1,629 related texts · Page 16 of 34
Rabbi Jehuda ben Hanina was traveling through Rome when he saw something that stopped him in his tracks. In the slave market — that brutal engine of the Roman economy where human b...
A young Torah scholar died in the prime of his life, and his widow was inconsolable. He had been pious, devoted, careful in his observance of every commandment. Why would God take ...
A Greek bought a young Jewish girl as a slave. He brought her up in his house. When she grew up, the Master of Dreams ordered him to send her away,. Threatened with death in case o...
Rabbi Ishmael ben Elisha was captured as a child during the destruction of Jerusalem. He was sold into slavery, separated from his family, and taken far from the Land of Israel. Hi...
When a slave belonging to Rabban Gamliel died, the sage's students came to offer condolences, as was the custom when a member of a household passed away. But Rabban Gamliel refused...
A young Jewish girl was sold into slavery to a Greek master. She was small and frightened, torn from her family, and carried to a foreign house where strange gods stood in every co...
The story of Solomon and the boiled egg appears in multiple collections, each version adding new details to the king's legendary wisdom. In this telling, drawn from German and Jewi...
The Angel of Death came to an inn — and found the innkeeper so stingy, so devoid of charity, that even the angel was disgusted. The story, preserved in medieval Jewish ethical coll...
Elijah, Slave & Builder. Yalk. Reubeni, Gen. f. 9b. Eliah Cohen, Meil Se- daka, § 568. Farhi, O. P. I, f. 28. Sef. Hamaasiyot, ed. Araki Cohen, ch. 104. Eisenstein, Oser, p. 325. Y...
Widow Comforted. Berahya, No. 80. Maase Buch No. 108. Helvicus, Historien, II, ch. 33, p. 104. Steinschneider, Hebr. Bibl. XIII, p. 77 ff. Steinschneider, ZDMG, 27, P- 563* Griinba...
Angelology constitutes the theological branch examining "superhuman beings dwelling in heaven, who, on occasion, reveal to man God's will and execute His commands." This doctrine d...
After the conquest of Canaan, God deliberately left certain nations in the land — not because He couldn't remove them, but to test Israel (Judges 3:1-2). The rabbis found this prac...
Twenty generations passed between Adam and Abraham without old age being mentioned once. Not because people didn't age — but because no one had earned the particular beauty of visi...
The story goes that before disaster struck, the prophet Jeremiah pleaded with the people to turn away from their wrongdoings, to repent (do teshuva) so they could avoid exile. But ...
Sounds simple enough. But there’s so much more packed into that little phrase than meets the eye. It’s all about beauty, acceptance, and, ultimately, our relationship with the Divi...
Bamidbar Rabbah (5) dives deep into this, using the verse "Do not rob the impoverished as he is impoverished..." (Proverbs 22:22) as a springboard for profound ethical reflection. ...
It wasn't just about slapping some tent poles together, you know. It was a meticulously orchestrated operation, each family of Levites having a specific, divinely appointed task. t...
to a fascinating passage from Bamidbar Rabbah 9, a midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary), or interpretation, on the Book of Numbers. This passage grapples with the laws surrou...
This passage in Bamidbar Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic teachings on the Book of Numbers, dives deep into the laws surrounding the nazir (or nazirite) – an individual who takes a...
The verse tells us, "God's wrath was enflamed because he was going, and the angel of the Lord stood on the way as an impediment to him, and he was riding on his donkey, and his two...
The story of Pinḥas (Phineas) in the book of Numbers is a wild ride, a tale of zealotry, divine intervention, and a whole lot of questions about what's right and wrong. The scene i...
It's like the whole thing is one giant, intricate tapestry. Take the creation of light, for example. The very first "Let there be light!" in Genesis. Rabbi Simon, in Bereshit Rabba...
The story goes that when the Holy One, Barukh Hu (blessed be He), decided to create Adam, the first human, it wasn't exactly a unanimous decision up in the heavenly realms. Rabbi S...
