12,014 related texts · Page 53 of 251
It’s a powerful feeling. But what happens when that zeal, that kinah, turns inward, corrupting the very people who sought to uphold justice? Let's turn to a fascinating passage in ...
There's one in Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer, Chapter 48, that's definitely worth exploring. Rabbi Joseph tells us a troubling tale about the Israelites' suffering in Egypt. It's a story ...
We all know the basic plot: a beautiful Jewish woman becomes queen and saves her people from annihilation. But what about Vashti, the queen she replaced? Why was she deposed? The t...
It’s easy to gloss over it, but let's really consider it for a moment. Imagine the scene: millions of people, fleeing for their lives, trapped between an advancing army and a vast,...
The text states, "Blessed is the Lord, blessed is He, who recognizes at the start what will be in the end... And He foresees for good and He does not foresee for evil." It's a powe...
The Book of Ruth, a tiny scroll nestled within the Hebrew Bible, grapples with this very feeling. And the Yalkut Shimoni, a medieval collection of rabbinic commentary, offers some ...
The Jewish tradition is filled with these echoes, these comparative moments that help us understand not just where we've been, but who we are. One of the most fascinating collectio...
The Israelites certainly did as they stood poised to enter the Promised Land. “And they camped by the Jordan,” the Torah tells us (Numbers 22:1). But what exactly was this Jordan R...
The Book of Bamidbar, or Numbers, dives right into that. Specifically, Bamidbar 5:9 lays out the rules for terumah, the portion of the harvest given to the Cohein, the priest. Let'...
We've all been there. But what if I told you there's a secret to unlocking a divine response? A way to have your prayers truly heard? It's all about the idea of God "lifting His co...
It describes the offerings brought by the leaders of Israel: "And the chiefs of Israel presented (their offerings)." Now, who were these chiefs? Were they just some random people a...
It seems the Israelites did just that after their exodus from Egypt. In the book of Bamidbar (Numbers), chapter 11, verse 5, we hear them complaining, "We remember the fish that we...
That feeling, that intense pressure, isn't new. Moses, the great leader of the Israelites, felt it too. And the Torah, in its unflinching honesty, doesn't shy away from showing us ...
Today, we’re diving into the book of Bamidbar (Numbers), specifically chapter 18 in Sifrei Bamidbar, to unpack the intense responsibilities placed on the Kohanim and Levi'im (Levit...
We often picture him as this towering, almost superhuman figure, but behind the miracles and the commandments, there was a real person grappling with a monumental task. And sometim...
Sometimes, the answers are staring you right in the face, buried in the very place you're trying to escape. In the book of Devarim, Deuteronomy, we find a poignant moment of reflec...
He's addressing the Israelites, reminding them of their journey, their struggles, and most importantly, their relationship with God. And he makes a rather pointed comparison: "And ...
Why would a single mountain need four different monikers? Well, Sifrei Devarim, one of the earliest Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary)ic works on the book of Deuteronomy, u...
And sometimes, those stories can be Let's talk about a place called Dvir. You might not recognize the name, but stick with me. This little town in the land of Israel, Eretz Yisrael...
It grapples with the very nature of our connection to the land, specifically Egypt and Eretz Yisrael, the Land of Israel. The passage begins by questioning the intent behind a part...
(Deuteronomy 11:12) tells us that it is "a land which the L-rd your G-d inquires after." But wait a minute. Does that mean God only cares about Israel? Doesn't seem quite right, do...
Sifrei Devarim, a collection of legal midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary)im (interpretations) on the Book of Deuteronomy, gives us a fascinating breakdown. It suggests there...
The Torah doesn’t exactly shout it from the rooftops, but there are clues. Little hints dropped here and there that paint a picture of a formidable people. Take Adoni-bezek, for ex...
A scribe’s nightmare? Perhaps. A treasure trove of textual insights? Absolutely! According to Sifrei Devarim 356, that's exactly what happened. And the differences weren't major pl...
