538 related texts · 3 related myths · Page 4 of 12
In Jewish law, specifically concerning vows made by a woman, a husband’s silence could be more powerful than words themselves. to a fascinating passage from Sifrei Bamidbar, a lega...
Sifrei Bamidbar turns to A Husband's Power to Annul His Wife's Vows. That's the question the Sifrei Bamidbar wrestles with. Does it mean literally after he hears the vow? Well, no,...
This is exactly the concern that arises in Sifrei Devarim, a rabbinic commentary on the Book of Deuteronomy. The text addresses a critical aspect of justice: familiarity and legiti...
The ancient sages understood that yearning, and they left us clues, breadcrumbs on a path. And according to Sifrei Devarim, an early rabbinic commentary on the Book of Deuteronomy,...
There's a verse in Devarim – Deuteronomy – that always stops me in my tracks. It's in chapter 11, verse 29, and it looks simple at first, but it's packed with meaning. "And it shal...
Sifrei Devarim turns to Personal Vows and Festival Sacrifices at the Temple. Well, the Sifrei Devarim, a collection of early rabbinic legal interpretations on the Book of Deuterono...
Sometimes, the Torah itself gives us a glimpse, a little peek behind the curtain. Sifrei Devarim 109, commenting on Deuteronomy, sheds a bit of light on this very topic. When the T...
Sifrei Devarim turns to Vows Offerings and What Cannot Be Re-Vowed. Next, the text explores what can and can't be brought "into the house of the L-rd your G-d." The phrase excludes...
It gives it a deadline! Specifically, Seems straightforward. Don't put off till tomorrow what you can do today. especially when it comes to promises to G-d. But, as always, the rab...
We all have. But what happens when that promise is to the Almighty? What kind of weight does that hold? A commitment. It’s a mitzvah, a commanded act, to fulfill the promises we ma...
We mortals are bound by seconds, minutes, years. But what about the Holy One, Blessed be He? The Sifrei Devarim offers a glimpse into this very question, revealing a profound diffe...
The Torah grapples with these emotions too, but on a cosmic scale. a powerful verse from Sifrei Devarim, a commentary on the Book of Deuteronomy, that speaks directly to divine ret...
It all starts with the verse: "And this is the blessing..." What does that seemingly simple phrase actually mean? The text offers a couple of intriguing interpretations. The first ...
It all comes down to a verse, a blessing really, found in (Deuteronomy 33:13): "And of Joseph he said: 'Blessed of the L-rd is his land.'" The rabbis of the Talmud weren't ones to ...
A blessing: "Blessed is He that broadens Gad." What does it mean? Simply put, the passage teaches us that the territory allotted to the tribe of Gad expanded eastward. But the stor...
The Targum Jonathan on (Deuteronomy 10) buries an entire civil war inside what the Hebrew Bible treats as a simple travel itinerary. The Hebrew says Israel "journeyed from Beeroth ...
Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord came, saying, Israel shall be your name (41:18:31). May our Rabb...
Agadeta: There are many Midrashim (rabbinic interpretive commentary) called by the name 'Aggadah (non-legal rabbinic narrative)' or 'Agadeta' that were composed by the early schola...
"Haggadah (non-legal rabbinic narrative)": A collection of legends and tales that was available to the ancient scholars. Rashi, of blessed memory, cites it in Sanhedrin (31b): "I f...
The question hung in the beit midrash: what happened to the ten tribes exiled by Assyria, and will they ever come home? The sages opened (Deuteronomy 29:28) and read: And the Lord ...
There is a brief, bruising story preserved in Gaster's Exempla (no. 294, 1924) about Rabbi Safra, a well-known legal scholar of the Babylonian tradition. One day he found himself a...
The wicked kingdom once decreed that the Jews should no longer keep the Sabbath, nor circumcise their sons, nor observe the laws of ritual purity the Torah commands. Three commandm...
An Aramean king ruling in one of the cities of the Land of Israel once assembled the Jews of his domain and issued a decree. If they could prove to him the superiority of Moses and...
Rome had issued three decrees against the Jews. They were forbidden to keep the Sabbath, forbidden to circumcise their sons, and forbidden to observe the laws of family purity. The...
