839 related texts · Page 15 of 18
Jewish tradition wrestles with this feeling, especially when considering our relationship with the Divine. : how can one person chase away a thousand? It sounds impossible. Well, S...
The ancient rabbis certainly did. And they found echoes of this very human experience woven deep within the words of the Torah itself. Take the verse, "I put to death and I bring t...
Is it just for a select few, a royal inheritance? Or is it for everyone? Sifrei Devarim, a fascinating commentary on the Book of Deuteronomy, tackles this head-on. It begins by que...
SHEMAIAH AND ABṬALYON RECEIVED THE TRADITION FROM THE PRECEDING. SHEMAIAH SAID: LOVE WORK AND HATE PUBLIC OFFICE, AND BECOME NOT KNOWN TO THE RULING POWER.LOVE WORK. What does this...
‘Aḳabya b. Mahalalel said: Whosoever takes four things to heart1Cf. Aboth 3:1 (Sonc. ed., p. 26) where the more popular version reads: ‘Consider three things’, etc., omitting the t...
When God blessed Abraham in (Genesis 12:3), the Hebrew says simply: "I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse." A universal promise. But the ancient Ar...
When Joseph's brothers return to Egypt with Benjamin in Genesis 43, the Hebrew text describes a tense meal. Targum Jonathan transforms it into a scene loaded with hidden signals, p...
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 Torah says do not fear superior armies. Targum Jonathan says something far more radical—all the enemy's horses and chariots "are accounted as a single horse and a single chario...
The Torah says write the law on plastered stones after crossing the Jordan. Targum Jonathan says write it "with writing deeply engraven and distinct, which shall be read in one lan...
Teach us oh, teacher: once the Ninth of Av has ended, is everything permitted? R’ Chiyah the Great taught like this: once the Ninth of Av has ended, one is permitted to do anything...
Another taught: "The holy blessed one said to the Torah: 'Let us make the human...' She [Torah] replied, 'This human will be short of days, full of conflict, and fall into the hand...
When God appeared to Abram and commanded him to circumcise himself, the patriarch was already ninety-nine years old. According to the Yalkut Shimoni on Torah 80, God's words carrie...
When God gave the Torah at Sinai, the Israelites did not simply accept it freely. According to Shabbat 88a, Rabbi Avdimi bar Hama bar Hasa taught that God uprooted Mount Sinai and ...
The Talmud in Tractate Eruvin asks a strange question: why is the Torah compared to a deer? The answer: a deer's womb is narrow. Every time the deer mates, it is as cherished as th...
The Hebrew Bible says God "passed before" Moses and proclaimed the Thirteen Attributes of Mercy (Exodus 34:6). Targum Onkelos renders this as God "made His Shechinah pass" before M...
... [When] a man goes to honor the rulers, he goes full and returns empty. But the Holy One, blessed be He, is not like this. Rather we go to him empty and we return full, as it is...
And he will be like a planted tree: Rabbi Yose expounded, "To what is the matter similar? To a man that was walking in an arid land and his soul was dismayed with thirst. He [then]...
..."Let not the rich person glorify themselves with their wealth (Yirm 9:22)." This [refers to] Korach the Levite, who had three hundred mules just to carry the load of the keys to...
Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary) Yitbarach (May He Be Blessed) Blessed be the name of the King of kings, the Holy One blessed be He, who lives and endures forever and eve...
These are the ten questions that Rabbi Eliezer asked regarding the resurrection of the dead: The first one is - will God resurrect some of Israel or all of them? The answer is that...
(16) (Ib. b) (Ex. 34, 6), And the Lord passed by before him and proclaimed. R. Jochanan said: "Had this passage not been written, it would have been impossible to think of it, for ...
Alexander the Great tied two eagles together with meat in front of them, so they fly upwards with him until his eyelids dropped from the cold. He then descends in a glass box to th...
