classic collection of...
It's not just a quick "poof," and there we are. No, there’s a subtle, almost hidden, emphasis on the process of our making. And it's right there in the very first book, Bereshit (G...
Our tradition grapples with this very duality, especially when it comes to understanding the creation of humanity. In Bereshit Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretations of t...
Why "the man" instead of just "man"? It seems to be alluding to someone specific… but who? Well, according to a fascinating interpretation in Bereshit Rabbah, a collection of ancie...
And wouldn't you know it, the rabbis of old were wrestling with that very idea! Let's turn to Bereshit Rabbah, that sprawling collection of rabbinic interpretations of the Book of ...
The ancient rabbis grappled with these very human questions as they explored the story of Cain and Abel in Bereshit Rabbah, the great commentary on the Book of Genesis. Specificall...
In fact, it delves into the idea of divine restraint, of God actively preventing the world from being destroyed by, well, wind. We find this idea explored in Bereshit Rabbah 24, a ...
The Torah portion Noah grapples with just that, the world after the flood. But even in this story of renewal, shadows of the past linger. The Rabbis in Bereshit Rabbah, that magnif...
It's fascinating to see how even the smallest details in the Torah, when unpacked by our Sages, can offer such profound insights. to Bereshit Rabbah 31, a section of the ancient Mi...
It’s more profound than you might think. (Genesis 12:5) tells us, “Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot, son of his brother, and all their property that they had acquired, and the pe...
Take the tale of Pharaoh and Sarah in Genesis. We know the basic outline: Abraham and Sarah enter Egypt, Abraham says Sarah is his sister, Pharaoh takes Sarah into his house, and t...
The ancient Rabbis certainly thought so! to a fascinating passage from Bereshit Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretations of the Book of Genesis, specifically section 42, wh...
The Torah uses powerful imagery to describe just such a feeling in (Genesis 15:11): “Birds of prey descended upon the carcasses, and Abram drove them away.” But what does it really...
We read the stories, we know the milestones – but sometimes the weight of those moments gets lost. Take the act of circumcision, the brit milah, at the ripe old age of ninety-nine....
It’s not just about retribution, but about a deeper kind of fittingness. We see this principle vividly illustrated in the story of Sodom, particularly in the events surrounding Lot...
The Book of Genesis (19:24) tells us plainly: "And the Lord rained down brimstone and fire upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah from the Lord, from the heavens." But the rabbis, in their e...
The passage begins with a verse from Jeremiah (48:30): "I know its fury, the utterance of the Lord, and its lies [badav] are unfounded [lo khen]." This verse becomes the springboar...
(Psalm 119:89) declares, “Forever, Lord, Your word stands firm in the heavens.” But does this mean it doesn’t stand firm here, with us? Our sages grappled with this, finding an ans...
The Torah tells us, "The matter was greatly distressing in Abraham’s eyes, regarding his son" (Genesis 21:11). This refers to the expulsion of Hagar and Ishmael. But why was Abraha...
to a fascinating passage from Bereshit Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretations of the Book of Genesis, specifically section 55, and see what wisdom we can unearth. The pas...
The Bible tells us the bare bones of the story, but the Rabbis, in their endless quest to understand God's word, delve deeper, seeking hidden meanings and profound truths. In Beres...
