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Another Explanation "And first born of your children you shall redeem" (Exodus 13:13) Where [is this law sourced:] If his father did not redeem him, he should redeem himself. [We a...
Said R' Levi: The Holy One Blessed Be He appeared to them like a picture which is visible form all angles. A thousand people may gaze on it and it gazes on all of them. So is the H...
The full scope of Moses's argument against the angels is recorded in Shabbat 89a, and it is a masterclass in turning your opponent's own premises against them. Moses went through t...
Who wrote the Hebrew Bible? The Talmud in Bava Batra 14b provides a complete accounting, attributing every book to a specific author. Moses wrote his own book—the Torah—and also th...
Before you were born, you knew everything. According to Niddah 30b, an angel teaches each soul the entire Torah while the baby is still in the womb. A light burns above the child's...
The people of Judea were precise with their language. The people of Galilee were not. According to Eruvin 53a, this difference was not a minor cultural quirk—it had real consequenc...
Berurya, one of the sharpest minds in all of Talmudic literature, once caught a student studying Torah in a whisper. She kicked him and said: Scripture teaches that Torah must be "...
The Talmud in Tractate Eruvin asks a strange question: why is the Torah compared to a deer? The answer: a deer's womb is narrow. Every time the deer mates, it is as cherished as th...
The Hebrew Bible opens with "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth" (Genesis 1:1). Targum Onkelos, the authoritative Aramaic translation read alongside the Torah ...
The Hebrew Bible says God "blew into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul" (Genesis 2:7). Targum Onkelos renders that final phrase differently: man became ...
The Hebrew Bible says God "descended to see the city and the tower" of Babel (Genesis 11:5). Targum Onkelos will not allow that reading. God does not descend. Instead, "God became ...
The Hebrew Bible says God "descended upon" Mount Sinai in fire (Exodus 19:18). Targum Onkelos will not allow God to descend. He writes: "God became revealed upon it in fire." The m...
"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 Hebrew Bible records Moses making the most audacious request in Scripture: "Show me Your glory" (Exodus 33:18). Targum Onkelos renders the response with his most careful theolo...
The Hebrew Bible says God "passed before" Moses and proclaimed the Thirteen Attributes of Mercy (Exodus 34:6). Targum Onkelos renders this as God "made His Shechinah pass" before M...
The Hebrew Bible commands: "Hear, O Israel! God is our Lord, God is one" (Deuteronomy 6:4). Targum Onkelos translates the Shema—Judaism's central declaration of faith—with perfect ...
The Hebrew Bible makes one of its most radical claims in (Deuteronomy 30:12-14): "It is not in heaven... nor is it overseas... for the matter is extremely close to you, in your mou...
Deborah the prophetess did something no other judge in Israel had done — she held court outdoors, beneath a palm tree. The Yalkut Shimoni on Nach explains exactly why, and the reas...
And he will be like a planted tree: Rabbi Yose expounded, "To what is the matter similar? To a man that was walking in an arid land and his soul was dismayed with thirst. He [then]...
[1] "And God spoke all these words, saying, I am the Lord your God, etc." (Exodus 20:1-2) Blessed is the Place, blessed is He, who chose Israel from all His handiwork and acquired ...
It was said before Abraham was born. Nimrod was a heretic concerning the truth of the lord blessed be he. He was conceited and he said that he himself was a God. And the people of ...
Sefer HaBahir or Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary) Rabbi Nehunya ben HaKana, as it is attributed to him, is a profound and wondrous book of Kabbalah, and it is held in gre...
The Feast of the Garden of Eden [in Seder Rav Amram Gaon 13b, and Beit haMidrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary) vol. 5, 45] In the future to come, the Holy Blessed One will rev...
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...
"Aggadah (non-legal rabbinic narrative): A Midrash on the Five Books of the Torah, found in a unique ancient manuscript in the world brought from Aleppo (Aram Tzova). It was publis...
