4,193 related texts · Page 41 of 88
We find ourselves in the book of Numbers, with Balak, the king of Moab, terrified of the Israelites. He hires the sorcerer Bilam to curse them. But, as we soon discover, things don...
That even the greatest among us can have their moments of… well, let’s call it humility. Today, we’re diving into a fascinating passage from Bamidbar Rabbah, a collection of rabbin...
This is the complex and very human story bubbling beneath the surface of (Numbers 27:17), "that the congregation of the Lord will not be like a flock that has no shepherd." It's a ...
It's not about being stingy, but about creating a sense of progression, a journey. Believe it or not, we find a hint of this idea in the book of Bamidbar Rabbah, specifically in se...
Our exploration begins with the verse, "Much livestock..." a seemingly simple phrase that Bamidbar Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic teachings on the Book of Numbers, uses as a spri...
The verse in (Psalm 77:21) says, "You led [naḥita] Your people like a flock in the hands of Moses and Aaron." The rabbis, in their insightful way, saw more than just a simple state...
And maybe, just maybe, there's a hidden message in those seemingly random journeys. In the Book of Numbers – in Hebrew, Bamidbar – we find a detailed list of all the places the Isr...
Jewish tradition, in its wisdom, offers a gentle, yet firm, hand on our shoulder, guiding us back to the here and now. The very first verse of the Torah, Bereshit, "In the beginnin...
They believed every single letter, every seemingly insignificant word, held profound secrets. Take the very first verse of Genesis, Bereshit (בראשית): "In the beginning, God create...
This seeming contradiction sparked quite the debate amongst our Sages. Specifically, between the schools of Beit Shammai and Beit Hillel. These two houses, or schools, were known f...
It's like the whole thing is one giant, intricate tapestry. Take the creation of light, for example. The very first "Let there be light!" in Genesis. Rabbi Simon, in Bereshit Rabba...
We often read the opening verses of Genesis, "Let there be a firmament in the midst of the water," and move on. But the Rabbis saw so much more in those words! What images did they...
The Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary), those collections of rabbinic commentaries and stories that expand on the Hebrew Bible, often offer surprising perspectives. Here, i...
We get a glimpse into that, and a whole lot more about marriage, divorce, and forbidden relationships in this fascinating passage from Bereshit Rabbah 18. It all starts with the fa...
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...
It opens with the seemingly simple phrase: "At the entrance [petaḥ] of the tent [ohel]." This refers to Abraham sitting at the entrance of his tent, welcoming guests. But, as is so...
We find ourselves pondering this in Bereshit Rabbah 49, where Rabbi Eleazar raises a fascinating question. How do we understand instances in the Torah where individuals seem to be ...
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...
The verse we're looking at is (Genesis 21:7): "She said: Who would have announced to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I bore a son for his old age.” It's Sarah, speakin...
The Bible tells us the bare bones of the story, but the Rabbis, in their endless quest to understand God's word, delve deeper, seeking hidden meanings and profound truths. In Beres...
Our focus is (Genesis 23:17-18), describing how Abraham acquired the field of Ephron, including the cave of Makhpela, as a burial place. "The field of Ephron that was in Makhpela t...
It turns out, this isn't just a modern observation. Our sages recognized this dynamic thousands of years ago. Rabbi Ḥama bar Ḥanina, in Bereshit Rabbah 69, starts us off with a quo...
The passage begins by quoting (Psalm 24:3-5): “Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord? Who may stand…? He who has clean hands…. He will receive the blessing from the Lord…” The Ra...
Jewish tradition suggests this might be more than just a feeling. Sometimes, it's woven into the very fabric of our stories. Take the story of Jacob and Joseph, father and son. At ...
We're looking at Chapter 85, which tackles the complex story of Judah and Tamar. Remember the story? Judah, grieving the loss of his wife, encounters Tamar, disguised as a prostitu...
That feeling isn't new. Our ancestors wrestled with it too. Let’s delve into a fascinating passage from Bereshit Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretations of the Book of Gen...
Sometimes, it's from the most unexpected places. Take the story of Joseph in Egypt. He rises from prisoner to become second-in-command to Pharaoh. And within that rise, hidden in P...
Our tradition grapples with this too, offering perspectives that might surprise you. to a fascinating passage from Bereshit Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretations of the ...
Here, the rabbis are exploring the verse in (Genesis 44:8), where Joseph's brothers, completely innocent of any wrongdoing, exclaim, "Behold, silver that we found in the opening of...
The verse in Isaiah (11:13) says, "The jealousy of Ephraim will cease." Now, Bereshit Rabbah, that incredible collection of rabbinic interpretations of Genesis, sees a connection h...
It's a wild ride of interpretations, isn’t it? The passage opens with Jacob's words: "Reuben, you are my firstborn." Now, Rabbi [Yehuda HaNasi], the compiler of the Mishnah (the ea...
The story starts with a quote from (Genesis 49:5): "Simeon and Levi are brothers; weapons of villainy are their heritage." But what does it really mean? Bereshit Rabbah, an ancient...
First, "Naphtali is a doe let loose [sheluḥa]." The Rabbis connect this to the land of Naphtali being full of irrigated fields [beit hashelaḥin]. They point to (Deuteronomy 3:17), ...
The story of Reuben, Jacob's firstborn, is a powerful illustration of just that – a tale of lost potential, impulsive actions, and the consequences that ripple through generations....
Take mourning rituals, for example. The familiar seven-day period of intense mourning, the shivah. Where did that come from? The Rabbis of old grappled with this very question. "Th...
The verse in question is (Genesis 49:28): "This is what their father Jacob spoke to them." But the Rabbis in Bereshit Rabbah notice something subtle. It doesn't say, "This is what ...
It starts with a verse from Deuteronomy (4:25): "When you will beget children, and children’s children, and you will have been long in the land, and you will act corruptly and craf...
Devarim Rabbah, in section 2, uses the verse from (Ecclesiastes 5:9), "One who loves silver will never be satisfied with silver," as a springboard for exploring this very human des...
It all starts with the verse, “You shall know that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God” (Deuteronomy 7:9). Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Abba uses a parable to unpack this idea. Imagi...
Not just for people, but for everything around them – the animals, the land, even the trees bursting with fruit. That's the vision we find in the book of Deuteronomy, 7:14: "You wi...
But what does this seemingly simple commandment truly mean? What deeper lessons about mercy and compassion can we learn from a bird's nest? The Rabbis of the Midrash (rabbinic inte...
The verse from Proverbs (5:6) sets the stage: “Lest you delineate a path of life: Her tracks wander; you will not know.” What does it mean to "delineate," or in Hebrew, tefales, a ...
Take reading from the Torah, for example. The verse we're looking at is from (Deuteronomy 29:2): "Moses summoned all Israel, and he said to them: You have seen everything that the ...
But in Jewish tradition, we find a fascinating story in Devarim Rabbah that touches upon just such a concept when it comes to the death of Moses. The text starts by asking, "What i...
It's not just about being polite! It’s about life itself. (Deuteronomy 32:1) begins, “Listen, heavens, and I will speak, and the earth will hear the sayings of my mouth.” A simple ...
You're dropped right into the action, and you wonder, "Wait, shouldn't this have been explained earlier?" Well, the ancient rabbis grappled with a similar feeling about the Book of...
Kohelet, or Ecclesiastes, grapples with these questions, and the rabbis of the Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary), specifically Kohelet Rabbah, offer some pretty fascinatin...
It turns out, that feeling has deep roots in Jewish thought. We find it beautifully expressed in (Ecclesiastes 4:9-12): “Two are better than one; because they have a good reward fo...
