3,200 related texts · Page 61 of 67
Not just any hand, mind you, but the hand of the Holy One, blessed be He. Rabbi Ishmael, in Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer (Chapter 48), unveils a fascinating idea: each finger on God's ri...
They stretch, bend, or take on a new form entirely. It's more than just aesthetics; according to Jewish tradition, these final forms, the sofit, hold a profound secret, a key to un...
It's more than just good manners. It's a whisper echoing from a very, very old story. A story about Jacob, and a world without sickness as we know it. According to Pirkei DeRabbi E...
The Seder Olam Zutta (סדר עולם זוטא), meaning "The Lesser Order of the World," is a historical chronicle believed to have been composed sometime after the completion of the better-...
It's not as well-known as its older sibling, Seder Olam Rabbah, but it offers us a peek into rabbinic understandings of history. In this particular section, the text lays out the l...
The Seder Olam Zutta, a lesser-known chronicle of Jewish history, offers a glimpse into this fascinating, and sometimes tragic, narrative. Our story begins in Babylonia, in a world...
There's a fascinating passage in the Yalkut Shimoni on Torah, specifically section 41, that gives us a glimpse – a truly mind-bending glimpse – into just such a conversation. It in...
She relentlessly pursued him, but he resisted. But the Yalkut Shimoni, that incredible compilation of Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary)ic interpretations, gives us a glimp...
We know him as the liberator of the Israelites, the one who received the Torah on Mount Sinai. But what about the years before the burning bush? The Yalkut Shimoni, a compilation o...
This story centers around Moshe – yes, that Moses – but it's a chapter of his life you likely won't find in your typical Sunday school lesson. It begins with a war brewing between ...
It’s a question that’s sparked debate and contemplation for millennia. According to a fascinating passage in Yalkut Shimoni on Torah 191, even the angels were curious! The text tel...
What seems like a simple act is actually steeped in tradition, detail, and a whole lot of meaning. Let's unpack it. The Book of Numbers, Bamidbar in Hebrew, gives us the source for...
You're not alone! Our sages grappled with these apparent inconsistencies too. The passage opens with a head-scratcher concerning the number of angels. One verse says, "Is there any...
The Book of Numbers – in Hebrew, Bamidbar, meaning "in the wilderness" – is full of intricate details about the Tabernacle, the sacrifices, and the duties of the Levites. And withi...
They might seem like a minor detail, but within those knotted threads lies a whole world of meaning. Today, we're diving into Sifrei Bamidbar, a collection of ancient rabbinic lega...
Our source today is Sifrei Bamidbar, and it unveils a remarkable array of gifts bestowed upon the Cohanim – the priests. We're talking about twelve specific offerings originating "...
Jewish tradition grapples with these questions in fascinating ways, often through the stories of our ancestors. Take the prophet Ovadiah, for instance. The book of Ovadiah opens wi...
In Sifrei Bamidbar, a collection of legal and ethical teachings from the Book of Numbers, we find a discussion about that very moment. (Deuteronomy 34:4) tells us, "And the L-rd sa...
Turns out, our ancestors wrestled with this question too. The Sifrei Devarim, a legal midrash on the Book of Deuteronomy, gives us a fascinating glimpse into Moses’s final address ...
The Sifrei Devarim, an ancient rabbinic commentary on the Book of Deuteronomy, often finds meaning by looking closely at the names we find in the Torah. Take, for instance, the sto...
Our ancestors apparently felt that way once, and their reaction is It all starts in Sifrei Devarim, a collection of legal and homiletical teachings connected to the Book of Deutero...
But where do we draw the line? When is it just a colorful way of speaking, and when is it a promise we can truly count on? In Sifrei Devarim, a collection of legal interpretations ...
This idea of "servant" comes up in Sifrei Devarim, that's the book of Deuteronomy, and it got me thinking. The verse we're looking at is (Deuteronomy 3:24), where Moses is pleading...
It's an old, old story. And it seems it was happening even in the time of the prophet Ezekiel. to a fascinating passage from Sifrei Devarim 31, which brings us a discussion about i...
