560 related texts · 2 related myths · Page 3 of 12
"And you shall plate it with pure gold" (Exodus 25:11). The Talmud (Sukkah 45b) reads the verse about the Tabernacle's acacia wood, "standing up" (Exodus 26:15), to mean that the w...
That feeling’s deeply rooted in Jewish tradition. Midrash Tehillim, our window into the book of Psalms, connects this idea of purity with the very act of approaching God. It says, ...
"And he brought them to his holy mountain," Midrash Tehillim tells us, "this is the Temple." "And he cast lots for them in the inheritance and settled them in their tents. The glor...
Midrash Tehillim turns to Rod and Serpent of Tabernacle. A fascinating little nugget from Midrash Tehillim, a homiletical commentary on the Book of Psalms. It deals with truth, fal...
In the book of Bamidbar – Numbers, in English – we find a fascinating passage that deals precisely with this: the idea of sacred space, separation, and the surprising presence of t...
Seems like a prime opportunity for spiritual growth. But Sifrei Bamidbar, a collection of legal interpretations on the Book of Numbers, pulls no punches. It points out a rather gla...
The standard biblical text of (Exodus 26:1-37) reads like a construction manual. Ten curtains of fine linen, fifty gold clasps, boards of acacia wood, silver bases. The ancient Ara...
The final chapter of Exodus (Exodus 40:1-38) is, in the Hebrew Bible, the moment God's Presence fills the completed Tabernacle. The Targum Jonathan turns this moment into a prophet...
When Moses finished building the Tabernacle, he stood outside and refused to go in. His reasoning, according to the Targum Jonathan, was striking: Mount Sinai had been holy for onl...
The Targum Jonathan delivers one of its harshest legal rulings in Leviticus 17: anyone who slaughters a sacrificial animal outside the Tabernacle is treated "as if he had shed inno...
When the Holy One commanded Israel to contribute materials for the Mishkan, the Tabernacle in the wilderness, the instruction could have been simple taxation. Every household owes ...
The construction of the Mishkan is described in Exodus 26 with a catalog of measurements and materials that reads, The first reading, like an architect's invoice. Ten curtains of f...
(Exodus 26:28) describes an engineering detail. A middle bar, passing through the boards of the Tabernacle from end to end, holding the walls together. Plain Hebrew gives the speci...
The recipe for the holy anointing oil is exact and extravagant: five hundred minas of myrrh, two hundred and fifty of sweet cinnamon, two hundred and fifty of sweet calamus, five h...
The spices were weighed. The oil was gathered from the twelve tribes. But the mixture itself required something the Torah calls "the work of the perfumer." Targum Pseudo-Jonathan p...
When the call went out for Tabernacle offerings, Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on (Exodus 35:22) records a scene the Torah's plain text only hints at: with the men came the women. And the...
Where did the onyx stones for the high priest's ephod come from? The Torah does not say. But Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on (Exodus 35:27) tells one of the strangest mineral-supply stor...
There is a stunning detail hiding inside the boring carpentry of Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on (Exodus 36:33). The middle bar that ran the length of the Tabernacle's north wall, mortis...
It wasn't a random free-for-all. The Book of Numbers gives us a fascinating glimpse into a highly structured encampment around the Mishkan, the Tabernacle. And Bamidbar Rabbah, a c...
It wasn't just a matter of tossing everything into a wagon. There was a precise order, a sacred choreography, and it all begs the question: Why this order? Bamidbar Rabbah, specifi...
Bamidbar Rabbah, a classic collection of Midrashic (rabbinic interpretive commentary) teachings on the Book of Numbers, gives us a fascinating peek into just that. It takes a passa...
That image, that feeling, is right at the heart of Psalm 91, and it takes center stage in a fascinating passage from Bamidbar Rabbah 12. The verse "He who dwells in the shelter of ...
The ancient rabbis grappled with that feeling too, especially when things were going well for the Israelites. Take the story in Bamidbar Rabbah 12, which begins with a single, load...
