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The ancient sages grappled with that feeling too, and they left us some pretty intense imagery to describe it. Ecclesiastes, or Kohelet as it's known in Hebrew, is a book all about...
"A man from the house of Levi went and he took a daughter of Levi" (Exodus 2:1). Simple enough. But the Rabbis of the Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary), in Shemot Rabbah, ...
to a strange and intense little story from Shemot Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Book of Exodus. It revolves around Moses, the man destined to lead the Isr...
The story of the Exodus, as told in Shemot Rabbah, the compilation of rabbinic sermons on the Book of Exodus, gives us a fascinating glimpse into this idea, focusing on the final p...
Our story begins with the verse, "It was when Pharaoh let the people go..." (Exodus). But it's not just a simple statement. It's an invitation to reflect on the sheer audacity of G...
It wasn't just about finding the best route to the Promised Land. It was about timing. The Book of Shemot Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Book of Exodus, of...
And in Shemot Rabbah, a compilation of rabbinic commentary on the Book of Exodus, they offer a powerful, if somewhat unsettling, answer. The verse in question is God's instruction ...
Shemot Rabbah, the collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Book of Exodus, points this out explicitly. "Come and see," it urges, "how excellent this portion is!" What's so ex...
The text opens with a quote from Psalms: "Endow the king with Your justice, God…May he judge Your people with righteousness" (Psalms 72:1–2). Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi, a key figure in t...
And, well, the answer might surprise you. Rabbi Natan, in Shemot Rabbah, makes a pretty strong statement: justice is fitting for God precisely because He upholds it without showing...
And more importantly, there's a way out. The verse in Exodus (22:24) says, "If you lend money to My people, to the poor who is with you, you shall not be as a creditor to him; you ...
to a passage from Shemot Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Book of Exodus, and see how shockingly relevant it still is. We're talking about money, lending, an...
These questions bubble to the surface when we delve into a fascinating passage from Shemot Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretations of the Book of Exodus. It centers on a v...
It hinges on the verse, "Behold, I am sending an angel before you" (Exodus 23:20). But it doesn't stop there. It connects it beautifully with a passage from Psalms: "The angel of t...
It’s a question that's plagued philosophers and theologians for centuries, and it all starts, strangely enough, with a box. A very special box, mind you – the Ark of the Covenant. ...
We often imagine the scene: thunder, lightning, a mountain shrouded in smoke. But the ancient rabbis took it a step further, diving into the intimate, almost sensual, experience of...
Beautiful. But what does that imagery evoke? Shir HaShirim Rabbah, a Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary)ic collection (meaning a collection of interpretations and stories) f...
He paints a picture in Shir HaShirim Rabbah, the commentary on Song of Songs, that really resonated with me. Imagine a prince, see? He's been dreadfully ill. Finally, he recovers. ...
They saw echoes of that very struggle in the beautiful, often enigmatic, Song of Songs – Shir HaShirim in Hebrew. Specifically, they found a powerful metaphor in the verse, "For, b...
It turns out, our ancestors were asking these questions too. to a fascinating passage from Shir HaShirim Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretations of the Song of Songs. The ...
We often focus on the parting of the Red Sea, a miraculous escape. But what about the pain, the suffering, the sheer terror of those enslaved in Egypt? The Shir HaShirim Rabbah, a ...
to a passage from Shir HaShirim Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Song of Songs, that touches on this very idea. It centers around the verse, "the one who dwe...
The Torah starts the book of Leviticus—Vayikra in Hebrew—with just that kind of a call. "He called to Moses, and the Lord spoke to him from the Tent of Meeting, saying…" (Leviticus...
Vayikra Rabbah, a fascinating collection of rabbinic teachings on the Book of Leviticus, offers a profound and surprisingly intimate perspective. The text tells us that "adam" isn'...
Yes, you read that right. A cattle prod. Believe it or not, the ancient rabbis found deep spiritual meaning even in the mundane tools of everyday life. In Vayikra Rabbah, a collect...
