2,273 related texts · Page 29 of 48
The Mekhilta reads (Exodus 15:8) — "And with the breath of Your nostrils, the waters ne'ermu" — as another demonstration of God's measure-for-measure justice. The Hebrew word "ne'e...
"The foe said, etc.": How did Israel know what Pharaoh thought of them in Egypt? The Holy Spirit reposed upon them and they knew it. Pharaoh said: It really does not befit us to pu...
The Mekhilta preserves a disturbing alternative reading of Pharaoh's boast. "Others say: It is not written 'I will draw my sword,' but 'I will empty my sword.'" The shift from "dra...
Re those who said: Let us kill them and take their money—"My hand shall impoverish them." With five things (i.e., utterances) did Pharaoh stand and blaspheme in the midst of the la...
You inclined Your right hand—the earth swallowed them up." An analogy: A renegade stands and blasphemes behind the king's palace: If I find the king's son, I will seize him and sla...
Israel was not the only nation that broke into song at the Red Sea. According to the Mekhilta, all the peoples of the world joined in. The destruction of Pharaoh and his army sent ...
"All of the illness which I placed in Egypt I will not place upon you" — God promised the Israelites immunity from the plagues that devastated their former oppressors. But then the...
Rabbi Yitzchak posed a deceptively simple question about one of the most famous promises in the Torah. In (Exodus 15:26), God tells the Israelites that if they follow His commandme...
Before Moses died, God showed him the future of every tribe of Israel, a panoramic vision of the land and its leaders stretching across generations. The Mekhilta asks: how do we kn...
R. Elazar says: after she parted from him with a ma'amar (i.e., by word of mouth). For when the L–rd said to Moses: Go and take My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt, viz...
When Pharaoh sent soldiers to hunt down Moses after the slaying of the Egyptian taskmaster, God intervened in a way no one expected. Rather than striking the pursuers dead or sendi...
R. Pappis made a statement about Yithro's blessing that was, in his reading, deeply unflattering to Israel. When Yithro arrived at the Israelite camp and heard what God had done, h...
"I am the L–rd your G–d who took you out of the land of Egypt." What is the intent of this? Because He appeared at the Red Sea as a hero waging war, viz. (Exodus 15:3) "The L–rd is...
The Israelites stood at the edge of the sea, the Egyptian army bearing down behind them, and terror gripped the camp. Hundreds of thousands of men, women, and children, freshly lib...
It's more than just a historical event; it’s a foundational myth, packed with layers of meaning. But what if I told you the pain, the suffering, the sheer brutality of the Egyptian...
The ancient rabbis felt that way too. And they wrestled with that feeling in their interpretations of the Psalms, particularly in Midrash Tehillim, a collection of homiletic interp...
Today's story from Midrash Tehillim, a collection of rabbinic interpretations of the Book of Psalms, is all about how seemingly small acts of courage and confession can have enormo...
We’re diving into some fascinating details from Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer, specifically chapter 36, a text brimming with tantalizing tidbits. Rabbi Eliezer paints a vivid picture of J...
The story of Simeon and Levi, found in Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer 38, explores just that kind of fiery zeal. It all starts with the violation of their sister, Dinah, by Shechem. The te...
God is calling to Moses from the burning bush. A pretty dramatic way to get someone's attention. And what's the message? "Go to Pharaoh and bring my people out of Egypt!" (Exodus 3...
Jewish tradition, in its infinite wisdom, offers a resounding "No!" Let's talk about Manasseh, son of Hezekiah, King of Judah. This isn't your average "sinned a little" kind of guy...
The Jewish tradition wrestles with this question all the time, especially through the concept of teshuvah (repentance) – repentance, return. And there's a powerful story in Pirkei ...
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 ...
That's kind of what went down between Moses and the Egyptian magicians, according to Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer, a fascinating early medieval text that delves into biblical narratives....
Not just any hand, mind you, but the hand of the Holy One, blessed be He. Rabbi Ishmael, in Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer (Chapter 48), unveils a fascinating idea: each finger on God's ri...
