1,715 related texts · Page 30 of 36
The Torah prohibits the use of iron tools on the altar: "For if you lift your sword upon it, you have profaned it" (Exodus 20:22). Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar explained the reason behi...
Rabban Yochanan ben Zakai says: it is said (Devarim 27:6) "Of whole (shleimoth) stones shall you build the altar of the L–rd"—stones which repose peace ("shalom"). Now does this no...
Rabbi Yishmael examined a verse about the priests serving at the altar and found a surprising teaching hidden inside what appeared to be a redundancy. The verse warns: "so that you...
Scripture hereby teaching us that murder (i.e., one's having murdered) overrides the sacrificial service. For it would follow (otherwise), viz.: If the Sabbath, which is overridden...
R. Akiva says: "tachath ('in place of') the ox; "tachath the sheep"—to exclude (from "four and five" payment an animal [as opposed to a beast]). For it would follow (otherwise), vi...
The Mekhilta raises an objection to the theory that the four-and-five payment applies only to animals that are sacrificed on the altar. If that were the rule, then a blemished anim...
"only to the L–rd alone": Because others say: If the Israelites had not joined the name of the Holy One Blessed be He, with that of idolatry (i.e., the golden calf), they would hav...
(Deuteronomy 12:6) says: "And you shall bring there your burnt-offerings and your sacrifices and the first-born of your herds and flocks." This seems to require bringing the first-...
The Mekhilta cites (Psalms 50:7-8) to illustrate God's unique relationship with Israel: "Hear, My people, and I will speak; Israel, and I will exhort you. I am God, your God. I wil...
(Exodus 23:18) "You shall not slaughter in the presence of chametz the blood of My sacrifice": You shall not slaughter the Pesach (Passover) offering while chametz is still present...
(Exodus 35:1) "And Moses assembled, etc." What is the intent of this section? From (Ibid. 25:8) "and they shall make for Me a sanctuary," I might think both on a weekday and on the...
(Exodus 35:2) says: "And on the seventh day it shall be holy for you." The Mekhilta explains why this clarification was needed. Israel might have reasoned as follows: the daily off...
Variantly: "You may not light a fire in all of your dwellings": From (Leviticus 6:6) "A perpetual fire shall burn on the altar," I might think, both on the weekdays and on the Sabb...
But there’s so much more to it than just a spiritual "reset" button. on Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, tradition tells us that God sits in judgment of everyone. Then, on Yom K...
Jewish tradition whispers, "Yes." And perhaps no holiday embodies this more beautifully than Sukkot (the Festival of Tabernacles). Sukkot, the Feast of Booths, or Tabernacles. It's...
On Tisha B'Av, the Ninth of Av, the Jewish day of mourning for the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, something extraordinary is said to happen. While Jews gather at the Kotel...
Turns out, according to some fascinating Jewish traditions, even God feels that way sometimes! This idea comes up in connection with Rosh Chodesh, the celebration of the new moon. ...
The Binding of Isaac, or Akedat Yitzhak as it's known in Hebrew, is one of those stories. It’s right there in the book of Genesis, chapter 22, verses 1 through 19. It's a cornersto...
Jewish tradition offers some breathtaking glimpses beyond the veil, and one of the most stunning involves God Himself, building a Temple…in Heaven. Imagine Moses, nearing the end o...
It’s a question that has captivated sages and storytellers for millennia, and the answer, like so many things in Jewish tradition, is layered with meaning. Imagine a world freshly ...
The Temple, the very center of Jewish life, engulfed in flames. What happens when the unthinkable becomes reality? The Talmud (B. Ta'anit 29a) recounts a powerful image: the High P...
A world where the divide between heaven and earth blurs, and the sacred becomes tangibly real. What if I told you that in Jewish tradition, there's a vision of the future where the...
And at the heart of it all lies the mystery of the Third Temple. The tradition tells us that in the End of Days, a great Ingathering of the Exiles will occur, and we'll hear the fo...
