4,193 related texts · Page 37 of 88
The mystical text, Tikkun (spiritual repair)ei Zohar, has some pretty powerful words for that feeling. It warns, "Woe to the person, whose soul has descended to beneath his feet." ...
The Tikkun (spiritual repair)ei Zohar, a mystical expansion on the Zohar itself, gives us a glimpse into just that – a cosmic tapestry woven with the threads of our festivals. In T...
The Tikkun (spiritual repair)ei Zohar, a cornerstone of Kabbalistic literature, explores these secrets. And in Tikkun 111, we encounter a particularly intriguing idea: the Shekhina...
Jewish mysticism often speaks of such crucial, minute details, and their immense consequences. The text focuses on the Hebrew letters in two powerful words: ShaDaY and EḤaD. ShaDaY...
The Tikkun (spiritual repair)ei Zohar, a later part of the Zohar, one of the central works of Kabbalah, hints at something truly profound about the Torah's essence. It speaks of a ...
The transmission narrative in Harba de-Moshe (the Sword of Moses) is one of the most elaborate chains of divine authority in all of Jewish literature. It traces a path from God to ...
The heart of Harba de-Moshe (the Sword of Moses) is its catalog of divine names—and the greatest of these is the Great Name, composed of 70 component names. The number 70 is not ar...
(Exodus 12:1) "And the L–rd spoke to Moses and to Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying": I might think that both Aaron and Moses were being addressed; it is, therefore, written (Exod...
"on this night": I might think, the entire night; it is, therefore, written (Ibid. 10) "You shall not leave over anything of it until morning, and what is left over of it until mor...
R. Yoshiyah said to him: Why is this different from all of the "sayings" in the Torah, which were from Moses to say to Israel? Here, too, from Moses to say to Israel. Why, then, is...
"And the habitation of the children of Israel in Egypt and in other lands was four hundred and thirty years." This is one of the verses that they (the seventy-two elders changed) i...
(Exodus 13:9) speaks of the account of the Exodus serving "as a sign upon your hand." The Mekhilta derives from this verse a specific ruling about the construction of tefillin — th...
(Exodus 13:18) "And G–d led the people circuitously by way of the desert to the Red Sea": in order to perform miracles and mighty acts with the manna and the quail and the well. R....
Moses devoted his life to three things, and each of them was called by his name. The Mekhilta examines the first: Torah. The prophet Malachi instructs Israel, "Remember the Torah o...
And whence do we find that he gave his life for Torah? In (Exodus 34:28) "And he was there with the L–rd (to receive the Torah) … Bread he did not eat, etc." And it is written (Dev...
"the L–rd is a man of war': What is the intent of this? Because He revealed Himself at the sea as a hero waging war—"The L–rd is a man of war"—and He revealed Himself at Sinai as a...
The sea has no heart, and He gave it a heart. A terebinth has no heart, and He gave it a heart, viz. (II Samuel 18:4) "He (Avshalom) was yet alive in the heart of the terebinth." T...
R. Shimon b. Gamliel says: Come and see how different are the ways of the Holy One Blessed be He from the ways of flesh and blood. (A man of) flesh and blood heals bitter with swee...
"All of the illness which I placed in Egypt I will not place upon you" — God promised the Israelites immunity from the plagues that devastated their former oppressors. But then the...
In (Exodus 16:9), Moses instructed Aaron to tell the entire congregation of Israel to "draw near before the Lord." Two rabbis in the Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael disagreed about what ...
Rabbi Eliezer interpreted the mysterious rise and fall of Israel's fortunes during the battle with Amalek. When Moses raised his hands toward heaven, Israel grew strong. When he lo...
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...
The Mekhilta records a pointed question that Yehudah of Kfar Acco once posed to R. Gamliel. When Moses explained to Yithro why the people came to him for judgment, Moses said: "Bec...
R. Elazar Hamodai says: He sent him with all the honor in the world, as is seen in his (Moses') response to him, as it is written (Numbers 10:30) "I pray you, do not leave us," tel...
The Mekhilta extends its analysis of conditional versus unconditional covenants to two more foundational gifts: the Torah scroll and the priesthood of Aaron. Whence is it derived t...
The Torah records the arrival at Sinai with a precise phrase (Exodus 19:1): "On this day they came to the desert of Sinai." The Mekhilta de-Rabbi Ishmael identifies the exact date ...
(Exodus 19:10) "And the L–rd said to Moses: Go to the people and make them ready today"—the fourth day—"and tomorrow"—the fifth day. (Ibid. 11) "And have them be ready for the thir...
God told Moses to have the people ready "for the third day" (Exodus 19:11), and the Mekhilta identifies this as the sixth day of the month of Sivan — the day on which the Torah was...
Rebbi (Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi) offers a different solution to the question of how Moses derived the requirement for marital separation before receiving the Torah. Rather than relying...
The Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael draws a legal ruling from God's command to the Israelites before the revelation at Sinai: "Do not draw near to a woman" (Exodus 19:15). Moses delivere...
"And Moses took out the people to meet God" (Exodus 19:17) — and Rabbi Yossi recalls how Rabbi Yehudah used to interpret the verse from (Deuteronomy 33:2): "And he said: The Lord c...
"Moses spoke and God answered him with a voice" (Exodus 19:19). Rabbi Eliezer asks: what does this verse actually tell us? The answer reveals something remarkable about how the Ten...
Rebbi says: (The thrust of "your [singular] G–d") is to apprise us of the eminence of Israel, that when they all stood at Mount Sinai to receive the Torah, they were all of one hea...
"I am the L–rd your G–d who took you out of the land of Egypt." What is the intent of this? Because He appeared at the Red Sea as a hero waging war, viz. (Exodus 15:3) "The L–rd is...
Before offering the Torah to Israel, God first approached every other nation on earth. The Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael explains that this was not because God expected them to accept....
Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai reads the second commandment, "There shall not be unto you any other gods before My presence," as the conclusion of a divine dialogue that began long before...
The Mekhilta offers yet another interpretation of "And all the people saw" — this one focused not on the nature of the experience but on the spiritual state of the Israelites who r...
Rabbi Yishmael noticed something crucial in the opening words of the Torah's civil law code (Exodus 21:1): "And these are the judgments." The key word is "and"—in Hebrew, the conju...
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...
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 ...
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...
But what if I told you that, according to Jewish tradition, there is a way, a glimpse, perhaps, of the Divine Presence – the Shekhinah (the Divine Presence)? The Shekhinah, a Hebre...
Where was the Torah before it was given to Moses? Have you ever wondered about that? It's a question that dives right into the heart of Jewish mythology. Because if the Torah is so...
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...
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...
It’s more than just a metaphor, actually. According to Jewish mystical tradition, we’re all limbs of the same body, intrinsically linked. That’s why, as the Yesod (Foundation) ha-T...
And one of the most stunning images is the idea of a ready-made, glorious Jerusalem descending from the heavens! Imagine this: some say that in the future, God will cause the Jerus...
You're not alone. But have you ever wondered why that wall, of all the Temple, still stands? There are many explanations, of course, both historical and theological. But Jewish tra...
