3,813 related texts · Page 44 of 80
And the answer, well, it's more mystical than you might imagine. The book of Devarim (Deuteronomy), the last book of the Torah, tells us, "And He buried him in the valley, in the l...
It’s something the Sages of the Talmud were keenly aware of, and it pops up in the most unexpected places. Take the very end of Moses’ life. "And Moses was one hundred and twenty y...
It’s a question that's haunted humanity for, well, pretty much ever. And when we look to our sacred texts, sometimes we find the answers are…surprising. Take Moses, for example. We...
Our journey starts with the Sifrei Devarim, a collection of legal commentaries on the Book of Deuteronomy. It asks a simple question about a seemingly simple phrase: "thirty days."...
It's not just about giving orders. There's a fascinating idea tucked away in Sifrei Devarim that illuminates this. It says, regarding the Israelites following Moses's command, "and...
It’s a question that’s echoed through generations, pondered in synagogues and around countless Shabbat (the Sabbath) tables. The Sifrei Devarim, a collection of legal midrash (rabb...
Exodus chapter 6 is mostly genealogy—the kind of passage readers skim. The Targum Jonathan turns it into a minefield of hidden revelations. The chapter opens with God revealing the...
The plague of hail in Exodus chapter 9 comes with a warning: anyone who fears God's word should bring their livestock inside. The Hebrew Bible says some of Pharaoh's servants feare...
The instructions for building the Tabernacle in (Exodus 25) read like an architectural blueprint in the Hebrew Bible. The Targum Jonathan adds theological meaning to nearly every m...
After the golden calf, God told Moses something devastating in (Exodus 33:1-23). The Shekinah (the Divine Presence) would not travel with Israel anymore. The Targum Jonathan turns ...
After the plague killed twenty-four thousand, God ordered a new census. The Targum's version of (Numbers 26) opens with a phrase absent from the Torah: "the compassions of the heav...
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 death of Moses in (Deuteronomy 34) is eight verses in the Torah. Targum Jonathan turns it into one of the most elaborate death scenes in all of ancient Jewish literature. From ...
The Hebrew Bible records Moses's great farewell poem, the Song of Ha'azinu (Deuteronomy 32), a sweeping poetic indictment of Israel's future unfaithfulness. Targum Onkelos translat...
The Hebrew Bible calls Moses "the man of God" (Deuteronomy 33:1). Targum Onkelos adds one word: "the prophet of God." Moses is not merely a man who belongs to God. He is a prophet—...
The Hebrew Bible says Moses died "by the mouth of God" (Deuteronomy 34:5). Ancient tradition interprets this as death by a divine kiss—the gentlest possible departure from life. Ta...
The Hebrew Bible promises: "A prophet from your midst, of your brethren, like me, will God establish for you" (Deuteronomy 18:15). Targum Onkelos translates this verse without alte...
When Israel went out of Egypt, Moses said ‘Judah became His -holy one, Israel, His dominion’ (Psalms 114:2); and when Israel went out of Jerusalem, Jeremiah said ‘“Away! Unclean!” ...
When Israel went out of Egypt, Moses said ‘the sea saw them and fled, the Jordan turned backward’ (Psalms 114:2); and when Israel went out of Jerusalem, Jeremiah said ‘by the river...
When Israel went out of Egypt, Moses said ‘the mountains skipped like rams’(Psalms 114:4); And when Israel went out of Jerusalem, Jeremiah said 'I look at the mountains, they are q...
When Israel went out of Egypt, Moses said ‘God your God has been with you these past forty years: you have lacked nothing’ (Deuteronomy 2:7); and when Israel went out of Jerusalem,...
When Israel went out of Egypt, Moses said ‘and in the wilderness, where you saw how God your God carried you, as a man carries his son’(Deuteronomy 1:31); and when they went out of...
When they went out of Egypt, Moses said ‘while you, who held fast to God your God, are all alive today’ (Deuteronomy 4:4); and when they went out of Jerusalem, Jeremiah said ‘the t...
