1,400 related texts · Page 11 of 30
Jewish mysticism understands that feeling. It’s baked right into the cosmic process of repair. We’ve talked before about the Sefirot, the ten emanations of divine energy that struc...
We've been exploring the Sefer Yetzirah, the "Book of Formation," a foundational text of Kabbalah, and it's a wild ride into a world where letters aren't just symbols, they're forc...
The Torah instructs in (Exodus 12:22), "And you shall take a bunch of hyssop," referring to the bundle of hyssop used to apply the blood of the Paschal lamb to the doorposts in Egy...
Rebbi (Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi) noticed the same numerical tension between two biblical verses about the duration of Israel's time in Egypt. One says "they shall serve them and they s...
God commanded the Israelites to "wash their garments" in preparation for receiving the Torah at Sinai (Exodus 19:10). The Mekhilta asks a follow-up question that the Torah itself d...
When the Torah describes the ear-boring of a Hebrew bondsman who chooses to remain in service, it says "his ear" shall be pierced. But which ear — left or right? The Mekhilta deter...
The Mekhilta examines how the Torah's laws governing Hebrew servants apply equally to men and women. The verse states "the Hebrew man or the Hebrew woman" (Deuteronomy 15:12), and ...
The Mekhilta addresses a precise scenario: what happens when a master knocks out two of his bondservant's teeth — or blinds both eyes — simultaneously, in a single blow? The ruling...
They say he was so strikingly handsome, he resembled an angel. And his story, well, it begins a bit like a fairy tale. His parents, had longed for a child for many, many years. His...
The ancient Rabbis did. They saw in every raindrop a universe of wonder, a testament to the divine. to a fascinating passage from Midrash Tehillim, a collection of homiletic interp...
Midrash Tehillim, a collection of homiletic interpretations on the Book of Psalms, hits us with a pretty stark idea: "Together, rich and poor... they all descend to Gehenna." Gehen...
Ancient Jewish texts are full of fascinating cosmologies, attempts to understand the workings of the universe, often blending science, poetry, and a deep sense of the divine. And o...
Our tradition explores this feeling in a powerful way, connecting it to the very land we inhabit. Let's look into it. The text we're diving into comes from Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer, ...
It's far more than just a nice story about hospitality. According to Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer, a fascinating early medieval text that weaves together biblical narrative and rabbinic ...
Specifically, we're diving into Yalkut Shimoni on Torah 788, which wrestles with some tricky questions arising from the story of the daughters of Zelophehad. Remember them? They we...
In the book of Bamidbar (Numbers), we find some fascinating clues when it comes to the ritual of the red heifer, the parah adumah, and the specific type of water required. The vers...
But bear with me. to a tiny passage from Sifrei Devarim, a collection of early Jewish legal interpretations related to the Book of Deuteronomy, and see what we can uncover. The pas...
The ancient text, Sifrei Devarim, a commentary on the Book of Deuteronomy, grapples with this very issue. It centers on a specific passage dealing with an unsolved murder. : a body...
Because "you were a stranger in his land." It sounds simple enough, but Rabbi Elazar ben Azaryah digs deeper. The Egyptians, let's be real, weren’t exactly acting out of pure altru...
The Book of Deuteronomy, Sefer Devarim, explores just that. In (Deuteronomy 32:9), we read, "For the portion of the L-rd is His people." This verse sparks a fascinating midrash, a ...
The destruction of Sodom in Genesis 19 is swift and merciless. Fire and brimstone rain down, and the city is gone. But the Targum Jonathan inserts a detail that changes everything:...
The standard Genesis 36 reads like a dry census of Esau's descendants. But the Targum Jonathan, the ancient Aramaic interpretive translation, quietly inserts theological details th...
The purification ritual for a healed leper involved two birds. One was killed. The other was dipped in the dead bird's blood, mixed with spring water, and released over an open fie...
"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...
