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We usually picture temptation as a simple act, but the Rabbis of the Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary) saw something far more complex, a twisted theological argument desig...
No. The text from Bereshit Rabbah 19 offers some fascinating insights into this pivotal moment in the Garden of Eden. Rabbi Yudan, quoting Rabbi Yoḥanan ben Zakkai, and Rabbi Berek...
We know the story: disobedience, shame, exile. But the ancient rabbis, in their boundless creativity, spun even more wondrous tales around that pivotal moment. The verse in (Genesi...
And it's a feeling that, according to the ancient rabbis, even God experienced with Adam. We find this idea explored in Bereshit Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretations of...
Did you eat from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?" (Genesis 3:11). I mean, come on, God knows everything. So why the question? The rabbis of old grappled with this to...
(Genesis 3:14) tells us, "The Lord God said to the serpent: Because you did this, cursed are you from all the animals, and from all the beasts of the field; on your belly you shall...
No discussion, no back-and-forth, just BAM – the hammer drops. Well, Jewish tradition offers a fascinating glimpse into a moment just like that, right after the infamous episode in...
to one particularly rich passage from Bereshit Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretations of the Book of Genesis. Specifically, we'll explore a section from Bereshit Rabbah 2...
We often picture a simple act of disobedience, but the rabbis of old saw something far more nuanced, a tangled web of persuasion, responsibility, and even a bit of culinary curiosi...
But Jewish tradition loves to peel back the layers, and Bereshit Rabbah, that incredible collection of rabbinic interpretations of Genesis, dives deep into this very verse. The tex...
We all know the story: they ate the forbidden fruit, gained knowledge, and were banished. But what was the nature of that banishment? Was it a final, crushing blow, or something…el...
At least, that's what we learn from Bereshit Rabbah 21, a fascinating passage in the ancient rabbinic commentary on Genesis. Rav tells us that "in every place, the eastern directio...
We're talking about Adam and Eve, and their first children, Cain and Abel. We all know the story, but Jewish tradition often dives deeper, asking questions you might never have con...
The sages of the Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary), those brilliant interpreters of Jewish texts, grappled with this very question. In Bereshit Rabbah, a collection of rab...
The story of Cain and Abel, right at the beginning of Genesis, gives us a clue, but also raises some fascinating questions about sacrifice itself. "Cain brought an offering of the ...
We read in (Genesis 4:8), "Cain said to Abel his brother. It was when they were in the field. Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him." But… what was that conversation...
The ancient rabbis grappled with these very human questions as they explored the story of Cain and Abel in Bereshit Rabbah, the great commentary on the Book of Genesis. Specificall...
The Torah tells us, "Cain departed from the presence of the Lord, and lived in the land of Nod, east of Eden" (Genesis 4:16). But where did he really go? The Rabbis of the Bereshit...
Our story begins with the verse, "This is the book of the descendants of Adam" (Genesis 5:1). But what does that really mean? Bereshit Rabbah 24 digs into this, offering some truly...
It’s a breathtaking thought, isn't it? Where do they get this idea? They point to the verse in (Isaiah 44:11), “And craftsmen, they are me’adam”—literally, "from Adam." The implica...
Take Noah, for instance. We all know the story: the ark, the flood, the animals two-by-two. But what about Noah before the flood? What kind of person was he? Well, the book of Bere...
The verse says, "The children of the great men [benei haelohim] saw the daughters of man, that they were fair, and they took for themselves wives, from whomever they chose." Simple...
Ever read something in the Bible that just makes you stop and say, "Wait, what?" I get that feeling every time I stumble upon (Genesis 6:4): "The Nefilim were on the earth in those...
The Torah tells us, in (Genesis 6:5), that God saw the wickedness of humankind was "great" – raba in Hebrew – before the Flood. But what kind of "great" was it? Rabbi Ḥanina sugges...
It’s not just about the rain, or the oceans. It's about something much deeper – a relationship, even a conversation, between God and the very elements of the universe. We find a fa...
Innocent creatures caught in the wake of human sin. But the ancient rabbis grappled with this question too, offering powerful, and perhaps unsettling, explanations. In Bereshit Rab...
Jewish tradition is full of stories about individuals who stood out, who were exceptional even when surrounded by… well, less exceptional company. Rabbi Simon starts us off with a ...
The ancient rabbis certainly knew it. They saw it baked right into the words of the Torah itself. Take, for instance, the opening of Parashat Noah, the portion of Genesis that tell...
It's easy to imagine everyone just carrying on, oblivious, but Jewish tradition suggests otherwise. The Torah tells us, "Noah was a righteous man [ish]" (Genesis 6:9). Seems simple...
It's easy to point to general "wickedness," but the details, as always, are far more interesting, and speak to timeless human failings. Bereshit Rabbah, that incredible collection ...
It’s easy to focus on the sheer scale of the destruction, but the rabbis of the Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary), those ancient interpreters of scripture, dug deeper. The...
to a fascinating passage from Bereshit Rabbah 32, a collection of rabbinic interpretations of the Book of Genesis. The verse that kicks it all off is God's instruction to Noah: "Co...
Because sometimes, the universe has a funny way of showing us that insight isn't exclusive to the scholars and sages. We find a perfect example in Bereshit Rabbah, specifically sec...
The rabbis of old grappled with this very question. How high did the water actually get? The Bereshit Rabbah, a classic collection of rabbinic interpretations of Genesis, dives int...
And wouldn't you know it, our sages wrestled with it too, finding fascinating answers hidden in the verses of Torah. Our journey begins with the story of Noah and the flood. (Genes...
Bereshit Rabbah, a classic collection of rabbinic interpretations of the Book of Genesis, delves into this very idea, exploring how God’s mercy permeates everything. The verse from...
But the rabbis of old, in Bereshit Rabbah, one of the most important collections of rabbinic interpretations of Genesis, saw layers of meaning in these few words. Specifically, the...
It’s a question that’s haunted humanity for millennia. Is there any rhyme or reason to it all? Our sages grappled with this, too, and in Bereshit Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic i...
And there's a powerful lesson hidden in the story of Noah and the Flood. Rabbi Yudan, quoting Rabbi Aivu, kicks us off with a verse from Proverbs: "In the transgression of the lips...
Maybe you're in a job you don't love, a relationship that's run its course, or even just a prolonged period of feeling…blah. Well, Noah, yes that Noah of ark fame, knew that feelin...
We all know the story: the flood, the animals, the ark bobbing along on a chaotic sea. But what happened after? The waters receded, the dove returned with the olive branch… and the...
We often think of it as a storybook tale, but the details, as the Torah and later rabbinic interpretations reveal, are surprisingly strict. , shall we? The verse in (Genesis 8:17) ...
We make them all the time – to loved ones, to ourselves, and, if we believe, God makes promises to us. But what happens when the very foundations of the world seem to shift? What t...
The very beginning of that relationship, after the flood, is what we're talking about today. Specifically, the verses in Genesis 9 that deal with what we can and cannot do in this ...
The story of Noah, after the flood, grapples with this very question. We all know the story: the world drowned in sin, Noah builds an ark, saves his family and the animals. But wha...
The Torah tells us that the rainbow is a sign of the covenant between God and humanity after the flood, a promise that the world will never again be destroyed in that way. As it sa...
The Book of Job (34:24) tells us that God "shatters [yaroa] the powerful without number." What does that even mean? Well, Midrash Rabbah, specifically Bereshit Rabbah 36, interpret...
The Rabbis certainly wondered. Bereshit Rabbah, that incredible collection of rabbinic interpretations of Genesis, dives deep into this seemingly simple verse. It asks, why a viney...
