2,086 related texts · Page 39 of 44
After the overwhelming experience of hearing God's voice at Sinai, the Israelites retreated. (Exodus 20:18) records: "And the people stood from afar." The Mekhilta specifies the di...
(Exodus 20:19) records God telling Moses: "Thus shall you say to the children of Israel." The Mekhilta seizes on the word "thus" — in Hebrew, "koh" — and derives a surprising rule:...
Two biblical verses about Sinai appear to contradict each other directly. (Exodus 20:19) says God spoke "from the heavens." But (Exodus 19:20) says "the Lord went down upon Mount S...
Rebbi — Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi — grappled with a verse that seems to describe God physically descending to Mount Sinai. (Exodus 19:20): "And the Lord went down upon Mount Sinai upon ...
The Torah prohibits "gods of silver and gods of gold" (Exodus 20:20). But what exactly do these phrases add to the prohibition against idolatry? After all, the commandment against ...
Why do the laws of adjudication — civil justice — take precedence over all the other commandments in the Torah? Rabbi Shimon gave a deceptively simple answer: because adjudication ...
R. Eliezer says: This (inclusion) is not needed. If a Jew serves, how much more so a proselyte!—But perhaps (I would say) If a Jew serves six years, a proselyte should serve twelve...
"and he shall bring him near to the door or to the door-post": The door is being compared to the door-post, viz.: Just as a door-post stands in its place, so, the door must be stan...
The Torah prescribes a vivid ritual for a Hebrew servant who refuses to go free after six years of service: "Then his master shall bore his ear" with an awl against a doorpost (Exo...
"And if a man sells": We are hereby apprised that he may sell her (as a maid-servant). And whence is it derived that he is permitted to betroth her?—If he can remove her from (the ...
The Torah uses the phrase "who did not designate her" in reference to a Hebrew maid-servant whose master has not taken her as his wife (Exodus 21:8). The Mekhilta unpacks this phra...
(Exodus, Ibid. 9) "And if to his son he designate her (as a wife)": He designates her to his son, but not to his brother. For it would follow (that he does designate her to his bro...
The Torah describes a young woman sold into servitude by her father and establishes the conditions under which she goes free. Rabbi Eliezer interprets the verse "Then she shall go ...
But still, let his blood be spilled from other limbs (and not through "the sword" [i.e., decapitation])! It is, therefore, written (in respect to eglah arufah [the "heifer of the b...
Issi ben Akiva noticed something peculiar about the cities of refuge described in the Torah. The verse says "then I shall make for you a place" — a place where an accidental killer...
But perhaps the first is an exhortation against stealing money, and the second an exhortation against stealing souls? Would you say that? Three mitzvot (commandments)h are mentione...
Rabbi Yonathan argued that the explicit mention of "a man or a woman" in (Exodus 21:29) was not even necessary to include women in injury law. Two other verses already accomplished...
This is one of three things in the Torah which R. Yishmael expounded metaphorically. Similarly, (Exodus 22:2) "If the sun shone upon him." Now is it upon him alone that the sun shi...
The Torah uses the word "punished" in (Exodus 21:22) when describing the penalty for a man who injures a pregnant woman during a fight. "Then he shall be punished" — but punished h...
Beloved is Israel — so beloved that God gave entire nations as kofer, as ransom, for the souls of His people. The proof is (Isaiah 43:3): "I gave Egypt as kofer for you, Ethiopia a...
"Money shall he restore to its owner" — when someone's animal falls into another person's uncovered pit and dies, the pit-digger must pay compensation. The Torah specifies "money."...
And thus do we find with our fathers, that when they stood on Mount Sinai, they sought to steal the Higher Mind, as it is written (Exodus 24:7) "Everything that the L–rd has spoken...
"If fire go out and it find thorns" (Exodus 22:5). A person lights a fire on his own property, and it escapes. It reaches a neighboring field and destroys crops, haystacks, or stan...
