1,047 related texts · 1 related myths · Page 20 of 22
Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on (Exodus 40:7) takes the bronze laver, a basin of water set between the sanctuary and the altar. And turns it into a picture of teshuvah. Place the laver h...
A man met the teacher on the road and tried to split Sinai in half. Written Torah, yes. Mishnah, no. Scripture came from God, he said, but the oral teaching did not. Tanna DeBei El...
Midrash Vayikra Rabbah turns to The Changing Torah. It’s a mind-bending thought, isn’t it? For so many, the Torah – with its 613 mitzvot (commandments) and timeless stories – is th...
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...
Bamidbar Rabbah turns to The Sotah Ritual and What It Reveals About Betrayal. It gets even more intriguing. "And from the dirt…" Why, the Torah asks, bring dirt – afar in Hebrew – ...
The Torah portion Naso, particularly in Bamidbar Rabbah 13, explores this very concept, using the offerings of the princes as a springboard. It's a fascinating exploration of Israe...
Bamidbar Rabbah turns to When Solomon's Temple Doors Refused to Open for the Ark. The scene: Solomon, the wisest of men, has built the magnificent Temple in Jerusalem. He's ready t...
When Gentile Nations Showed More Respect Than Israel is the question behind this passage from Bamidbar Rabbah. Ouch. The text goes on to illustrate this point with a fascinating st...
Rabbi Zakai of She'av offers a beautiful insight. He imagines the Israelites asking God: "Master of the universe, everywhere else You call it the land of Canaan, but here, ‘the lan...
Jewish tradition sees so much more. The Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary), specifically Bamidbar Rabbah 19, unpacks this verse, revealing layers of meaning and offering pr...
The story of Pinḥas, as told in Bamidbar Rabbah, shines a light on just how vital shalom is. The story begins with a moment of intense crisis. The Israelites are straying, and divi...
Maybe, just maybe, there's a hidden message in those seemingly random journeys. In the Book of Numbers – in Hebrew, Bamidbar – we find a detailed list of all the places the Israeli...
It sees echoes of the very first moments of creation rippling through time, playing out in the lives of individuals and entire generations. Rabbi Yehuda bar Simon, in Bereshit Rabb...
Our Sages pondered that feeling deeply, especially when thinking about rain. Not just the physical rain, but what it represents. What is rain in the grand scheme of things? In Bere...
The ancient rabbis certainly did. They saw a deep connection between what happens on Earth and what happens within us. Consider the verse in (Genesis 2:6): "…and watered all of the...
As always, the rabbis of old had some fascinating ideas. The verse from Job (14:20) sets the stage: “You grant him power forever, and he is gone; You alter his countenance and send...
The verse God says, "Behold, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil; and now, lest he reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live fo...
Take the story of Adam and Eve after the tragic loss of Abel. We read in (Genesis 4:25), "Adam was further intimate with his wife and she gave birth to a son, and she called his na...
It all starts with a verse in Genesis. "And you, be fruitful, and multiply; [teem on the earth, and multiply upon it]" (Genesis 9:7). Sounds But Reish Lakish, a prominent scholar o...
The Torah tells us that the rainbow is a sign of the covenant between God and humanity after the flood, a promise that the world will never again be destroyed in that way. As it sa...
The Torah uses powerful imagery to describe just such a feeling in (Genesis 15:11): “Birds of prey descended upon the carcasses, and Abram drove them away.” What does it really mea...
The scene: God, in (Genesis 17:1), reveals Himself to Abraham, saying "I am God Almighty [Shadai]." But what does Shadai really mean? The Rabbis, in Bereshit Rabbah 46, unpack this...
The sages of the Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary) explored this very human feeling when confronting God's command to Abraham to be circumcised. In (Genesis 17:1), God tel...
The rabbis of the Midrash loved finding secrets inside the first letters of things. Bereshit Rabbah 46 preserves one of those moments, the rabbis puzzling over something quite prof...
Bereshit Rabbah turns to Joshua and Creation of Land. In (Genesis 17:8), God says, "I will give to you, and to your descendants after you, the land of your sojourning, the entire l...
It centers around a single verse, (Genesis 17:14), which deals with brit milah, the covenant of circumcision. The verse reads: “And the uncircumcised male who shall not circumcise ...
" Now, Abraham takes center stage. He interprets this verse in light of his own life, specifically his circumcision. He says that after he circumcised himself, many proselytes, con...
It's like a linguistic puzzle, where sometimes a single letter can shift the whole meaning of a word. And that brings us to a curious little detail in the Torah, one that our sages...
Bereshit Rabbah turns to Angels Who Boasted and Were Punished for It. The Bereshit Rabbah suggests that the angels who revealed God's plan to destroy Sodom paid a steep price: they...
The story begins with Abraham making a covenant with Avimelekh, a Philistine king. As (Genesis 21:27) tells us, "Abraham took flocks and cattle, and gave them to Avimelekh, and the...
The third day keeps returning as a day of rescue, from Abraham's journey to Sinai and beyond. Think about Abraham. In (Genesis 22:4), we read, "On the third day, Abraham lifted his...
Bereshit Rabbah turns to Eliezer's Camels and the Test of Idol Worship. Rabbi Huna and Rabbi Yirmeya pose a fascinating question to Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Rabba: Were Abraham's camels, pa...
The ancient rabbis certainly did. to a fascinating passage from Bereshit Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Book of Genesis, and see what they had to say about...
In (Genesis 31:43), after Jacob decides to leave Laban and return to his homeland, Laban confronts him, saying, "The girls are my daughters, and the boys are my sons, and the flock...
Bereshit Rabbah turns to Jacob's Terror Before Meeting Esau With Four Hundred Men. The scene is set. Jacob, returning to his homeland, learns that his estranged brother Esau is app...
The Torah is full of stories of resilience, and one that particularly resonates with this idea is Jacob's return to Canaan. In (Genesis 33:18), we read: "Jacob arrived intact to th...
Bereshit Rabbah turns to How Much the Ishmaelites Paid for Joseph. The verse in (Genesis 37:29) tells us, "Reuben returned to the pit, and behold, Joseph was not in the pit, and he...
The story begins with Judah and his sons. You might remember the verse from (Genesis 38:8): "Judah said to Onan: Consort with your brother’s wife, and consummate levirate marriage ...
Jewish tradition certainly has. There's a fascinating story in Bereshit Rabbah 89 that makes you think twice about speaking carelessly. The story begins simply enough. A woman appr...
The Torah portion of Vayigash gives us a glimpse into their complex relationship, and the Rabbis of the Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary), particularly in Bereshit Rabbah ...
It's a deep dive into the story of Jacob's sons and their trip to Egypt, and it's full of anxiety, suspicion, and loss. The passage begins with a recap from Genesis 42. Joseph, now...
Here, the rabbis are exploring the verse in (Genesis 44:8), where Joseph's brothers, completely innocent of any wrongdoing, exclaim, "Behold, silver that we found in the opening of...
This moment, fraught with tension and brotherly love disguised as animosity, is explored in a fascinating passage from Bereshit Rabbah 93. The story opens with a quote from Ecclesi...
The story of Joseph and his brothers, as told in Genesis, is a classic example. But what happens after the happy reunion, after Jacob's death and the grand funeral procession back ...
Did they really get away with it? The Book of Devarim. Deuteronomy, opens with the phrase, "These are the words that Moses spoke…" And the Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary...
Jewish tradition actually has a lot to say about that, especially the power of teshuvah (repentance), or repentance. And let me tell you, some of these stories are wild. Devarim Ra...
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...
