2,344 related texts · Page 19 of 49
But what if I told you the Torah itself offers some pretty practical advice about diversifying your... well, everything? It's tucked away in Bereshit Rabbah, a collection of rabbin...
We're looking at section 76, which grapples with Jacob's prayer as he prepares to meet his brother Esau after years of separation (Genesis 32:10). Remember the setup: Jacob is unde...
It’s easy to think of it as a simple sibling rivalry, a fear of physical harm. But when we delve into the ancient commentaries, a much larger, almost cosmic, fear emerges. The vers...
Take the story of Jacob preparing to meet his brother Esau after years of estrangement. He sends Esau a lavish gift, described in detail in Genesis 32. But is it just a gift list, ...
(Genesis 32:17) tells us, "And he placed them in the hands of his slaves, each flock separately, and he told them: Go before me, and leave space between the flocks." Jacob isn't ju...
The story of Jacob wrestling with an angel, found in Genesis 32, is one of the most enigmatic and powerful scenes in the Torah. But what was really going on that night by the river...
It’s the story of Jacob, our patriarch, and it's a story that the rabbis in Bereshit Rabbah, that great collection of Genesis interpretations, unpack with fascinating detail. We al...
It's never just a detail. Everything has meaning, layers upon layers waiting to be uncovered. We find this idea beautifully illustrated in Bereshit Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic...
It’s a fascinating story that takes us back to the very beginnings of our people, to Jacob wrestling with a mysterious figure. The Torah tells us, in (Genesis 32:33), "Therefore, t...
Take the reunion of Jacob and Esau in Genesis 33. We read how Jacob arranged his family as he approached his brother, placing the maidservants and their children first, Leah and he...
to a fascinating glimpse behind the scenes of Jacob's reunion with his brother Esau, years after their fraught parting. The story, as told in Bereshit Rabbah 78, isn't just about b...
In (Genesis 33:10), Jacob pleads with Esau, saying, "Please, no, if I have found favor in your eyes, receive my gift from me, for therefore, I have seen your face, as the sight of ...
It's often through layers of interpretation, connecting seemingly unrelated verses to reveal deeper truths. Let's look at a fascinating example from Bereshit Rabbah, a collection o...
Take the encounter between Jacob and Esau after their long separation. (Genesis 33:15) tells us, "Esau said to him: Please, I will place with you some of the people who are with me...
The Torah is full of stories of resilience, and one that particularly resonates with this idea is Jacob's return to Canaan. In (Genesis 33:18), we read: "Jacob arrived intact to th...
That feeling, that resilience, is at the heart of a beautiful passage in Bereshit Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretations of the Book of Genesis. It's all about Jacob, and...
That feeling, that resilience, is at the heart of a beautiful teaching about Jacob, our patriarch. The Torah tells us that Jacob "arrived intact" (Genesis 33:18) after his long jou...
We make our plans, we have our dreams, but as the Book of Proverbs (27:1) wisely reminds us, "Do not glory in tomorrow, for you do not know what the day will bring." This idea of t...
The Torah tells us, "Jacob’s sons answered Shechem and Ḥamor his father with guile, and spoke, as he had defiled Dinah their sister” (Genesis 34:13). But was it really just guile? ...
The verse we're focusing on is from (Genesis 35:2): "Jacob said to his household, and to all who were with him: Remove the foreign gods that are in your midst, and purify yourselve...
The Torah, in its concise way, captures this very human experience. We find ourselves in Genesis, Chapter 35. Jacob is returning home, a journey laden with its own emotional baggag...
Our ancestors certainly did. And sometimes, just sometimes, they got one. Take Jacob, for instance. He's been through the wringer, hasn't he? Deception, exile, wrestling angels… yo...
We find him at a crucial point in his life, facing a Divine encounter that echoes a previous one. The text in Bereshit Rabbah 82: “God appeared…again.” That little word "again" is ...
