266 related texts · Page 5 of 6
It’s a theme that echoes throughout Jewish history, a bittersweet dance between redemption and exile. that a bit. The Yalkut Shimoni, a compilation of Midrashic (rabbinic interpret...
R’ Shim’on ben Lakish makes a startling claim: Pinhas is Eliahu! Yes, Pinhas, the zealous priest who took action to stop the plague, is none other than the prophet Elijah, who will...
Our tradition wrestles with this question constantly, and one striking example comes from the Yalkut Shimoni, a compilation of rabbinic commentary on the Bible. Specifically, Yalku...
The Yalkut Shimoni, a fascinating compilation of Midrashic (rabbinic interpretive commentary) teachings, brings up an intriguing point about exile. The text references the Torah po...
The Yalkut Shimoni, a compilation of Midrashic (rabbinic interpretive commentary) teachings, gives us a glimpse into the heart of Moshe at this pivotal moment, drawing on Torah 816...
It's about something much bigger. The Book of Numbers, Bamidbar in Hebrew, gives us a verse that seems But the ancient sages, they loved to dig deeper. They ask: Is this talking ab...
A fascinating moment from the book of Bamidbar (Numbers), chapter 10, verse 29, where Moses makes a heartfelt plea to his father-in-law, Yitro (Jethro). The verse reads, "the fathe...
Sifrei Devarim turns to Moses Rebukes Israel with Geographic Code Words. "Across the Jordan": this teaches us, the text says, that Moses is rebuking the people for their actions on...
Where do we draw the line? When is it just a colorful way of speaking, and when is it a promise we can truly count on? In Sifrei Devarim, a collection of legal interpretations on t...
Pondering the phrase "who can do as Your deeds" (Deuteronomy 3:24). Sifrei Devarim finds echoes of God's power in two pivotal moments of our history: the Exodus from Egypt and the ...
Stories like the one we find hinted at in Sifrei Devarim 43. It all starts with Lot, Abraham's nephew. Remember him? We find him in Bereshith (Genesis) 13:10, choosing to settle in...
That’s kind of what's going on in this tiny, but fascinating, passage from Sifrei Devarim. A seemingly simple question is posed: "Are they not across the Jordan?" Now, The first re...
Sifrei Devarim turns to Eival at the Dawn of Creation. The passage kicks off with a bit of geographical debate. Rabbi Elazar questions whether the mountains Eival and Gerizim menti...
Rabbi Shimon, a sage whose insights continue to resonate, offers a fascinating perspective. He suggests that the verse in question isn’t just about listing rules, but about establi...
Jewish tradition places immense value on that, and it's reflected in some fascinating laws about boundaries. Not just physical boundaries, but also intellectual and even spiritual ...
Our ancestors felt that way about the land itself. But how did they express that gratitude, and what were the specific rules around it? The ancient mitzvah of bikkurim, the offerin...
A picture of abundance and blessing. But have you ever stopped to think about what it really means, and where it comes from? The phrase appears multiple times in the Torah, includi...
It’s a question as old as… well, as old as humanity itself! And, wouldn’t you know it, our tradition has something pretty interesting to say about it. Sifrei Devarim 311 gives us a...
It turns out, even Moses, the ultimate law-giver, knew the importance of following up criticism with comfort. Moses is standing there, on the cusp of his own death, knowing he won'...
After Aaron died, the protective Cloud of Glory vanished. Amalek, who had disguised himself by taking the throne of Arad, saw his opportunity. The Targum's version of (Numbers 21) ...
When Israel went out of Egypt, Moses said ‘the sea saw them and fled, the Jordan turned backward’ (Psalms 114:2); and when Israel went out of Jerusalem, Jeremiah said ‘by the river...
The rabbis read the Torah with a quiet attention to who shows up at whose door. They noticed that wherever a righteous person travels, blessing travels with them, like a shadow tha...
The Hebrew Bible in (Genesis 13:14) times the divine address with surgical precision: after that Lot had separated from him. Targum Pseudo-Jonathan preserves the clause verbatim be...
