3,050 related texts · Page 47 of 64
(Exodus 14:20) "And it (the cloud) came between the camp of Egypt and the camp of Israel, and it was cloud and darkness"—cloud for Israel and darkness for Egypt; Israel in the ligh...
And thus do you find that the Holy One Blessed be He is destined to exact punishment of the wicked in Gehinnom (the place of spiritual purification after death) with the east wind,...
The "morning" of Jacob—(Ibid. 28:18) "and Jacob rose early in the morning, etc." The "morning" of Moses—Exodus 34:4) "and Moses rose early in the morning, etc." The "morning" of Jo...
(Exodus 15:1) "Az yashir Mosheh": Az ("then") sometimes signals the past and sometimes signals the future. The past: (Genesis 4:26) "Az men began", (Exodus 4:26) "Az she said", (Ex...
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 ...
The Mekhilta continues its meditation on the Song of the Sea by enumerating the reasons God is worthy of song. "I shall sing to the Lord," the Israelites declared — and one reason ...
The Mekhilta adds another dimension to the Song of the Sea: "I shall sing to the Lord," who is wise. Not merely knowledgeable or clever — wise in the absolute sense. All wisdom tha...
Rebbi — Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi, the compiler of the Mishnah (the earliest code of rabbinic law) — offers an alternative reading that slightly adjusts the ages of the miraculous singe...
The Mekhilta interprets the phrase "For He is high on high" (Exodus 15:1) as describing a relationship of mutual exaltation between God and Israel. The doubling in the Hebrew — ga'...
And thus Sancheriv—With what he vaunted himself, punishment was exacted of him, viz. (II Kings 19:23) "Through your envoys you have blasphemed the L–rd, etc.", and (Ibid. 24) "It i...
The Mekhilta adds two more names to its list of nations whose arrogance led to their precise downfall: the great city of Tyre and its ruler Malchah (identified with the prince of T...
The Mekhilta concludes its extended discussion of Tyre and its ruler Malchah by citing the prophetic verdicts that sealed their fate — and then draws a sweeping theological conclus...
And thus do you find, that the Holy One Blessed be He is not destined to exact punishment of the kingdoms in time to come without first exacting punishment of their plenipotentiari...
The Song of the Sea, sung by Israel after crossing the Red Sea, contains the phrase "my strength." The Mekhilta offers an alternative reading that deepens the meaning considerably....
The Mekhilta de-Rabbi Ishmael presents yet another exchange in the ongoing dialogue between Israel and the Holy Spirit. When Israel declares (Psalms 89:18), "For You are the glory ...
The Mekhilta continues its exploration of the word "ve'anvehu" from (Exodus 15:2) by presenting two more rabbinic interpretations, each connecting the Song of the Sea to broader Je...
R. Shimon b. Elazar says: When Israel do the will of the L–rd, His name is exalted in the world, as it is written (Joshua 5:1) "And it was, when all the kings of the Emori heard, e...
The Mekhilta de-Rabbi Ishmael continues its catalog of enemies who rose against Israel and were struck down by heaven, turning now to one of the most dramatic military disasters in...
Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, stood as the supreme example of human arrogance brought low. The Mekhilta recounts how this mighty ruler dared to place himself above all creation....
The Mekhilta identifies another future-tense verb in the Song at the Sea. It is not written "You have sent forth Your wrath" — as if God's anger were already spent — but "You will ...
All woods, when they burn, their sound is not heard; but stubble, when it burns, it crackles and is heard. Thus did the sound of Egypt, in its destruction, make itself heard. All w...
The redemption of Israel was not a private event. According to the Mekhilta, the entire natural world erupted in celebration. Not the heavens alone rejoiced — the mountains and all...
(Exodus 15:9) "The foe said: I shall pursue, etc.": This appertains (chronologically) to the beginning of the parshah. Why is it written here? For "there is no before and after in ...
The Mekhilta takes the worldwide rejection of idolatry at the Red Sea and projects it forward into the future. What happened momentarily at the sea — when all nations opened their ...
