2,086 related texts · Page 3 of 44
Jewish tradition certainly sees things that way, especially when we look at the plagues visited upon ancient Egypt. It wasn't just random suffering; each plague, according to our s...
Maybe your parents didn't sign you up for piano lessons, or you never got that trip to Disney World. But what about something more fundamental, something tied to your very identity...
It's easy to see them as simply divine punishments, but Jewish tradition often delves deeper, searching for layers of meaning and nuance. Let's look at the plague of darkness, as e...
It goes way beyond just family lineage. In fact, according to Shemot Rabbah, it points to something truly messianic. The verse in (Exodus 13:2) commands us to "Consecrate to Me eve...
It's more than just "Who Knows One?" around the Passover table, I promise you that. Our Sages understood that the Exodus wasn't just a one-time event; it was a template for all fut...
It's considered apocryphal by some, pseudepigraphal by others (meaning, falsely attributed to a biblical figure), but no matter what you call it, it's a fascinating window into a w...
According to Legends of the Jews by Louis Ginzberg, as the time approached for the Israelites' redemption from Egyptian slavery, a dilemma arose. They hadn't accumulated enough goo...
We all know the story of the Exodus, the Israelites' escape from slavery in Egypt. But the tenth plague, the slaying of the firstborn, wasn't just a targeted strike, a surgical rem...
But what's happening on high? Well, according to a beautiful passage in the Zohar (2:40b-41a), the foundational text of Jewish mysticism, God isn't just observing. God's hosting a ...
In Tikkun (spiritual repair)ei Zohar 99, we find a fascinating idea: the left side is associated with Rosh Hashanah, the New Year, a time of judgment and introspection. The right s...
The passage we're looking at comes from Tikkun (spiritual repair)ei Zohar 111. It paints a poetic picture, associating the Shekhinah – the Divine Presence – with different holidays...
Take tefillin (leather phylacteries worn during prayer), those leather boxes containing sacred scrolls that observant Jews bind to their arm and forehead during morning prayer. Eve...
The true tzaddik (a righteous person), Rabbi Nachman of Breslov teaches, is the one who looks at every detail of creation and asks: why did God make it this way? Why does a lion ha...
(Exodus 12:2) "The beginning of the months": We are hereby apprised that Nissan is the beginning for the months. And whence do we derive (the same for) the reign of kings? From (I ...
(Exodus 12:2) "This month shall be to you": Adam did not count by it (but by Tishrei, as the first month). You say this, but perhaps (the meaning is) "to you," but not to a gentile...
The Torah instructs that when preparing for the Paschal lamb, if a household is too small to consume the entire animal, they should share it with "the neighbor near his house" (Exo...
(Exodus 12:41) "and it was at the end of four hundred and thirty years": We are hereby apprised that when the time arrived, the L–rd did not delay them for one moment. On the fifte...
Rabbi Eliezer agreed that the tefillin (leather phylacteries worn during prayer) belong on the upper arm rather than the palm, but he arrived at the conclusion through entirely dif...
The verse (Exodus 13:9) states, "And it shall be to you as a sign upon your hand and as a memorial between your eyes." The Mekhilta derived from the sequence of this verse a precis...
(Exodus 13:10) states, "from day to day" — miyamim yamimah. The Mekhilta asked why this phrase was necessary. After all, the previous verse already established that the account of ...
(Exodus 13:21) "And the L–rd went before them by day": Can this be said? Is it not written (Jeremiah 23:22) "'Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?' says the L–rd"? and (Isaiah ...
The Mekhilta interprets the phrase "For He is high on high" (Exodus 15:1) as describing a relationship of mutual exaltation between God and Israel. The doubling in the Hebrew — ga'...
(Exodus 16:35) "And the children of Israel ate the manna for forty years": R. Yehoshua says: for forty days they ate the manna after the death of Moses. How so? Moses died on the s...
That, my friends, is the heart of a beautiful tradition linked to Shavuot (the Festival of Weeks). We know Passover commemorates the Exodus, specifically the parting of the Red Sea...