It turns out, it’s a feeling that resonates even within the stories of our most revered figures. Bamidbar Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic teachings on the Book of Numbers, dives i...
It seems even the leaders of ancient Israel weren't immune. We find a fascinating story in Bamidbar Rabbah 12, a section of the great collection of Midrashic (rabbinic interpretive...
Consider the book of Numbers, or Bamidbar in Hebrew, specifically chapter 7, verse 3. It describes the offerings brought by the princes of Israel for the Tabernacle: "They brought ...
The very first offering? It's from Naḥshon, son of Aminadav, from the tribe of Judah. We read, "The one who presented his offering on the first day was Naḥshon..." (Numbers 7:12). ...
It might seem like a minor detail in the Book of Numbers, but Jewish tradition finds profound meaning in every nuance of the Torah. "On the twelfth day, prince of the children of N...
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...
Shemot Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Book of Exodus, gives us a fascinating glimpse into the behind-the-scenes preparations for this monumental task. It a...
Shemot Rabbah turns to Building a Dwelling Place for the Divine Presence on Earth. The Holy One, blessed be He, says to Israel, "You are My flock and I am a shepherd." Isn't that a...
It all comes down to the seemingly simple phrase, "You shall craft the boards for the Tabernacle." This comes from Shemot Rabbah, a classic collection of rabbinic interpretations o...
The ancient rabbis certainly understood that feeling. a fascinating Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary) that speaks directly to that sense of inadequacy, and how we can over...
Take Betzalel, for example, the master craftsman of the Mishkan, the Tabernacle. We read in (Exodus 31:2), "See, the Lord has called by name Betzalel, son of Uri, son of Ḥur…” But ...
Our story begins with a seemingly simple verse from (Exodus 36:8): "All the wise hearted among those who performed the labor crafted the Tabernacle: ten tapestries of spun linen an...
It wasn't just a tent; it was a portable sanctuary, a reflection of the Divine Presence, and the artisans poured their hearts and souls into every thread. Shemot Rabbah, a collecti...
That feeling… it's actually deeply rooted in a story from the Torah, a story about the Mishkan, the Tabernacle. It opens with a seemingly simple verse: "They brought the Tabernacle...
Shemot Rabbah sees the Tabernacle not only as a sanctuary, but as a mirror of creation itself. The passage starts with a seemingly simple statement: "They brought the Tabernacle." ...
Forget the sanitized Sunday school version. The Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary), that incredible collection of rabbinic interpretations, offers a glimpse into a world of...
It’s a story of intimacy, growth, and the need for appropriate boundaries. to a fascinating interpretation of a verse from the Song of Songs, Shir HaShirim, that illuminates this v...
Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥman, citing Rabbi Natan, makes a rather astonishing claim. He says that the 18 commands mentioned in the portion of the Tabernacle actually correspond to the 18...
Moses stood in the wilderness, preparing a special oil. According to Rabbi Yehuda ben Rabbi Ilai, this wasn't just any oil; it was a vessel for miracles from the very beginning. Th...
And Bezalel made the ark (Exod. 37:1). You find that everything constructed for the Tabernacle was made in its proper order. First he made the boards and joined them together. Afte...
A new vessel filled with old wine. Another explanation of The Tabernacle of the testimony (Exod. 38:21). R. Simeon the son of Yohai said: There is no testimony other than the Torah...
These are the accounts of the tabernacle, even the tabernacle of the testimony (Exod. 38:21). The Tabernacle bears testimony to the entire world that He forgave them for the episod...
And they brought the tabernacle unto Moses (Exod. 39:32). May it please our masters to teach us: What things were instituted for the sake of peace? Thus do our masters teach us: Th...
[(Numb. 7:1), “So it came to pass on the day that Moses had finished.” This text is related (to (Numb. 24:5), “How beautiful are your tents, O Jacob, your Tabernacles O Israel.” If...
"Command the Children of Israel" (Numbers 28:2). This is [the meaning of] that which was stated by the verse (Job 27:23), "The Omnipresent we have not found to be of great power"; ...
