808 related texts · Page 13 of 17
Specifically, the passage "Moses shall rejoice in the giving of his portion…" from the Sabbath morning service. It's not just a nice sentiment; it's connected to the "soul of all l...
It speaks of additional spiritual dimensions that awaken within us during this sacred time. These dimensions are linked to the three prayers recited on Shabbat (the Sabbath): the e...
The Tikkun (spiritual repair)ei Zohar, a companion volume to the Zohar that delves into the deeper meanings of the Torah, offers us a fascinating glimpse into this cosmic struggle....
The Tikkun (spiritual repair)ei Zohar, a central text of Kabbalah, offers a breathtaking glimpse into this very question. Imagine a scene: a soul rising, shedding its earthly form ...
The Tikkun (spiritual repair)ei Zohar, that sprawling and often mind-bending companion to the Zohar, tackles this head-on. It declares that no dor, no generation, can be less than ...
Today, we're peeking into a particularly fascinating corner: Tikkun (spiritual repair)ei Zohar 80. This passage, drawn from the Tikkunei Zohar, a companion work to the Zohar, one o...
The mystical text, Tikkun (spiritual repair)ei Zohar, in section 108, uses just that image to explore themes of repentance, judgment, and the wandering of the Shekhinah (the Divine...
It’s not just the aroma of challah baking, you know. According to the Tikkun (spiritual repair)ei Zohar, it’s something truly profound. The Tikkunei Zohar, a crucial text of Kabbal...
This passage speaks of a future time, a moment of profound transformation linked to Shavuot, the Festival of Weeks, when we celebrate the giving of the Torah. The text tells us tha...
The Tikkun (spiritual repair)ei Zohar, a central text of Kabbalah, offers a fascinating perspective. It tells us that the offerings, the qorbanot – literally, the means of drawing ...
It's more than just fasting and prayer. According to the Tikkun (spiritual repair)ei Zohar, a central text of Kabbalah, there's a whole cosmic drama unfolding, a divine fashion sho...
The Tikkun (spiritual repair)ei Zohar, a mystical commentary on the Zohar, delves into just that kind of passionate exchange between the Divine and the Shekhinah, the feminine aspe...
Let’s look at one that’s always intrigued me: “Your neck is an ivory tower” from the Song of Songs (7:4). Sounds poetic, sure, but what does it mean? Well, the Tikkun (spiritual re...
You cannot receive complete divine providence until you shatter your desire for money. Rabbi Nachman of Breslov taught this as a direct spiritual mechanism, not a moral platitude. ...
(Exodus 12:2) records God's instruction to Moses: "This month shall be to you the beginning of months." It is the very first commandment given to Israel as a nation, even before th...
One of the most remarkable claims in rabbinic tradition is that the Israelites preserved their identity throughout centuries of Egyptian bondage by refusing to change their names. ...
To teach us that as one metes it out to others, so is it meted out to him. Miriam waited a short time for Moses, viz. (Ibid. 2:4) "And his sister stood from afar to know what would...
And, what is more, with (the casket of) Jacob there went up the servants of Pharaoh and the elders of his household, while with Joseph there went up the ark and the Shechinah and t...
In what lies in the other ark it is written (Exodus 20) "I am the L–rd your G–d," and of Joseph it is written (Genesis 50:19) "Am I in the place of G–d?" In what lies in this ark i...
And the children of Israel journeyed from Ramses to Succoth, and from Succoth to Eitam, and from Eitam to Pi Hachiroth. On the fifth day (of the week) they journeyed from Egypt, an...
The Mekhilta once again turns to verb tense to extract prophecy from the Song at the Sea. The verse does not say "worked wonders" — past tense, as though God's miracles were finish...
The Mekhilta immediately balances its teaching about short prayers with a counter-example. On another occasion, a disciple led the prayer service before Rabbi Elazar and was extrem...
A small detail in (Exodus 16:1) caught the attention of the rabbis of the Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael. The verse states that the Israelites journeyed from Eilim and arrived in the Wi...
Variantly: "on the fifteenth day of the second month": Why is "day" mentioned? To know on which day the Torah was given to Israel. (Rosh Chodesh of the) Nissan on which Israel left...
