1,550 related texts · Page 14 of 33
(Exodus 23:16) refers to Shavuot (the Festival of Weeks)h as "the festival of the harvest, the first-fruits of your labor." The Mekhilta notes that this description appears within ...
(Exodus 23:19) commands: "The first of the first-fruits of your land you shall bring to the house of the Lord your God." The Mekhilta asks what this verse adds to (Deuteronomy 26:2...
It’s a story rooted deep in the Flood narrative, and it's got some seriously fascinating layers. After the great flood, Noah needed to know if the waters had receded. So, he sent o...
We find this tale in Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer, a fascinating collection of stories and interpretations from the early Middle Ages. It paints a vivid picture: Jacob arrives at a well....
And that's exactly what we're going to do today, diving into a really cool, albeit lesser-known, ancient text called Seder Olam Zutta. Now, Seder Olam Zutta—which literally transla...
Our tradition has a powerful image for that feeling, and it all revolves around… rain. Specifically, rain in its proper time. (Deuteronomy 11:14)." The yoreh, the early rain, and t...
We're constantly juggling seemingly contradictory ideas, holding them in tension, trying to find the deeper truth hidden within. Here's a perfect example, straight from Sifrei Deva...
Like you're about to figure something out, and then BAM! A little voice pops up to say, "Hold on a second..." Well, that’s kind of what's happening in this passage from Sifrei Deva...
Take, for example, a seemingly straightforward verse about vineyards. Specifically, we’re looking at Sifrei Devarim 230, part of the legal commentary on the Book of Deuteronomy. At...
It might seem insignificant, but in Jewish law, even the smallest forgotten thing holds immense value. We're delving into a fascinating area of Jewish agricultural law today, speci...
That’s the heart of bikkurim (בִּכּוּרִים), the first fruits offering, and Sifrei Devarim sheds light on its beautiful simplicity. The passage from Sifrei Devarim 297 opens with a ...
Our text comes from Sifrei Devarim (a collection of legal midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary)im on the book of Deuteronomy). It speaks of a vision granted to Moses, a vision...
The final chapter of Exodus (Exodus 40:1-38) is, in the Hebrew Bible, the moment God's Presence fills the completed Tabernacle. The Targum Jonathan turns this moment into a prophet...
God told Moses to "bring near Aaron" for the priestly consecration—and the Targum Jonathan adds three devastating words the Hebrew Bible does not contain: "who is afar off on accou...
Leviticus 19 contains the famous command "love your neighbor as yourself." The Targum Jonathan's version is subtly different: "thou shalt love thy neighbour himself, as that though...
Titus entered the Holy of Holies after conquering Jerusalem and committed an act of deliberate sacrilege. According to Gittin 57a, he unrolled a Torah scroll on the altar, brought ...
The Hebrew Bible says God "shut him in" the ark (Genesis 7:16)—a strangely intimate image of the Creator personally closing Noah's door. Targum Onkelos renders this as "God protect...
A man once said that if he wanted to lose his property nobody could stop him. Another replied that no one could fight against God's providence. The man, however, said he would try....
Queen Cleopatra — not the famous Egyptian, but a later queen by the same name — posed a question to Rabbi Meir that had puzzled both scholars and common people: "When the dead rise...
The donkey of Rabbi Pinehas ben Yair was as righteous as its master — or so the Talmud (Jerusalem Talmud Demai 1:3, Hullin 7a-b) suggests through a story that became one of the mos...
The story of Solomon and the boiled egg appears in multiple collections, each version adding new details to the king's legendary wisdom. In this telling, drawn from German and Jewi...
Solomon and the ant — a story that combines the king's legendary wisdom with a creature so small that most people would crush it without a thought. The Midrash (rabbinic interpreti...
Angelology constitutes the theological branch examining "superhuman beings dwelling in heaven, who, on occasion, reveal to man God's will and execute His commands." This doctrine d...
Gehenna (Hebrew: Gehinnom (the place of spiritual purification after death); Greek: Geenna) originated as "the valley of the son of Hinnom," south of Jerusalem, where child sacrifi...
The ancient rabbis certainly did. They saw a deep connection between what happens on Earth and what happens within us. Take, for example, the verse in (Genesis 2:6): "…and watered ...
Rabbi Elazar bar Rabbi Shimon grappled with this very question. He observed that the land is watered primarily at its upper layer. But what then, he wondered, about the carob tree ...
An apple? Maybe… but our tradition offers a whole orchard of possibilities! The rabbis of the Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary), in Bereshit Rabbah 15, really sink their t...
It all starts simply enough: "Reuben went during the days of wheat harvest, found mandrakes in the field, and brought them to Leah, his mother. Rachel said to Leah: Please give me ...
It’s truly fascinating. In (Genesis 30:14), we read about Reuben, Jacob’s eldest son, finding dudaim (דּוּדָאִים) in the field. The verse states: "Reuben went during the days of wh...
The ones that make you think, "Wait, how did that happen?" to a fascinating little corner of the Joseph story, found in Bereshit Rabbah, a compilation of rabbinic interpretations o...
The Torah portion of Vayigash gives us a glimpse into their complex relationship, and the Rabbis of the Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary), particularly in Bereshit Rabbah ...
In Bereshit Rabbah, a classic collection of rabbinic interpretations of Genesis, they dig deep into this verse, connecting it to the story of Samson, the legendary strongman from t...
The passage centers on a verse describing a certain kind of woman – a figure that becomes a symbol for temptation itself: "Whose [heart] is snares and nets." (Ecclesiastes 7:26). W...
The book of Leviticus, or Vayikra in Hebrew, opens with laws about sacrifices. But within Vayikra Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretations on Leviticus, we find ourselves c...
We've all been there, but none of us remember. Jewish tradition, though, offers some pretty fascinating, almost poetic descriptions. , shall we? Imagine, if you will, the very begi...
That iconic image from the Garden of Eden, planted right in the middle of Paradise (Genesis 2:9). What exactly was it? And why was it so important? Well, people have been pondering...
Take Noah's Ark, for example. We all know the story: the flood, the animals, the dove with the olive branch. But then you get to (Genesis 8:4), and it hits you with, "The ark settl...
This is it that their father spoke unto them and blessed them (Gen. 49:28). Scripture does not say “he blessed him” but rather he blessed them. Why is this so? Because he attribute...
We often picture God directly shaping him from dust, but some fascinating traditions tell a slightly different story, involving heavenly helpers. The story goes that when the time ...
Jewish tradition offers some powerful and moving images of what happens to the souls of the righteous after death. And some of these images paint a picture of them continuing to fi...
Ben Sira, in his wisdom, offers a clue: "Their wisdom the community will repeat, and their praises the assembly will recount." It's through the act of remembering, of telling and r...
It wasn't just fabric and thread; it was a carefully constructed, divinely ordained manifestation of glory. Ben Sira, in his wisdom, gives us a glimpse into this splendor. He tells...
Let’s journey for a moment into the world described in the book of Ben Sira, also known as Sirach or the Wisdom of Yeshua ben Sira. It's part of the Apocrypha, writings associated ...
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...
We know him as Moses' successor, the one who led the Israelites into the Promised Land. But did you ever stop to consider the sheer scale of the battles he faced? Ben Sira, in his ...
Not just any David, but the David. The shepherd boy who became a king, the poet who penned psalms that still resonate today. Ben Sira, in chapter 47, paints a vibrant portrait of t...
Ben Sira, in his wisdom, paints a vivid picture of this powerful figure. He writes, "Who was written truly for the time, to stop anger before the rage of God; to return the hearts ...
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...
