3,492 related texts · Page 42 of 73
"Know with certainty that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and they will be enslaved to them and they will oppress them, four hundred years.” That's...
one such verse, rich with meaning and implication. In (Genesis 15:14), God tells Abraham, "And also that nation that they will serve, I will judge, and after that they will go out ...
It’s a question that's sparked debate and interpretation for centuries. Today, we're diving into Bereshit Rabbah 45, a fascinating passage from the Midrash (rabbinic interpretive c...
It says, "Abram was ninety-nine years old, and the Lord appeared to Abram; He said to him: I am God Almighty; walk before Me, and be faultless.” Ninety-nine years old. It’s never t...
It's right there in (Genesis 17:17): "Abraham fell upon his face, and he laughed. He said in his heart: Shall a child be born to one who is one hundred years old? And shall Sarah, ...
Our story revolves around a verse from (Genesis 17:22): "He concluded speaking with him, and God ascended from upon Abraham." This simple line, as interpreted by the sages in Beres...
to a fascinating, and frankly, rather unusual story from Bereshit Rabbah, a classic collection of rabbinic interpretations of the Book of Genesis. (Genesis 17:23) tells us that Abr...
Take the story of Abraham, for instance. We all know he was commanded to circumcise himself and his household. But did you ever stop to consider the details of that commandment, an...
Like a flash of light and a booming voice. But maybe, just maybe, it's something a little more… intimate. Let’s take a peek into a fascinating passage from Bereshit Rabbah, a colle...
It all starts with a verse from Exodus, "You shall make for Me an altar of earth…[I will come to you and I will bless you]" (Exodus 20:21). Rabbi Yitzḥak takes this to heart. He im...
to a passage from Bereshit Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretations of the Book of Genesis, specifically section 48. The passage opens with a quote from Isaiah (33:13-14): ...
But the Rabbis of Bereshit Rabbah, that incredible collection of Rabbinic interpretations on Genesis, find layers of meaning we might otherwise miss. According to Bereshit Rabbah, ...
It all starts with Abraham, of course, and his legendary hospitality. The passage opens with Abraham's plea: "My Lord, please, if I have found favor in Your eyes, please do not dep...
We find an intriguing exploration of just that in Bereshit Rabbah 48, a section of the ancient midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary)ic collection on the book of Genesis. It al...
I've been pondering just that as I was reading through Bereshit Rabbah, specifically section 48, which elaborates on a seemingly simple verse: (Genesis 18:6). It reads, "Abraham hu...
That’s the kind of feeling I get when I think about Abraham and that young bull. Let's set the scene. Remember when three divine guests show up at Abraham's tent in the heat of the...
But the Rabbis of Bereshit Rabbah – that amazing collection of rabbinic interpretations of Genesis – see so much more. First, that "butter and milk" bit. What kind of butter are we...
We're looking at the story of Sarah, Abraham’s wife, when she overhears that she's going to have a child at the ripe old age of 90. Her reaction? A little chuckle to herself. As (G...
Sounds wild. to it. The story comes from Bereshit Rabbah, a classic collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Book of Genesis. We're looking at section 48, which deals with the...
We find ourselves pondering this in Bereshit Rabbah 49, where Rabbi Eleazar raises a fascinating question. How do we understand instances in the Torah where individuals seem to be ...
Our sages certainly did. And they found a fascinating answer, tucked away in the very words God used when speaking to Abraham. The passage we're looking at comes from Bereshit Rabb...
The Torah portion Vayera, and specifically (Genesis 18:19), offers a glimpse into this very idea: "For I love him, so that he will command his children and his household after him,...
That’s the feeling that explodes from the story of Sodom and Gomorrah. We find it in (Genesis 18:20): "The Lord said: Because the outcry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great and because ...
(Genesis 18:22) tells us, "The men turned from there and went to Sodom, and Abraham was still standing before the Lord.” Seems straightforward. But hold on... The opening phrase, "...
