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He's led the Israelites for forty years, through thick and thin, through miracles and rebellions. He’s shepherded them from slavery to the very edge of the Promised Land. And now, ...
The Torah portion V'Zot HaBerachah, "This is the blessing," recounts the final moments of Moses, and the sages fill in the gaps with incredible stories. Imagine this: Moses, the ma...
Let me tell you a story… a story about Moses, facing down none other than Samael (the angel of death) himself. Now, Samael isn't your run-of-the-mill angel. He's often depicted as ...
When Moses, Moshe Rabbenu—our teacher, our leader—passed away, it sparked a celestial debate. As Ginzberg retells it in Legends of the Jews, a fascinating thing happened. Adam, the...
When we look at David, the "elect of God," as he's often called, it seems to be a fascinating combination of all three. David wasn't just some random shepherd boy plucked from obsc...
Two years. That is how long Joseph sat in an Egyptian prison after correctly predicting the fate of Pharaoh's cupbearer—who had promised to remember him and then promptly forgot. T...
We all know the story: he led the Israelites out of Egypt, received the Torah on Mount Sinai, and brought his people to the edge of the Promised Land. But then… he just disappears ...
It’s not always with swords and shields. Sometimes, it's with words. Powerful, directed words of prayer. The Tikkun (spiritual repair)ei Zohar, a later expansion and “correction” o...
viz. (Song of Songs 3: "I had almost passed them (Moses and Aaron) by, when I found Him whom my soul loved. I held onto Him and did not let go of Him until I had brought Him to the...
(Ibid. 20) "Then Miriam the prophetess took": Where do we find that Miriam was a prophetess? She said to her father (Amram): In the end, you will beget a son who will be the savior...
The Mekhilta highlights a detail about Miriam's song that establishes a fundamental principle about women's participation in Israelite worship. The verse says "And Miriam answered ...
When God commanded that a jar of manna be preserved for future generations (Exodus 16:32), Moses relayed the instruction to his brother Aaron. But when exactly did Aaron carry it o...
Rabbi Eliezer Hamodai offered a different interpretation of why Moses told Joshua to "go out" and fight Amalek—and his version cuts deeper. According to Rabbi Eliezer, Moses challe...
Before the battle against Amalek, Moses made a declaration: "Tomorrow I shall stand on top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand" (Exodus 17:9). But what did he mean by "tom...
(Exodus 17:12) records a detail that the Mekhilta found deeply instructive: "And the hands of Moses became heavy." Why did his hands grow heavy during the battle with Amalek? The r...
During the battle against Amalek, Moses stood on a hilltop with his arms raised, channeling divine power to the Israelite warriors below. But holding your arms up for hours is grue...
Rabbi Eliezer Hamodai taught that Moses was one of four great tzaddik (a righteous person)im (the righteous) — righteous people — to whom God gave a subtle hint about the future. T...
After every other plea had been rejected, Moses turned to his nephew Elazar — the son of his brother Aaron — and threw himself at his feet. "Elazar, my brother's son," Moses said, ...
The verse says that Aaron and all the elders of Israel came to eat bread with Moses' father-in-law "before God." But the Mekhilta raises an obvious question: where was Moses himsel...
(Exodus 20:19) records God telling Moses: "Thus shall you say to the children of Israel." The Mekhilta seizes on the word "thus" — in Hebrew, "koh" — and derives a surprising rule:...
We all know the story: a bush ablaze, yet unconsumed. God's voice booming forth, commissioning Moses to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. But some traditions suggest there was more...
Our story comes from Midrash Tehillim, a fascinating collection of interpretations on the Book of Psalms. Here, the Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary) tells us about a part...
Midrash Tehillim, a collection of rabbinic teachings on the Book of Psalms, delves into this very concept, specifically focusing on the verse, "The awe of the LORD is pure" (Psalm ...
A melody, some words, and suddenly…connection. But what if I told you that some songs are so potent, so deeply resonant, that even the greatest figures in history were eager to hea...
