3,200 related texts · Page 30 of 67
It's more than just a ritual. It touches on themes of covenant, perfection, and even the very nature of blessing. to a fascinating passage from Vayikra Rabbah, a Midrash (rabbinic ...
We often overlook the seemingly insignificant, but Jewish tradition teaches us that profound blessings can reside even there. Take, for instance, the omer offering. What exactly is...
Take, for instance, the four species we use on Sukkot – the etrog (citron), the lulav (date palm frond), the hadass (myrtle), and the aravah (willow). They aren't just random plant...
Rabbi Elazar, in Vayikra Rabbah 35, offers a powerful comparison. He says, "The way of the world is that a king issues a decree; if he wishes to fulfill it, he fulfills it, and if ...
The Jerusalem Talmud, specifically in the tractate Shabbat, recounts a rather bold statement. The sages, or Chazal, tell us about someone who, upon witnessing the beauty of somethi...
It all starts with the verse: "Abraham passed over and sat upon them" (Genesis 15:11). Simple enough. But what does it mean? What is Abraham sitting on? Some interpret this verse a...
Our ancestor Abraham felt it too. The Torah tells us, in (Genesis 15:12): "About the time of the setting of the sun a trance fell upon Abraham; and lo, a great horror of darkness c...
The ancient sages certainly did. And they found profound meaning in that feeling. to a fascinating interpretation of a well-known biblical passage, explored in the Midrash of Philo...
But, like so many things in the Torah, there's a deeper layer, a hidden meaning waiting to be uncovered. The ancient sages, particularly those who engaged in midrash (rabbinic inte...
We're diving into a very specific verse: (Genesis 16:8). It's where Hagar, the maidservant of Sarah, answers the angel's question about where she's going. Her reply? "I am fleeing ...
We find him in (Genesis 17:3), and the Torah tells us, "Abraham fell on his face." But... why? What was going on in that moment that caused Abraham, the patriarch, the man of faith...
That image – of falling on one's face – becomes incredibly potent when we explore the story of Abraham. The Midrash of Philo, an ancient commentary attributed to Philo of Alexandri...
It turns out, even Abraham, our forefather, might have had a moment of… well, not exactly doubt, but perhaps profound wonder. The Torah tells us, in (Genesis 17:17), after God prom...
Like the universe is saying, "Okay, sure, but are you really ready for this?" That's the kind of vibe I get from this little nugget of a midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary) ...
Like there's someone... or something... watching over you? Well, Jewish tradition has a fascinating answer for that feeling: guardian angels. But these aren't the cherubic, winged ...
Jewish tradition grapples with this feeling too, often through stories of angels – beings of immense power, but always, always subservient to God. What does it mean to say somethin...
And Jacob went out (Gen. 28:10). Scripture states elsewhere in reference to this verse: For He will give His angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways (Ps. 91:11). R. M...
And the Lord went before them (Exod. 13:21). Just as a man treats other men, so is he treated. Because Abraham escorted the ministering angels, as it is said: And Abraham went with...
And the Lord descended in the cloud, and stood with him there (Exod. 34:5). How fortunate was Moses was that he could come before the Omnipresent while no angel or seraph was able ...
(Numb. 3:40:) “Enroll every first-born male.” This text is related (to Is. 43:4), “Because you are precious in my eyes, you are honored, and I love you….” The Holy One, blessed be ...
(Numb. 22:20:) “Then God came unto Balaam at night.” This text is related (to Exod. 12:42), “That was for the Lord a night of vigil.” All miracles which were done for Israel and wh...
And it's a little different than what you might expect. In Jubilees 14, we find Abraham in a very familiar role: making sacrifices. He offers up pieces of animals, birds, fruit-off...
The Torah focuses on Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, on Joseph and his brothers. But the world didn't stop spinning just because the Israelites were having family drama. According to Gi...
This one involves Joseph, yes, that Joseph, the one with the coat of many colors, the dreamer who rose to power in Egypt. But before the famine, before the brothers came begging fo...
