2,682 related texts · 19 related myths · Page 54 of 56
(Exodus 22:20) commands: "And a stranger you shall not afflict and you shall not oppress him." The Mekhilta identifies two distinct prohibitions within this verse. "You shall not a...
(Exodus 22:28) "Your fullness and your dema (terumah) you shall not delay": "Your fullness", bikkurim (first-fruits, which are taken from fully ripened grain). "you shall not delay...
The story of King Solomon and the Daughter of Pharaoh, as told in Midrash Mishlei, is a potent reminder. It's a tale of celebration, misdirection, and a temple almost lost. Rabbi I...
The ancient rabbis certainly understood that feeling. They saw it mirrored in the story of the Exodus, in the dramatic moment when the Israelites crossed the Red Sea and the pursui...
The sages of old wrestled with this very idea – the idea of being tested by God. And they found solace and guidance in the stories of our ancestors. Midrash Tehillim, a collection ...
The ancient rabbis felt that way too, and they found profound meaning in even that experience. They asked: how do we find God, even when we're being humbled? The Midrash Tehillim, ...
Midrash Tehillim, a collection of interpretations on the Book of Psalms, points us to King David as the ultimate example of repentance, of teshuvah (repentance). It says, "Many wil...
Midrash Tehillim turns to What Moses and Daniel Saw of the World to Come. Midrash Tehillim, a collection of interpretations on the Book of Psalms, offers one such glimpse. It paint...
The Midrash Tehillim, a collection of homiletic interpretations on the Book of Psalms, gives us some pretty wild and wonderful glimpses into that future. It all starts with a frust...
Midrash Tehillim (a collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Book of Psalms) poses a seemingly simple question about the opening of Psalm 90, traditionally ascribed to Moses: ...
Midrash Tehillim, a collection of homiletic interpretations on the Book of Psalms, gives us a list of ten things that are dear to the Holy One. And you might be surprised by what m...
One that echoes even in the ancient words of Midrash Tehillim, a collection of rabbinic commentaries on the Book of Psalms. Specifically, The verse This isn't just a passive acknow...
They found fascinating ways to resolve those tensions within the sacred texts. Take, for instance, the perplexing case of Amalek. Who was Amalek? A biblical nation known for its un...
They're…complicated, to say the least. Cain and Abel, Ishmael and Isaac, Esau and Jacob, Joseph and his brothers. So, when the Song of Songs (8:1) says, "If only you were like my b...
Elijah fled persecution and found more than shelter. In the silence, he found the next shape of his mission. Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer, a fascinating work of Jewish literature, explor...
Our story today circles around the Akeidah, the Binding of Isaac, a pivotal moment in Jewish tradition. Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer, a fascinating early medieval text filled with aggadi...
Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer turns to The Dark History of Shechem from Adam to Jacob. The Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer asks: who is this serpent? The text startlingly equates the serpent with ...
The familiar story is this: jealous brothers, a colorful coat, a treacherous sale. But sometimes, the details we gloss over hold the most fascinating secrets. to one particular ver...
The scene: Jacob is on his deathbed. He summons his beloved son, Joseph. This isn't just a goodbye; it's a moment of profound importance. Jacob says, "O my son! Swear to me by the ...
Yeah, the Israelites knew that feeling all too well. We find ourselves in the Book of Exodus, chapter 17. The Israelites have escaped Egypt, they’ve crossed the Red Sea, and they’r...
In Jewish tradition, there's one enemy that embodies that more than any other: Amalek. The familiar story centers on the Exodus. The Israelites, fresh out of slavery in Egypt, wand...
The divine is often remembered as existing outside of time, but Jewish tradition sometimes paints a different picture – one where even divine plans have a schedule, albeit a flexib...
Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer turns to Esther — Haman and the Angels. It all starts with Zeresh, Haman's wife, and his astrologers. They recognize a looming threat. "Haven't you heard wha...
Our Sages noticed it too. They saw these juxtapositions as opportunities. Opportunities to dig deeper and find hidden connections. " (Bamidbar 25:1). Now, the text points out that ...
