3,813 related texts · Page 40 of 80
What is written of Moses? (Numbers 20:14-16) "And Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom … And our fathers went down to Egypt … and He hearkened to our voice." He (t...
Pappus expounded (Song of Songs 1:9) "to a mare in the chariots of Pharaoh, etc.": Pharaoh rode on a stallion—the Holy One Blessed be He revealed Himself, as it were, on a stallion...
Rabbi Yossi HaGlili presents one of the most famous calculations in rabbinic literature. He asks: how do we know that the Egyptians were struck with ten plagues in Egypt and fifty ...
The Song at the Sea begins with a grammatical mystery. The Hebrew text of (Exodus 15:1) reads az yashir Mosheh—literally, "then Moses will sing," using the future tense. If the Tor...
Variantly: "Moses and the children of Israel": We are hereby apprised that Moses chanted the song opposite all of Israel (i.e., that his voice was over and against those of all of ...
Moses devoted his life to three things, and each of them was called by his name. The Mekhilta examines the first: Torah. The prophet Malachi instructs Israel, "Remember the Torah o...
R. Eliezer b. Tadai says; Moses would begin with his words, and Israel would respond (with theirs). Moses would begin: "I shall sing to the L–rd," and Israel would end with him and...
At the climax of the Song of the Sea, Israel proclaimed: "The Lord will reign for ever and ever" (Exodus 15:18). It is one of the most sweeping theological declarations in the enti...
Rabbi Yehudah ben Ilai makes a disturbing claim in the Mekhilta: idolatry crossed the Red Sea with Israel. The very nation that had just witnessed God's greatest miracle — the spli...
The Mekhilta presents two sharply different readings of the verse "And the people caviled against Moses, saying: What shall we drink?" Rabbi Yehoshua takes the generous view: the p...
When the Torah says "the people quarreled with Moses" (Exodus 17:2), it sounds like a straightforward complaint. But the Mekhilta sees something far worse. Israel "transcended the ...
Moses responded to Israel's complaints with a question that reframed the entire conflict: "Why would you quarrel with me? Why would you try the Lord?" (Exodus 17:2). He was telling...
The Torah describes a strange scene during the battle against Amalek: "When Moses lifted his hand, Israel prevailed; and when he lowered his hand, Amalek prevailed" (Exodus 17:11)....
and, in the end, Moses arose and implored (that he be permitted to enter the land, etc.), viz. (Devarim 3:24) "And I entreated the L–rd at that time, saying, etc." An analogy: A ki...
Moses would not give up. Even after God had decreed that he would not lead Israel into the Promised Land, he stood his ground and kept negotiating, trying every possible angle to g...
Moses stood before God and made one final, desperate plea. The decree had been issued — Moses would not enter the Promised Land. But Moses, ever persistent in prayer, tried to nego...
The Mekhilta asks a triumphant question: how do we know that all of Moses' many requests — his desperate pleas to enter the Promised Land — were ultimately granted by the Holy One,...
When Moses stood on Mount Nebo and looked out over the Promised Land, God pointed to each region and revealed not just the terrain but the history that would unfold upon it. The Me...
Before Moses died, God took him to the summit of Mount Nebo and showed him the entirety of the Promised Land — every region, every valley, every corner of the territory his people ...
When Pharaoh sent soldiers to hunt down Moses after the slaying of the Egyptian taskmaster, God intervened in a way no one expected. Rather than striking the pursuers dead or sendi...
R. Eliezer says: The Holy One Blessed be He said to Moses: I am the one who spoke and brought the world into being. I am the one who draws near and not the one who distances, viz. ...
R. Pappis made a statement about Yithro's blessing that was, in his reading, deeply unflattering to Israel. When Yithro arrived at the Israelite camp and heard what God had done, h...
The Mekhilta records a pointed question that Yehudah of Kfar Acco once posed to R. Gamliel. When Moses explained to Yithro why the people came to him for judgment, Moses said: "Bec...
Moses came down from the mountain and "called to the elders of the people" (Exodus 19:7). The Mekhilta draws a lesson about leadership from this simple narrative detail: Moses did ...
