975 related texts · 16 related myths · Page 4 of 21
Down below? The Israelites, impatient, scared, and feeling abandoned, decide to build themselves a new god – a golden calf. The Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary) paints a ...
The story of how he approached God for forgiveness, as told in Midrash Tehillim 19, is both surprising and deeply human. The Midrash, a collection of rabbinic commentaries on the H...
A simple statement: "Doing righteous deeds is of the Lord." But it’s what follows that truly captivates. Rabbi Yitzhak proclaims that everything is in abundance. Righteous deeds in...
Take the curious case of the mekoshesh, the wood gatherer, found violating the Sabbath in the wilderness. The story, found in Bamidbar 15:32-36 (Numbers), isn’t just about punishme...
Sifrei Bamidbar turns to Why the Levites Received No Inheritance in the Land. Why does the Torah need to spell this out? The Sifrei Bamidbar, a rabbinic commentary on the book of N...
Which brings up an interesting comparison: who had the better deal? In Sifrei Bamidbar, a collection of legal interpretations on the Book of Numbers, the covenant forged with Aaron...
Bamidbar Rabbah turns to The Mysterious Census Number That Echoed the Tabernacle. This particular number, 603,550, might ring a bell. It echoes another census, the one taken during...
Did they really get away with it? The Book of Devarim. Deuteronomy, opens with the phrase, "These are the words that Moses spoke…" And the Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary...
It all starts with a seemingly straightforward verse from (Exodus 21:37): “If a man steals an ox or a sheep and slaughters it or sells it, he shall pay five cattle for the ox and f...
Our story begins after the devastating sin of the Golden Calf. Can you imagine the scene? Moses is up on Mount Sinai, receiving the very word of God, while down below, the Israelit...
Take the story of atonement after the sin of the Golden Calf. It all starts with an offering. But what kind of offering? The verse in Exodus tells us to "Take one young bull." But ...
The ancient rabbis certainly did. This week, It all starts with a verse The familiar version gives us: "He gave to Moses, as He concluded speaking with him on Mount Sinai, the two ...
The Book of Exodus, Shemot in Hebrew, tells the story of the Israelites' journey from slavery to freedom, a story punctuated by moments of incredible faith and… well, moments of pr...
The book of Exodus tells us that after the giving of the Torah, the Israelites, impatient and afraid, built the Golden Calf. God, understandably, was furious. "Let Me be," He says ...
This particular section, Shemot Rabbah 43, gives us a glimpse into the intense drama that unfolded between Moses and God after the Israelites' colossal blunder. The verse in questi...
The familiar story is this: from Exodus 32 – the Israelites, impatient for Moses to return from the mountain, pressure Aaron to create a god for them. He obliges, a golden calf is ...
It offers us not just one, but three opportunities for a fresh start each year during the High Holy Days season. How does it all work? Vayikra Rabbah, a Midrash on the book of Levi...
There was one final thing to do before Enoch could go home. God called one of the older angels, a terrible, menacing being, white as snow, with hands like ice and the appearance of...
The familiar version gives us the stories of its power, its presence in the Tabernacle, and later, its prominent place in Solomon’s Temple. But what happened after that first Templ...
"And they shall slaughter it": whether on a weekday or on a Sabbath. And how would I satisfy (Exodus 31:14) "Its (Sabbath's) profaners shall be put to death"? With other labors, as...
The Mekhilta, the tannaitic midrash on Exodus compiled in the 2nd century CE, traces another instance of the Bible's "as He spoke" formula, a device the rabbis use to link later pr...
(Exodus, Ibid. 10) "And the seventh day is Sabbath to the L–rd your G–d. You shall not perform any labor." What is the intent of this? (Exodus 31:15) "Everyone who does labor on th...
The Torah declares about the Sabbath: "for it is holy to you" (Exodus 31:14). The Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael draws from this phrase a remarkable teaching about how Sabbath observanc...
Variantly: "You may not light a fire in all of your dwellings": From (Leviticus 6:6) "A perpetual fire shall burn on the altar," I might think, both on the weekdays and on the Sabb...
Rabbi Joshua, son of Ḳorchah, gives us a powerful image in Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer 46. He recounts the story of Moses on Mount Sinai. Forty days and nights, he was there, absorbing ...
When the offering was completed (1 Chronicles 18:26), the midrash reads it through Song of Songs: the thread of crimson, the image of the veil that separated the holy from the prof...
Once the camels had finished drinking, all ten of them, every last swallow, the servant reached into his pack and took out jewelry. Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on (Genesis 24:22) refuse...
One of the most radical moments in Torah commerce: Targum Pseudo-Jonathan repeats the Torah's command that the rich shall not add to, and the poor shall not diminish from, the half...
The incense was not simply mixed. It was beaten. Targum Pseudo-Jonathan records the instruction: after the spices were compounded, Moses was to beat them small, ground fine. And so...
Targum Pseudo-Jonathan does not soften the law. It specifies the method: "Whoso doeth work upon the Sabbath, dying he shall die, by the casting of stones" (Exodus 31:15). Stoning, ...
At the heart of the Sabbath command stands a theological riddle. Targum Pseudo-Jonathan preserves it faithfully: "In six days the Lord created and perfected the heavens and the ear...
When the call went out for Tabernacle offerings, Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on (Exodus 35:22) records a scene the Torah's plain text only hints at: with the men came the women. And the...
“Esther summoned Hatakh, one of the king’s chamberlains whom he had set before her, and commanded him to go to Mordekhai to know what this is and why this is” (Esther 4:5).“Esther ...
A person trapped on a low spiritual level might assume that deep Torah understanding is beyond their reach. Rabbi Nachman of Breslov says the opposite is true: the pathway from the...
(Exodus 12:1) "saying": Go and say it to them immediately. These are the words of R. Yishmael. As it is written (Exodus 34:34) "And he went out and spoke to the children of Israel ...
Thus do you find with the forefathers, that they deported themselves with circumspection (in this regard), viz. (Genesis 22:3) "And Abraham arose early in the morning," (Ibid. 28:1...
"I shall sing to the Lord," for He is merciful. The Mekhilta turns from God's power and wisdom to the attribute that defines the Jewish understanding of the divine character more t...
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 ...
Hillel taught: "Be of the disciples of Aaron, loving peace and pursuing peace, loving people and drawing them near to the Torah." But what did Aaron actually do? Rabbi Meir explain...
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...
The death of Moses is the most devastating scene in the Torah. And the Talmud in Sotah 13b expands it into something almost unbearable. Moses pleaded with God not to let him die. H...
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...
These are the generations of Aaron and Moses. [Betai Midrashot (rabbinic interpretive commentary) Third Chamber] Our rabbis taught: Brothers who are partners and who increased asse...
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...
"And it came to pass at that time that Judah went down" (Genesis 38:1). The rabbis heard in "went down" more than geography. Judah left his brothers, married a Canaanite woman, and...
Moses stood before Israel and said: "You have been shown to know that the Lord, He is God; there is none beside Him" (Deuteronomy 4:35). Not told, shown. The plagues, the sea, the ...
A psalm of Asaph opens this section of Aggadat Bereshit: "God has made Himself known in Judah; His name is great in Israel" (Psalm 76:2). And immediately the rabbis add the verse f...
When Rabbi Yaakov bar Yuda stood up to teach in the name of Rabbi Yonatan of Beit Govrin, he opened with a verse that reads like a traveler's warning: "The way of the sluggard is l...
