5,341 related texts · 2 related myths · Page 4 of 112
Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on Exodus (Exodus 22:30) sets an unusual standard: holy men, tasting unconsecrated things innocently, shall you be before Me; but flesh torn by wild beasts a...
Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on Exodus (Exodus 23:13) gives an unusual command: of all the precepts that I have spoken to you, be careful; and the names of the idols of the Gentiles reme...
The spices were weighed. The oil was gathered from the twelve tribes. But the mixture itself required something the Torah calls "the work of the perfumer." Targum Pseudo-Jonathan p...
Having promised to drive out the six nations, God gave Moses a warning about the mistake that would undo everything. Targum Pseudo-Jonathan, the Aramaic paraphrase of the Torah, re...
God extended the warning about treaties into a warning about tables. Targum Pseudo-Jonathan, the Aramaic paraphrase of the Torah, renders the progression clearly. "Lest you strike ...
Heretics once cornered R. Simlai, a third-century sage of the land of Israel, and tried to trap him on a grammatical point. Midrash Tanchuma Buber, Bereshit 7:1 records the exchang...
Bamidbar Rabbah turns to Inheriting the Land Depends on Covenantal Fidelity. The Bamidbar Rabbah, a collection of Midrashic (rabbinic interpretive commentary) teachings on the Book...
It's like peeling back the layers of an onion – the deeper you go, the more you discover. Bamidbar Rabbah 14, a section of the Bamidbar Rabbah, which itself is a Midrash, a collect...
Bamidbar Rabbah turns to Until When Will This People Provoke Me in the Desert. The verse in question is (Numbers 14:11): "The Lord said to Moses: Until when will this people provok...
That feeling resonates deeply in a powerful passage from Bamidbar Rabbah 16. It explores the fraught relationship between God and the Israelites, focusing on their repeated rejecti...
It all starts with the verse, “You shall know that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God” (Deuteronomy 7:9). Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Abba uses a parable to unpack this idea. Imagi...
The Rabbis paint a scene where the Holy One, blessed be He, instructs Moses to appoint a High Priest. Moses, naturally, wants to know the specifics: "Master of the universe, from w...
Kohelet Rabbah turns to Enjoy Life With the One You Love Says Ecclesiastes. The sages of the Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary), in Kohelet Rabbah 9, explore this verse, an...
The ancient rabbis certainly did. to a fascinating interpretation from Shemot Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic homilies on the Book of Exodus. It all begins with a seemingly simple...
"Endow the king with Your justice, God…May he judge Your people with righteousness" (Psalms 72:1–2). Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi, a key figure in the compilation of the Mishnah (the earlie...
Shemot Rabbah turns to God's Justice Shows No Favoritism to Anyone. Rabbi Natan, in Shemot Rabbah, makes a pretty strong statement: justice is fitting for God precisely because He ...
The Shemot Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Book of Exodus, dives deep into this question, particularly in section 30. It all starts with a verse from Isaiah...
It quickly jumps to a seemingly unrelated verse from Psalms: "I had said: You are divine beings, celestial beings, all of you" (Psalms 82:6). What's the connection? Shemot Rabbah e...
What allowed him, a human, to step into the most sacred space? Shemot Rabbah, a treasure trove of biblical interpretations, explores this very question. "This is the matter," it sa...
How is your beloved more than another beloved, that you administer an oath to us so?" (Song of Songs 5:9-10). Essentially, they're asking, "What makes God so special? What makes Hi...
What is the true value of love? Can it be bought? Can it be extinguished? The Song of Songs, that most beautiful and enigmatic of Biblical books, touches on this very question. In ...
Jewish tradition certainly does, especially when it comes to oaths. In fact, the Rabbis saw the misuse of oaths as so serious that it could literally bring down the house! Vayikra ...
It all starts with a verse from Leviticus (10:9): “Wine or intoxicating drink you shall not drink, you and your sons with you, upon your entry into the Tent of Meeting, and you wil...
What would you bring with you? What could possibly prepare you for such an encounter? Well, Rabbi Yudan, in Vayikra Rabbah 21, offers a fascinating perspective. He interprets the v...