Jewish tradition certainly knows that feeling, and it gives us some incredible stories about how our ancestors faced it. Imagine this: the prophet Elijah, a figure practically syno...
Flavius Josephus, in his work Against Apion, gives us a glimpse into the ancient Jewish legal and moral framework, and it’s He's writing to defend Judaism against its detractors, a...
That feeling, that yearning, is at the very heart of the Heikhalot (the heavenly palaces) Rabbati, a text that plunges us into the mystical realms of Jewish tradition. "Heikhalot" ...
We pour our energy into the fleeting, the temporary. But what about the big questions? What if, just for a little while, we shifted our focus? What if we dared to ask ourselves: Wh...
The Tikkun (spiritual repair)ei Zohar, a central text of Kabbalah, invites us to do just that, to see the divine secrets hidden in plain sight. Specifically, Tikkunei Zohar 104 use...
The Mekhilta de-Rabbi Ishmael invokes a pair of verses from Psalms to reveal something startling about how God responds to the nations that rage against Israel: He laughs. The firs...
Rabbi Tarfon offered one of the most striking images in all of Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael. He said the manna descended from heaven on the very palms of God. The word "mechuspas" use...
The Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael explores a tradition about what God revealed to Moses at the end of his life. Among the many visions granted to Moses before his death, the rabbis ask...
Genesis 14 is a war chapter—four kings against five, a battle in the Valley of Siddim, Lot taken captive, Abraham riding to the rescue. The Hebrew text is spare and military. But t...
Abraham ibn Ezra and Yehuda Halevi were two of the greatest Jewish minds of medieval Spain — but their partnership was as unlikely as it was legendary. Ibn Ezra was a wandering poe...
Esau sees that the women of Canaan displease his father Isaac (Genesis 28:8). So what does he do? He goes and marries a daughter of Ishmael. Adding trouble upon trouble, the rabbis...
The passage begins with a verse from Jeremiah (48:30): "I know its fury, the utterance of the Lord, and its lies [badav] are unfounded [lo khen]." This verse becomes the springboar...
After these things, the word of the Lord came unto Abraham, in a vision, saying: “Fear not, Abram!” (Gen. 15:1). May it please our master to teach us what (the) burnt offerings (pr...
After these things the word of the Lord came unto Abram (Gen. 15:1). Scripture states elsewhere in allusion to this verse: The wicked earneth false wages, but he that soweth righte...
And the Lord remembered Sarah (Gen. 21:1). Scripture states elsewhere in reference to this verse: That confirmeth the word of His servant, and performeth the counsel of His messeng...
A song of ascents. I will lift up mine eyes to the mountains (Ps. 121:1). Scripture alludes here to the verse Who art thou, O great mountain before. Zerubbabel? Thou shalt become a...
Listening to a wicked singer is spiritually dangerous. Listening to a righteous singer can transform your soul. Rabbi Nachman of Breslov explains why, and the answer involves the s...
The essence of life comes from prayer. Rabbi Nachman of Breslov derives this from a single verse: "Prayer to the God of my life" (Psalms 42:9). Prayer is not merely an appeal to th...
Rabbi Nachman of Breslov taught that there is a reason why Torah scholars so often oppose the true tzaddik (a righteous person)im (the righteous). It is not a flaw in the system. I...
In his commentary on Parashat Bereshit, Rebbe Elimelech of Lizhensk (the Noam Elimelech) asks a deceptively simple question: why does the Torah begin with the word "beginning"? Ras...
The Roman emperor challenged Rabban Gamliel with a direct theological question: if your God is everywhere, why can He not be seen? According to Sanhedrin 39b, the conversation expo...
Rabbi Simlai made one of the most ambitious claims in the entire Talmud. He said: 613 commandments were given to Moses at Sinai—365 prohibitions corresponding to the days of the so...
David lifts his eyes to the mountains and prays — "A song of ascents" — and God answers him through a text he might not have expected: Moses's blessing of Judah. "And this is the b...
Rachel had watched her sister enter the wedding canopy and had not envied her — not then. But when the children came, one after another from Leah's womb, Rachel's patience broke. "...
