813 related texts · Page 15 of 17
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...
The Torah says the Levites have no land inheritance. Targum Jonathan goes further, specifying exactly what they receive instead—twenty-four gifts of the priesthood. That number doe...
The death of Moses in (Deuteronomy 34) is eight verses in the Torah. Targum Jonathan turns it into one of the most elaborate death scenes in all of ancient Jewish literature. From ...
When Pharaoh decided to enslave the Israelites, he consulted three advisors. According to Sotah 11a, what happened to each of them perfectly matched the advice they gave. Balaam re...
The Hebrew Bible says God told Moses, "Who gave man a mouth, or who makes a person dumb or deaf, seeing or blind? Is it not I—God?" (Exodus 4:11). Targum Onkelos translates this ve...
"I am God, your Lord, Who brought you out of the land of Egypt" (Exodus 20:2). Targum Onkelos translates the Ten Commandments with almost no deviation from the Hebrew—a remarkable ...
The Book of Gehinnom (the place of spiritual purification after death) [Reishit Chochmah: Gate of Fear: Chapter 12; Beit haMidrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary): Section 1] It...
The Holy One created twenty-two good attributes in His world. All of them were nullified and in the future the Holy One will return them to Israel in the time to come. They are: fo...
The sages of Israel taught that God does not scatter wisdom like rain falling on barren ground. He gives wisdom only to those who already possess it — to those who have labored to ...
When Moses descended from Mount Sinai carrying the two tablets of the covenant, he found the Israelites dancing around a golden calf. His fury was absolute. He shattered the tablet...
God looked down at the world before the flood and saw something He hadn't seen since the days of Adam — a civilization that had talked itself into impunity. The wicked had done the...
The flood waters had covered everything. Noah had been sealed in the ark for months — the rain, the silence, the slow recession of the water, the waiting. Then the text says simply...
Abraham was ninety-nine years old when God renewed the covenant (Genesis 17:1). The sons of Korah composed a psalm about this moment — "Gird your sword upon your thigh, O mighty on...
Hell has seven names. This is what Aggadat Bereshit says when Malachi promises "the day is coming, burning like an oven" (Malachi 3:19). The rabbis did not flinch from the geograph...
King David was sick and bedridden for thirteen years. His enemies waited. "When will he die and his name perish?" (Psalm 41:6). The midrash reports that seven sheep were laid besid...
Jacob blessed Esau's son but knew the blessing came from somewhere deeper than himself. "And God shall give you the dew of heaven" (Genesis 27:28) — this is the dew of Mount Hermon...
Bamidbar Rabbah, a collection of Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary)ic teachings on the Book of Numbers, tackles this very question, and the answer might surprise you. The p...
We're looking at Bamidbar Rabbah 13, a midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary)ic exploration of (Numbers 7:30), which kicks off a lengthy description of the offerings brought by...
It's not just a random listing; there's a deep, symbolic reasoning behind it all. to Bamidbar Rabbah 13, a section of the Bamidbar Rabbah, a rabbinic commentary on the Book of Numb...
Like checking the price tag after you’ve already won the lottery. Well, according to Bamidbar Rabbah 16, part of the larger collection of Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary)...
Talk about pressure! In this week's Torah portion, Chukat, we find a particularly fraught moment (Numbers 20:8). God tells Moses, "Take the staff…and give the congregation and thei...
It all starts with the line: “Moav was very alarmed by the nation because they were numerous, and Moav was dreaded by the children of Israel” (Numbers 22:3). But what does it reall...
God Himself steps in to clarify Pinḥas's lineage. But why now? What did God see that prompted this? The Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary), specifically Bamidbar Rabbah 21,...
The text opens with God's command to Moses: "Take the vengeance of the children of Israel against the Midianites; then you will be gathered to your people" (Numbers 31:2). It seems...
It’s a deeply human dilemma, and it appears even in the stories of our greatest leaders. to a fascinating passage from Bamidbar Rabbah, specifically section 22, to uncover just suc...
The verse in (Joshua 1:5) declares, "As I was with Moses, I will be with you." This promise seems to imply that Joshua would enjoy a life parallel to that of Moses, who lived to be...
According to Bereshit Rabbah, the rakia, the firmament – that expanse we see as the sky – is like a gigantic pool of water. Above that pool, there's a dome, and because of this cos...
The ancients certainly did. Take clouds, for example. We see them drift across the sky, maybe bringing rain, maybe just shading the sun. But did you know that the rabbis saw in clo...
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...
What happens after the first murder? After Cain kills Abel, what kind of justice, or mercy, is extended? (Genesis 4:15) tells us: "The Lord said to him: Therefore, anyone who kills...
We often picture Noah releasing the dove, seeing the rainbow, and rebuilding the world. But the Torah tells us a less rosy story, a story of wine, exposure, and consequences. A sto...
Take, for example, the sons of Ḥam (חָם), Noah's son: "Kush, and Mitzrayim, and Put, and Canaan" (Genesis 10:6). We see the names that echo through history – Mitzrayim, which is Eg...
It turns out, our sages have been wrestling with that feeling for centuries. Rabbi Yoḥanan opens with a powerful proverb: "One who repays good with evil, evil will not move from hi...
It's like a song with a recurring chorus, reminding us of something vital. Let's look at one of those refrains, the reassurance "Fear not, Abram," and see what echoes it holds. The...
We'll be looking at Bereshit Rabbah 49, which unpacks Abraham's famous negotiation with God over the fate of Sodom. Remember the story? God is about to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah b...
The story of Abraham pleading with God to spare Sodom and Gomorrah is more than just a negotiation; it’s a glimpse into the very nature of divine justice and collective responsibil...
It’s not just about retribution, but about a deeper kind of fittingness. We see this principle vividly illustrated in the story of Sodom, particularly in the events surrounding Lot...
We're diving into Bereshit Rabbah, a treasure trove of rabbinic interpretations of the Book of Genesis, specifically chapter 50, and it tells a wild story about just that. It all r...
The passage begins with a verse from Jeremiah (48:30): "I know its fury, the utterance of the Lord, and its lies [badav] are unfounded [lo khen]." This verse becomes the springboar...
We often think of gold, jewels, maybe the perfect outfit. But what if the Torah suggests something far simpler? Let's turn to (Genesis 24:53), the story of Abraham's servant securi...
Take the tale of Isaac, Jacob, and Esau. We all know the basics: Jacob deceives his father, Isaac, and steals Esau's blessing. But what happens after? What was Isaac really thinkin...
King David certainly did. In Psalms, he repeatedly begs God to rise up and intervene. But what does it really mean for God to "arise"? And when will that moment finally come? Our s...
Like everyone's shouting, "Me! Me! It's all about me!" Well, the ancient rabbis felt that too, and they captured this human tendency in a beautiful, earthy parable found in Bereshi...
Our story comes from Bereshit Rabbah, a classic Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary)ic (interpretive) text that expands on the book of Genesis. We find Joseph, already a long...
Our journey begins with a seemingly simple verse from (Genesis 42:5): "The sons of Israel came to acquire grain among [betokh] those who came, as the famine was in the land of Cana...
The ancient rabbis certainly did, and they found fascinating insights in the story of Joseph in Egypt. In Bereshit Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretations of the Book of G...
That’s kind of what happened to Jacob after Joseph disappeared, according to the ancient commentary, Bereshit Rabbah. The Torah tells us, "Jacob saw that there was grain [shever] i...