You're not alone. Turns out, this is a tale as old as time, or at least as old as the Israelites wandering in the desert. We find ourselves in the Book of Devarim, Deuteronomy (1:2...
Sifrei Devarim notices one missing name in David's army list and turns that absence into a moral question about Asahel. Take the story in II (Samuel 2:30): "And there were lacking ...
Sifrei Devarim turns to Pesach at the Dawn of Creation. It doesn’t stop there. The next phrase, "in the standing corn," adds another layer. All the grain designated for the Omer ha...
The verse in question deals with the descendants of Egyptians entering "the congregation of the L-rd" – meaning, marrying into the Jewish community. (Deuteronomy 23:8) states that ...
Sifrei Devarim turns to Moses and Creation of Joel. The Sifrei Devarim, a collection of early Jewish legal interpretations on the Book of Deuteronomy, offers a fascinating explanat...
Check out this little head-scratcher from Sifrei Devarim, a collection of legal interpretations on the Book of Deuteronomy. It revolves around Reuven, Jacob's eldest son, and a som...
Sifrei Devarim turns to Where Rachel Died - The Mystery of Efrat and Bethlehem. The Torah tells us (Genesis 48:7) that Jacob, looking back on his journey, says, "for when I came fr...
When Esau and Jacob finally reunited after twenty years of separation, the Bible says Esau ran to his brother, embraced him, kissed him, and they wept (Genesis 33:4). It sounds lik...
The Torah tells us that Moses was born, hidden, found by Pharaoh's daughter, and eventually fled to Midian. Targum Jonathan fills in the gaps with miracles, secret identities, and ...
The plague of hail in Exodus chapter 9 comes with a warning: anyone who fears God's word should bring their livestock inside. The Hebrew Bible says some of Pharaoh's servants feare...
The Song of the Sea in (Exodus 15) is one of the oldest poems in the Hebrew Bible. The Targum Jonathan rewrites it with additions so bold they create entirely new theology, includi...
[What about all] the praise of Joseph, who exceeded in the honor of his father? And yet he did not enter into him all the time, such that were it not that they came to tell him, "Y...
When Moses was born, the entire house filled with light. According to Sotah 12a, his mother Yocheved saw immediately that he was special, the Torah's phrase "she saw that he was go...
The Hebrew Bible says God will "pass through" Egypt on the night of the Passover (Exodus 12:12). Targum Onkelos changes this to God will "become revealed in" Egypt. God does not tr...
"I am God, your Lord, Who brought you out of the land of Egypt" (Exodus 20:2). Targum Onkelos translates the Ten Commandments with almost no deviation from the Hebrew, a remarkable...
The Hebrew Bible says the people told Aaron: "Make us gods that will lead us, for this Moses, we do not know what happened to him" (Exodus 32:1). Targum Onkelos translates this wit...
IV. 4. A man called Joseph Mokir Shabba (“honourer of the Sabbath") lived next to a rich Parsee. The latter was told that all his property would go to Joseph. He, therefore, sold a...
When Alexander the Great conquered the known world, he did not merely defeat armies, he rearranged the claims of nations. The Talmud (Sanhedrin 91a) records that after his conquest...
God looked down at the world before the flood and saw something He hadn't seen since the days of Adam, a civilization that had talked itself into impunity. The wicked had done the ...
"Behold, God will not cast away the perfect, neither will He uphold the evildoers" (Job 8:20). God visited Sarah and she conceived (Genesis 21:1), after decades of barrenness, afte...
Hannah vowed at Shiloh, if God gives her a son, she will give him back (1 Samuel 1:11). Rabbi Berachiah used this verse to address four theological objections that people raise aga...
"In all their affliction, He was not afflicted" (Isaiah 63:9). The midrash reads this as conditional: if Israel does the will of God in their troubles, then He is afflicted with th...
"Listen to Me, O Jacob, Israel, whom I have called: I am He, I am the first, and I am the last as well" (Isaiah 48:12). God speaks with the full weight of eternity, before everythi...
Bamidbar Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic teachings on the Book of Numbers, dives deep into the prophet Amos's rebuke of those who are "tranquil in Zion" (Amos 6:1). Who are these ...