We all know the story of Passover, the Korban (a sacrificial offering) Pesach, the Paschal lamb. But there's a layer to the story that adds so much depth, a detail that speaks volu...
We're about to dive into one of those head-scratchers, straight from the ancient Jewish legal text, Sifrei Devarim. The question? Whether the Ten Commandments are included in the c...
They’re called tefillin (leather phylacteries worn during prayer), or phylacteries, and they’re more than just ritual objects – they’re a powerful connection to our history and our...
Jewish law sometimes deals with similar dilemmas, where doing one good thing might unintentionally lead to a less-than-ideal outcome. Today, let's talk about the Pesach (Passover) ...
For the Jewish people, the Exodus from Egypt is that moment. And it echoes even in the details of how we celebrate Passover, Pesach, the festival commemorating that liberation. Our...
The plague of darkness in Exodus chapter 10 is three days of impenetrable blackness across Egypt. The Hebrew Bible says simply that no one could see anyone else and no one rose fro...
But there's a problem. A big one. Sacrifices, especially the Passover sacrifice, the korban (a sacrificial offering) Pesach (Passover), can only be eaten within the boundaries of t...
Darkness, locusts, boils… you name it, they got it. And now, finally, Pharaoh is ready to let the Israelites go. But it wasn't exactly a gracious departure. According to Ginzberg's...
The Song at the Sea praises God not only for His power but for His patience. The Mekhilta de-Rabbi Ishmael highlights a detail that the Israelites themselves recognized as they san...
Variantly: "on the fifteenth day of the second month": Why is the day mentioned? To know on which day the manna descended for Israel. Israel ate from the wafer that they took out o...
We all know the highlights – the Nile turning to blood, swarms of locusts, darkness… But the details, the why and how, are often richer and stranger than we remember. Take the plag...
That feeling…that’s almost the heart of the story of Hallelujah. But what is Hallelujah, really? It's more than just a word; it's an expression, a moment in time. Midrash Tehillim,...
In the Sifrei Devarim, a collection of early rabbinic legal interpretations on the Book of Deuteronomy, Rabbi Yehudah gives us a fascinating mnemonic device for remembering the ten...
The Torah isn't always explicit about timing, and sometimes, a seemingly simple phrase can unlock a whole world of debate. Take (Exodus 7:25): "Seven days were completed, after the...
We often focus on the what – the frogs, the locusts, the darkness – but sometimes miss the deeper meaning. to one of the more… amphibious plagues and see what the ancient rabbis ha...
We often read the verse in (Exodus 12:30), "As there was no house in which there was no one dead," and maybe we don't fully grasp its implications. But the ancient rabbis, in their...
The fifth heaven of Sefer HaRazim marks a transition from the functional heavens below—weather, punishment, light, and the sun—to the more abstract and terrifying realms above. Her...
The death of Moses is the most devastating scene in the Torah—and the Talmud in Sotah 13b expands it into something almost unbearable. Moses pleaded with God not to let him die. He...
The Book of Jubilees, a fascinating text from around the 2nd century BCE, gives us a pretty strong clue. It’s not included in the Tanakh, meaning it’s not included in the standard ...
The Book of Jubilees, for those of you who aren’t familiar, is an ancient Jewish text. Think of it as a retelling – and slight expansion – of the Book of Genesis and the first part...
R. Eliezer says: Sheep for the Pesach (Passover) and cattle for the chagigah. You say this, but perhaps both are for the Pesach? And how would I understand "an unblemished lamb, et...
(Exodus 14:20) "And one did not come near another the entire night": Scripture hereby apprises us that a standing Egyptian could not sit down, and a sitting one could not stand up....
On the sixth day of the week, something unprecedented happened with the manna. (Exodus 16:22) records that the Israelites gathered a double portion, two omers instead of the usual ...
The passage focuses on a seemingly redundant verse, Bamidbar (Numbers) 9:4: "And Moses spoke to the children of Israel to offer the Pesach (Passover)" – the Passover sacrifice. The...
