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The standard census in the Book of Numbers is a dry headcount. But the Targum Jonathan transforms it into something far more dramatic, adding a theological reason for every exempti...
Numbers 11 tells the story of Israel complaining about food in the wilderness. The Targum Jonathan adds a graven image in the camp of Dan, a wind that nearly destroyed the world, a...
The Hebrew Bible says Moses sent twelve spies into Canaan. The Targum Jonathan says he sent "keen-sighted men"—then reveals how spectacularly their vision failed them. Moses dispat...
Korah did not just challenge Moses. According to the Targum Jonathan, he manufactured a theological argument using the very fabric of his clothing, hid treasure he had looted from ...
The five daughters of Zelophehad—Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah—heard that the Promised Land would be divided only among males and immediately went to the court. The Targ...
The Targum's version of (Numbers 30) adds specific ages to the Torah's vow laws, transforming abstract principles into concrete legal thresholds. A male becomes bound by his vows a...
The war against Midian in the Targum's version of (Numbers 31) is a supernatural thriller. Twelve thousand Israelite soldiers went out with Phinehas carrying "the Urim and Thummim ...
The tribes of Reuben and Gad had enormous herds, and when they saw the conquered territory east of the Jordan, they wanted to stay. The Targum's version of (Numbers 32) captures Mo...
The final chapter of Numbers in the Targum's version (Numbers 36) resolves a legal crisis that the daughters of Zelophehad had inadvertently created. The heads of the clan of Gilea...
The Blessing of Moses in (Deuteronomy 33) gets the full Targum treatment—every tribe's destiny expanded, every blessing loaded with specifics the Torah never mentions. It opens wit...
… it is written there “Behold the heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You…” (Melachim I 8:27) and here it is written “…the glory of the Lord filled the Tabernacle.” (Sh...
And the one who offered his sacrifice on the first day was Nachshon ben Aminadab of the tribe of Judah (Numbers 7:12). Our Rabbi, the one who offered the sacrifice to the altar, ta...
On the seventh day after the Ten Commandments Moshe went up on the mountain, as it says "The Presence of the LORD abode on Mount Sinai, and the cloud hid it for six days..." (Shemo...
"And the Lord spake unto Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the tabernacle of the congregation, on the first day of the second month, in the second year..." (Numbers 1:1).1Guggen...
Another explanation: As she purified the entire house of her father like the blood of a bird (tzipor, used in purifying some impurities). Rabbi Yose bar Chaninah said, 'They sought...
The Yalkut Shimoni on Torah 392 makes a breathtaking claim about the two stone tablets that Moses received on Mount Sinai: they were not made from any earthly material. "The tablet...
When the Holy One came to give the Torah to Moshe, he said over the order of the Readings, the Mishna, the aggadah (non-legal rabbinic narrative) and the Talmud as it says "And God...
Pirkei Avot, also known as "Ethics of the Fathers," is one of the most widely studied texts in all of Jewish literature — and one of the most unusual tractates in the Talmud. Unlik...
Midrash HaGadol: Several manuscripts of this midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary) are found in well-known libraries, and one belonged to Dr. Alexander Kohut, who used it in t...
"Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary) Chazit": It is also called "Aggadat Chazit", and it is a comprehensive midrash on the Song of Songs and Ecclesiastes. These midrashim be...
The Book of the Wellspring of Wisdom When Moses ascended on high, a cloud came up against him, and Moses our teacher did not know if one rides it or holds it. Immediately, the clou...
Furthermore, said R. Levi b. Chama, in the name of Resh Lakish : "What is meant by the passage (Ex. 24:12) And I will give thee the tablets of stone, with the law and the Commandme...
(4) R. Joshua, however, says: "Whence do we know that the Patriarchs were born in the month of Nissan? It is said (I Kings 6, 1) In the fourth year, in the month Ziv (glory), which...
(16) (Ib. b) (Ex. 34, 6), And the Lord passed by before him and proclaimed. R. Jochanan said: "Had this passage not been written, it would have been impossible to think of it, for ...
