886 related texts · 4 related myths · Page 4 of 19
Heikhalot (the heavenly palaces) Rabbati, a mystical text describing heavenly ascents and visions, gives us a glimpse into that pivotal moment. It wasn't just about laying stones a...
Tikkunei Zohar turns to Jacob Arrived Complete - A Sukkot Teaching. It tells us that "At that time, when He is joined with Her… the tabernacle will be complete." The "He" and "Her"...
That’s kind of the world of the Tikkunei (spiritual repair) Zohar, a mystical text that explores the deepest secrets of creation and redemption. And sometimes, it all hinges on…lea...
Moses' name does not appear in Parshat Tetzaveh. Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev uses this conspicuous absence to explore a question about wisdom, unity, and the priestly garment...
The Torah states a blunt exclusion about the Paschal lamb: "No stranger may eat of it." The Mekhilta explains who "stranger" includes, and the answer is broader than it first appea...
The Mekhilta raises an objection to the theory that the four-and-five payment applies only to animals that are sacrificed on the altar. If that were the rule, then a blemished anim...
The ancient rabbis certainly did. In fact, they put those feelings right into the mouth of the people of Israel, in a powerful passage from Midrash Tehillim, a collection of rabbin...
The familiar version gives us it's a time of intense reflection, fasting, and prayer. But according to Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer, a fascinating early medieval text, there's a cosmic d...
The Yalkut Shimoni, a fascinating compilation of Midrashic (rabbinic interpretive commentary) literature, explores this very idea. Specifically, it explores the delicate balance be...
The Book of Bamidbar, or Numbers, dives right into that. Specifically, Bamidbar 5:9 lays out the rules for terumah, the portion of the harvest given to the Cohein, the priest. "And...
Sometimes A reader can skim over what seems like repetition, but hidden within those details are often profound teachings. Take the laws of the Nazir, the one who takes a special v...
Sifrei Bamidbar turns to How the Priests Place God's Name in the Blessing. In Bamidbar (Numbers) 6:27, it says, "And they shall place My name." The Sifrei Bamidbar, an ancient comm...
How the Menorah Lamps Were Meant to Be Lit is the question behind this passage from Sifrei Bamidbar. The burning question at the heart of this passage is: How exactly were the lamp...
In the Book of Numbers (Bamidbar), chapter 9, verses 9 and 10, we read: "And the L-rd spoke to Moses, saying: Speak to the children of Israel, saying: A man if he be unclean by a d...
What exactly is Pesach Sheni, the "Second Passover"? The Book of Numbers, Bamidbar in Hebrew, addresses this very question. Chapter 9, verse 12 tells us that those who were unable ...
It all starts with the verse, "All that opens the womb of all flesh" (Numbers 18:15). Right away, the text asks a crucial question: does this include animals? The answer, as often ...
It might seem like a distant topic, but understanding the underlying principles can offer profound insights into Jewish thought and practice. Our journey begins with (Numbers 18:27...
It's not always as straightforward as it seems. Take Shavuot, the Festival of Weeks, for example. The Torah tells us in Bamidbar (Numbers) 28:26, "And on the day of the first-fruit...
It turns out, that idea is deeply rooted in Jewish tradition, as we find in Sifrei Bamidbar, a collection of legal interpretations on the Book of Numbers. Specifically, These citie...
Sometimes, it's in those tiny details that we find the biggest revelations. Let's take a little dive into a passage from Sifrei Devarim (that's a collection of early rabbinic legal...
Sifrei Devarim stops over the phrase "sheep and cattle" and refuses to let even those plain words pass untouched. The text asks a pointed question: Doesn't the Pesach (Passover) of...
Jewish law sometimes deals with similar dilemmas, where doing one good thing might unintentionally lead to a less-than-ideal outcome. the Pesach (Passover) offering, that central e...
The rabbis of old, they wrestled with this question too! The verse in Deuteronomy (16:6) tells us we should sacrifice the Passover offering "to the place that the L-rd your G-d cho...
