813 related texts · Page 16 of 17
The scene: a devastating famine grips the land. Jacob's sons have returned from Egypt with grain, but it’s gone. They need to go back, but the mysterious Egyptian ruler—who we, the...
But it's also so much more. It’s a roadmap, a history book, a mystical text. And it's all wrapped up together, often needing a little… unpacking. That's where commentaries like Ber...
The scene is intense. Joseph, after years of separation and playing a cat-and-mouse game with his brothers, is about to reveal his true identity. But let’s back up a little. Rememb...
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 Torah is full of these stories, and they often leave us scratching our heads. One such story is that of Moses, perhaps the greatest prophet in Jewish history, who led the Israe...
The passage centers on the most core of Jewish declarations: “Shema Yisrael, Adonai Eloheinu, Adonai Echad” – "Hear, O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One" (Deuteronomy 6:...
The Book of Deuteronomy promises, "when the Lord your God will expand your border" (Deuteronomy 19:8). But what does that expansion really mean? Is it just about more territory? Th...
Jewish tradition explores this feeling on a national scale, focusing on the ancient Israelites' request for a human king. Imagine this: God, the ultimate King, has been leading the...
Devarim Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic teachings on the Book of Deuteronomy, opens a window into just such a possibility. It begins with the verse, "When you approach a city…" bu...
The story revolves around Miriam's affliction with tzara'at, often translated as leprosy, after she and Aaron speak critically of Moses. When Moses witnesses his sister's suffering...
Devarim Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic teachings on the Book of Deuteronomy, delves into the meaning of a verse from Ecclesiastes (9:11): "I again saw under the sun that the race...
Well, Jewish tradition offers a powerful, and frankly heartbreaking, story about just such a predicament involving Moses himself. The text we're diving into today comes from Devari...
The book of Ecclesiastes, or Kohelet in Hebrew, wrestles with this too. "The wind goes to the south, and turns to the north; around and around the wind turns, and on its rounds the...
And it's a question that the book of Ecclesiastes, or Kohelet, wrestles with head-on. The verse in question, from (Ecclesiastes 1:11), states, "There is no memory of the former one...
Sometimes, the answer isn’t just in swords and shields. Sometimes, it's in something far more powerful: wisdom. Our story comes from Kohelet Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interp...
"If the clouds are full of rain, they empty themselves upon the land," it says, "and if the tree falls in the south, or in the north, in the place where the tree falls, there it sh...
The book of Ecclesiastes, or Kohelet as it's known in Hebrew, wrestles with that very idea. It's a book of wisdom, attributed to King Solomon, but some of its verses have sparked d...
The book of Exodus tells us that Moses fled Pharaoh after killing an Egyptian who was beating a Hebrew slave (Exodus 2:15). But Shemot Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretati...
That feeling isn't new. It goes all the way back to Moses and Aaron facing down Pharaoh in the book of Exodus. : They’re walking into the lion's den, asking the most powerful ruler...
That feeling... well, it's not new. It echoes all the way back to ancient Egypt, to the very dawn of the Israelite nation. We find ourselves in the book of Exodus, Shemot in Hebrew...
The Book of Exodus tells us, "Moses extended his staff toward the heavens and the Lord sent thunder and hail, and fire ran down to the ground, and the Lord rained hail upon the lan...
The verse in question: "Moses emerged from the city, from Pharaoh, and spread his hands to the Lord; the thundering and hail ceased, and the rain did not pour upon the earth" (Exod...
Jewish tradition recognizes that very tension within us, and even within the relationship between God and Israel. Shemot Rabbah, a classic midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary...
Shemot Rabbah, a rich collection of Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary)ic interpretations on the Book of Exodus, offers a powerful reading of the verse "Then Moses…sang [thi...
Rabbi Yehuda tells us that the Israelites reasoned, "The Holy One, blessed be He, only took us out of Egypt for five things!" What were those five things? First, to give us the plu...
Take the story of the war against Amalek in (Exodus 17:9). Moses tells Joshua, "Choose men for us and go out and wage war with Amalek; tomorrow I will be standing on top of the hil...
Shemot Rabbah, a treasure trove of interpretations on the Book of Exodus, brings us a powerful insight through a teaching connected to the verse, "These are the ordinances" (Exodus...
Shemot Rabbah 30 begins by stating that "the punishment that is prepared for the wicked is plentiful," drawing on the fiery imagery of (Psalms 11:6), "He will rain burning coal upo...
Jewish tradition teaches us that our actions, especially those involving money and compassion, carry immense weight. to a fascinating passage from Shemot Rabbah, a collection of ra...
The congregation of Israel itself has felt that way! Our passage opens with a fascinating connection between the verse "They shall take Me a gift" (Exodus 25:2), which refers to th...
The book of Exodus and the sages of the Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary) explore this very idea. In (Exodus 32:7), we read, "The Lord spoke to Moses: Go descend; for your...
He was trying to save the Israelites from destruction, and the story goes something like this… God, seeing the Israelites’ transgressions, essentially challenges Moses. "Find me te...
It reveals a surprising strategy employed by the righteous when approaching the Divine. The text opens with the curious phrase "write for yourself," and then it proposes that the r...
The ancient rabbis certainly did. They explored every facet of joy, dissecting its many shades and flavors. And in Shir HaShirim Rabbah, the commentary on the Song of Songs, they g...
They saw echoes of that very struggle in the beautiful, often enigmatic, Song of Songs – Shir HaShirim in Hebrew. Specifically, they found a powerful metaphor in the verse, "For, b...
The verse we're focusing on is (Song of Songs 2:10): "my beloved spoke up [ana], and he said [ve’amar] to me." Now, Rabbi Azarya raises a pretty good question: Isn't "speaking" the...
That’s kind of what happens when we dive into Shir HaShirim Rabbah, the commentary on the Song of Songs. Today, we're looking at a passage that takes the beautiful imagery of sprin...
The ancient rabbis certainly understood that feeling, and they used powerful stories to explore it. The Shir HaShirim Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Song o...
The ancient rabbis certainly knew that feeling. And they found it mirrored in one of the most dramatic moments in the Torah: the splitting of the Red Sea. In Shir HaShirim Rabbah, ...
Rabbi Akiva, that brilliant sage, offers us a breathtaking interpretation of the verse, "My dove, in the clefts of the rock." He connects it directly to the moment when the Israeli...
But Jewish tradition is full of unexpected connections, hidden depths waiting to be uncovered. Today, we're diving into Shir HaShirim Rabbah, a classical rabbinic commentary on the...
In Shir HaShirim Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Song of Songs, we find a fascinating discussion about these pesky creatures and what they represent. Rabbi ...
Jewish tradition has a beautiful answer for that feeling, a welcoming embrace for those who choose to join the community. It's all about gerim, or proselytes – converts to Judaism....
It's not just a book; it's a whole universe of wisdom, layered and complex. to a fascinating interpretation from Vayikra Rabbah, specifically chapter 11, where the sage Bar Kappara...
But stick with me. In Vayikra, Leviticus, chapter 14, we find a curious passage about a plague that can afflict houses. Now, Vayikra Rabbah, a Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commen...
It’s a question that’s echoed down the centuries, and one that the ancient rabbis grappled with too. In Vayikra Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic homilies on the Book of Leviticus, ...
We’re so used to the sun, moon, and stars that we often forget the sheer miracle of their existence, their order, their reliable dance above us. But according to tradition, there's...
In Vayikra Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic teachings on the Book of Leviticus, we find a powerful exploration of this idea. It all starts with a seemingly simple verse: "You shall...