The verse we’re exploring today comes from Vayikra Rabbah 34, which is part of the larger collection of Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary)im that interpret the Book of Levi...
“She has become like a widow.” Rabbi Abba bar Kahana said: They did not go to extremes vis-à-vis the attribute of justice, and the attribute of justice did not go to extremes in th...
“Judah was exiled due to affliction and great enslavement. She settled among the nations, did not find rest; all her pursuers have overtaken her within the straits” (Lamentations 1...
“And great enslavement,” Rabbi Aḥa said: Because they would keep the Hebrew slave in servitude, just as it says: “At the end of seven years [each of] you shall free [his Hebrew bro...
“Our inheritance has been turned over to strangers, our houses to foreigners” (Lamentations 5:2).“Our inheritance has been turned over to strangers.” What type of turning? It is “l...
“For Mount Zion, which is desolate; foxes walk on it” (Lamentations 5:18).“For Mount Zion, which is desolate.” It happened that Rabban Gamliel, Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya, Rabbi Yehos...
The Jerusalem Talmud, specifically in the tractate Shabbat, recounts a rather bold statement. The sages, or Chazal, tell us about someone who, upon witnessing the beauty of somethi...
Ever stumble upon something that seems contradictory, something that makes you scratch your head and wonder, "Wait, did I miss something?" That’s exactly the kind of question someo...
The ancient sages wrestled with this feeling too. And in a fascinating passage attributed to Philo of Alexandria, a Jewish philosopher who lived in the first century CE, we find a ...
Take Hagar, for example. Poor Hagar. A handmaiden, caught in the middle of Sarah and Abraham's struggle to have a child. She runs away into the desert, desperate and alone. And the...
The verse in question, from (Genesis 16:10), has an angel speaking to Hagar, Sarah's handmaid, who is pregnant with Abraham's child, Ishmael. The angel says, "I will multiply thy s...
Like there's someone... or something... watching over you? Well, Jewish tradition has a fascinating answer for that feeling: guardian angels. But these aren't the cherubic, winged ...
Jewish tradition grapples with this feeling too, often through stories of angels – beings of immense power, but always, always subservient to God. What does it mean to say somethin...
I am the Lord thy God (Exod. 20:1). May it please our master to teach us: If a fire breaks out in a house in which there is a scroll of the Torah and other books, may their owner s...
21:1). Scripture says elsewhere: The king by justice establisheth the land, but the man who sets himself apart (terumah)1The word terumah means “something set aside,” as with the p...
21:1). Scripture says elsewhere in reference to this verse: He declareth His word unto Jacob … He hath not dealt so with any nation (Ps. 147:19–20). Aquila the convert, Hadrian’s n...
A question: An Israelite involved in a litigation with his neighbor, is prohibited from going to a heathen judge for judgment,4See Rashi on the beginning of Exod. 21:1 and above Ta...
It has been taught: thou shalt not hate thy brother in thy heart (Lev. 19:17). You might say that this means you must not strike him or curse him. However, since Scripture says in ...
If thou lend money to any of my people (Exod. 22:24). Scripture says elsewhere in reference to this verse: There is a grievous evil which I have seen under the sun, namely riches k...
The two different items that were pledged—habol tahbol.22Though Exod. 22:25 speaks only of night garments, the repetition of the word haval (havol tahbol) indicates that two differ...
If thou lend money to any of My people (Exod. 22:24). The prophet Jeremiah said: Refuse silver shall men call them (Jer. 6:30). You find that when Israel was exiled from Jerusalem,...
If thou lend money to any of my people (Exod. 22:24). Scripture states elsewhere in reference to this verse: Well is it with the man that dealeth graciously and lendeth, that order...
If thou lend money to any of My people (Exod. 22:24). R. Tanhuma began the discussion with the verse: He that is gracious unto the poor lendeth unto the Lord … He will repay unto H...