Rabbi Aḥa ben Elyashiv, in Vayikra Rabbah 35, offers a powerful answer, drawing on the words of Isaiah: "It will be that he that is left in Zion and he that remains in Jerusalem sh...
“He sent scrolls to all the king’s provinces, to each province in its script, and to each people in its language; for every man to be the ruler in his house, and speak the language...
In the Midrash of Philo, we find a fascinating take on fate, divine justice, and the reasons behind catastrophic events like, say, the Flood. Philo addresses those who argue agains...
If thou lend money to any of my people (Exod. 22:24). Scripture states elsewhere in reference to this verse: He that putteth not out his money on interest (Ps. 15:5). Come and obse...
And thou shalt command (Exod. 27:20). Scripture states elsewhere in reference to this verse: Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair (Song 1:15). R. Akiba said: The e...
(Lev. 19:2:) “You shall be holy.”7Tanh., Gen. 1:7. See what is written (in Josh. 24:19), “for He is a holy God (in the plural).”8The words, HOLY and GOD, are both plural in the Heb...
All of the commandment that I command you today (Deuteronomy 8:1): This is what the verse stated (Proverbs 7:2), "Keep My commandments and live," since David said (Psalms 17:8), "G...
O my dove, in the cranny of the rocks (Song of Songs 2:14): This is that which is stated in the verse (Psalms 18:3), "The Lord is my rock and my fortress." Rabbi Elazar ben Pedat s...
Remember, Tobit, a righteous man living in exile in Nineveh, had been blinded. His misfortune leads to a painful exchange with his wife, Hannah. It all starts when Tobit, thinking ...
The Book of Maccabees I turns to Voice of Torah of Temple. The Book of Maccabees I, a historical text from the Second Temple period not included in the Tanakh, paints a vivid pictu...
Upon entering the Holy Land, the very first thing they did was bury Joseph's bones in Shechem. Why Shechem, of all places? Well, the Talmud tells us that God Himself instructed the...
One man, Kenaz, is tasked with a monumental mission: to bring forth the truth from each of the tribes. It's a daunting task, like trying to hold water in your hands. As the story g...
That's how the legends describe Shobach's terrifying presence. He wasn't just a big guy; he was a walking, talking intimidation tactic. Why did Shobach think he had the upper hand?...
The Tikkunei (spiritual repair) Zohar, a central work of Kabbalah expanding on the Zohar, uses a pretty intense image to describe the struggles of Torah scholars. It says they are ...
There exists a soul in every generation through whom Torah insights are revealed to the world. Rabbi Nachman of Breslov describes this soul as one burdened with suffering: "Bread w...
The Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael asks a deceptively simple question: why were the Ten Commandments not placed at the very beginning of the Torah? If they are the foundation of the cov...
(Ibid. 7) "You shall not take the name of the L–rd your G–d in vain": A vain oath, too, was included in (Leviticus 19:12) "You shall not swear falsely in My name," and Scripture re...
You shall not take": What is the intent of this? (Leviticus 19:12) "You shall not swear falsely in My name" speaks only of swearing. Whence is it derived that it is also forbidden ...
The Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael identifies a critical distinction in the commandment "You shall not steal." The eighth of the Ten Commandments is not about stealing property. It is a...
Perhaps the common element between them is that they are dignitaries, and it is their eminence that accounts for this, wherefore you are exhorted against cursing them, as opposed t...
Midrash Tehillim turns to Absalom's Journey. The Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary) starts with a quote from Proverbs (21:15): "It is joy to the righteous to do justice." S...
That tension is at the heart of our story today, drawn from Midrash Tehillim 58, a beautiful exploration of Psalm 58. It grapples with a difficult question: "Do not destroy the con...
In Jewish tradition, these questions lead us straight to the Source of all righteousness, the Holy One, blessed be He. And surprisingly, also to King Solomon. Midrash Tehillim, a c...
It’s a very human feeling. And it’s a feeling that resonates deeply within the words of the Midrash Tehillim, specifically in its commentary on Psalm 79. The Midrash (rabbinic inte...
