1,423 related texts · Page 7 of 30
(Exodus, Ibid. 9) "And if to his son he designate her (as a wife)": He designates her to his son, but not to his brother. For it would follow (that he does designate her to his bro...
The Torah says the Hebrew maid-servant "shall go out free" if her master fails to fulfill his obligations (Exodus 21:11). The Mekhilta probes the meaning of the word "free" with a ...
"Mahor yimharenah — to himself as a wife" — the Mekhilta reads this phrase as a limitation: the seducer may take the woman "as a wife that is permitted to him." This means the marr...
We often think of it as a calm, orderly process, but some stories hint at a bit more… chaos. What if I told you the very waters that give life once rose up in rebellion against God...
It's more than just tradition; it's a cosmic wake-up call. The most direct reason is because God Himself commanded it! "Sound a ram's horn before Me," He said, "so that I remember ...
The ancient rabbis felt that way too. And they wrestled with that feeling in their interpretations of the Psalms, particularly in Midrash Tehillim, a collection of homiletic interp...
The Midrash Tehillim, an ancient collection of interpretations on the Book of Psalms, grapples with this very question. Specifically, it reflects on (Psalm 26:5), "I hate the congr...
That’s the feeling I get when I read this passage from Midrash Tehillim (a collection of interpretive commentaries on the Book of Psalms). It centers on David, King David, and the ...
Midrash Tehillim, a collection of homiletic interpretations on the Book of Psalms, gives us a glimpse into just that kind of wonder, through the eyes of none other than Rabbi Akiva...
We're talking about a concert of creation, a symphony of souls bowing before the Divine. And it all starts with Adam. Now, you might picture Adam in the Garden, just chilling, nami...
We all know the story of Cain and Abel, their offerings, and the tragic outcome. But what if there was more to it than just a simple case of sibling rivalry? Rabbi Joshua ben Ḳorch...
Sometimes, those hidden depths hold the most fascinating secrets. Take the story of Abraham, Hagar, and Ishmael. We all know the basics, but what about the details? The Torah tells...
Jewish tradition certainly has. Let’s consider a particularly potent example from Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer, Chapter 49, a text filled with dramatic narratives and moral teachings. He...
We get glimpses, whispers, hints throughout our tradition. And sometimes, just sometimes, we get a description so vivid, so lush, that you can almost smell the fruit hanging heavy ...
to a fascinating passage from the Yalkut Shimoni on Nach 470, a compilation of rabbinic commentary on the books of the Prophets, which explores this very feeling. The story begins ...
The ancient texts are full of surprising takes.It tackles the complex and often painful topic of divorce and remarriage. The text states, "for she (a returned divorcée) is an abomi...
It’s a profound question, one that our tradition grapples with in beautiful and surprising ways. Let's turn to the book of Devarim (Deuteronomy), specifically Sifrei Devarim 346, f...
Abraham married again after Sarah's death. The Torah calls his new wife Keturah. The Targum reveals her true identity in a single phrase: "She is Hagar, who had been bound to him f...
The five daughters of Zelophehad—Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah—heard that the Promised Land would be divided only among males and immediately went to the court. The Targ...
The levirate marriage ceremony in (Deuteronomy 25) is already dramatic in the Torah. Targum Jonathan turns it into theater. The brother-in-law's refusal must happen "before five of...
R’ Yitzchak expounded on, “On willows in its midst we hung our harps.” (Psalms 137:2) Come and see – the dirt of the land of Israel is for repentance. While they were still in the ...
After Abraham sent Ishmael away into the wilderness with his mother Hagar, the patriarch did not forget his firstborn son. According to Pirkei de Rabbi Eliezer and the Midrash Haga...
The ancient sages pondered similar questions when interpreting the very first verse of the Book of Numbers, Bamidbar, which begins: “The Lord spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Si...
Especially when we delve into the curious case of the sotah – the suspected adulteress – in Numbers chapter 5. It’s a wild ride, full of ritual, suspicion, and a whole lot of barle...
