1,629 related texts · Page 1 of 34
The rabbis once overruled God—and God laughed. According to Bava Metzia 59b, the incident began with an argument about an oven. Rabbi Eliezer declared a certain oven ritually pure....
(Exodus 23:14) commands: "Three festivals shall you celebrate for Me in the year." The Mekhilta asks why this verse is needed when (Exodus 23:17) already says "Three times shall ev...
(Exodus 21:29) introduces the mued — the habitual goring ox: "And if it were a goring ox." The Mekhilta explains that this verse exists to draw clear distinctions between the tam (...
(Exodus 22:21) commands: "Every widow and orphan you shall not afflict." The Mekhilta immediately pushes beyond the literal categories. This verse mentions only widows and orphans....
Jewish tradition is full of these echoes, these connections, if we only know where to listen. Take the phrase, "to the stranger, to the orphan, and to the widow." It appears in Sif...
Rabbi Yishmael noticed something crucial in the opening words of the Torah's civil law code (Exodus 21:1): "And these are the judgments." The key word is "and"—in Hebrew, the conju...
The Torah states: "And if an ox gore a man or a woman and they die, the ox shall surely be stoned" (Exodus 21:28). The Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael asks: why does the Torah need this ...
(Exodus 21:37) introduces the severe penalty for livestock theft: "If a man steal an ox or a lamb and slaughter it or sell it, he shall pay five oxen for the ox and four sheep for ...
(Exodus 22:29) commands: "Thus shall you do with your ox" — referring to the first-born of animals. The Mekhilta draws a comparison between the first-born of animals and the first-...
We're talking about a figure so powerful that, according to some, it was this angel who brought everything into existence. Think of it: this angel created not just the physical wor...
Adam was created in twelve hours. According to Sanhedrin 38b, Rabbi Yohanan bar Hanina mapped each hour of the first man's first day onto a specific stage of formation. In the firs...
There's more to it than you might imagine, especially when we peek into the ancient Jewish agricultural laws. to a fascinating little verse from Devarim, Deuteronomy, specifically ...
The Mekhilta addresses the legal status of a Hebrew maid-servant in relation to the laws of bodily injury. The general rule in Torah law is that a servant who loses an "organ promi...
When the voice stopped speaking, Abraham looked in every direction. No one. No breath of a man anywhere. His spirit was seized with terror. His soul fled from him. He became like a...
Rabbi Nachman of Breslov taught that the pursuit of honor is a spiritual trap, and the only escape is through silence in the face of humiliation. When a person chases honor, they n...
"And if an ox gore" — the Torah mentions only an ox. But what about other animals? If a donkey kicks someone, or a camel bites, do the same laws apply? The Mekhilta says yes, and d...
(Exodus 21:28) states: "The ox shall be stoned and its flesh shall not be eaten." The Mekhilta asks: why is the prohibition against eating the flesh necessary? If the ox has been s...
Shimon ben Azzai interpreted the phrase "and the owner of the ox is absolved" (Exodus 21:28) as absolution from paying half-kofer — half of the ransom payment owed when an ox kills...
(Exodus 21:32) addresses the case of an ox that gores a bondservant: "If the ox gore a man-servant or a maid-servant." The Mekhilta explains that bondservants were already included...
(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...
Beloved are the strangers — the converts to Judaism. The Mekhilta emphasizes how many times the Torah exhorts Israel to treat them well. "And a stranger you shall not afflict" (Exo...
(Exodus 23:4) commands: "If you encounter the ox of your foe, or his donkey, straying, return shall you return it to him." The Mekhilta asks: does "encounter" mean literal physical...
When Moses ascended to heaven to receive the Torah, the angels were furious. According to Shabbat 88b, they confronted God directly: "What is a human being doing among us?" God tol...
And what about the power of words, the weight of oaths, and the ripple effect of our actions, intended or not? The ancient rabbis wrestled with these questions, and their insights,...