The wicked kingdom once decreed that the Jews should not keep the Sabbath, nor circumcise their children, nor keep the law of purification according to the Bible. Reuben the son of...
Two men stand before the heavenly court. Both honored their fathers. Both are judged. One goes to Paradise. The other to Gehinnom (the place of spiritual purification after death)....
The Talmud (Jerusalem Talmud, Peah 1:1) presents two contrasting stories that illustrate a paradox: a person who treats their parents well can still end up in Gehinnom (the place o...
There was once a man so wicked that the entire town avoided him. He cheated in business, spoke cruelty to strangers, and mocked the sages when they tried to rebuke him. Everyone ag...
Prince of the demons, and an important figure both in Talmudic and in post-Talmudic literature, where he appears as accuser, seducer, and destroyer. His name is etymologized as = "...
Magic is described as "the pretended art of producing preternatural effects," constituting one of two principal divisions of occultism alongside divination. Effects produced may be...
"And your eyes shall see" (Malachi 1:5). The prophet promises that Israel will watch the fall of Edom — watch it with their own eyes, from their own territory, and say: "Great is t...
It all starts in the Book of Numbers, Bamidbar (Numbers 19:2), with the words: “This is the statute of the Torah that the Lord commanded, saying: Speak to the children of Israel, a...
Our ancestor Jacob knew it well. We find ourselves in Bereshit Rabbah (Genesis Rabbah) 84, a collection of rabbinic homilies on the Book of Genesis. The text opens with a seemingly...
Jewish tradition teaches us that this feeling might be more than just a lucky coincidence. It might be the very presence of the Divine. Shemot Rabbah, a classic compilation of rabb...
He says that God declares "I am the Lord your God" precisely because He took us out of Egypt. It's the foundation. He freed us so that we would, in turn, accept His divinity upon o...
In Shir HaShirim Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Song of Songs, we find a fascinating discussion about these pesky creatures and what they represent. Rabbi ...
Sometimes, the answers lie in the most unexpected connections, bridging seemingly unrelated passages of Torah. to one such fascinating interpretation found in Vayikra Rabbah, a col...
“How the Lord has clouded the daughter of Zion in His wrath. He cast the splendor of Israel from the heavens to the earth, and did not remember His footstool on the day of His wrat...
And it came to pass in the days of Amraphel (Gen. 14:1). May it please our master to teach us whether a slave obtains his freedom if his owner assigns all his property to him as a ...
This is the offering which ye shall take of them: gold, etc. (Exod. 25:3). The gold corresponds to the kingdom of Babylon, as it is written concerning her: Thou art the head of gol...
(Deut. 2:2-4:) “Then the Lord spoke unto me, saying, ‘You have had enough of going about this mountain; turn north. Now charge the people, saying, “You are passing through the terr...
The land was barren. A terrible famine gripped the region, forcing Abraham and Sarah to seek refuge in Egypt. They first tried Hebron, but the hunger was everywhere. So, they journ...
We all do it. But what if that cover is completely misleading? What if the real treasure lies hidden, masked by appearances? Ben Sira, that wise sage whose words dance between scri...
It’s a cry, a yearning for divine intervention. "Shake thy hand over the strange people; And let them see thy mighty acts." It's a powerful image, isn't it? A call for God to revea...
Our verse is simple, yet powerful: "And he brought from him a man, finding grace in the eyes of all life. Beloved by God and man, Moshe, remembered for good." , shall we? First, "H...
Sometimes, it's about being in the right place at the right time. Sometimes, it's about something more... something divinely ordained. Let's look at a couple of figures who stepped...
Today, let's talk about Yehoshua Ben Nun – Joshua, son of Nun – a figure who embodies that very idea. Ben Sira, in his wisdom, paints a vivid picture of Yehoshua. He calls him "a w...
This tale, found in the book of Ben Sira (Sirach), one of the Deuterocanonical books, really brings home the power of faith and righteous action in the face of overwhelming odds. I...
