432 related texts · Page 2 of 9
Midrash on the death of Aaron "I lost the three shepherds in one month" (Zecharia 11:8); and thus, in one month, Aaron, Miriam, and Moses died. Miriam died on the 1st of the month ...
Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary) Yitbarach (May He Be Blessed) Blessed be the name of the King of kings, the Holy One blessed be He, who lives and endures forever and eve...
The Small Letters and their Purposes The ALEPH in ויקרא And He called (Leviticus 1:1) is small, to teach that the Holy Blessed One is only revealed to the nations of the earth thro...
Rabbi Yehuda said, "Three books are opened on Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish New Year) before the Holy One, Blessed be He: One of wholly righteous people; and they are immediately writt...
When a lion roars, every animal in the forest freezes. Even the ones who have never been hunted. Even the ones too far away to be prey. The sound itself is the message: there is so...
Why does the world hold together? Jeremiah gives the unlikely answer: "If not for My covenant day and night, I would not have established the fixed order of heaven and earth" (Jere...
"The Lord says to my Lord: 'Sit at my right hand'" (Psalm 110:1). This verse launches one of the most complex readings in Aggadat Bereshit — about how the Holy One loves and exalts...
Hell has seven names. This is what Aggadat Bereshit says when Malachi promises "the day is coming, burning like an oven" (Malachi 3:19). The rabbis did not flinch from the geograph...
After Sodom's destruction, Abraham journeyed on. He left the ruined plain behind and moved — not fleeing, not grieving, just continuing. Job had the language for this: "The mountai...
When God looks down at a wicked generation, the rabbis said, He searches for one righteous person to carry the weight of atonement for all the rest. This is the reading Aggadat Ber...
“They heard that I sigh; there is no comforter for me; all my enemies heard of my misfortune, were glad because You acted. May You bring the day that You proclaimed, and they will ...
“He severed in his enflamed wrath all the horn of Israel; He retracted His right hand from before the enemy. He burned in Jacob like flaming fire, consuming all around” (Lamentatio...
“I am the man who has seen affliction by the rod of His fury” (Lamentations 3:1).“I am the man” – Rabbi Ḥama bar Ḥanina began: “Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to Barukh s...
“There was a Judean man in the Shushan citadel, and his name was Mordekhai, son of Ya'ir, son of Shimi, son of Kish, a Benjamite” (Esther 2:5).“There was a Judean man [ish] in the ...
“In the first month, that is, the month Nisan, in the twelfth year of King Aḥashverosh, he had cast a pur, that is, the lot, before Haman for each day and for each month, to the tw...
The Passover sacrifice is a perfect example. It wasn't just about offering an animal; it was a multi-layered lesson, a story told through action, meant to resonate with both the pa...
"Shema Yisrael, Adonai Eloheinu, Adonai Echad" – "Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One" (Deut. 6:4). We say it every day, often multiple times a day. But where did it ...
They’re called tefillin (leather phylacteries worn during prayer), or phylacteries, and they’re more than just ritual objects – they’re a powerful connection to our history and our...
It's more than just a decoration; it's a powerful symbol, a constant reminder of God's presence and our commitment to Jewish values. But have you ever stopped to think about how we...
You probably know they're called mezuzot (singular: mezuzah (a parchment scroll affixed to doorposts)). But have you ever stopped to wonder about the deeper meaning behind this eve...
The Book of Jubilees claims that Moses received far more on Mount Sinai than the Ten Commandments—he received a cosmic download about the very fabric of time itself. The text prese...
We all know the big picture – freedom from slavery, the Ten Commandments. But what about the finer details? What was the tone, the emphasis, the heart of his message? Well, accordi...
According to rabbinic tradition, the Ten Commandments, those powerful pronouncements given to Moses on Mount Sinai, aren't just a list of rules. They are, in a way, a reflection of...
According to Ginzberg's Legends of the Jews, after hearing those earth-shattering pronouncements, the Israelites thought, "Yes! This is it! God's going to reveal the entire Torah [...
