4,670 related texts · Page 13 of 98
R. ‘Aḳiba said: He who takes a peruṭah from charity when not in need of it will not depart from this world before he falls in need of his fellow-men. He also said: He who wraps rag...
Leviticus 21 restricts which priests may serve at the altar. The Targum Jonathan expands the list of disqualifying blemishes with clinical precision that goes well beyond the Hebre...
The Sotah ritual—the ordeal of the woman accused of adultery—is already one of the strangest passages in the Hebrew Bible. The Targum Jonathan makes it stranger, adding psychologic...
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...
"From the kingship of the hypocritical man from the snares of the people" (Job 34:30) Abba Gurion, from Sidon, said five things in the name of Rabban Gamliel: (1) When lying judges...
Rabbi Ishmael ben Yose was making his pilgrimage to Jerusalem — one of the three annual journeys that every Jewish man was commanded to undertake. Along the way, he passed through ...
A heretic challenged the sages with a question about God's justice toward the disabled. "If your God is good, why does He create people who are maimed — the blind, the deaf, the la...
A class of celestial beings appears only once in the Hebrew Bible, specifically in the prophet Isaiah's visionary experience (Isaiah 6:2 onwards). Isaiah observed multiple seraphim...
The Book of Numbers, in the Bamidbar Rabbah, grapples with this very question when describing the plague of fiery serpents. "The Lord sent the fiery serpents against the people, an...
Our tradition has some fascinating things to say about that, especially when it comes to warfare and justice. to a curious little passage from Bamidbar Rabbah 19, which elaborates ...
The sages of old grappled with this very question. Rabbi Berekhya, quoting Rabbi Yehuda bar Simon, offers a stunning image. “By the word of the Lord the heavens were made,” from (P...
Why do bad things happen to good people? It’s a question that’s haunted humanity for millennia. Our tradition grapples with this head-on, not offering easy answers, but rather invi...
And Bereshit Rabbah, that incredible collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Book of Genesis, offers a fascinating perspective. It's found in Bereshit Rabbah 55 and it all st...
The Torah, and the wisdom of our Sages, are deeply concerned with justice, with making sure the scales are balanced. And the story of Isaac and his sons, Jacob and Esau, is a power...
And they found hints of it in the most unexpected places – like the story of Jacob sending Judah ahead to Joseph in Goshen (Genesis 46:28). The verse says, "He sent Judah before hi...
We find a powerful example of this in Shemot Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Book of Exodus. The Rabbis ask us to consider how God relates to us, specifical...
We know the science, the orbits, the rotations... But what about the story behind it all? What's the cosmic drama unfolding behind the scenes of our everyday sunrise and sunset? We...
“He said to Mehuman, Bizzeta, Ḥarvona” – Rabbi Yoḥanan said: At that moment, the Holy One blessed be He called the angel who is appointed over fury16A reference to the verse: “Quee...
To blend into the pre-Creation wilderness and hope nobody noticed. But no. They hid "in the middle of the trees of the Paradise" (Genesis 3:9). In the very place they committed the...
It all starts with the verse: "Abraham passed over and sat upon them" (Genesis 15:11). Simple enough. But what does it mean? What is Abraham sitting on? Some interpret this verse a...
After these things the word of the Lord came unto Abram (Gen. 15:1). Scripture states elsewhere in allusion to this verse: The wicked earneth false wages, but he that soweth righte...
And it came to pass that when Isaac was old, and his eyes were dim (Gen. 27:1). Scripture states elsewhere: A gift (bribe) is as a precious stone in the eyes of him that hath it; w...
And he sent Judah before him (Gen. 46:28). Scripture says elsewhere in reference to this verse: The wolf and the lamb shall feed together (Isa. 65:25). Observe that whomever the Ho...
2:16). Was it proper for this righteous man to go to the home of an idolater? After all, since the Holy one, blessed be He, detests idolatry, why did he permit Moses to go to a pla...
21:1). Scripture states (elsewhere in reference to this verse): The strength also of the king who loveth justice. Thou hast established equity and righteousness in Jacob (Ps. 99:4)...