We know he gazed out at the promised land, the land he would never enter. But was that all? Jewish tradition paints a far more vivid and dramatic picture. The Sifrei Devarim, an an...
Abraham made his servant Eliezer swear an oath by placing his hand on the mark of circumcision. The Torah says "under my thigh." The Targum says exactly what it means: the section ...
Genesis 27 is one of the most psychologically complex chapters in the Torah—the aged Isaac, blind and dying, tricked by his own wife and son into blessing the wrong heir. The Targu...
From Ephraim, who wrote in Amalek after you, Benjamin (Judges 5:14). May our Rabbis teach us what a person should say when he reads the Book of Esther. The Talmud teaches us that o...
Jeremiah said: when I was coming up to Jerusalem, I lifted up my eyes and saw a woman sitting on the mountaintop, her clothes were black and her hair unkempt. She cried: I am seeki...
Chapter 2 Our forefather Jacob was 63 when he was blessed. Ishmael died at that time as is written, "Esau saw that Isaac had blessed...Jacob listened to his father...Esau saw [the ...
Where do dreams come from? The Talmud in Berakhot 55a offers a surprisingly psychological answer: from the dreamer's own mind. Rabbi Shmuel bar Nahmani taught in the name of Rabbi ...
The Roman emperor challenged Rabban Gamliel with a direct theological question: if your God is everywhere, why can He not be seen? According to Sanhedrin 39b, the conversation expo...
Rabbi Simlai made one of the most ambitious claims in the entire Talmud. He said: 613 commandments were given to Moses at Sinai—365 prohibitions corresponding to the days of the so...
But Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, "Go back" (Ruth 1:8): Why did she send them back? In order not to be embarrassed by them. For so did we find that in Jerusalem there wer...
(3) (Fol. 10b) We have been taught that R. Eliezer says: "In the month of Tishri the world was created; in the month of Tishri the Patriarchs [Abraham and Jacob], were born, and in...
(22) We are taught in a Baraitha, R. Simeon b. Jochai said: "There are four matters that R. Akiba expounded, but which I interpret differently. The fast of the fourth, means the se...
Nahum ish Gamzo, also called Nahum of Hamadi used to say, “Everything for the best.” Sent to the Emperor with presents, miracles happened. He came to a place where during the night...
Mesha, the king of Moab, heard the story of the Binding of Isaac and drew exactly the wrong conclusion. He learned that Abraham, the father of the Israelites, had been willing to s...
Rabban Gamliel, the head of the Sanhedrin (the supreme rabbinic court), once served food to Rabbi Yehoshua with his own hands. He stood and poured wine for his guest as though he w...
The sages would not allow a girl to do as she wanted or to expose herself before the man, who had become lovesick and very ill in consequence. Licentiousness was not to be encourag...
Korah was the richest man who ever lived — and his wealth destroyed him. The Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary) teaches that three hundred mules were needed just to carry t...
The birth of Moses was no ordinary event. According to the ancient chronicles preserved in Jerahmeel and the writings of Josephus, the arrival of Israel's greatest prophet was prec...
"A little that the righteous have is better than the abundance of many wicked" (Psalm 37:16). The rabbis of Aggadat Bereshit loved this verse because it turned ordinary logic on it...
Israel in exile speaks like a child who has finally stopped lying. "Master of the Universe, at first I said 'I have not sinned,' and You brought suffering upon me. Now I say: I hav...
Hannah was barren for years. Her husband loved her and her rival taunted her and the priest Eli misread her prayer as drunkenness. The whole story is about a woman whose deepest lo...
"I will not break my covenant, nor change that which has come out of my lips" (Psalm 89:35). The binding of Isaac begins with this verse in Aggadat Bereshit — not with the command ...
David lifts his eyes to the mountains and prays — "A song of ascents" — and God answers him through a text he might not have expected: Moses's blessing of Judah. "And this is the b...
"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...