It wasn't just a building; it was a story, a symbol, a living testament to the covenant between God and Israel. And speaking of symbols, let's zoom in on the altar. This wasn't jus...
It's an idea deeply rooted in our tradition, and it takes center stage in the story of the cities of refuge. We find ourselves with Moses, nearing the end of his life, and the two ...
The text tells us that “the sound of their grief pierced to the very heavens.” It paints a vivid picture of despair. And where is Moses, their leader, during all this? He’s gone to...
And it’s been guarded fiercely. The text recounts a divine voice, almost exasperated, saying, "Nay, My servitors, nay, My servants, trouble Me not in this matter!" It's like God is...
(Exodus 13:9) speaks of the account of the Exodus serving "as a sign upon your hand." The Mekhilta derives from this verse a specific ruling about the construction of tefillin — th...
The Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael poses a deceptively simple question: how were the Ten Commandments arranged on the two tablets? The answer reveals a hidden moral architecture within ...
And Jewish tradition, in its wonderfully audacious way, even imagines God putting on a tallit and tefillin (leather phylacteries worn during prayer). Yes, you read that right. God,...
It was a spectacle. The Targum Neophyti on (Exodus 20:1) describes it as shooting stars, lightning, and fiery torches all rolled into one. Can you picture that? A blazing, celestia...
The luchot, as they're known in Hebrew. The Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer, a fascinating collection of stories and interpretations, paints a vivid picture of this moment. Initially, the t...
We know the big story: God, Moses, the Ten Commandments... but what about the details? to a fascinating passage from Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer, a beautiful and often imaginative work ...
It’s a question that’s plagued humanity for millennia, and it’s a question that even Moses himself wrestled with. Imagine being Moses, the man who led the Israelites out of slavery...
"I am God, your Lord, Who brought you out of the land of Egypt" (Exodus 20:2). Targum Onkelos translates the Ten Commandments with almost no deviation from the Hebrew—a remarkable ...
A Matrona asked R. Jose b. Halafta why the covenant of Abraham was not mentioned in the ten commandments and the reply was: "The proselyte mentioned therein implies to the covenant...
We find ourselves at a fascinating crossroads in the book of Numbers, Bamidbar, specifically in Bamidbar Rabbah 21. Moses, our leader, is aging. The question of succession looms la...
Today, we're diving into a fascinating discussion from Devarim Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Book of Deuteronomy, focusing on the Shema, Judaism's central...
The passage starts with the phrase, "These are [ve’eleh] the ordinances." That little word "ve’eleh" – "these are" – isn't just a throwaway. The Midrash (rabbinic interpretive comm...
According to Rabbi Elazar, it's justice. That’s why, as Shemot Rabbah tells us, God gave us laws after the Ten Commandments. If justice is perverted, everything crumbles. God, in h...
Take this one: "His hands are rods of gold set with beryl; his belly is a slab of ivory covered with sapphires." (Song of Songs 5:14). Beautiful imagery, but what does it mean? Wel...
Rabbi Ḥiyya taught that this specific portion, Kedoshim, was delivered in a grand assembly – "Speak to the entire congregation of the children of Israel..." (Leviticus 19:2). Why? ...
Another interpretation [of] "I pleaded with the Lord" (Deuteronomy 3:23): This is [the meaning of] that which was stated by the verse (Ecclesiastes 9:11), "The race is not won by t...
"Lord God, You have begun" (Deuteronomy 3:24): There is a [relevant] parable: To what is this comparable? To a king that saw an orphaned woman and sought to marry her. He sent to p...
It’s more than just parchment and ink. It’s a conduit, a channel. The Zohar, that cornerstone of Kabbalistic thought, already touched on this when discussing the Hebrew alphabet. A...
"so that the Torah of the L–rd be in your mouth": What is the intent of this? From "And it shall be to you as a sign," I would assume that women, too, are included (in the mitzvah ...
Variantly: What is the intent of "from day to day"? From "and it shall be to you as a sign," I might think, even on Sabbaths and festivals. And this would follow, viz.: Since both ...
