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The rabbis of old grappled with this question, too. And they found answers woven into the very fabric of our sacred texts. Rabbi Abbahu, a fascinating figure from the 3rd century, ...
It all starts with a dream. Jacob, fleeing his brother Esau, lays down to sleep, using a stone as a pillow. And he has a vision. A ladder stretching to heaven, angels ascending and...
The story begins with Akilas, a convert to Judaism – a ger tzedek, as we say in Hebrew. He approaches Rabbi Eliezer with a question, a concern, really. Akilas points to the verse i...
There's something to that. In fact, the rabbis saw that connection way back when. We find ourselves in (Genesis 29:1), where it says, "Jacob lifted his feet, and went to the land o...
The Rabbis, masters of drash (interpretive storytelling), loved to find echoes and allusions throughout the Torah. They saw connections where we might only see separate stories. An...
The verse in question is (Genesis 29:31): “The Lord saw that Leah was unloved, and He opened her womb, and Rachel was barren.” Seems straightforward. But Rabbi Binyamin links this ...
The verse we're looking at is (Genesis 30:23), where Rachel, finally blessed with a son, exclaims, "God has removed my disgrace!" But what exactly is this "disgrace" she's referrin...
(Genesis 31:22) tells us, "It was told to Laban on the third day that Jacob had fled." Three days! That's all it took for word to reach Laban. But here’s where it gets interesting....
But our Sages, those brilliant interpreters of the sacred texts, saw something… different. They noticed something peculiar about the word "kissed" – vayishakehu – in the original H...
The book of Genesis tells us, almost in passing, "Jacob traveled to Sukot, and built him a house, and established booths [sukot] for his livestock. Therefore, he called the name of...
Ever stumble upon a seemingly minor verse in the Torah and think, "There's gotta be more to this story?" That's exactly what happens when we delve into (Genesis 36:24). It reads: "...
It all starts with Joseph, the favored son, and a couple of very fateful dreams. "His brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers…" This line from (Genesis ...
The Torah, and the Rabbis, have some thoughts on that. to a fascinating little piece from Bereshit Rabbah 84, a midrash (exegetical interpretation) on the Book of Genesis. It all c...
Jewish tradition certainly thinks so, and there's a fascinating passage in Bereshit Rabbah (Genesis Rabbah), a classic collection of rabbinic interpretations of the Book of Genesis...
She was a widow, promised to Judah's youngest son, Shelah. But Shelah was growing up, and Judah just… wasn't making good on his promise. He was worried, see, because Tamar's first ...
We're looking at Parsha 86, where we find ourselves in the middle of the Joseph narrative. Remember Joseph? Sold into slavery in Egypt? He ends up in the house of Potiphar, an Egyp...
It all goes back to Jacob's blessings to his sons on his deathbed, a scene fraught with emotion and anticipation. And within that scene, the blessing to Judah stands out, packed wi...
But the Rabbis saw so much more. This verse in Devarim, Deuteronomy, becomes a springboard for exploring some fascinating corners of Jewish law, or halakha. Specifically, the quest...
It wasn't just a concept; it was built into the very structure of power. Take, for instance, the legendary throne of King Solomon. Rav Aḥa, a sage of the Talmudic period, points us...
The ancient sages grappled with these questions, and their insights, preserved in texts like Devarim Rabbah, offer a powerful guide. to a passage that unpacks the verse from (Prove...
Devarim Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic teachings on the Book of Deuteronomy, digs deep into the verse from Ecclesiastes (8:8): “There is no person who rules the spirit, to retain...
The book of Ecclesiastes, or Kohelet as it's known in Hebrew, wrestles with this very idea. "Of laughter, I said it is confounded; and of joy, what does it accomplish?" (Ecclesiast...
The Book of Ecclesiastes, or Kohelet as it's known in Hebrew, certainly thought so. And the Rabbis, plumbing its depths in Kohelet Rabbah, took that idea and ran with it. Consider ...
The verse from Ecclesiastes (3:16) sets the stage: “Moreover, I have seen, under the sun, in the place of judgment there is wickedness, and in the place of justice there is wickedn...
Jewish tradition has some fascinating, layered answers. to one, found in Kohelet Rabbah, a midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary)ic (interpretive) commentary on the Book of Ecc...
That’s a feeling woven deep into the tapestry of Jewish tradition, a feeling the rabbis grappled with intensely. how they expressed it. The story begins with the passing of Ḥiyya b...
And it's not just some nice little add-on. It's woven into the very fabric of our faith. Rabbi Berekhya, in Kohelet Rabbah, makes a powerful point: acts of kindness appear at the b...
The book of Ecclesiastes, or Kohelet as we know it in Hebrew, is full of those moments. And one verse in particular, 7:17, gives us a real head-scratcher: "Do not be overly wicked ...
The wisdom of a man illuminates his face, and the boldness of his face is changed" (Ecclesiastes 8:1). Right away, the Rabbis ask: Who is this wise man? And their answer, in a move...
Jewish tradition is full of such stories, and one of my favorites comes from a surprising source: Kohelet Rabbah, a rabbinic commentary on the Book of Ecclesiastes. The passage sta...
We all know the story, but Shemot Rabbah, a classic collection of midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary)im – interpretations and expansions – on the Book of Exodus, offers a fa...
The Book of Exodus tells us the what – ten devastating plagues – but it's the Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary), those ancient rabbinic interpretations, that delve into th...
Shemot Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Book of Exodus, gives us a fascinating take on the plague of frogs. We all remember the story: Egypt is overrun with ...
The passage centers around (Exodus 10:10), where Pharaoh says, "So let the Lord be with you, when I will let you and your children go; see that evil is facing you." It seems like a...
"Moses extended his hand toward the heavens, and there was a thick darkness in the entire land of Egypt for three days. They did not see one another, and no one rose from his place...
The ancient Rabbis felt that way about the Exodus, the liberation of the Israelites from Egypt. And they found echoes of that feeling in the most unexpected places, even in the Son...
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...
The verse we're looking at is (Exodus 12:21): “Moses called all the elders of Israel, and said to them: Draw, and take for yourselves lambs for your families, and slaughter the pas...
The ancient texts offer some fascinating perspectives. Let's look at (Exodus 12:23), the verse describing the pasach, the Passover: "The Lord will pass to smite Egypt, and He will ...
The Divine, it seems, knows the feeling. According to Shemot Rabbah, the great collection of Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary)ic interpretations on the Book of Exodus, God...
It's more than just matzah and retelling the Exodus story. The Torah itself calls it a "night of vigil" – leil shimurim (Exodus 12:42). But what exactly does that mean? What is God...
It turns out this very human experience is deeply rooted in Jewish tradition. We find this idea beautifully explored in Shemot Rabbah, specifically in its interpretation of the ver...
We read in Shemot Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Book of Exodus, a fascinating idea tied to the verse "No foreigner shall eat of it" (Exodus 12:43) – refer...
That feeling, that's what we're diving into today, looking at a passage from Shemot Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Book of Exodus. The passage opens with a...
The passage begins by linking the manna, that miraculous bread from heaven, to a verse in Proverbs (9:5): "Come, partake of my bread, and drink of the wine I have mixed." What's th...
It’s not just about receiving, but about the giving, the engagement, the doing. to a fascinating passage from Shemot Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Book of...
The Israelites certainly did. In the book of Exodus, right after the incredible miracle of being freed from Egypt, they find themselves wandering in the desert, thirsty and complai...
This week, we're diving into a fascinating passage from Shemot Rabbah, a compilation of rabbinic interpretations on the Book of Exodus, specifically Shemot Rabbah 27. It uses the s...
