4,193 related texts · Page 48 of 88
The opening words of the Song of the Sea — "I shall sing to the Lord" (Exodus 15:1) — prompt the Mekhilta to reflect on what makes God worthy of song. The phrase that follows in th...
The Song of the Sea declares: "A horse and its rider He has cast into the sea" (Exodus 15:1). But this statement raises an immediate question. Was there really only one horse? The ...
King David makes a remarkable claim in the Mekhilta: every nation on earth praises God in its own way, but David's songs are more pleasing to God than all of theirs combined. This ...
The Mekhilta de-Rabbi Ishmael continues its portrait of the extraordinary dialogue between Israel and the Holy Spirit with another matched pair of verses. When Israel proclaims (De...
The Mekhilta de-Rabbi Ishmael presents yet another exchange in the ongoing dialogue between Israel and the Holy Spirit. When Israel declares (Psalms 89:18), "For You are the glory ...
The Torah declares, "The Lord is a man of war; the Lord is His name" (Exodus 15:3). This verse, from the Song of the Sea, prompted the Mekhilta to address a potential misunderstand...
The Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael presents a teaching about the direct connection between Israel's obedience and God's wrath, expressed through two contrasting verses that form a perfe...
Belshazzar, king of Babylon, threw the banquet that ended his dynasty. The Mekhilta cites (Daniel 5:1) — "King Belshazzar made a great banquet" — and reads it as the culmination of...
The Torah recounts that when the city of Shechem violated Dinah, it was specifically Shimon and Levi who took up swords and avenged her. The verse calls them "the brothers of Dinah...
The phrase "they turned to the desert" in (Exodus 16:10) seems like a simple geographic note. The Israelites looked toward the wilderness, and there they saw the glory of God. But ...
Issi ben Yehudah taught a remarkable detail about the manna that fell in the wilderness: when it descended for Israel, it was visible to all the nations of the earth. The peoples o...
at which he said to the Holy One Blessed be He: Can it be that Your ways are like those of flesh and blood? The apitoropos makes a decree and the kalidikos abrogates it; the kalidi...
The Mekhilta describes a stunning moment in which God showed Moses a panoramic vision of the future, including the mighty Samson, son of Manoach. The proof that Samson was included...
The phrase "until Dan" appears in the vision God granted Moses from Mount Pisgah (Deuteronomy 34:1). But the Mekhilta raises an obvious problem: at the time of Moses, the land had ...
Before Moses died, God showed him the future of every tribe of Israel, a panoramic vision of the land and its leaders stretching across generations. The Mekhilta asks: how do we kn...
Moses stood on the summit of Mount Nebo, and God showed him the entire Land of Israel. The Torah specifies that he saw "the valley of Jericho" (Deuteronomy 34:3). The Mekhilta find...
The Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael addresses a precise legal question about the commandment in (Exodus 20:5): "You shall not bow down to them and you shall not serve them." The question...
(Ibid. 20:8) "Remember the Sabbath day to sanctify it": "Remember" and "Keep" (the Sabbath day to sanctify it [Devarim 5:12]) were both stated in one pronouncement. (Exodus 31:14) ...
"You shall not covet your neighbor's house"—general. "and his man-servant, and his maid-servant, and his ox, and his ass—particular. general-particular (The rule is:) There exists ...
Rabbi Nathan drew a sharp line between what Israel experienced at Sinai and what the rest of the world perceived. The nations heard about the revelation. Israel saw it. That differ...
Rabbi Nathan interpreted the prohibition against idolatry in (Exodus 20:20) — "You shall not make alongside Me" — with striking directness. God is saying: do not think you can make...
Rabbi Yonathan made a declaration that would strike most people as counterintuitive: "Beloved are afflictions." Suffering, he taught, is not a sign of divine abandonment. It is a s...
The Torah prohibits the use of iron tools on the altar: "For if you lift your sword upon it, you have profaned it" (Exodus 20:22). Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar explained the reason behi...
The Torah says the Hebrew maid-servant "shall go out free" if her master fails to fulfill his obligations (Exodus 21:11). The Mekhilta probes the meaning of the word "free" with a ...
The Mekhilta continues its analysis of the legal hierarchy between the Sabbath, the sacrificial service, murder, and burial of the dead. The argument now approaches from the opposi...
The Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael presents a classic a fortiori argument, known in rabbinic logic as kal va-chomer, "from the light to the heavy." This particular kal va-chomer address...
The Torah uses masculine language when describing the crime of kidnapping. (Deuteronomy 24:7) says "if a man be found to have stolen," and (Exodus 21:16) says "one who steals a man...
The Torah says that when a pregnant woman is struck and miscarries, the compensation is determined "as the husband of the woman imposes upon him" (Exodus 21:22). One might think th...
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...
The Mekhilta presents a logical reversal. It initially attempted to compare a stoned ox to an eglah arufah — the heifer whose neck is broken in the ceremony for an unsolved murder ...
(Exodus 22:15) introduces the law of seduction: "And if a man entice a virgin." The Mekhilta explains why this verse is needed when the law of the rapist is already stated in (Deut...
If Rabbi Akiva is correct that even previously-betrothed women are covered by the seduction law, then why does the Torah bother specifying "who is not betrothed"? The phrase seems ...
The Mekhilta strengthens the father's authority over a rapist's marriage through an a fortiori argument. With a seduced woman — where the seducer did not violate the father's will,...
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...
The Torah states in (Exodus 20:22): "And when you make an altar of stones unto Me." The Mekhilta zeroes in on the Hebrew word "im" — which can mean either "when" or "if" — and asks...
(Exodus 23:18) "You shall not slaughter in the presence of chametz the blood of My sacrifice": You shall not slaughter the Pesach (Passover) offering while chametz is still present...
Rabbi Yossi Haglili derived an important rule about the meat-and-milk prohibition from the juxtaposition of two verses. The Torah places "You shall not eat all carrion" next to "Yo...
We find this incredible scene in the Book of Job (38:1, 38:4-7): God speaks from a whirlwind, a tempest, and essentially asks Job, "Where were you when I laid the earth's foundatio...
Jewish tradition suggests we're constantly surrounded by unseen forces, especially on Shabbat, the Sabbath. And some of those forces? Well, they’re angels. The Talmud, specifically...
King David knew that feeling. And he put it into words that still resonate with us today. (Psalm 31:15). "And my soul is greatly troubled (and you incline your ear), and you, Lord,...
The ancient rabbis felt that too. And they found echoes of that feeling in the Psalms, in the very words of King David. Take Psalm 9, for instance. It contains the plea: "Chananeni...
And his story, as explored in Midrash Tehillim, offers a fascinating glimpse into faith, doubt, and the unwavering mercy of God. Midrash Tehillim, a collection of rabbinic teaching...
Our tradition understands that struggle intimately. Midrash Tehillim, a beautiful collection of interpretations on the Book of Psalms, delves into this very human feeling, using Ki...
The mystics of old knew that feeling, and they had something profound to say about it, especially when it comes to finding our place in the world and our connection to something bi...
The Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary) teaches us that it's better to trust in God than to rely on the words of even our own parents. Why? Because human understanding is li...
King David certainly did. And in the beautiful words of Psalm 119, he gave voice to that feeling. "Your hands have made me and fashioned me." But what does that really mean? Midras...
The book of Psalms, Tehillim in Hebrew, is often seen as a direct line to the divine, a collection of heartfelt expressions. But what happens when even those expressions are stifle...
Jewish tradition recognizes this feeling – the ache of exile, the pain of loss – and offers a powerful promise of healing and return. One particularly beautiful passage in Midrash ...