21:1). Scripture says (elsewhere) in reference to this verse: These also are sayings of the wise. To have respect of persons in judgment is not good (Prov. 24:23). The Holy One, bl...
This is the thing that thou shalt do unto them (Exod. 29:1). Scripture states elsewhere in reference to this verse: But Thou, O Lord, art on high for evermore (Ps. 92:9). And prece...
Another comment on write thee (Exod. 34:27). Scripture states elsewhere: Let them be thine only, and not a stranger’s with thee (Prov. 5:17). What does this verse refer to? When th...
(Lev. 13:2:) “When anyone has [on the skin of his flesh a swelling or a sore or a bright spot].” This text is related (to (Job 38:2)5), “Who split open a channel for the flow (shtp...
(Numb. 21:25:) “Israel took all these towns….” This text is related (to Is. 61:8), “Because I the Lord love justice, I hate robbery with a burnt offering.”152Numb. R. 19:30. The Ho...
(Numb. 21:34:) “But the Lord God said unto Moses, ‘Do not fear him.’” This text is related (to Prov. 28:14), “Fortunate is the one who is always afraid […].” Such is the nature of ...
(Numb. 23:4:) “Then God encountered Balaam.” The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, “You evil man! What are you doing?” (Ibid., cont.:) “And [Balaam] said unto him, ‘I have prep...
(Deut. 16:19, cont.:) “You shall not take a bribe.” When the judge sets his heart on a bribe, he becomes blind to justice and he is unable to judge [a case] honestly. R. Eliezer sa...
When you go out to war, etc. (Deuteronomy 20:1): What is written above the matter? "And the judges shall make a thorough investigation" (Deuteronomy 19:18). From when the judges ex...
The Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael raises a question about who is obligated to honor parents. The commandment says "Honor your father and your mother," but a related verse in (Leviticus...
(Exodus 21:17) states: "And if one curses his father and his mother, he shall be put to death." The Mekhilta asks why this verse is needed at all, since (Leviticus 20:9) already sa...
(Exodus 22:18) "Whoever lies with a beast shall be put to death": What is the intent of this? It is written (Leviticus 20:15) "And a man who cohabits with a beast shall be put to d...
A Roman emperor once told Rabban Gamliel: "Your God is a thief. He put Adam to sleep and stole one of his ribs." Before Rabban Gamliel could answer, his daughter interrupted. Accor...
When the final redemption comes, God will redeem Israel from one place only: Zion. Not from the desert, not from the waters, not from any place of exile — from the Temple Mount. "F...
It's more than just good manners; it's woven into the very fabric of our spiritual well-being. Ben Sira, that wise sage whose words didn't quite make it into the Tanakh (Hebrew Bib...
It's packed with advice on everything from how to treat your servants to, yes, even your daughters. Some of it might sound a little… antiquated to our modern ears. But bear with me...
Ben Sira, that wise sage whose teachings nearly made it into the Bible, had some thoughts on that. And let's be honest, who hasn't encountered someone like that? Ben Sira cautions ...
The ancient wisdom literature gets it. It really does. We find this sentiment echoed powerfully in the Book of Ben Sira, a treasure trove of practical and spiritual advice. It obse...
The ancient wisdom of Ben Sira, a sage writing over two thousand years ago, knew all about it. He understood the anxieties and struggles we still face today. to one little slice of...
It’s a challenge as old as time, and the Book of Ben Sira, a treasure trove of wisdom literature, offers some incredibly relevant insights. So, what does it really mean to find tha...
That sense of, "Oof, maybe I shouldn't have had that third helping?" Turns out, ancient wisdom had something to say about that long, long ago. The Book of Ben Sira, a text from aro...
The Book of Ben Sira, a treasure trove of wisdom literature, gives us a glimpse into this very idea, specifically through the lens of the priesthood. It speaks of one called to "mi...
Ben Sira doesn't mince words, does he? He calls him "wide in stupidity and lacking in wisdom." Ouch! Reḥov'am, was the son of King Solomon, a hard act to follow to begin with. But ...