One fascinating passage in Bereshit Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretations of the Book of Genesis, dives right into this thorny issue. Specifically, it tackles Jacob's bl...
Jewish tradition certainly thinks so, and there's a fascinating passage in Bereshit Rabbah (Genesis Rabbah), a classic collection of rabbinic interpretations of the Book of Genesis...
We're looking at the story of Pharaoh's dream and how Joseph, the ultimate dream interpreter, finally gets his shot. The text begins, "He sent and summoned…" referring to Pharaoh g...
Jacob, seeing a famine in the land, tells his sons, "Why do you make yourselves conspicuous?" (Genesis 42:1). Simple enough. But the rabbis of the Midrash (rabbinic interpretive co...
The story begins with Jacob observing his sons. "Why do you make yourselves conspicuous?" he asks them. But what exactly did he mean? According to this Midrash (rabbinic interpreti...
That’s kind of what happened to Jacob after Joseph disappeared, according to the ancient commentary, Bereshit Rabbah. The Torah tells us, "Jacob saw that there was grain [shever] i...
It's a deep dive into the story of Jacob's sons and their trip to Egypt, and it's full of anxiety, suspicion, and loss. The passage begins with a recap from Genesis 42. Joseph, now...
Our tradition grapples with this too, offering perspectives that might surprise you. to a fascinating passage from Bereshit Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretations of the ...
Jewish tradition is just teeming with those kinds of moments. Take Jacob, for instance, as he's about to head down to Egypt to reunite with his son Joseph. The Torah tells us, "Isr...
It all begins with Jacob, now also known as Israel, standing at a crossroads. God speaks to him "in the visions of the night," a phrase that already sets a mystical tone. "Jacob, J...
It's even woven into the very fabric of the Torah. : we read in (Genesis 47:28), "Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years; the days of Jacob, the years of his life, were o...
Jewish tradition grapples with this question in fascinating ways, particularly when we look at the deaths of our patriarchs. Take Jacob, for example. The Torah tells us, “The time ...
That’s the sense I get reading Bereshit Rabbah 98, a beautiful passage from the ancient midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary)ic collection, which interprets a verse from (Psal...
The story begins with the tribes of Reuben and Gad. As Israel was in the process of conquering and dividing the land, these tribes, as the midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary...
The verse in question is (Genesis 49:28): "This is what their father Jacob spoke to them." But the Rabbis in Bereshit Rabbah notice something subtle. It doesn't say, "This is what ...
to Devarim Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic teachings on the Book of Deuteronomy. There's this fascinating passage that starts with the phrase, "You have circled enough..." or "Rav...
The story of Esau and Jacob is a classic example, and the Rabbis in Devarim Rabbah, a collection of homiletic interpretations on the Book of Deuteronomy, unpack it with incredible ...
The book of Ecclesiastes in the Bible grapples with these very feelings. There's a verse in chapter 9, verse 11, that really gets to the heart of it: "I again saw under the sun tha...
It's rarely just repetition. Often, it's about adding layers of meaning, offering a deeper appreciation for what came before. Take the very beginning of the Book of Exodus. We’re i...
It's like, bam, out of nowhere, you're bearing a load you didn't even see coming. Well, the ancient Israelites knew that feeling all too well when they found themselves in Egypt. W...
The ancient rabbis certainly did. They saw layers of meaning, hidden connections, and prophecies woven into the very fabric of the Torah. Take the beginning of the Book of Exodus, ...
to one, from Shemot Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Book of Exodus. The verse we're looking at is simple, yet profound: “God saw the children of Israel, and...
That's the situation Moses found himself in. In (Exodus 3:11), Moses cries out to God, "Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should take the children of Israel out of ...
We all know the story, but Shemot Rabbah, a classic collection of midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary)im – interpretations and expansions – on the Book of Exodus, offers a fa...
It’s not just about receiving, but about the giving, the engagement, the doing. to a fascinating passage from Shemot Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Book of...