Moses carried God's message to the people of Israel. He delivered the divine offer: accept the Torah, become a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. The people responded with unani...
"and Moses told": Now what did the L–rd say to Moses to say to Israel or what did Israel say to Moses to say to the L–rd? R. Yossi Haglili says: What is written, viz. (Ibid. 12) "A...
Rebbi (Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi) raises a fascinating question about the communication chain at Sinai. What exactly did God tell Moses to relay to Israel, and what did Israel say to Mo...
When Moses stood before Israel at Sinai and "took the book of the covenant and read it in the ears of the people" (Exodus 24:7), a question immediately arises: what exactly did he ...
(Exodus, Ibid. 16) "And they said to Moses: Speak, you, with us, and we will hear, (and let G–d not speak with us, lest we die.") We are hereby apprised that they lacked the streng...
(Ibid.) "And Moses entered into the mist": This (his closeness to the L–rd) was a function of his humility, viz. (Numbers 12:3) "And the man Moses was extremely humble, etc." Scrip...
When Moses ascended Mount Sinai to receive the Torah, the Torah records that "Moses entered into the mist, where God was" (Exodus 20:21). The Mekhilta reveals that this approach to...
According to one tradition, Moses spent forty days and nights in this heavenly yeshiva before receiving the Torah. During this time, he learned all 613 commandments and all the sec...
We all know the triumphant tale of the Israelites crossing the Red Sea, escaping Pharaoh's clutches. But what about the Egyptians swallowed by the waves? It turns out, Jewish tradi...
That’s hardcore. What's the secret? Well, Jewish tradition offers a fascinating explanation. It wasn’t just about toughing it out. It goes much deeper. The Makhon Siftei Tzaddik (a...
It’s a question that’s captivated mystics and storytellers for centuries, and one particularly vivid legend tells us how Moses himself experienced just that. The story goes that Go...
The passage from (Proverbs 1:22-33) kicks things off: "'How long, you simple ones, will you love simplicity?'... 'and fools hate knowledge.'" The Midrash (rabbinic interpretive com...
Midrash Tehillim, a collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Book of Psalms, offers a fascinating perspective. It points to the tribe of Levi, specifically those who resisted ...
Even Moses, leading the Israelites out of Egypt, felt that way. He looked at the nations surrounding them, nations far more numerous, and thought, "These nations are more numerous ...
This particular passage, Midrash Tehillim 4, starts by talking about the dedication of a psalm: "To the conductor with musical instruments." But it's not just about the music itsel...
King David knew that feeling. Midrash Tehillim, an ancient collection of interpretations on the Book of Psalms, offers a glimpse into David's heart, revealing a profound sense of h...
This feeling isn’t new. King David wrestled with it, too. Midrash Tehillim, a beautiful collection of interpretations on the Book of Psalms, gives us a glimpse into his struggle, a...
The ancient texts offer some pretty fascinating clues, particularly in how they describe the transformation that comes with repentance. Take Midrash Tehillim, for example, a collec...
What would you see? Midrash Tehillim, a collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Book of Psalms, offers us a glimpse into that moment, a moment of sheer, terrifying awe. It’s ...
Specifically, we're looking at Midrash Tehillim 21, which uses (Psalm 24:10), "Who is this King of Glory? The Lord of Hosts, He is the King of Glory, Selah," as a springboard for a...
The Midrash Tehillim, an ancient collection of interpretations on the Book of Psalms, grapples with this very question. Specifically, it reflects on (Psalm 26:5), "I hate the congr...
to one particularly powerful passage, a meditation on (Psalm 27:1), "The Lord is my light and my help; whom should I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; whom should I drea...
The verse that kicks it all off is from (Psalm 71:1): "In you, O Lord, I have taken refuge. Let me never be put to shame." But the midrash, the interpretive story, doesn't just tak...
The ancient rabbis certainly understood that feeling. They explored it deeply in their interpretations of the Psalms, particularly in Midrash Tehillim, a collection of stories and ...
