486 related texts · 8 related myths · Page 2 of 11
A man who had mastered Scripture, studied the Mishnah, and served many scholars dropped dead in the middle of his life. His widow seized his tefillin (leather phylacteries worn dur...
"And the habitation of the children of Israel in Egypt and in other lands was four hundred and thirty years." This is one of the verses that they (the seventy-two elders changed) i...
When Noah was loading up the ark, Og made a deal. He swore to Noah and his sons that if they’d let him come along, he’d be their servant forever. Space on the ark was tight, to say...
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...
These are the generations of Aaron and Moses. [Betai Midrashot (rabbinic interpretive commentary) Third Chamber] Our rabbis taught: Brothers who are partners and who increased asse...
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 mountain...
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...
When the Song of Songs sings, "King Solomon made for him a palanquin" (Song of Songs 3:9), the sages of Pesikta de-Rav Kahana 1:2 hear something far beyond a royal carriage. The Ki...
Rabbi Simlai delivered one of the most famous homilies in the Talmud (Makkot 23b). Moses, he said, was given 613 commandments at Sinai. And the number is not arbitrary. Three hundr...
The Talmud in Maccoth preserves a remarkable teaching: Moses pronounced four severe judgments over Israel, and four later prophets rose up and softened them. This is not rebellion....
The Targum Pseudo-Jonathan records God's reason for the coming theophany: "Behold, on the third day I will reveal Myself to thee in the depth of the cloud of glory, that the people...
David, in (Psalm 18:36), sings a sentence so audacious that the rabbis read it again and again looking for the trick. "You gave me Your shield of salvation, and Your right hand sus...
“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 all comes down to interpreting the sacred texts, and sometimes, even the smallest word can spark a debate. to the world of rabbinic interpretation, specifically a passage from S...
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 people of Israel once came before God with a complaint that only a working people could make. Rabbi Eliezer preserved their words: "We are anxious to be occupied day and night ...
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 pres...
The familiar version gives us 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 mess...
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 the ten utterances with which Go...
After hearing those earth-shattering pronouncements, the Israelites thought, "Yes! This is it! God's going to reveal the entire Torah [the first five books of the Hebrew Bible] to ...
It wasn't just a building; it was a story, a symbol, a living evidence of the covenant between God and Israel. Speaking of symbols, This wasn't just a place for offerings; it was a...
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 sound of their grief pierced to the very heavens.” It paints a vivid picture of despair. Where is Moses, their leader, during all this? He’s gone to plead with the Avot, the P...
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 bei...
(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, the...
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 ...
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, wra...
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...
Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer turns to The Ten Commandments of Sabbath. Rabbi Elazar, son of 'Azariah, gives us a very specific timeline. He says that it was on a Friday, the 6th of the m...
Being Moses, the man who led the Israelites out of slavery, parted the Red Sea, and received the Torah (the Law) at Mount Sinai. He’s literally spoken to God face-to-face! So, when...
"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...