Jewish law certainly thinks so! Sacrifices might seem like an ancient practice, far removed from our modern lives, but the principles behind them, the importance of intention, the ...
Sometimes, just sometimes, you catch a glimpse of the beautiful mind at work behind it all. the story turns to one such puzzle. Specifically, we’re confronting the rules around pri...
Leviticus 13 is the longest chapter in the book, a detailed medical manual for diagnosing skin diseases. The Targum Jonathan transforms it from clinical instructions into a color-c...
(Gemara) Let us see: when do the priests enter to eat the Terumah? Is it not when the stars appear? Let then the Mishnah (the earliest code of rabbinic law) say: "From the time the...
Come, listen. The proselyte Beluria asked Rabban Gamaliel: "It is written in your Torah (Deut. 17) The Lord who forgiveth no persons and taketh no bribe; and it is also written (Nu...
(22) We are taught in a Baraitha, R. Simeon b. Jochai said: "There are four matters that R. Akiba expounded, but which I interpret differently. The fast of the fourth, means the se...
An heathen heard of the honour paid to the high priest and he wished to become a Jew. Shammai refused him saying that it was ridiculous for him to pretend to become high priest. Hi...
An apostate, a Jew who had abandoned his people, invented a blood libel and decided to prove it. He found a bird, slaughtered it, drained its blood into a small bottle, and then sl...
On the Feast of Sukkot, the Torah commands Israel to offer seventy bullocks across the seven days (Numbers 29:12–36). Rabbi Eliezer asked the obvious question in Sukkah 55b: sevent...
There is a moment in Chullin 90b where Rava calls out his fellow rabbi for exaggeration. The Mishnah had just described the heap of ashes that accumulated on the Temple altar, some...
The last verse of the Decalogue's aftermath contains a detail about priestly decency. "And you, the priests, who stand to minister before Me, shall not ascend to My altar by steps,...
Before Aaron's household held the priesthood, someone else did. Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on Exodus (Exodus 24:5) preserves this little-known tradition: Mosheh sent the firstborn of t...
Most translations of (Exodus 28:12) call the shoulder-stones a memorial, and leave the word undefined. A memorial of what? The Targum Pseudo-Jonathan fills the silence. The gems ar...
The last of the priestly garments was the most private. The Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on (Exodus 28:43) explains that Aaron and his sons had to wear the fine linen undergarments, the ...
The Passover sacrifice in the Temple had an exact choreography, and Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on (Exodus 34:25) preserves its two ironclad rules. First: you may not slaughter the korb...
When Betzalel finished the choshen, the breastplate of judgment, he did not simply sew a garment. He built a map of the world the House of Israel carries on its heart. In Targum Ps...
Bamidbar Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic teachings on the Book of Numbers, gives us a glimpse into this. It focuses on a seemingly small detail: how the menorah, the candelabrum o...
Why priests were priests, Levites were Levites, and the firstborn. well, what was the deal with the firstborn? Our story begins in Bamidbar Rabbah 6, a section of the great Midrash...
Bamidbar Rabbah turns to High Priest Enters. ” It's a heavy verse, loaded with implications about trust, betrayal, and communal order. But the Rabbis, in their infinite wisdom, don...
The Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary), specifically Bamidbar Rabbah 15, tells us that crafting the menorah was uniquely challenging for Moses. More so than any other objec...
Bamidbar Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic teachings on the Book of Numbers, explores this very question. It all starts with the seemingly simple phrase, "When you kindle" (Numbers ...
The story of the menorah, the candelabrum in the Tabernacle, as told in Bamidbar Rabbah 15, is a wild ride about just that. It's a reminder that even Moses, the ultimate receiver o...
What does it truly signify? And why there? In Bereshit Rabbah, a classic collection of rabbinic interpretations of Genesis, we find a fascinating discussion between Rabbi Yishmael ...
The Shemot Rabbah, a classic collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Book of Exodus, offers a breathtakingly intimate perspective on that pivotal moment. Specifically, Shemot...
It’s a story about courage, about challenging the status quo, and about showing the world that what they worship is nothing more than an illusion. The verse in question is, "draw, ...
