1,629 related texts · Page 8 of 34
(Exodus 22:3) says: "If found will be found in his hand." The phrase "in his hand" seems to mean the stolen object was physically held by the thief. But the Mekhilta interprets "in...
(Exodus 22:7) "If the thief not be found": What is the intent of this? From "If the thief is found, he shall pay double," I understand that if the thief is found and he has (what t...
(Exodus 22:12) discusses an animal that is "torn by a wild beast" while in a guardian's care: "If it were torn, let him bring ed." But what does "ed" mean? Two rabbis disagreed. Ra...
The Torah draws a sharp legal distinction between someone who watches your property and someone who borrows it. In (Exodus 22:13), the verse states: "And if a man borrow from his n...
(Exodus 22:15) introduces the law of seduction: "And if a man entice a virgin." The Mekhilta explains why this verse is needed when the law of the rapist is already stated in (Deut...
(Exodus 22:18) "Whoever lies with a beast shall be put to death": What is the intent of this? It is written (Leviticus 20:15) "And a man who cohabits with a beast shall be put to d...
(Exodus 22:19) "One who sacrifices to idolatry shall be put to death": We have heard the punishment. Whence the exhortation? It is written (Exodus 20:5) "You shall not bow down to ...
(Exodus 22:26) "for it is his solitary covering": This is his cloak. "it is his garment for his skin"—this is his undergarment. "On what shall he lie?": to include his mat-skin. "a...
(Exodus 22:27) "Elokim you shall not curse": What is the intent of this? From (Leviticus 24:16) "One who utters blasphemously the name of the L–rd shall be put to death" we hear th...
(Exodus 22:30) "And men of holiness shall you be to me": R. Yishmael says: When you are holy, you are Mine. Issi b. Yehudah says: When the Holy One Blessed be He originates a mitzv...
(Exodus 23:3) commands: "Do not honor a poor man in his quarrel." The Mekhilta asks why this verse is needed when (Leviticus 19:15) already says: "You shall not favor a poor man an...
(Exodus 23:5) addresses the obligation to help an enemy's animal that is struggling under its burden: "If you see the donkey of your enemy lying under its burden." The Mekhilta par...
(Exodus 23:6) commands: "You shall not incline the judgment of your needy one in his quarrel." The Mekhilta asks why this verse is necessary when (Exodus 23:3) already says: "You s...
(Exodus 23:7) says: "And a clean one and a righteous one you shall not kill." The Mekhilta applies this to a specific judicial scenario involving imprecise testimony. Suppose one w...
(Exodus 23:10) commands: "Six years shall you sow your land." Rabbi Eliezer taught that this verse reveals two different agricultural realities, depending on Israel's spiritual sta...
The Jewish calendar is not purely lunar. It is lunisolar — adjusted periodically so that the festivals fall in their proper seasons. The Mekhilta traces this practice of calendar a...
(Exodus 23:16) refers to Shavuot (the Festival of Weeks)h as "the festival of the harvest, the first-fruits of your labor." The Mekhilta notes that this description appears within ...
(Exodus 23:18) "You shall not slaughter in the presence of chametz the blood of My sacrifice": You shall not slaughter the Pesach (Passover) offering while chametz is still present...
(Exodus 23:19) commands: "The first of the first-fruits of your land you shall bring to the house of the Lord your God." The Mekhilta asks what this verse adds to (Deuteronomy 26:2...
Issi ben Guria demonstrated that eating meat cooked in milk is forbidden through a verbal comparison between two passages. The word "holiness" appears in (Deuteronomy 14:21), where...
The Talmud records some of the most intimate prayers ever spoken—personal confessions the great Sages whispered after their formal prayers were complete. According to Berakhot 17a,...
Bar Haddaya, the dream interpreter who gave favorable readings to paying clients and devastating ones to non-payers, eventually paid for his corruption with his life. Berakhot 56b ...
The destruction of Jerusalem began with a dinner party. According to Gittin 55b, a man threw a banquet and sent his servant to invite his friend Kamtza. The servant brought Bar Kam...
