712 related texts · 8 related myths · Page 4 of 15
The Israelites felt that way too, right before they were about to enter the Promised Land. But did they trust the One who'd brought them that far? In the book of Sifrei Devarim, a ...
This teaching dives into the verse, "And charge (tzav) Joshua." Now, this isn't just a simple instruction, but a "charging" (tzivui), which the text interprets as prompting to zeal...
Sifrei Devarim turns to Joshua and the Ark. Then comes the phrase, "from before you." What does that even mean? Here, the Sifrei Devarim offers a beautiful image of gradual progres...
That tension, that push and pull, is at the heart of a fascinating little passage in Sifrei Devarim, a collection of early rabbinic legal interpretations on the Book of Deuteronomy...
In fact, the Sifrei Devarim, a collection of early legal midrashim (rabbinic interpretive commentary) on the book of Deuteronomy, highlights this idea beautifully. It all starts wi...
There's a fascinating idea tucked away in Sifrei Devarim that illuminates this. It says, regarding the Israelites following Moses's command, "and they did as the L-rd had commanded...
The prophet Elijah, who never died but ascended to heaven in a chariot of fire, appeared to Rabbi Joshua ben Levi, one of the greatest sages of the third century, and offered him s...
Rabbi Joshua ben Levi had a habit the other sages envied: the prophet Elijah came to him as a companion. The Exempla preserves the memory of one of their walks. Elijah took Rabbi J...
Rachel finally bore a son. She named him Joseph, from the Hebrew asaph, "to gather away" (Genesis 30:23). The Targum Pseudo-Jonathan turns her naming into a prophecy about a river ...
Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on (Exodus 16:35) adds a detail that answers a question most readers do not think to ask: when exactly did the manna stop falling? The Targum says: And the c...
Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on (Exodus 40:11) turns the consecration of the bronze laver into a vision of the distant future. Anoint the laver, the meturgeman says, on account of Jehosh...
Heretics once cornered R. Simlai, a third-century sage of the land of Israel, and tried to trap him on a grammatical point. Midrash Tanchuma Buber, Bereshit 7:1 records the exchang...
Bamidbar Rabbah opens the laws of the nazir, the person who vows to abstain from wine and grapes in order to dedicate himself to God. The text immediately connects abstaining from ...
Our jumping-off point is Bamidbar Rabbah 12, a fascinating exploration of the verse "On the day that [Moses] concluded." Now, it first appears this is just a throwaway line, but th...
"Craft for you." (Numbers 10:2) It's all about the personal nature of leadership and the instruments that come with it. "Craft for you," the Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commenta...
Like checking the price tag after you’ve already won the lottery. Well, according to Bamidbar Rabbah 16, part of the larger collection of Midrashic (rabbinic interpretive commentar...
It is often remembered as pure power-grabbing, but the ancient texts suggest a more nuanced, almost heartbreaking, story of ambition, family, and perceived injustice. The Book of N...
His story, recounted in Bamidbar Rabbah (Numbers Rabbah) 18, is a wild ride of ambition, rebellion, and some seriously bad consequences. So, "Korah took…" That's how the story begi...
The ancient Rabbis certainly thought so, and they found wisdom in the story of KORAH's rebellion against Moses. The text in Bamidbar Rabbah (Numbers Rabbah), a classical Rabbinic i...
The familiar reading treats about the grand miracles, the parting of the sea, the manna from heaven. But what about the gritty, day-to-day decisions, the moments of doubt and brave...
The verse in (Joshua 1:5) declares, "As I was with Moses, I will be with you." This promise seems to imply that Joshua would enjoy a life parallel to that of Moses, who lived to be...
In the ancient world, and even described in the Torah, there was a system in place to offer refuge. The book of Numbers instructs us, "You shall designate cities for you" (Numbers ...
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...
Our Sages, delving deep into the Torah, confront this very idea in Bereshit Rabbah 97, a section of the ancient Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary). They begin with a verse ...
Devarim Rabbah turns to How Israel's Clothes Never Wore Out for Forty Years. That's exactly what Devarim Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic teachings and interpretations on the book ...