According to Rabbi Hoshaya, they almost made a pretty big faux pas! The story goes like this. When the Holy One, blessed be He, created Adam, the ministering angels were... well, a...
According to Bereshit Rabbah 20, a collection of rabbinic homilies on the Book of Genesis, this wasn't just a symbolic statement. The text paints a dramatic picture: When God, bles...
That's where our story begins, drawn from the ancient wisdom of Bereshit Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretations of the Book of Genesis. "The angel of the Lord found her i...
The verse in question? "He said: I will return to you at this time next year and, behold, a son for Sarah your wife. And Sarah was listening at the entrance of the tent, and it was...
Seriously, imagine beings of pure light and energy, tasked with divine missions. Do they zip around at the speed of light? Or do they… well, dawdle a bit? Our story begins, as so m...
It’s a question that the ancient rabbis grappled with, and their answers are, well, The Book of Job (23:13) gives us a starting point: "He acts through one, and who can respond to ...
The Torah, in its infinite wisdom, gives us a glimpse into this very idea through the contrasting actions of Abraham and Lot. We find ourselves in Genesis chapter 19, where Lot enc...
It’s not just about retribution, but about a deeper kind of fittingness. We see this principle vividly illustrated in the story of Sodom, particularly in the events surrounding Lot...
The story revolves around the destruction of Sodom, a city known for its wickedness. Lot, Abraham's nephew, is being led to safety, and the angel says to him, "Hurry; escape there,...
We know, of course, the story of creation: six days of incredible activity, culminating in rest. But what about after that? What occupies the divine attention now? Well, according ...
The Torah tells us, "Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God encountered him" (Genesis 32:2). Simple enough. But the Rabbis, never content with the surface level, dive deep in...
The text opens with a discussion about "messengers" (malakhim). Were they ordinary people, or something more? Some Rabbis suggest they were actual angels! It blurs the lines betwee...
We pick up the story in (Genesis 32:4), where it says: "Jacob sent messengers." But before we get to that, (Genesis 32:3) tells us something crucial: "Jacob said, when he saw them:...
The story of Jacob wrestling with an angel, found in Genesis 32, is one of the most enigmatic and powerful scenes in the Torah. But what was really going on that night by the river...
Rabbi Ḥama ben Rabbi Ḥanina suggests that Jacob wasn't wrestling just anyone; he was battling Esau’s guardian angel! Remember when Jacob says, "For therefore I have seen your face,...
It’s the story of Jacob, our patriarch, and it's a story that the rabbis in Bereshit Rabbah, that great collection of Genesis interpretations, unpack with fascinating detail. We al...
It all starts with Jacob, that famous figure from the Book of Genesis. Remember when Jacob wrestles with a mysterious figure all night long? After this epic struggle, Jacob asks hi...
The story of Joseph, sold into slavery, gives us a dramatic answer. "The Medanites sold him to Egypt, to Potifar, an official of Pharaoh, the chief executioner" (Genesis 37:36). Bu...
After years of slavery in Egypt, orchestrated by his own brothers’ jealousy, Joseph rose to become second-in-command to Pharaoh. When famine struck, who should come begging for foo...
(Deuteronomy 1:10) states, "The Lord your God has multiplied you, and, behold, you are today as the stars [of the heavens in abundance larov]." Seems straightforward. God has made ...
The text opens with a quote from Deuteronomy, saying God is "near it." But who is "it"? The verse itself speaks of a nation that has God near to it. Devarim Rabbah, in its characte...
But have you ever considered how God treats us? Devarim Rabbah, a collection of homilies on the Book of Deuteronomy, offers a powerful contrast. It says, "That has God near it." If...
The passage centers on the most core of Jewish declarations: “Shema Yisrael, Adonai Eloheinu, Adonai Echad” – "Hear, O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One" (Deuteronomy 6:...
The story begins with Moses, our great leader, ascending to the heavens. Imagine the scene: clouds parting, a divine ladder stretching upwards, and Moses, step by step, approaching...
Day follows night, the seasons turn, the land stays put, the sea stays… well, you get the idea. But what if I told you that this order, seemingly immutable, has actually been bent ...
