1,400 related texts · Page 9 of 30
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...
The Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael draws a sweeping conclusion from the verse "and you will know that the L-rd took you out of the land of Egypt" (Exodus 16:6). The teaching here is not...
Israel looked at the staff of Moses and saw only devastation. It had brought ten plagues upon the Egyptians in Egypt — blood, frogs, lice, and all the rest. Then it brought ten mor...
R. Yossi b. Chalafta says: "And Amalek came": He came with counsel. We are hereby apprised that he gathered all the nations together and said to them: Come and help me against Isra...
The Mekhilta decodes every word of Moses' declaration before the battle with Amalek. "The top of the hill" is not just a geographic feature — it is a spiritual map. "Top" represent...
During the battle against Amalek, Moses stood on a hilltop with his arms raised, channeling divine power to the Israelite warriors below. But holding your arms up for hours is grue...
After Israel's victory over Amalek at Rephidim, Moses built an altar and gave it a striking name. The verse records: "And Moses built an altar and he called its name 'the L-rd is m...
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...
When Moses sat down with his father-in-law Yithro after the exodus from Egypt, he did not simply give a dry report of events. The Mekhilta explains that Moses "related to his fathe...
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...
King David knew that feeling well. Midrash Tehillim, a collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Book of Psalms, dives deep into the context and meaning behind David's songs. A...
The text opens with a discussion of "rana," which can be translated as a cry or supplication. But it's not just any cry; it's a cry of righteousness. The Midrash (rabbinic interpre...
No clocks, no sunrise, no sunset as we know it. So, how did he know when it was day and when it was night? The Midrash Tehillim, a collection of interpretations on the Book of Psal...
But let’s dive into what the ancient interpreters found within those words. Midrash Tehillim, a collection of rabbinic commentaries on the Book of Psalms, offers some fascinating p...
It’s a question that’s been wrestled with for centuries, and the Midrash Tehillim, a collection of rabbinic teachings on the Book of Psalms, offers some truly fascinating, and at t...
The ancient Israelites grappled with that exact feeling after the Exodus from Egypt. And Midrash Tehillim (a collection of interpretations on the Book of Psalms) delves right into ...
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...
Midrash Tehillim, a collection of rabbinic teachings on the Book of Psalms, explores that very feeling in Psalm 103. It speaks of remembering God's commandments, and what that real...
The book of Psalms, Tehillim, offers glimpses, poetic refrains that hint at the immense creative power at play. Psalm 104, in particular, paints a vivid picture: "The deep clothes ...
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...
He paints a picture, a truly awe-inspiring one, of Moses standing on the mountain. But here's the thing: only his feet were actually on the ground. The rest of him? According to Ra...
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 ...
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 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 ...
We're diving into Sifrei Bamidbar, a fascinating commentary on the Book of Numbers (Bamidbar in Hebrew). And right off the bat, verse 9:1 hits us with something intriguing: "And th...
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...
Today, let’s dive into a fascinating story from the book of Bamidbar (Numbers), specifically chapter 12, verse 10, and explore the moment Miriam, Moses' sister, is struck with tzar...
The Book of Numbers, or Bamidbar in Hebrew, recounts a particularly troubling episode in the Israelites' wanderings. Specifically, our source today comes from Sifrei Bamidbar 131, ...
We often think of them as a simple recap of the journey from Egypt, but the very first verse hints at something more. It begins by listing the places where Moses spoke to the Israe...
The ancient text of Sifrei Devarim delves into just that, exploring the ramifications of the Golden Calf incident. The verse in question reads, "and an abundance of gold." But it’s...
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 text begins with a blessing: "Blessed is He that broadens Gad." What does it mean? Simply put, the passage teaches us that the territory allotted to the tribe of Gad expanded e...
The manna story in (Exodus 16) raises an obvious question: where did this miracle food come from? The Hebrew Bible says God "rained bread from heaven." The Targum Jonathan gives a ...
When Pharaoh decided to enslave the Israelites, he consulted three advisors. According to Sotah 11a, what happened to each of them perfectly matched the advice they gave. Balaam re...
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 Hebrew Bible says God "hardened Pharaoh's heart" and he pursued the Israelites (Exodus 14:8). Targum Onkelos translates this without softening or explaining. The hardening stan...
The Hebrew Bible records Moses and the Israelites singing a triumphant song after the sea closes over the Egyptians (Exodus 15). Targum Onkelos transforms this victory hymn into so...
The Hebrew Bible says God "passed before" Moses and proclaimed the Thirteen Attributes of Mercy (Exodus 34:6). Targum Onkelos renders this as God "made His Shechinah pass" before M...
Furthermore, said R. Levi b. Chama, in the name of Resh Lakish : "What is meant by the passage (Ex. 24:12) And I will give thee the tablets of stone, with the law and the Commandme...
Bamidbar Rabbah, the rabbinic commentary on the Book of Numbers, dives right into this question with a surprisingly poetic starting point. The verse we're looking at is "The Lord s...
We can see this theme beautifully illustrated in Bamidbar Rabbah (Numbers Rabbah) 4, which draws a powerful lesson from the seemingly straightforward verse, “The charge of Elazar, ...
The ancient rabbis grappled with these questions constantly, searching for meaning in misfortune. One particularly fascinating exploration revolves around the affliction of leprosy...
Talk about pressure! In this week's Torah portion, Chukat, we find a particularly fraught moment (Numbers 20:8). God tells Moses, "Take the staff…and give the congregation and thei...
Why the darkness? The passage opens by connecting God’s encounters with Bilam, the non-Israelite prophet, specifically noting that God "came to Bilam at night." This links back to ...
Today, let's talk about counting, specifically, the census in the Book of Numbers, Bamidbar in Hebrew. We find ourselves in Numbers 26, right after a devastating plague. God tells ...
The scene: Rabbi Akiva, a towering figure of Jewish wisdom, is being interrogated by the wicked governor, Tinneus Rufus. Rufus, dripping with imperial arrogance, poses a deceptivel...
It's more than just a colorful arc in the sky. In fact, according to Bereshit Rabbah, a classic collection of Rabbinic interpretations of the Book of Genesis, the rainbow holds pro...
to a fascinating passage from Bereshit Rabbah, a classic collection of rabbinic interpretations of the Book of Genesis, that grapples with just that question in the fiery destructi...