On the sixth day of the week, something unprecedented happened with the manna. (Exodus 16:22) records that the Israelites gathered a double portion, two omers instead of the usual ...
Because they were wont to go out in the morning (to gather the manna), they said to him: Moses, our teacher, shall we go out in the morning? Moses: "Eat it today." They: Since we d...
Moses spoke three words that carried immense weight: "Eat it today" (Exodus 16:25). He said it not once but three times in the same verse. "Eat it today, for it is Sabbath today. T...
(Exodus 16:28) "And the L–rd said to Moses: How long will you refuse to keep, etc.": R. Yehoshua says: The Holy One Blessed be He said to Moses: Moses, say to Israel: I took you ou...
When God commanded that a jar of manna be preserved for future generations (Exodus 16:32), Moses relayed the instruction to his brother Aaron. But when exactly did Aaron carry it o...
When Moses shattered the two tablets of the covenant at the foot of Mount Sinai, something extraordinary happened to the sacred letters engraved upon them. According to the Mekhilt...
During the battle against Amalek, Moses stood on a hilltop with his arms raised, channeling divine power to the Israelite warriors below. But holding your arms up for hours is grue...
After every other plea had been rejected, Moses turned to his nephew Elazar — the son of his brother Aaron — and threw himself at his feet. "Elazar, my brother's son," Moses said, ...
The Mekhilta offers a striking interpretation of the phrase "from the hand of Egypt and from the hand of Pharaoh" (Exodus 18:10). Why does the verse mention both Egypt and Pharaoh ...
The Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael examines God's words to Moses in the days before the revelation at Sinai: "Behold, I shall come to you in the thickness of the cloud" (Exodus 19:9). T...
R. Yishmael says: What is written at the beginning, viz. (Leviticus 25:1-3) "And the L–rd spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai, saying … then the land shall rest a Sabbath to the L–rd. Si...
The Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael poses a deceptively simple question: how were the Ten Commandments arranged on the two tablets? The answer reveals a hidden moral architecture within ...
Idolatry and adultery are the same sin. The Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael, a 3rd-century CE halakhic midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary), makes this case by pointing to the stru...
The sages offered an alternative view of how the Ten Commandments were arranged on the two tablets. While Rabbi Chanina ben Gamliel taught that five commandments appeared on each t...
After the overwhelming experience of hearing God's voice at Sinai, the Israelites retreated. (Exodus 20:18) records: "And the people stood from afar." The Mekhilta specifies the di...
When Moses ascended Mount Sinai to receive the Torah, the Torah records that "Moses entered into the mist, where God was" (Exodus 20:21). The Mekhilta reveals that this approach to...
"And if an ox gore" — the Torah mentions only an ox. But what about other animals? If a donkey kicks someone, or a camel bites, do the same laws apply? The Mekhilta says yes, and d...
(Exodus 35:1) "And Moses assembled, etc." What is the intent of this section? From (Ibid. 25:8) "and they shall make for Me a sanctuary," I might think both on a weekday and on the...
And it would follow (that labors for the sanctuary would override the Sabbath, viz.:) If the sacrificial service, which comes only from the enablers, (i.e., the vessels, etc.) over...
We all know the story: Abraham, his faith tested to the absolute limit, is commanded to sacrifice his beloved son. But what about the ram, the creature that ultimately takes Isaac'...
We often think of it as a moment of pure revelation, of divine gift-giving. But some ancient stories paint a picture far more…intense. A picture of near annihilation and miraculous...
It was a spectacle. The Targum Neophyti on (Exodus 20:1) describes it as shooting stars, lightning, and fiery torches all rolled into one. Can you picture that? A blazing, celestia...
The tradition teaches that there aren't just one, but two Torahs: the Torah Shebichtav, the Written Torah (the five books of Moses we all know), and the Torah Sheba’al Peh, the Ora...
That, my friends, is the heart of a beautiful tradition linked to Shavuot (the Festival of Weeks). We know Passover commemorates the Exodus, specifically the parting of the Red Sea...
