3,492 related texts · Page 11 of 73
Rabbi Elazar ben Azaryah taught that God split the Red Sea for the Israelites in the merit of their forefather Abraham. His proof comes from a sweeping passage in (Psalms 105:42-43...
Rabbi Elazar Hamodai offered his own version of Moses' prayer during the battle with Amalek, and it carried an even more cosmic weight than Rabbi Yehoshua's teaching. Moses said be...
One fascinating interpretation of Psalm 104 connects the birds of the sky to the nations of the world. But not in a peaceful, harmonious way. Instead, the midrash (rabbinic interpr...
The sages of the Midrash Tehillim, a collection of interpretations on the Book of Psalms, knew that feeling well. In their exploration of Psalm 119, they grapple with this very hum...
It's all there in Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer, chapter 29. This ancient text uses the image of a vine to teach us about growth, potential, and the transformative power of commitment. Ra...
That's the situation Moses faced in a powerful story found in Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer (chapter 45). The story opens with a terrifying decree: God, in his anger, sends not one, but f...
Genesis 17 records the moment God commands Abraham to circumcise himself at ninety-nine years old. The Hebrew text says Abraham "fell on his face" when God spoke to him. It reads l...
And these are the generations of Aaron and Moses. [Betai Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary)ot Third Chamber] Our rabbis taught: Brothers who are partners and who increased ...
"And it came to pass at that time that Judah went down" (Genesis 38:1). The rabbis heard in "went down" more than geography. Judah left his brothers, married a Canaanite woman, and...
"I will make my opinions widely known" (Job 36:3). God called Abraham from the east — "calling a bird of prey from the east, a man of my counsel from a distant land" (Isaiah 46:11)...
Bereshit Rabbah, a classic collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Book of Genesis, digs into this very question. It focuses on the word ḥamas (חָמָס), often translated as "i...
It's never accidental. Jewish tradition teaches us that repetitions often hold profound significance, echoing through generations. Take Abraham, for example, our patriarch. We find...
Take Eliezer, for instance, Abraham's trusted servant. He might seem like a supporting player, but Bereshit Rabbah 60 reveals a depth of understanding that's truly remarkable. The ...
The Book of Exodus, or Shemot in Hebrew, is the ultimate story of resilience. It begins not with triumph, but with oppression. And even in the darkest moments, we find glimmers of ...
It was about a whole new way of counting time itself. Think of it this way. Shemot Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic teachings on the Book of Exodus, offers a beautiful analogy to e...
We're looking at section 15, which delves into the very first commandment given to the Israelites as they stood on the cusp of freedom: "This month shall be for you" (Exodus 12:2)....
In Shemot Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Book of Exodus, we find a fascinating exploration of this very idea. The verse "This is the matter [hadavar]" (Exo...
Shemot Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Book of Exodus, offers a fascinating perspective on this, likening the people of Israel to a vine. Rabbi Tanhuma bar ...
One perspective comes to us from Shemot Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Book of Exodus. In Shemot Rabbah 44, we find a powerful idea connected to the story ...
Jewish tradition grapples with it too, and beautifully so. In the Shir HaShirim Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Song of Songs, we find a fascinating explora...
Sometimes, the answer lies in the most unexpected places, like, say, a close reading of the book of Ezekiel and a bit of ancient commentary. In Vayikra Rabbah 25, we find a fascina...
“On the seventh day, when the king was merry with wine, he said to Mehuman, Bizzeta, Ḥarvona, Bigta, and Avagta, Zetar, and Kharkas, the seven officials who attended King Aḥashvero...
These are the kinds of questions that our sages wrestled with, poring over every word of the Torah for hidden meanings. Let's consider Noah. We all know the story: the flood, the a...
You remember the story: the floodwaters are receding, and Noah sends out a dove to see if there's dry land. The first time, she returns with nothing. The second time, with an olive...
The tale of Noah and his sons after the flood certainly has that quality. We're talking about the incident where Ham sees his father naked and then tells his brothers. It seems sim...
The question centers around a powerful promise God makes to Abraham in (Genesis 17:6): "I will greatly increase thee, and set thee among the nations, and kings shall proceed from t...
One such moment comes to us in (Genesis 17:18). Abraham, after hearing God's promise of a son, Isaac, through Sarah, turns to God and says, "O may my son Ishmael live before thee!"...
Where does that come from, really? We find a fascinating glimpse into its ancient roots in the Book of Jubilees. Now, the Book of Jubilees is a fascinating text, considered part of...
It’s a question that’s sparked imaginations for millennia. And while the Torah gives us broad strokes, some ancient texts offer a surprisingly detailed picture. One of those texts ...
Look closely at a mouse's face and you'll notice fine lines running along its cheeks, almost like tiny stitches. The Alphabet of Ben Sira, a medieval text composed between 700 and ...
What became of Cain? The Bible tells us he wandered, marked and cursed, after the murder of his brother Abel. But the Torah is silent on the details of his death. So, naturally, th...
It’s a tale of hunger, deception, and a choice that would reverberate through generations. The story, as pieced together in Legends of the Jews by Ginzberg, isn't just about a simp...
Even Moses, arguably the most important prophet in Judaism, tried to avoid his divine calling. And, as the Legends of the Jews (Ginzberg) tells us, he paid a price for that relucta...
We all know the story: God sends these devastating plagues upon Egypt until Pharaoh finally relents and lets the Israelites go. But there's so much more to it than just a simple "p...
It's more than just a walking stick; it's a relic brimming with divine power and a lineage that stretches back to the very dawn of creation. According to legend, this extraordinary...
The Tikkun (spiritual repair)ei Zohar, a central text of Kabbalah, delves deep into the mystical significance of sight, and what it reveals about our connection to the Divine. It p...
We all know the story: the ark, the flood, the animals two by two. But have you ever stopped to wonder about the timing of it all? It's not just about the rain, but about the gener...
(Genesis 6:4) mentions the Nefilim. That word, Nefilim, generally understood to mean “giants.” But who were they, really? And where did they come from? The Torah just kind of drops...
It's not just about a crime; it's about the very introduction of wickedness into the world. The stakes were high from the very beginning. Our sages tell us that there were ten gene...
According to Ginzberg's retelling in Legends of the Jews, Moses encountered seven maidens at a well. One of them, Zipporah, caught his eye with her modesty. He proposed marriage, b...
A world where emerging from exile might mean… utter annihilation for most. Scary. That's the picture painted in Tikkun (spiritual repair)ei Zohar 107. The Tikkunei Zohar, a later e...
It’s not always what you think. Midrash Tehillim, a collection of homiletic interpretations on the Book of Psalms, offers a glimpse into this very question, and it's wild. The pass...
Not just any rod, but the rod. A rod created in the twilight of creation itself, before the first Shabbat (the Sabbath). Rabbi Levi, a sage from the Talmudic period, tells us its s...
Today, let's talk about a detail tucked away in Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer, a fascinating early medieval text filled with stories and interpretations expanding on the Torah. Specifical...
The Seder Olam Zutta (סדר עולם זוטא), meaning "The Lesser Order of the World," is a historical chronicle believed to have been composed sometime after the completion of the better-...
The sages taught that ten kings have ruled — or will rule — over the entire world. The list reads like a history of power itself, stretching from the beginning of time to its end. ...
The Book of Job (34:24) tells us that God "shatters [yaroa] the powerful without number." What does that even mean? Well, Midrash Rabbah, specifically Bereshit Rabbah 36, interpret...
And God remembered Noah (Gen. 8:1). May it please our master to teach us the benediction recited upon witnessing a rainbow. Thus did our masters teach us: Upon seeing a rainbow, on...