It tells us that the commandments shouldn't feel like an antiquated edict, something ignored and forgotten. Instead, they should feel brand new, urgent, something everyone rushes t...
It's almost as if they're walking magnets for blessings. Well, Jewish tradition actually speaks to this phenomenon directly, suggesting that the presence of the righteous is a cata...
It’s a question that’s been pondered for centuries, and one little verse in Devarim (Deuteronomy) offers a fascinating glimpse into the reverence the ancients held for the unspeaka...
The unpronounceable, the sacred Yod-Keh-Vav-Keh (יהוה), often referred to as the Tetragrammaton. It's a name so holy, so powerful, that we traditionally don't say it aloud. So, wha...
But what about everyone else? Well, Sifrei Devarim 311 sheds some light. It interprets the verse about consulting "your elders, and they shall say it to you" (Deuteronomy 32:7) as ...
The ancient sages noticed this human tendency, too, and they saw it reflected in the relationship between Israel and the other nations. Sifrei Devarim, a legal midrash on the Book ...
Because according to the Sifrei Devarim, a collection of legal midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary)im on the Book of Deuteronomy, absolutely nothing in the Torah is empty or ...
Our ancestors wrestled with these questions, and their answers, preserved in ancient texts, still resonate today. to a fascinating passage from Sifrei Devarim, a collection of earl...
And while definitive answers might elude us, Jewish tradition offers tantalizing hints and comforting assurances. Our exploration begins in Sifrei Devarim, a collection of legal an...
It’s a timeless human experience, and it’s something the ancient rabbis wrestled with too. In the book of Sifrei Devarim, a collection of early rabbinic legal interpretations on th...
There are seven creations [in the universe] in ascending degrees of importance. High above everything God created the firmament. Above1i.e. of greater importance and usefulness. th...
Genesis 29 tells the story of Jacob arriving in Haran, meeting Rachel at a well, and being deceived by Laban into marrying Leah first. The Targum Jonathan injects dialogue, backsto...
The standard Bible tells you Rachel stole her father's household gods when Jacob fled Laban's house. The Targum Jonathan, an ancient Aramaic translation from roughly the 1st-2nd ce...
When Esau and Jacob finally reunited after twenty years of separation, the Bible says Esau ran to his brother, embraced him, kissed him, and they wept (Genesis 33:4). It sounds lik...
The story of Dinah in Genesis 34 is already one of the most violent chapters in the Torah. The Targum Jonathan, the ancient Aramaic translation, does not soften it. Instead, it sha...
The standard Genesis 36 reads like a dry census of Esau's descendants. But the Targum Jonathan, the ancient Aramaic interpretive translation, quietly inserts theological details th...
Joseph's sale into slavery is one of the most dramatic episodes in Genesis. But the Targum Jonathan adds details that the Hebrew original never mentions, turning a family tragedy i...
The Torah's account of Jacob blessing Joseph's sons is already dramatic—the old patriarch crossing his hands to favor the younger son over the firstborn. But Targum Jonathan adds l...
After the golden calf, God told Moses something devastating in (Exodus 33:1-23). The Shekinah (the Divine Presence) would not travel with Israel anymore. The Targum Jonathan turns ...
The angels said before the Holy One, ‘Master of the World! Isn’t this Jerusalem?!’ as it is said “This is Jerusalem; in the midst of the nations I have placed her…” (Yechezkel 5:5)...
and he lay down in that place – R’ Yehudah says ‘here he lay down, but all fourteen years that he was hidden away in the land serving Ever he never laid down.’ R’ Nechemia says ‘he...
En esos tiempos hubo una guerra entre Kush y los Bnei Kedem. Salió Konkos Rey de Kush a la guerra contra Aram y los Bnei Kedem, dejando a Bilam -que es Laban el Arameo de Petor- el...
"This month shall be for you." It shall be turned over to you. R. Yehoshua b. Levi said, "It's like a king who had a horologue. When he looked at it, he would know what time of day...
Rabi Pinchas and Rabi Chilkiyah said in the name of Rabi Simon: the ministering angels gathered to Hashem and said before Him: Master of the world, when is the beginning of the yea...