A Kuthean, a Samaritan, once came to Rabbi Meir with an accusation against the patriarch Jacob. It is preserved as exemplum No. 32 in Moses Gaster's 1924 collection. "Your ancestor...
When Isaac laid his hands on Jacob a second time, this time with full knowledge of whom he was blessing, he called down the name by which the patriarchs had always known the Holy O...
When Leah named her firstborn Reuben, she said the Hebrew phrase ra'ah Adonai b'onyi, "the Lord has seen my affliction" (Genesis 29:32). The Targum Pseudo-Jonathan hears the phrase...
The Torah says Reuben went out in the days of the wheat harvest and found dudaim, mandrakes, in the field (Genesis 30:14). The Targum Pseudo-Jonathan specifies the month: Sivan, th...
Laban gathered his kinsmen and chased for seven days until he caught up at Mount Gilead. Targum Pseudo-Jonathan paints the arrival as a contrast too sharp to ignore. Laban had ridd...
The Torah gives us one sentence, and it is a scandal: Reuben went and lay with Bilhah his father's concubine (Genesis 35:22). The sages could not bear to leave it there. Reuben was...
When the brothers decided to kill Joseph, Reuben stepped in. Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on (Genesis 37:22) makes his motive explicit: because he would deliver him from their hand, and ...
The Torah tells us Reuben came back to the pit, found it empty, and tore his clothes. Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on (Genesis 37:29) answers the question readers have always wanted to a...
The oldest brother had a rough sort of vindication. Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on (Genesis 42:22) preserves Reuben's statement: "Did I not tell you, saying, Do not sin against the yout...
Reuben tried the one guarantee that could possibly move his father. Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on (Genesis 42:37) preserves the oath: "Slay my two sons with a curse if I do not bring h...
Reuben was supposed to inherit everything. As the firstborn of Jacob, three crowns rested on his head by right, bechorah (the birthright), kehunah (the priesthood), and malchut (th...
Jacob does not shame his firstborn without also showing him a door. Targum Pseudo-Jonathan opens (Genesis 49:4) with a startling image: "I will liken thee to a little garden in the...
In the middle of the Exodus narrative, the Torah pauses for a genealogy. Targum Pseudo-Jonathan preserves it with the ceremonial weight of a formal record: These are the heads of t...
Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on (Exodus 39:14) tells us something small and enormous at once. The twelve stones of the breastplate were engraved as the engraving of a ring, each tribe's ...
The book of Bamidbar Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Book of Numbers, explores Moses' burning desire to witness the vengeance against Midian before his deat...
It’s truly fascinating. In (Genesis 30:14), we read about Reuben, Jacob’s eldest son, finding dudaim (דּוּדָאִים) in the field. The verse states: "Reuben went during the days of wh...
The familiar story centers on Joseph and his coat of many colors, sold into slavery by his jealous brothers. But what about Reuben? What role did he play in this dramatic saga? (Ge...
The Torah portion of Vayigash gives us a glimpse into their complex relationship, and the Rabbis of the Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary), particularly in Bereshit Rabbah ...
Jewish tradition often interprets it allegorically, finding layers of meaning beneath the surface. And sometimes, those layers lead us to some truly fascinating places. Take this v...
In Vayikra Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic homilies on the Book of Leviticus, we find a fascinating discussion on how some biblical figures actively fought against their yetzer ha...
Reuben, thou art My firstborn, My might and the first fruits of My strength; the excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power. unstable as water, have not thou the excellency...
Another interpretation (of Lev. 27:2), “When anyone explicitly vows”: The nations say (in (Micah 6:6)-7), “With what shall I come before the Lord, bow myself before God on high, […...
(Numb. 31:1-2:) “Then the Lord spoke, ‘Exact vengeance for the Children of Israel [on the Midianites].” Let our master instruct us: How many sustained blasts (teqi'ot) does one blo...
Another interpretation (of Numb. 31:2:) “Exact vengeance for the Children of Israel.” This text is related (to Job 36:7), “He does not withdraw His eyes from a righteous person […]...