What would it look like? What would it feel like? The ancient sages, wrestling with these questions, painted a vivid picture, one brimming with hope, justice, and a touch of the mi...
She relentlessly pursued him, but he resisted. But the Yalkut Shimoni, that incredible compilation of Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary)ic interpretations, gives us a glimp...
The Yalkut Shimoni, a vast collection of rabbinic commentary on the Hebrew Bible, compiled sometime in the 13th century, hints at just such a thing. Specifically, the commentary on...
Those are tefillin, also known as phylacteries. They’re deeply meaningful, filled with ancient texts, and the way we put them on is steeped in tradition. But have you ever stopped ...
The book of Sifrei Devarim, a collection of legal interpretations on the book of Deuteronomy, presents us with a bit of a puzzle. We're talking about the place where the Temple in ...
to a fascinating passage from Sifrei Devarim, a collection of legal commentaries on the Book of Deuteronomy, that wrestles with this very issue. The text begins by discussing "a dr...
Because "you were a stranger in his land." It sounds simple enough, but Rabbi Elazar ben Azaryah digs deeper. The Egyptians, let's be real, weren’t exactly acting out of pure altru...
Today, let's talk about forgotten harvests, generosity, and oddly specific measurements. We're diving into Sifrei Devarim, a collection of legal interpretations tied to the Book of...
Well, according to the Sifrei Devarim, a collection of ancient legal interpretations on the Book of Deuteronomy, each phrase points to a specific manifestation of God's power. Let'...
It’s a question that’s plagued humanity for millennia. And, believe it or not, our ancient texts wrestle with it too. Take, for example, this fascinating little passage from Sifrei...
The ancient text Sifrei Devarim (Deuteronomy) wrestles with just that idea in a beautiful, almost poetic way. It's talking about the tribe of Benjamin, and specifically, about the ...
And, surprisingly, it's a concept we find echoed even in the most sacred of texts when describing the relationship between God and the tribes of Israel. Sifrei Devarim 352 paints u...
R. JOSE SAID: HE WHO HONOURS THE TORAH IS HIMSELF HONOURED BY MANKIND, as it is stated, For them that honour Me I will honour, and they that despise Me shall be lightly esteemed.11...
The story of Dinah in Genesis 34 is already one of the most violent chapters in the Torah. The Targum Jonathan, the ancient Aramaic translation, does not soften it. Instead, it sha...
The Torah describes Jacob's burial as a solemn procession to Canaan. Targum Jonathan turns it into an epic confrontation complete with a golden deathbed, a eulogy comparing Jacob t...
The Passover story everyone knows has God striking down the Egyptian firstborn. The Targum Jonathan's version of (Exodus 12) is almost unrecognizably more detailed, packed with num...
Leviticus 24 tells the story of a man who blasphemed God's Name and was stoned. The Targum Jonathan turns this brief account into a full courtroom drama with backstory, legal philo...
The final chapter of Numbers in the Targum's version (Numbers 36) resolves a legal crisis that the daughters of Zelophehad had inadvertently created. The heads of the clan of Gilea...
"So the Egyptians enslaved the children of Israel with back breaking labor [b'farech]" (Ex. 1:13). R. Elazar says, "B'pe rach—with a soft mouth." R. Shmuel says, "B'frichah—With ri...
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 Talmud's dream encyclopedia in Berakhot 57b extends far beyond animals and actions. It maps the entire biblical library onto the landscape of sleep. Rabbi Yohanan taught that i...
When Israel went out of Egypt, Moses said: ‘and God delivered Israel that day’ (Exodus 14:30); and when Israel went out of Jerusalem Jeremiah said: ‘God has put me into the hands o...
When Israel went out of Egypt, Moses said ‘Judah became His -holy one, Israel, His dominion’ (Psalms 114:2); and when Israel went out of Jerusalem, Jeremiah said ‘“Away! Unclean!” ...
