2,086 related texts · Page 13 of 44
What happens when a legend disappears? When a leader, a prophet, a figure like MOSES, is simply… gone? The grief, of course, is immense. But beyond that, there's often a desperate,...
It's easy to think of him as a simple puppet, but the ancient texts paint a more complex picture. According to Legends of the Jews, Haman’s hateful words found fertile ground in th...
The mystical text Tikkun (spiritual repair)ei Zohar, a companion to the Zohar, delves into just that feeling, exploring how even Moses, the great lawgiver, experienced a disconnect...
The Tikkun (spiritual repair)ei Zohar, a foundational text of Kabbalah (Jewish mysticism), reads the story of Jonah – Jonah swallowed by the great fish – as a metaphor for the soul...
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 "k...
"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...
Rabbi Akiva cuts through an elaborate derivation with a single, clean observation — a move that captures his characteristic directness as a legal mind. The question under debate is...
Rabbi Yoshiyah takes the verse "And you shall watch over the matzot" and performs one of the most beloved wordplays in all of rabbinic literature — a reading that transforms a law ...
The Mekhilta addresses a gap in the Torah's instructions about eating matzah during Passover. The verse states, "Seven days shall you eat matzot" (Exodus 12:18). This clearly estab...
R. Eliezer says: On it they were redeemed; but they are destined to be redeemed only on Tishrei, as it is written (Psalms 81:4) "Blow the shofar (of redemption) on the month (of Ti...
When God split the Red Sea for the Israelites, the miracle did not stop at a single body of water. The Mekhilta asks a pointed question: what about the waters in pits, cavities, ca...
Rabbi Yossi raises a startling possibility about the ten plagues. The destruction at the Red Sea, he argues, was not a separate event from the plagues in Egypt — it happened simult...
Rabbi Yossi HaGlili presents one of the most famous calculations in rabbinic literature. He asks: how do we know that the Egyptians were struck with ten plagues in Egypt and fifty ...
Rabbi Akiva posed a provocative question: where do we learn that each of the ten plagues that struck Egypt was actually five plagues in one? If this calculation is correct, the Egy...
The Mekhilta asks another of its characteristically sharp questions about the Red Sea crossing. The verse says the Egyptians "descended into the metzulot" — the whirlpools or churn...
When Pharaoh sent soldiers to hunt down Moses after the slaying of the Egyptian taskmaster, God intervened in a way no one expected. Rather than striking the pursuers dead or sendi...
R. Pappis made a statement about Yithro's blessing that was, in his reading, deeply unflattering to Israel. When Yithro arrived at the Israelite camp and heard what God had done, h...
Before God ever asked Israel to accept His kingship, He proved Himself through action. The Mekhilta lays out the sequence with deliberate precision, and the order matters. First, G...
It’s a question that’s captivated Jewish thinkers for centuries. And Jewish tradition actually gives us a glimpse, a stunning vision of just such an encounter. Imagine this: it's t...
It's an age-old question: how can we possibly dedicate ourselves fully to learning when life keeps pulling us in a million different directions? Well, Midrash Tehillim offers some ...
Rabbi Simon, in the ancient collection of homiletic interpretations known as Midrash Tehillim, sheds light on this very idea. He suggests that simply reciting poetry doesn't make o...
In Midrash Tehillim, a collection of rabbinic teachings on the Book of Psalms, Psalm 27, "The Lord is my light and my salvation," becomes a springboard for exploring just that. But...
Our sages certainly did. The Midrash Tehillim, a collection of interpretations on the Book of Psalms, dives deep into this very question. Specifically, it wrestles with (Psalm 78:4...
Midrash Tehillim (a collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Book of Psalms) poses a seemingly simple question about the opening of Psalm 90, traditionally ascribed to Moses: ...
It's more than just a day off; it's a cornerstone of Jewish life, a sacred pause in the week. But why Shabbat (the Sabbath)? What makes it so special? Midrash Tehillim, a collectio...
We all know the story from Exodus – how Moses stretched out his hand, and the waters parted, allowing the Israelites to escape the pursuing Egyptian army. But did you know just how...
The Pesikta deRav Kahana, a collection of Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary)ic teachings, offers a fascinating glimpse into that moment. In Pesikta deRav Kahana 12, we find...
The story begins with Moses, standing before God, asking for a sign, a mofet, to prove his divine mission. "Sovereign of all worlds!" he pleads, "Give me a wonder or a sign!" And G...
It turns out, this struggle is ancient. The Yalkut Shimoni, a compilation of rabbinic interpretations of the Bible, preserves a powerful midrash—an interpretive story—on the verse ...
It’s a story richer than you might think, and it all starts as the Israelites journeyed from Elim. Imagine the scene: the newly freed Israelites, fresh from the miracle of the Red ...
It seems the Israelites did just that after their exodus from Egypt. In the book of Bamidbar (Numbers), chapter 11, verse 5, we hear them complaining, "We remember the fish that we...
It might seem like a minor detail, but when we delve into the texts, we uncover some fascinating layers of meaning. Our journey begins with a verse from Shemot (Exodus) 13:9, talki...
The verse we’re looking at is from Sifrei Devarim (130), a collection of legal interpretations on the Book of Deuteronomy. It’s a complex discussion, a real Talmudic back-and-forth...
The Passover story everyone knows has God striking down the Egyptian firstborn. The Targum Jonathan's version of (Exodus 12) is almost unrecognizably more detailed, packed with num...
When Moses was born, the entire house filled with light. According to Sotah 12a, his mother Yocheved saw immediately that he was special—the Torah's phrase "she saw that he was goo...
Pharaoh's daughter did not accidentally find Moses. According to Sotah 12b, she came to the river to immerse herself—not for bathing, but to wash away the spiritual impurity of her...
On the night of the Exodus, while the entire nation of Israel was loading Egyptian gold and silver, Moses was doing something else. According to Sotah 13a, he was searching for the...
This week, we're diving into a powerful message about gratitude, using the ancient text of Bamidbar Rabbah, specifically Bamidbar Rabbah 1. It all starts with a verse: “The Lord sp...
Specifically, Bamidbar Rabbah – a collection of rabbinic teachings on the Book of Numbers – gives us a vibrant picture. It tells us that each of the twelve tribes had its own uniqu...
It turns out, even ancient texts grapple with these questions, offering surprising insights into universal ethics. to Bamidbar Rabbah, specifically section 8. This isn't your typic...
The Torah (Numbers 5:17) instructs the priest to take "sacred water in an earthenware vessel, and from the dirt that is on the floor of the Tabernacle...place it into the water." B...
Here, we're unpacking the story of the sotah, the woman suspected of adultery, and the unique ritual designed to determine her guilt or innocence. It's a wild ride, so buckle up. O...
But what does it all mean? , drawing on the rich tapestry of Jewish tradition to unravel this mystery. The Torah tells us, "The priest shall write these curses in a scroll, and era...
Today, we're diving into Bamidbar Rabbah 11, a section of a Midrash, a collection of rabbinic commentaries on the Book of Numbers, and we'll find some surprising and hopeful insigh...
That image, that feeling, is right at the heart of Psalm 91, and it takes center stage in a fascinating passage from Bamidbar Rabbah 12. The verse "He who dwells in the shelter of ...
Specifically, we're looking at the offerings of Elyasaf son of Deuel, the prince of the tribe of Gad. "On the sixth day, prince of the children of Gad, Elyasaf son of Deuel" (Numbe...
It's like a secret code, hinting at deeper meanings. Take this verse from (Numbers 11:16): "Gather to Me seventy men [ish]..." Why ish, and not the more common Hebrew word for men,...
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...