Rebbi — Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi — analyzed the phrase "until elohim shall come the matter of both" (Exodus 22:8), which describes disputes brought before judges. The verse speaks of "...
The Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael examines the phrase "according to the mohar of the virgins" and applies a distinctive rabbinic technique to determine the monetary amount it refers to...
Beloved are the strangers — the converts to Judaism. The Mekhilta emphasizes how many times the Torah exhorts Israel to treat them well. "And a stranger you shall not afflict" (Exo...
The Torah commands that when you take a garment as a pledge for a loan, you must return it to the borrower so they can sleep in it at night. But the Mekhilta noticed a problem: the...
Rabbi Nathan interpreted the verse "and perverts the words of the righteous" (Exodus 23:8) as referring to something far more severe than ordinary judicial corruption. The one who ...
Rabbi Akiva offered his own proof that eating meat cooked in milk is forbidden, using a different a fortiori argument. His starting point was not the Passover offering but the thig...
Issi ben Guria demonstrated that eating meat cooked in milk is forbidden through a verbal comparison between two passages. The word "holiness" appears in (Deuteronomy 14:21), where...
(Exodus 31:13) commands: "But My Sabbaths shall you keep." The Mekhilta asks what this verse adds to (Exodus 20:10): "You shall not perform any labor." If labor is already prohibit...
(Exodus 31:13) says: "For it is a sign between Me and you." The Mekhilta reads "between Me and you" — between God and Israel — to the exclusion of the other nations. The Sabbath is...
Rebbi — Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi, the compiler of the Mishnah (the earliest code of rabbinic law) — makes a staggering claim about the Sabbath. If a person keeps even one Shabbat (the ...
(Exodus 35:3) commands: "You shall not light a fire in all of your dwellings" on the Sabbath. The Mekhilta connects this verse to a completely different discussion about the shemit...
Moses certainly did. In the book of Exodus (33:18-23), we find Moses pleading with God, "Oh, let me behold Your presence!" It's a raw, human moment. Can you imagine the courage, th...
The Torah actually grapples with this very question, and the answer, as you might expect, is layered and fascinating. : Moses, standing before the burning bush, is tasked with lead...
It’s a question that’s haunted mystics and theologians for centuries. And while Jewish tradition generally holds that no one can see God and live, there are whispers and echoes in ...
And the Torah, in its own way, grapples with this very question. We find ourselves in the Book of Exodus, a pivotal moment in the story of the Israelites. Moses is about to ascend ...
We often think of God as all-knowing, all-powerful, the ultimate authority... but what if I told you there's a tradition that suggests God, too, is a student? It's a fascinating id...
They’ve journeyed far, and now, they're about to experience something beyond comprehension. Exodus 19 tells us that on the third day, as morning broke, the atmosphere crackled with...
The stories we have paint a pretty vivid picture. According to some traditions, on the very day of his creation, Adam saw the sun begin to dip below the horizon. And what was his r...
We often think of it as a moment of pure revelation, of divine gift-giving. But some ancient stories paint a picture far more…intense. A picture of near annihilation and miraculous...
Some say God offered it to every nation on earth, but only Israel was willing to accept it. But there's another, even more dramatic version that I think you'll find fascinating. Im...
Remember the scene: Moses, up on Mount Sinai, receiving the very word of God, etched onto stone tablets. And then… disaster. The Israelites, impatient and faithless, melt down thei...
It was a spectacle. The Targum Neophyti on (Exodus 20:1) describes it as shooting stars, lightning, and fiery torches all rolled into one. Can you picture that? A blazing, celestia...
We all know the story, but sometimes the ancient texts give us glimpses into the behind-the-scenes moments, the cosmic stage whispers, that make the event even more awe-inspiring. ...
The story of Moses on Mount Sinai offers a profound glimpse into this mystery, showing us not just what to pray, but how. The Book of Exodus tells us that Moses ascended Mount Sina...
Did you know that some traditions claim Jacob, father of the twelve tribes of Israel, never actually died? It sounds impossible, doesn't it? He was embalmed, buried… but the story ...