Our ancestor Abraham certainly did. We find him in a tense back-and-forth with God in Genesis, pleading for the city of Sodom. It's a story we all know. God's about to destroy Sodo...
The ancient rabbis certainly did. They saw echoes of legal proceedings in the very interactions between God and Abraham, and their interpretations offer us a fascinating glimpse in...
The Torah, in its infinite wisdom, gives us a glimpse into this very idea through the contrasting actions of Abraham and Lot. We find ourselves in Genesis chapter 19, where Lot enc...
The story, of course, is from (Genesis 19:9). Lot, Abraham's nephew, has welcomed two angelic guests into his home. The men of Sodom, consumed by lust and cruelty, surround the hou...
The story, as told in (Genesis 19:31), has Lot’s daughters deeply concerned. "Our father is old," they say, "and there is no man on earth to consort with us in the way of the world...
That feeling isn't new. Our ancestors knew it well. Take Abraham, for instance. The Torah tells us, "Abraham traveled from there to the region of the south; he lived between Kadesh...
The story of Lot, Abraham's nephew, is a powerful example of this very idea. We find a fascinating, if somewhat harsh, interpretation of Lot's choices in Bereshit Rabbah 52, a coll...
Our story begins with Abraham. "Abraham traveled from there," the verse tells us (Genesis 20:1). But where was he going, and why? Bereshit Rabbah, a classic collection of rabbinic ...
It’s a question that bubbles to the surface when we delve into the story of Abraham and Lot in Bereshit Rabbah, the great Rabbinic commentary on the Book of Genesis. The text opens...
"Avimelekh had not approached her; he said: My Lord, will You kill a nation that is also innocent?" Now, that’s quite the opening gambit. Avimelekh, in his defense, cries out to Go...
It wasn't just about seeing the future; it was about holding life and death in their hands. to a fascinating little story from Bereshit Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretat...
to a fascinating passage from Bereshit Rabbah, a classical rabbinic commentary on the Book of Genesis, to see how the ancients grappled with the unexpected. The story unfolds in Ge...
Specifically, we're diving into Bereshit Rabbah 52, which unpacks a tricky moment in Abraham's story. Remember when Abraham and Sarah are traveling, and Abraham introduces Sarah as...
We’re going to do just that, diving into a fascinating interpretation from Bereshit Rabbah, a classic collection of rabbinic commentary on the Book of Genesis. It all starts with a...
After decades of barrenness, at a very, very advanced age, she miraculously conceives and gives birth to Isaac. In (Genesis 21:6), she exclaims, "God has made laughter for me; ever...
The verse we're looking at is (Genesis 21:7): "She said: Who would have announced to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I bore a son for his old age.” It's Sarah, speakin...
The Torah tells us, "The matter was greatly distressing in Abraham’s eyes, regarding his son" (Genesis 21:11). This refers to the expulsion of Hagar and Ishmael. But why was Abraha...
Let’s look at one of those now, a fraught and painful scene from Genesis, chapter 21. We're talking about the expulsion of Hagar and her son Yishmael. The verse tells us, "Abraham ...
The story revolves around Abraham and Avimelekh in Genesis 21. Abraham, as the verse tells us, "reprimanded Avimelekh regarding the well of water that Avimelekh's servants had stol...
That's the scene we find ourselves in with Abraham and Avimelech, as retold in Bereshit Rabbah, the ancient rabbinic commentary on the Book of Genesis. The verse in question is (Ge...
The idea of being tested, especially by a higher power, is a central theme in Jewish tradition. And one of the most profound examples of this is the story of Abraham. Bereshit Rabb...
Our story begins with the seemingly simple phrase, “After these matters [devarim]…”. The Hebrew word devarim can mean both "matters" and "words," and as we delve into Bereshit Rabb...
to a fascinating passage from Bereshit Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretations of the Book of Genesis, specifically section 55, and see what wisdom we can unearth. The pas...
The Bible tells us the bare bones of the story, but the Rabbis, in their endless quest to understand God's word, delve deeper, seeking hidden meanings and profound truths. In Beres...