Idra Raba and Idra Zuta: Two compilations from the Zohar, the first in the portion of Naso and the second in the portion of Ha'azinu. The term "Idra" in Greek means a gathering or ...
Eikha Rabbah: A midrash (Jewish rabbinic literature) on the Book of Lamentations (Eikha). It is also called Eikha Rabati, Aggadat Eikha, or Midrash Kinot. In the Tosefta (supplemen...
Book of Eldad the Danite A Question and Answer between the People of Kairouan and Rabbi Zemach Gaon [Epstein, Eldad the Danite, Story I] Before the chariot of Israel and its horsem...
"Book of Trust": This book is attributed to Rabbi Yehuda ben Beteira. Rabbi Hai Gaon (a renowned Jewish sage) mentioned it in his book "The Unity", and it was also referenced by th...
"Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary) Ben Shua": The author of "Seder HaDorot" in Part 3, "Names of the Books", letter Mem, cites a "Midrash Ben Shua" in the name of Mar Rav ...
And [R. Avraham Saba] also explains the reason for the counting of the omer in Parashat Emor, and these are [his] words: And in the Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary) HaGal...
"Haggadah (non-legal rabbinic narrative)": A collection of legends and tales that was available to the ancient scholars. Rashi, of blessed memory, cites it in Sanhedrin (31b): "I f...
The deeds of Rabbi Yehoshua Ben Levi [from the Sefer Ma'asiot of Rabbi Nissim Ga'on; Beit Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary)] Rabbi Joshua ben Levi discovered something so ...
Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary) Yitbarach (May He Be Blessed) Blessed be the name of the King of kings, the Holy One blessed be He, who lives and endures forever and eve...
Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary) Levanat HaSapir is a midrash on the Torah in the style of kabbalah, in Aramaic like the Zohar. It is not extant before us today. The Yuha...
The Book of the Wellspring of Wisdom When Moses ascended on high, a cloud came up against him, and Moses our teacher did not know if one rides it or holds it. Immediately, the clou...
Alphabet of Rabbi Akiva (Nusaḥ II) [according to the Krakow and Amsterdam printings] Said Rabbi Aqibha: these are the 22 letters with which the Torah was given to the tribes of Isr...
The Hebrew Torah scroll contains a hidden layer of meaning that most readers never notice: certain letters are written larger or smaller than normal. The Midrash (rabbinic interpre...
Before the universe existed, not even parchment existed — no animals had yet been created to provide skins for scrolls. So the Torah was written on the arm of God Himself, in black...
“And of Benjamin he said, The Lord's beloved…” (Devarim 33:12) One verse says “As for the Jebusites the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the children of Judah could not drive them out…” (...
Rabbi Yehuda said, "Three books are opened on Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish New Year) before the Holy One, Blessed be He: One of wholly righteous people; and they are immediately writt...
We are taught that R. Jose says: "once upon a time I was walking on a road and I entered one of the ruins of Jerusalem to pray. Elijah, blessed be his memory! came and watched me a...
Furthermore, said R. Levi b. Chama, in the name of Resh Lakish : "What is meant by the passage (Ex. 24:12) And I will give thee the tablets of stone, with the law and the Commandme...
We are taught that R. Simon b. Jochai said: "Three precious gifts the Holy One, praised be He! bestowed on Israel, and none of them was bestowed without affliction. The gifts are, ...
A disciple recited before R. Jochanan: "Whoever occupies himself with the study of the Torah and with the practice of loving kindness and (Ib. b.) buries his children [during his l...
Rabba b. b. Chana said further: "The same merchant said to me: 'Come and I will show you the place where the children of Korah were swallowed up.' And I saw two crevices in the gro...
Adrianus asks R. Joshua why God’s name is not mentioned in the five last commandments, which appears to apply to all nations. Joshua takes him over the town and shows him his statu...
A Roman noblewoman — a Matrona, as the sages called her — came to a rabbi with a question that seemed trivial but concealed a deep truth. "Why," she asked, "is the letter Lamed tal...