According to Rabbi Elazar, it's justice. That’s why, as Shemot Rabbah tells us, God gave us laws after the Ten Commandments. If justice is perverted, everything crumbles. God, in h...
They walked together for forty days and forty nights. Abraham ate no bread and drank no water. His food was the sight of the angel beside him. His drink was Iaoel's speech. This wa...
The Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael examines the Shabbat (the Sabbath) commandment's reference to "your man-servant and your maid-servant," asking a pointed question: which servants does...
(Exodus 21:20) introduces the law of a master who strikes his bondservant: "And if a man strike his man-servant or his maid-servant." The Mekhilta explains why this verse is necess...
The Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael records a teaching by Rabbi Yishmael on the laws governing an unpaid bailee who is entrusted with livestock. The verse states: "If a man give to his n...
The Torah says, "Six days shall you do your work" (Exodus 23:12), a commandment to labor for six days and rest on the seventh, the Shabbat (the Sabbath). But the Mekhilta noticed s...
The Torah addresses the case of a thief who cannot repay what he stole. (Exodus 22:3) states: "If he lacks it, he is to be sold for his theft." The thief, unable to make restitutio...
This is one of the greatest trickster stories in all of Jewish literature. According to the Alphabet of Ben Sira, composed between 700 and 1000 CE, every land animal has a correspo...
(21:35) "And if the ox of a man butt": Included in "goring" is butting, pushing, lying upon, kicking, and biting. These are the words of R. Yoshiyah. Abba Channan says in the name ...
"and your wives will be widows, and your children, orphans": From "and I shall kill you by the sword," do I not know that your wives will be widows, and your children, orphans? Why...
It might seem obvious – they're in need of help! But the Rabbis, those masters of interpretation, saw something deeper at play. Consider the verse in Exodus (22:21): "You shall not...
The story begins with God convening His celestial court, His "family" of angels. He's about to make a case, and He wants their input. As we learn in Legends of the Jews, God addres...
Joseph's sale into slavery is one of the most dramatic episodes in Genesis. But the Targum Jonathan adds details that the Hebrew original never mentions, turning a family tragedy i...
The Torah, and the Rabbis, have some thoughts on that. to a fascinating little piece from Bereshit Rabbah 84, a midrash (exegetical interpretation) on the Book of Genesis. It all c...
(Exodus 21:31) "Or if it gore a son, or it gore a daughter": Why is this stated? (Ibid. 29) "and it kill a man or a woman" tells me only of adults. Whence do I derive (the same for...
(Exodus 22:24) begins: "Im you lend money to My people." The word "im" typically means "if" — suggesting optionality. But Rabbi Yishmael taught that this is one of the rare cases w...
The Torah uses a peculiar phrase in (Exodus 22:25): "Im chavol tachbol" — literally, "if you bundle, you shall bundle." The verse appears in the context of laws about taking a garm...
Moses stood on Mount Sinai wrapped in cloud for six days before God spoke a single word to him. Why the silence? Rabbi Jose the Galilean said it was purification — six days to burn...
When a lion roars, every animal in the forest freezes. Even the ones who have never been hunted. Even the ones too far away to be prey. The sound itself is the message: there is so...
Rebbi — the title given to Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi, the compiler of the Mishnah (the earliest code of rabbinic law) — examines a case in the Torah's laws of damages involving two oxen...
You don't even notice. A poor person finds it, uses it to buy food, and sustains themselves. Did you just perform an act of charity? That's precisely the scenario that Rabbi Elazar...
Our story begins not just at the beginning of time, but with the very blueprint for it. We’re talking about the Book of Jubilees, a text that, while not part of the canonical Hebre...
The Book of Jubilees, also sometimes called Lesser Genesis, is considered apocryphal by many Jews and Protestants, but canonical in Ethiopian and Eritrean Orthodox Christianity. Ap...
We all know the story of their destruction, but the Book of Jasher, a non-canonical Jewish text that elaborates on stories from the Hebrew Bible, really paints a vivid picture. Cha...