When they went out of Egypt, Moses said ‘and the cloud of God was on them by day’ (Numbers 10:34); and when they went out of Jerusalem, Jeremiah said ‘[You have screened Yourself o...
On the last day of his life, Moses did something no prophet had ever done — he dressed his successor in public, with his own hands. He commanded that a golden throne be brought, al...
A non-Jew once asked Rabban Gamliel a question that seemed simple but concealed a philosophical trap. "Your God," he said, "is supposedly the master of the entire universe. He crea...
Yet, Jewish tradition suggests just that. The story goes that as God dictated the Torah atop Mount Sinai, Moses, ever the diligent scribe, meticulously wrote down every word. But t...
What would you ask for? According to tradition, as his time drew near, Moses made one final, powerful request of God. It wasn't for more life, or for comfort, or even for himself a...
In the book of Numbers, Bamidbar, we find a census being taken. But there's a twist. "However, the tribe of Levi you shall not count" (Numbers 1:49). Why this exclusion? Bamidbar R...
It seems like such a simple detail, but the Torah dedicates a lot of space to describing the precise arrangement of the tribes around the Mishkan, the Tabernacle. And the Rabbis, n...
Today, we're diving into a fascinating passage from Bamidbar Rabbah, specifically section 2, which gives us a peek into the lives of Aaron's sons, Elazar and Itamar, and their role...
It all starts with the verse, "Bring the tribe of Levi near and stand it before Aaron the priest, and they shall serve him" (Numbers 3:5–6). This is where our sages begin to unpack...
"And stand it before Aaron, the priest, and they shall serve him." This seemingly simple instruction reveals a whole world of responsibility. But what does it mean to "serve him"? ...
We know, according to tradition, that God created the world in six days. But what about since then? The Talmudic sages pondered this very question. In Bamidbar Rabbah, a collection...
Every. Single. One. Think about the logistics! As it says in Bamidbar Rabbah (Numbers Rabbah), Moses was understandably a little… hesitant. "You want me to go into every courtyard,...
It's not a mistake, and it's definitely not filler! Sometimes, those repetitions are there to teach us something profound about the people and stories within. to one such instance ...
The Torah, in its infinite wisdom, touches upon this very feeling when describing the Levites. We find in (Numbers 3:46), "All the counted, whom Moses and Aaron and the princes of ...
Yet, the rabbis of old saw a deep, underlying unity. A web of connections. Take, for example, the fascinating link they found between the laws of the nazir, the one who takes a vow...
It’s a question that’s plagued humanity for millennia. And believe it or not, our ancient texts wrestle with it too. We find a fascinating perspective in Bamidbar Rabbah, specifica...
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’s a story rich with symbolism, divine presence, and, believe it or not, even a little tension about who gets to offer what. , shall we? According to Bamidbar Rabbah 13, it all b...
to a fascinating passage from Bamidbar Rabbah, specifically section 14, which grapples with just that question, focusing on the anointing of the altar and its implications for the ...
The text hinges on the seemingly simple phrase, "Craft for you." (Numbers 10:2) It's all about the personal nature of leadership and the instruments that come with it. "Craft for y...
to a story from Bamidbar Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic teachings on the Book of Numbers, that explores just this. The story goes that God tells Moses to gather seventy men to he...
It's like a secret code, hinting at deeper meanings. Take this verse from (Numbers 11:16): "Gather to Me seventy men [ish]..." Why ish, and not the more common Hebrew word for men,...
The verse in (Numbers 13:2), “Send you men,” seems simple enough. But Bamidbar Rabbah, a fascinating collection of Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary)ic interpretations on t...
Even in the Bible, the order in which things are presented can tell a whole story. Take the story of the spies sent by Moses to scout out the Land of Canaan, the Promised Land, bef...
It’s a story found within Bamidbar Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Book of Numbers. The scene is set: Moses has sent out spies to scout the Land of Israel. ...