Right after the terrifying vision of Gehinnom and the four kingdoms, the Lord sets a covenant. And Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on (Genesis 15:18) spells out the promise with an emphasis...
The deed is recorded with the care of a surveyor. In Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on (Genesis 23:17), the Aramaic lists what Abraham now owns: the field, and the cave that is therein, an...
Gad chose land east of the Jordan. The Hebrew blessing in (Genesis 49:19) puns on the name, gad sounds like gedud, a raiding band. Targum Pseudo-Jonathan expands the pun into a bat...
"And I have revealed Myself to thee this day, that by My Memra they may be delivered from the hand of the Mizraee, to bring them up out of the unclean land, unto a good land, and l...
The Song of the Sea contains a strange prayer. Targum Pseudo-Jonathan renders it: Through the power of Thy mighty arm, let the terrors of death fall upon them, let them be silent a...
Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on Exodus (Exodus 23:31) maps Israel's inheritance: I will set thy boundary from the sea of Suph, to the sea of the Philistaee, and from the desert unto the ...
Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on (Exodus 40:11) turns the consecration of the bronze laver into a vision of the distant future. Anoint the laver, the meturgeman says, on account of Jehosh...
The closing verse of the book of Exodus is, among other things, a promise for the road. Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on (Exodus 40:38) describes what every Israelite could see the mornin...
The story goes that after his less-than-amicable departure from his father-in-law Laban, Jacob found himself at the River Yabbok (Yabbok, a river in the Transjordan, now part of Jo...
The verse Seems straightforward. But as is often the case with sacred texts, there's so much more lurking beneath the surface. Our Sages weren't content with a simple reading. They...
"On the sixth day, prince of the children of Gad, Elyasaf son of Deuel" (Numbers 7:42). The text repeats. Why? The Rabbis of the Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary) don't th...
The story of the spies sent to scout the Land of Canaan in the Book of Numbers is a powerful example of how fear and negative speech can derail even the most promising journeys. Th...
Bamidbar Rabbah turns to Og in David's Court. Israel wasn't looking for a fight. They sent messengers to Siḥon, just as they had to the king of Edom, asking for safe passage. "Plea...
We chase it, toil for it, sail across oceans for it... but is all that effort actually the thing that makes us rich? Bamidbar Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic teachings on the Book...
As we'll see, it's a feeling that resonates profoundly within Jewish tradition. Our journey begins with the Book of Numbers, Bamidbar (במדבר), specifically (Numbers 33:1): "These a...
A powerful image. "The power of His deeds He told to His people" (Psalms 111:6). According to Bamidbar Rabbah, God could have simply created a new land for the Israelites. But inst...
In the ancient world, and even described in the Torah, there was a system in place to offer refuge. The book of Numbers instructs us, "You shall designate cities for you" (Numbers ...
The rakia, the firmament – that expanse we see as the sky – is like a gigantic pool of water. Above that pool, there's a dome, and because of this cosmic pool, you get condensation...
At least, that's what we learn from Bereshit Rabbah 21, a fascinating passage in the ancient rabbinic commentary on Genesis. Rav tells us that "in every place, the eastern directio...
The ancient rabbis certainly thought so. They saw echoes of the Exodus, the defining moment of Jewish liberation, shimmering even in the life of Abraham. We find this idea beautifu...
The Torah is full of incredible journeys, and sometimes, the distance covered seems almost impossible. to a fascinating passage from Bereshit Rabbah (59) about Eliezer, Abraham's s...
Jewish tradition, in its beautiful and often poetic way, offers a compelling answer: the people of Israel. to a fascinating passage from Bereshit Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic i...
Bereshit Rabbah turns to Jonah — Zebulun at the Dawn of Creation. The verse in question is (Genesis 49:13): "Zebulun will dwell at the shore of seas, and he will be a shore for shi...
First, "Naphtali is a doe let loose [sheluḥa]." The Rabbis connect this to the land of Naphtali being full of irrigated fields [beit hashelaḥin]. They point to (Deuteronomy 3:17), ...
The Torah portion of Vayechi recounts the death of Jacob and the journey to bury him in the Cave of Machpelah. We read in Genesis (50:10-11): “They came to the threshing floor of A...