A world where sorrow turns to song, and ruins give way to radiant hope. What does that world look like? For many Jewish traditions, the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem is cen...
Midrash Tehillim, a collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Book of Psalms, dives deep into that question. And it might surprise you. One interpretation points directly to Ki...
The ancient rabbis certainly thought so. And they found echoes of this idea even in the seemingly simple words of the Psalms. Specifically, in Midrash Tehillim, a collection of rab...
That feeling, that raw emotion, is at the heart of a powerful story preserved in Midrash Tehillim, a collection of interpretations on the Book of Psalms. It's a story about faith, ...
The story, as told in Midrash Tehillim, is truly terrifying. Imagine Moses, up on Mount Sinai, receiving the Torah. A moment of ultimate revelation. And down below? The Israelites,...
Let’s turn our attention to a powerful passage from Midrash Tehillim, a collection of homiletic interpretations of the Book of Psalms. Here, we grapple with the idea of suffering, ...
The Midrash Tehillim, a collection of rabbinic teachings on the Book of Psalms, offers a powerful glimpse into David's humility. It tells of David declaring, "I am a stain." A powe...
It's no wonder that the Psalmist David, gazing up at that same sky millennia ago, wrote, "The heavens declare the glory of God" (Psalm 19:1). But what does that declaration actuall...
That’s the question at the heart of Midrash Tehillim 19, a beautiful exploration of how all of creation sings God's praises, even in silence. The text begins by offering an alterna...
Midrash Tehillim, a collection of rabbinic commentaries on the Book of Psalms, offers a fascinating perspective on where that help might come from. It starts with the idea that "Yo...
Midrash Tehillim, a fascinating collection of interpretations on the Book of Psalms, offers some intriguing insights. It delves into the meaning behind Psalm 20, verse 4: "Remember...
The ancient rabbis grappled with this too. In Midrash Tehillim, a collection of interpretations on the Book of Psalms, we find a fascinating take on Psalm 27. It revolves around a ...
Midrash Tehillim, a collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Book of Psalms, dives deep into this idea. In one particular passage (Midrash Tehillim 30), it explores the connec...
Midrash Tehillim, a collection of Rabbinic commentaries on the Book of Psalms, dives deep into this idea, exploring how the voices of the righteous resonate with the Divine. "The r...
The Midrash Tehillim, a collection of rabbinic interpretations of the Book of Psalms, wrestles with this very idea in Psalm 42. It speaks of God "passing through the camp with an a...
But the story of David, the shepherd who became the king of Israel, is far more complex and inspiring than any simple rags-to-riches story. The Book of Psalms, traditionally attrib...
A prayer attributed to Moshe, the man of God. It’s a powerful opening, immediately grounding us in the foundational narrative of the Jewish people: "Before the mountains were born,...
That feeling, that connection, is something Jewish tradition has explored for centuries. And one beautiful place where we find this idea expressed is in Midrash Tehillim, a collect...
Psalm 91 is all about that feeling, and Midrash Tehillim—an ancient collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Book of Psalms—dives deep into its meaning. The verse declares, "I...
It's more than just a day off; it's a cornerstone of Jewish life, a sacred pause in the week. But why Shabbat (the Sabbath)? What makes it so special? Midrash Tehillim, a collectio...
It's more than just saying "thank you." It's a way of connecting with something bigger than ourselves. Midrash Tehillim, a beautiful collection of interpretations on the Book of Ps...
We find this tension beautifully explored in Midrash Tehillim, specifically in a section connected to Psalm 102, a psalm often associated with the suffering of the poor. It begins ...
The Midrash Tehillim, a collection of rabbinic commentaries on the Book of Psalms, explores this very idea. It begins with the verse, "I will offer You a sacrifice of thanksgiving....
The Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary) teaches us that it's better to trust in God than to rely on the words of even our own parents. Why? Because human understanding is li...
Our tradition teaches that even then, sacred work continues. Midrash Tehillim, a collection of interpretations on the Book of Psalms, sheds light on Psalm 134, "A Song of Ascents: ...
