886 related texts · 4 related myths · Page 15 of 19
"They shall not appear before Me empty-handed", the Torah requires that the pilgrims who come to the Temple on the three festivals must bring something. But what? The Mekhilta says...
(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...
The Torah commands regarding the Passover sacrifice that "there shall not remain the fat of My festival offering until morning." The Mekhilta takes this verse and extracts from it ...
The Shekhinah, often translated as "divine presence," is understood as the feminine aspect of God, the immanent presence that dwells among us. But what happens when we, through our...
Torah turns to A Scapegoat For Azazel. What in the world was that about? This custom – sending a scapegoat into the desert as an offering to Azazel – it just screams of something o...
Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, culminates in a moment like that. It's called Neilah – the Closing Prayer. The question is what closing means. What’s at stake? Well, according to...
It might sound a little unusual, but Jewish tradition is rich with symbolism, and this particular image is incredibly powerful. It's the sixth of Sivan, the day appointed by God. G...
Yalkut Shimoni turns to The Ninth Of Av In The Future. We remember the destruction of both Holy Temples in Jerusalem on this day. Not just that, but a whole string of tragedies tha...
Jewish tradition certainly hints at it, especially when we The familiar version gives us about the Temple in Jerusalem. But did you know there’s a celestial version, a Beit Hamikda...
The Temple, the very center of Jewish life, engulfed in flames. What happens when the unthinkable becomes reality? The Talmud (B. Ta'anit 29a) recounts a powerful image: the High P...
There's a story in the Torah, a rather unsettling one, about two brothers, Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, and it's been echoing through Jewish tradition for millennia. We find...
What would that era be like? What wonders would unfold? Jewish tradition whispers of one breathtaking miracle: a magical tree, springing to life right there in the heart of the cit...
Midrash Tehillim, a collection of rabbinic commentaries on the Book of Psalms, grapples with that very feeling. Specifically, it dives into Psalm 3. And right off the bat, we get a...
David, contemplating his own mortality and the possibility of divine judgment, seems to be saying, "If my judgment comes on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, I can't bear it!" But,...
Rabbi Samuel bar Nachmani kicks things off, wondering why we sweat during times of transition. He suggests it's connected to the fall of one kingdom and the rise of another. He poi...
Midrash Tehillim, a fascinating collection of interpretations on the Book of Psalms, offers some intriguing insights. It explores the meaning behind Psalm 20, verse 4: "Remember al...
The Midrash Tehillim, a collection of rabbinic interpretations of the Book of Psalms, wrestles with this very idea in Psalm 42. It speaks of God "passing through the camp with an a...
Some prayers aren't polite. Midrash Tehillim 42 preserves one that reads more like a plea, a challenge, almost a demand, directed straight at God. The speaker in this Midrash (rabb...
Praise is often remembered as loud, exuberant, filled with song and dance. But what about the silence? What kind of praise is that? (Psalm 65:1-2) gives us a clue: “For the conduct...
That’s a question that’s wrestled with in Midrash Tehillim, a collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Book of Psalms. Our passage today comes from Midrash Tehillim 65, and it...
Even in ancient times, people struggled with the feeling that enemies were gaining ground, that darkness was closing in. And the texts? They spoke to it. They still speak to it. to...
Why Shabbat (the Sabbath)? What makes it so special? Midrash Tehillim, a collection of rabbinic teachings on the Book of Psalms, digs deep into this very question, particularly in ...
It's not always what you might expect. to a passage from Midrash Tehillim, a collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Book of Psalms, and see. The passage begins with a stark ...
Midrash Tehillim, a collection of homiletic interpretations of the Book of Psalms, suggests it's tied to a future time when "the face of the earth is renewed," a time when God's gl...
Sometimes, the connection isn’t immediately obvious. Take, for instance, the verses about atonement and taking a census in the book of Exodus. What’s the link? The Pesikta DeRav Ka...
Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer turns to Day of Atonement of Kippur. How do we get there? Well, Rabban Gamaliel points to the verse in (Genesis 17:26): "In the selfsame day was Abraham circ...
Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer turns to Joshua — The Ark of the Covenant. The story, as we find it in Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer, chapter 38, begins with Joshua in anguish. He tears his clothe...
Ezra, Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua son of Jehozadak – powerful figures in their time – are leading a grand assembly. They’ve gathered 800 priests, 800 children, and – im...
The story starts, as so many do, with a commandment. God tells Saul, the first king of Israel, to utterly destroy Amalek. Wipe them out. Erase their memory from under heaven. A pre...
That feeling isn’t new. In fact, there's a beautiful passage in the Yalkut Shimoni on Nach 499 that speaks directly to this. It uses the image of extinguished candles to describe t...
It deals with a rather specific scenario: what happens when someone steals from a convert to Judaism, a ger, and then that convert dies? The verse in question is Bamidbar 5:8: "And...
At the end of a Nazirite's vow of dedication, the Torah commands a specific act: shave the head, and do it "at the door of the tent of meeting" (Numbers 6:18). Read literally, that...
Seems like a prime opportunity for spiritual growth. But Sifrei Bamidbar, a collection of legal interpretations on the Book of Numbers, pulls no punches. It points out a rather gla...
Our ancestors certainly did. The story begins in (Numbers 9:6): "And there were men who were unclean by the body of a man, and they could not offer the Pesach (Passover) [Passover ...
It’s a fascinating topic, and The passage starts with a seemingly simple verse: "And I, behold, I have taken your brothers, the Levites, from the midst of the children of Israel, f...
Sometimes, it's not as straightforward as we might think. Our tradition is full of these little nuances, and they often reveal deeper truths." But, as the text points out, we might...
Sifrei Bamidbar turns to Why the Levites Received No Inheritance in the Land. Why does the Torah need to spell this out? The Sifrei Bamidbar, a rabbinic commentary on the book of N...
In the Book of Bamidbar (Numbers 19:1-2), we read: "And the L-rd spoke to Aaron and to Moses saying: This is the statute of the Torah, which the L-rd has commanded, saying: Speak t...
Even the smallest instructions in the red heifer ritual decide who may handle sacred work. The passage states, "And you shall give it to Elazar the Cohein," or priest. What's inter...
This verse speaks of Phinehas (Pinchas), the grandson of Aaron, and the covenant G-d makes with him. It’s a verse packed with meaning, a evidence of the enduring power of zealotry ...
In Bamidbar (Numbers) 28:18, we encounter the phrase, "On the first day it is a calling of holiness." What does that even mean? Well, the Sifrei Bamidbar, a collection of legal int...
“Unblemished shall they be for you, and their libations.” This isn’t just about offering something; it's about offering the best. The text draws a parallel: just as an animal sacri...
The word atzeret (עצרת) appears in Bamidbar, or the Book of Numbers (29:35), in the context of Shmini Atzeret, the "eighth day" that follows the seven days of Sukkot, the Festival ...
Sometimes, digging into those nitty-gritty bits reveals surprising insights about how our ancestors thought about connecting with the Divine. The source turns to a passage from Sif...
Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, a towering figure in Jewish mysticism, offers a stunning vision. He takes a verse from Psalms (16:11) – "sated (sova) with joys in Your presence" – and giv...
They aren't just random dates; each one marks a significant moment of sorrow, a rupture in our history. The prophet Zechariah, in chapter 8, verse 19, offers a glimmer of hope amid...
These are the kinds of questions that ripple through the ancient text of Sifrei Devarim, a portion of Jewish legal and ethical thought that explores the book of Deuteronomy. An ash...
Sifrei Devarim, a collection of legal interpretations on the Book of Deuteronomy, offers a fascinating insight. It hinges on a seemingly simple phrase: "to place His name there" (D...