Variantly: Who is like You ("ba'eilim") among those who call themselves gods? Pharaoh called himself a god, viz. (Ezekiel 29:3) "Mine is my river (the Nile), and I have made it." A...
The Mekhilta offers an alternate reading of the Song at the Sea's phrase "You have inclined Your right hand." When God stretches out His hand, the wicked vanish from the world enti...
The Mekhilta offers a vivid and unsettling analogy for divine power over the nations. Picture a man holding eggs in his hand. He tilts his hand just slightly, barely a movement, an...
The Mekhilta interprets the verse "You have led forth in lovingkindness" (Exodus 15:13) as a startling admission: Israel had no merit of their own when they were redeemed from Egyp...
Once, Rebbi was sitting and expounding that one woman bore sixty ten thousands, when a disciple interjected: Rebbi, who is greater, the world or the tzaddik (a righteous person)? R...
The Mekhilta offers an alternate reading of the verse "You will bring them and You will plant them." The key word is "plant." God does not merely promise to place Israel in the lan...
The Mekhilta deepens its meditation on the Temple with a remarkable claim about divine craftsmanship. "The sanctuary, O Lord, did Your hands establish" — note the plural. Hands, no...
The Mekhilta records an alternative explanation for why Israel went three days without water. According to this view, the problem was not the desert at all. The problem was their c...
The expounders of metaphors said: They did not "find" words of Torah, which are compared to water. Where is this seen? (Isaiah 55:1) "Ho! all who thirst, go to the waters!" Because...
R. Shimon b. Gamliel says: Come and see how different are the ways of the Holy One Blessed be He from the ways of flesh and blood. (A man of) flesh and blood heals bitter with swee...
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,...
(Exodus 18:1) "And Yithro heard": What did he hear that caused him to come (and join Israel)? The war with Amalek, which is juxtaposed with this section. These are the words of R. ...
Rabbi Elazar ben Azaryah made a bold claim about how deeply the Torah regards circumcision. The foreskin, he taught, is so repulsive in the eyes of God that Scripture uses "uncircu...
Jethro watched his son-in-law Moses judging the entire nation of Israel alone, from morning until evening, and he gave him a piece of advice wrapped in a parable. "Look at that bea...
All this, until they entered Eretz Yisrael. Whence do I derive the same for (the period) after they entered Eretz Yisrael? From (I Kings 6:1) "In the four hundred and eightieth yea...
Rebbi (Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi) offers a different reading of the events at Sinai, one that elevates Moses's stature even further. He argues that we would only need to "acknowledge th...
The Torah describes the revelation at Sinai as occurring "before the eyes of all the people" (Exodus 19:11). The Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael takes this phrase and draws from it one o...
The Mekhilta brings one more example to illustrate its principle about biblical language. (Ezekiel 43:2) describes the return of God's glory to the Temple: "And the glory of the Go...
(Exodus 19:20) "And the L–rd descended upon Mount Sinai": I might think that the "Glory" itself descended on Mount Sinai. It is, therefore, written (Ibid. 20:19) "that from the hea...
"I am the L–rd your G–d who took you out of the land of Egypt." What is the intent of this? Because He appeared at the Red Sea as a hero waging war, viz. (Exodus 15:3) "The L–rd is...
It is written "Remember the Sabbath day to sanctify it," and, opposite it, "You shall not testify (falsely)," whereby Scripture apprises us that one who desecrates the Sabbath ther...
R. Nathan says: Whence is it derived that the L–rd showed our father Abraham, Gehennom, the giving of the Torah and the splitting of the Red Sea? From (Genesis 15:17) "And it was, ...
(Exodus 20:17) says that God came to Sinai "in order to exert you." The Mekhilta reinterprets this: "exert" actually means "to make you great." God's arrival at Sinai was not meant...
R. Akiva says: "You shall not do (i.e., deport yourselves) with Me" as others do with their gods. When good befalls them, they honor their gods, viz. (Habakkuk 1:16) "Therefore, he...