A time for everything, as the saying goes. But what does that really mean? Well, one fascinating interpretation comes to us from Rabbi Yehoshua of Sikhnin, found within Kohelet Rab...
The familiar story centers on the plagues, the parting of the Red Sea, and the triumphant journey to freedom. But was it really the entire nation that crossed over? Pharaoh, in his...
Take the story of the war against Amalek in (Exodus 17:9). Moses tells Joshua, "Choose men for us and go out and wage war with Amalek; tomorrow I will be standing on top of the hil...
They ask some fascinating questions about the roles of Moses and Aaron, especially during those pivotal moments of transition. we know Aaron becomes the High Priest. But what about...
Sometimes, the most unexpected things can lead us to hidden riches. Take leprosy, for example. Yes, leprosy. I know what you're thinking. Leprosy? Good tidings? Seems impossible. B...
It is written: “And set it in the ears of Joshua” (Exodus 17:14), this is one of four righteous people to whom a portent was given; two sensed it and two did not sense it. A porten...
Our story takes us to the Book of Maccabees I, specifically chapter 5. The Syrian-Greek Seleucid Empire, under Antiochus IV Epiphanes, is trying to Hellenize Judea – to force the J...
It all started with two distinct family lines: the descendants of Cain, known for their sinfulness, and the descendants of Seth, initially known for their piety. Picture this: the ...
Nine hundred and forty-seven years after the Exodus from Egypt, the northern kingdom of Israel ceased to exist. Shalmaneser, king of Assyria, discovered that Hoshea, the last king ...
The standard text of (Deuteronomy 1) opens with Moses speaking to Israel "beyond the Jordan." But the Targum Jonathan, an ancient Aramaic translation composed between the 1st and 4...
The Torah has a default order. Moses before Aaron. Joshua before Caleb. Father before mother. Heaven before earth. Midrash Tanchuma Buber, Bereshit 14:1 collects the quiet exceptio...
Why travel to see a tzaddik (a righteous person) in person when you can read their teachings in a book? Rabbi Nachman of Breslov answered this question directly: there is an immeas...
There exists a soul in every generation through whom Torah insights are revealed to the world. Rabbi Nachman of Breslov describes this soul as one burdened with suffering: "Bread w...
(Ibid. 21) "And the L–rd went before them by day with a pillar of cloud": We find there to have been seven clouds: here, (Numbers 14:14) twice, (Ibid. 9:19), (Exodus 40:36), (Ibid....
The full scope of Moses's argument against the angels is recorded in Shabbat 89a, and it is a masterclass in turning your opponent's own premises against them. Moses went through t...
Rabbi Yosei from Yokrat was the kind of man who terrified his own family. The Talmud in Tractate Taanit calls him a person "who has no mercy on his own son and no mercy on his daug...
These are the generations of Aaron and Moses. [Betai Midrashot (rabbinic interpretive commentary) Third Chamber] Our rabbis taught: Brothers who are partners and who increased asse...
Alphabet of Rabbi Akiva (Nusaḥ II) [according to the Krakow and Amsterdam printings] Said Rabbi Aqibha: these are the 22 letters with which the Torah was given to the tribes of Isr...
Israel in Egypt, fruitful and multiplying, a thousand thousand and myriad myriads. And still, in God's eyes, like a single beloved child. That's the paradox this section of Aggadat...
Each prophet saw God differently. Amos saw Him standing, "I saw the Lord standing beside the altar" (Amos 9:1). Isaiah saw Him sitting, "I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high an...
"These are the generations of Isaac, son of Abraham; Abraham begot Isaac" (Genesis 25:19). The verse says it twice, and the rabbis asked why. Their answer: to show that the gift gi...
(Job 5:19) promises: "From six woes He shall save you, and in the seventh, evil shall not reach you." The midrash asks which six woes. And Solomon in Proverbs provides the list: "S...
God is known in this world by bringing judgment upon those who need it. This is Aggadat Bereshit's uncomfortable claim: "The Lord is known for executing judgment; the wicked are en...