A non-Jewish man walked into Shammai's study with a straightforward question: "How many laws does Judaism have?" Shammai gave him the honest answer — two. There is the Written Tora...
A laborer worked for his master for three full years, faithfully performing every task assigned to him. When the work was finally done, he approached his master and asked for his w...
There was a man who owned a prosperous vineyard and a cellar full of casks — fine oil and rich wine, the fruits of years of careful labor. He was wealthy by any measure. But he had...
Story of R.b. Nahman, who was accused of keeping people away from work for two months, and of detaining them in the village. He fled and was overtaken by the Angel of Death whilst ...
10. Rich man sent his son far away to trade. In his absence, the old man died and left all his property in the hands of a slave. When the son returned, the slave claimed to be the ...
A wealthy merchant was traveling far from home when he fell gravely ill. He knew he was dying. His only son was back in his homeland, too far away to reach in time. But the merchan...
II. A young man travelling from Tiberias to Betar saw a young woman who fell in love with him and married him. After a year she asked him to return home on a visit. On the way they...
In time of drought the sages sent to Abba Hilkiah to pray for rain. They found him digging in the field and he did not reply to their greeting. In the evening, returning home, the ...
A pious man, travelling, saw a cave in the mountains and on entering, found a pool of water and behind it another small dark cavern. He went thither and was on the point of returni...
A woman was weeping and mourning over the grave of her dead husband for a long time. Close by stood a gallows and a watchman was appointed by the king to see that none of the bodie...
God gives wisdom to the wise — not to the foolish. This principle, drawn from the Book of Daniel (Daniel 2:21), puzzled many, including the Roman Emperor himself. Why should the wi...
Elazar ben Dordaya was a man consumed by desire. The Talmud (Avodah Zarah 17a) records that he was so enslaved to his passions that he traveled across seven rivers to visit a parti...
Moses stood apart from every other prophet who ever lived. The rabbis taught that while other prophets saw God through clouded glass, Moses alone saw through a clear lens — an unob...
Two friends loved each other so deeply that one was willing to die for the other — and the other refused to let him. This tale of ultimate friendship, preserved in the Exempla of t...
A psalm of David, written after Doeg the Edomite betrayed him — that's where Aggadat Bereshit anchors the story of Jacob's ladder. Strange placement. But the rabbis had a method. D...
The flood waters had covered everything. Noah had been sealed in the ark for months — the rain, the silence, the slow recession of the water, the waiting. Then the text says simply...
Hell has seven names. This is what Aggadat Bereshit says when Malachi promises "the day is coming, burning like an oven" (Malachi 3:19). The rabbis did not flinch from the geograph...
Abimelech ruled over Israel for three years (Judges 9:22). Aggadat Bereshit uses this strange opening — about a king in the book of Judges — to arrive at the first murder. The path...
When the righteous multiply in the world, good things multiply with them. This is Aggadat Bereshit's reading of "When the righteous are many, the people rejoice" (Proverbs 29:2). N...
"I will assemble Jacob, all of you; I will bring together the remnant of Israel" (Micah 2:12). The end of Aggadat Bereshit's prophetic arc arrives here: not the death of Jacob, not...
What if the Torah, the sacred scroll that has guided Jewish life for millennia, were to… change? It’s a mind-bending thought, isn’t it? For so many, the Torah – with its 613 mitzvo...
In the desert, the Israelites found that strength, not just in their faith, but also in their organization, in their very banners. "Each at his banner, with the insignias," says th...
Leprosy, for example, wasn't just a disease. According to some Jewish traditions, it could be a sign of something deeper, a consequence of wrongdoing. But what wrongdoing specifica...
The passage kicks off with a powerful image: "In an earthenware vessel." Rabbi Meir offers a striking contrast. If the woman being accused of infidelity enjoyed fine wine in fine g...
The Torah portion Naso, particularly in Bamidbar Rabbah 13, delves into this very concept, using the offerings of the princes as a springboard. It's a fascinating exploration of Is...