After the destruction of the Temple, Nebuzaradan, captain of the Babylonian guard under Nebuchadnezzar, found blood bubbling up from the ground in Jerusalem. According to Gittin 57...
The death of Moses is the most devastating scene in the Torah—and the Talmud in Sotah 13b expands it into something almost unbearable. Moses pleaded with God not to let him die. He...
And David arose, and fled that day from before Saul: This is [the meaning of] the verse, He has made everything beautiful in its time (Ecclesiastes 3:11), everything that the Holy ...
"Blessed is the man who fears the Lord" (Psalm 112:1). The rabbis asked: what ultimately happens to him? And they landed on Ecclesiastes: "In the end, everything will be heard — fe...
"And the El Shaddai grant you mercy" (Genesis 43:14). Jacob is sending Benjamin to Egypt — his youngest, his only remaining connection to Rachel, the son he can least afford to los...
A psalm of Asaph opens this section of Aggadat Bereshit: "God has made Himself known in Judah; His name is great in Israel" (Psalm 76:2). And immediately the rabbis add the verse f...
God told Moses: "Do not speak to Me on this matter again" (Deuteronomy 3:26). The decree was final. But Moses argued anyway. Rabbi Abbahu offered a parable. A nobleman found a magn...
We often think of Adam as simply the first man, made of dust. But some ancient traditions paint a far more…celestial picture. A picture of Adam as an angel. Now, before you picture...
We often picture God directly shaping him from dust, but some fascinating traditions tell a slightly different story, involving heavenly helpers. The story goes that when the time ...
I'm talking about the Akedah, the binding of Isaac. We all know the story: Abraham, tested to the absolute limit, raises his knife to sacrifice his son Isaac. It's a scene that chi...
According to tradition, when the time came for Abraham to leave this world, God didn't send just any messenger. He summoned the Angel of Death himself. But God, in His infinite com...
Was Jacob, the patriarch, just an ordinary man? Tradition whispers secrets, suggesting his story is far grander than we might imagine. Some even say his true name was Israel, and t...
Can you imagine the fear, the uncertainty? There were no books, no doctors, no one to ask for advice. It was just her and Adam, facing the unknown. The text Penitence of Adam (20:3...
The Book of Ben Sira, a text brimming with ancient wisdom, tackles this very struggle head-on. It warns us, in no uncertain terms: "Fall not into the hand of thine appetite; That i...
The Book of Jubilees, a fascinating text from around the 2nd century BCE, speaks to that very feeling. It paints a picture of a future where the people stray from the path, and the...
The Book of Jubilees, a fascinating ancient text excluded from the standard biblical canon but considered scripture by some, speaks to this very human struggle. It offers a powerfu...
That's the scene set for us right at the beginning of Jubilees. God commands Moses, "Write down for thyself all these words which I declare unto thee on this mountain, the first an...
We tend to think of "nature" as this impersonal force, but Jewish tradition often sees things differently. It paints a picture of a vast, intricate cosmic bureaucracy, teeming with...
The Book of Jubilees, a fascinating text considered apocryphal by some but deeply important to others, delves into the details of how we're meant to observe sacred time. It's like ...
Let’s delve into a fascinating glimpse from the Book of Jubilees, a text that offers a unique perspective on early Jewish thought and law. It’s a perspective that sheds light on id...
The ancient texts grapple with this very human tendency, this slippery slope that can lead to societal breakdown. to the Book of Jubilees, a text that offers a fascinating, if some...
There’s this fascinating ancient text, the Book of Jubilees, a work that retells the stories of Genesis and Exodus but with a very particular slant. It’s not part of the Hebrew Bib...
The Book of Jubilees, an ancient Jewish text, gives us a glimpse. It’s like a backstage pass to some of the most pivotal moments in the Torah. Imagine the scene: Abraham is visited...
Hagar knew that feeling intimately. We find her story, or at least a piece of it, echoed in the Book of Jubilees, an ancient Jewish text that retells and expands upon stories from ...
We all know the story of Abraham and Isaac, but there are so many layers, so many whispers of other perspectives woven into that intense moment. Now, the Book of Jubilees is an anc...