Midrash Tehillim, a collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Book of Psalms, uses Psalm 146 to explore this very idea. It begins with the powerful statement: "The Lord opens t...
Today, let’s delve into a fascinating passage from Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer, specifically chapter 17, which offers a unique perspective on the deaths of Moses and Aaron, and the cont...
The answer, my friends, might be more profound than you think. The text we're looking at comes from Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer, a fascinating collection of stories and interpretations ...
It's more than just a divine special effect. It's a symbol, layered with meaning, hinting at the complex relationship between Israel and the world. : fire and thorns. Not exactly a...
We have this image of the tablets, the commandments, the booming voice… but the tradition holds so much more. It wasn’t just a simple transaction. It was a profound, transformative...
Mount Sinai is one of those places. But did you know its name wasn’t always Sinai? Rabbi Elazar of Modein tells us in Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer that from the very beginning, since the...
That feeling, that connection, it's at the heart of this story from Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer, Chapter 44. The Israelites are facing a fearsome foe: Amalek. Moses, wise and divinely c...
We all know the story: Moses is up on Mount Sinai, receiving the Torah, and the Israelites, feeling abandoned, demand a new god. But what was going on behind the scenes? What choic...
The luchot, as they're known in Hebrew. The Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer, a fascinating collection of stories and interpretations, paints a vivid picture of this moment. Initially, the t...
That’s the scene set in Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer, Chapter 47. The text tells us that all the princes were with Moses, Eleazar, and Phineas, and together they witnessed this terrifyin...
It sounds gross, I know, but stay with me. There’s a fascinating passage in Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer (chapter 54) that throws light on the number seven and its significance in Jewish...
The Yalkut Shimoni, a compilation of Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary)ic teachings on the entire Hebrew Bible, offers us a glimpse into that world. In section 786, comment...
The Yalkut Shimoni, a compilation of rabbinic teachings on the Hebrew Bible, offers a fascinating and poignant glimpse into the deaths of Aaron and Moses. Specifically, Yalkut Shim...
It wasn't just a one-day event. According to Sifrei Bamidbar, the book of Numbers, the seven days leading up to the dedication were a whirlwind of activity. Imagine this: Every sin...
We get a tantalizing glimpse into this very question in Sifrei Bamidbar, a rabbinic commentary on the Book of Numbers. The text grapples with a fascinating problem: scripture seems...
Sometimes, it's in those very details that we uncover profound insights into Jewish law and tradition. to one such detail from Sifrei Bamidbar, a fascinating work of halakhic (lega...
I'm not talking about Miriam's tambourine (though that's definitely part of it!). I'm talking about something a little more...official. The trumpets. The Book of Numbers – Bamidbar...
Jewish tradition certainly has, and it teaches us profound lessons about cause and effect, especially when it comes to how we treat others.It all starts with a verse from Bamidbar ...
Take the curious case of the mekoshesh, the wood gatherer, found violating the Sabbath in the wilderness. The story, found in Bamidbar 15:32-36 (Numbers), isn’t just about punishme...
We find a fascinating puzzle in the book of Devarim (Deuteronomy) regarding the location of the Temple. One verse (Deuteronomy 12:14) seems to say the Temple should be built "in th...
Here he was, the leader who brought the Israelites out of Egypt, the one who stood face-to-face with God on Mount Sinai... and none of his sons were deemed fit to succeed him. Acco...
The ancient rabbis certainly understood that feeling. And they weren't afraid to address it head-on. In Sifrei Devarim, a collection of early rabbinic legal commentaries on the Boo...
We're going to dive into a powerful, and frankly, a little scary verse from Sifrei Devarim, a collection of legal interpretations on the book of Deuteronomy. Specifically, we're lo...
We all know the story of Moses. The great leader who led the Israelites out of Egypt, received the Torah at Mount Sinai... a figure of immense stature. But even Moses, the humblest...