(24) (Fol. 21b) It is written (Ps. 12, 7) The words of the Lord are pure words, as silver refined in the crucible of earth, purified seven times. Rab and Samuel both explain it. On...
Rabba b. b. Chana said further: "The same merchant said to me: 'Come and I will show you the place where the children of Korah were swallowed up.' And I saw two crevices in the gro...
When Moses descended from Mount Sinai carrying the two tablets of the covenant, he found the Israelites dancing around a golden calf. His fury was absolute. He shattered the tablet...
The sages taught that physical cleanliness was not merely a matter of hygiene — it was a spiritual discipline that could literally make a person shine. Rabbi Judah HaNasi, known si...
Moses stood apart from every other prophet who ever lived. The rabbis taught that while other prophets saw God through clouded glass, Moses alone saw through a clear lens — an unob...
Three figures pray and God delights in it: Moses, David, and the Messiah. This is the claim Aggadat Bereshit makes from (Proverbs 15:8) — "the prayer of the upright is His delight....
After two full years in prison, Pharaoh dreamed (Genesis 41:1). The midrash reads this through Psalm 73: "As an endless dream, the Lord despised their form." God does not reveal Hi...
"And Jacob called unto his sons" (Genesis 49:1). The Torah records the great final blessing — all twelve sons gathered around the dying patriarch, each receiving something tailored...
That’s what we’re talking about when we talk about God. famous verse from Exodus (3:14), where God tells Moses, "I shall be what I shall be." It’s so much more than just a name. It...
The Torah gives us a glimpse into such an experience with the story of the Ohel Mo'ed, the Tent of Meeting. The Book of Exodus describes how Moses would set up this tent "outside t...
Not just any mountain, but Mount Sinai itself, the very place where God met Moses. It’s a mind-bending image, isn't it? That's how some of our tradition describes the moment of rev...
Before the sun, the moon, the stars... before anything? Jewish tradition has some pretty mind-bending answers, and one of the most fascinating involves the Torah. Not just the one ...
Let’s rewind a bit. Remember the story of the golden calf? MOSES smashes the first set of tablets. Talk about a bad day! Afterward, Moses pleads with God, reminding Him that He bro...
Serah, daughter of Asher, one of Jacob's sons. We find her name nestled in the list of those who went down to Egypt with Jacob to escape the famine. You can find it in (Genesis 46:...
Jewish tradition has a way of blowing your mind with concepts like that – especially when we delve into stories like the Exodus and the Binding of Isaac. Imagine this: the Israelit...
What happens to the abandoned? What happens to the children left to the elements, victims of cruelty and fear? Sometimes, stories offer us the most profound answers. Think about th...
But what if the Messianic role is actually a team effort? What if, as this radical idea from Deuteronomy Rabbah (3:17) suggests, the Messiah is actually two figures, coming togethe...
Bamidbar Rabbah, the rabbinic commentary on the Book of Numbers, dives right into this question with a surprisingly poetic starting point. The verse we're looking at is "The Lord s...
That feeling, that inherent worth… it's something the ancient rabbis grappled with too. And they found a powerful message about it in the very first verses of the Book of Numbers, ...
Take the story of Nadav and Avihu, the sons of Aaron, who famously perished while offering "alien fire" before the Lord (Leviticus 10:1). Their death is mentioned no less than four...
Take the Book of Numbers itself, Bamidbar in Hebrew, where we get... well, a lot of numbers. But hidden within those numbers are stories, and insights into the way the ancient Isra...
The text opens with a seemingly straightforward instruction: "The Lord said to Moses: Count every firstborn male of the children of Israel from one month old and above, and take th...
We find ourselves in just such a situation in the Book of Numbers, Bamidbar in Hebrew. Specifically, in Bamidbar Rabbah, a Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary)ic compilation ...
The ones that make you tilt your head and ask, "Wait, what? We're talking about the redemption of the firstborn. (Numbers 3:46) tells us about redeeming the 273 firstborn Israelite...