It involves a woman suspected of adultery, a priest, and a rather dramatic test involving "the water of bitterness that causes curse" (Numbers 5:18). Now, before we get too far, it...
It all starts with the verse: “Moses took the carts and the bulls, and gave them to the Levites” (Numbers 7:6). Simple enough. But the Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary) ne...
The verse in question? (Genesis 2:3): "God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because on it He rested from all His labor that God created to make." But what does it mean th...
We all know the story: they ate the forbidden fruit, gained knowledge, and were banished. But what was the nature of that banishment? Was it a final, crushing blow, or something…el...
Our journey begins in (Genesis 14:20): “And blessed is God, the Most High, who delivered your enemies into your hand. He gave him a tithe of everything.” This verse is about Abraha...
The scene: Isaac is hanging out in the land of the Philistines, near Gerar. Remember, his father Abraham had his own…issues there. And wouldn’t you know it, history seems to be rep...
The story of Rachel in the book of Genesis speaks directly to that feeling, and offers a powerful message of hope. The Torah tells us simply, "God remembered Rachel" (Genesis 30:22...
We pick up the story in (Genesis 32:4), where it says: "Jacob sent messengers." But before we get to that, (Genesis 32:3) tells us something crucial: "Jacob said, when he saw them:...
Take the mitzvah, the commandment, of shiluach haken, sending away the mother bird before taking her eggs or young. It appears in (Deuteronomy 22:6-7), and it's all about compassio...
There's a fascinating little snippet in Shir HaShirim Rabbah – a collection of rabbinic interpretations of the Song of Songs – that touches on exactly that. It starts with the idea...
And it's a question that dances at the heart of a fascinating passage from the Midrash of Philo. Philo, a Jewish philosopher who lived in Alexandria in the first century CE, grappl...
We get a glimpse into the story of the very first murder in the Torah, but the text leaves so much unsaid. What drove Cain to such a horrific act? Was it simply jealousy over God f...
Take Noah's Ark, for example. We all know the story: the flood, the animals, the dove with the olive branch. But then you get to (Genesis 8:4), and it hits you with, "The ark settl...
But pull back for a second. A worldwide flood. The fate of humanity hanging by a thread – or rather, a wooden beam. And then… silence. The waters recede. But when they recede, and ...
And in process of time it came to pass that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground (Gen. 4:3). The process of time (lit. “end of days”) may imply either the end of a year, the end...
And Moses said unto the children of Israel: “See, the Lord hath called by name Bezalel the son of Uri” (Exod. 35:30). May it please our masters to teach us: How far must a person g...
One figure looms large in this discussion: Satanael. In the ancient text of 2 Enoch, this was the name of the highest angel, and the story surrounding him is… complicated, especial...
Jewish tradition offers some pretty fascinating, and sometimes unsettling, answers. Take the story of Satan's fall from grace. It's not just a simple tale of rebellion; it's a comp...
In fact, the Sabbath isn't just a terrestrial observance; it's a celestial one, too. Imagine this: right after creating the Sabbath, God gathers all the angels – the angels of the ...
It’s easy to get caught up in the now, in what’s shiny and new. But what about the wisdom that comes from years of living, years of observing, years of learning? Ben Sira, that sag...
Ben Sira, also known as Ecclesiasticus, is a book of wisdom literature from around the 2nd century BCE – a time of huge cultural shifts and anxieties. It’s not part of the Hebrew B...
Ben Sira paints a picture of someone so deeply connected to wisdom that they "encamp about her house." What does that even mean? It's more than just visiting. It suggests a dedicat...
Ben Sira, that wise sage from centuries ago, had some thoughts on that very feeling. He says, "He that hateth the law shall not be wise; And he is moved as…tossed with tempest (?)....
Ben Sira, in his wisdom, offers a clue: "Their wisdom the community will repeat, and their praises the assembly will recount." It's through the act of remembering, of telling and r...
