9,687 related texts · Page 144 of 202
It's the idea that God, while ultimately one, expresses different attributes. And one of the most profound shifts happens when we, humanity, turn towards Him in sincere prayer. Rab...
It's more than just tradition; it's a cosmic reset button! to a fascinating interpretation from Vayikra Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic homilies on the Book of Leviticus, that she...
Yes, you read that right. A cattle prod. Believe it or not, the ancient rabbis found deep spiritual meaning even in the mundane tools of everyday life. In Vayikra Rabbah, a collect...
In Jewish tradition, the number seven is definitely one of those numbers. It’s not just a random figure; it's woven into the very fabric of our understanding of the world and our r...
It all starts with the verse: "You shall take for you on the first day…" referring to the mitzvah (commandment) of taking the lulav (palm branch) and other species on Sukkot (the F...
It all starts with the phrase "Command the children of Israel" – which, on the surface, sounds like a divine order. But the Rabbis, masters of unpacking layers of meaning, saw some...
The passage opens with the phrase "Command the children of Israel." But immediately, the text veers into a discussion about the number of God's "troops." A seemingly simple questio...
The ancient rabbis grappled with this question, and their answers, preserved in texts like Vayikra Rabbah, are pretty . Vayikra Rabbah, a midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary)...
We know the science, the orbits, the rotations... But what about the story behind it all? What's the cosmic drama unfolding behind the scenes of our everyday sunrise and sunset? We...
Take, for instance, the story in Vayikra Rabbah 31, a fascinating collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Book of Leviticus. It focuses on Aaron, the High Priest, and his rol...
This isn't just about political correctness; it's about the power of our words, our thoughts, and their ripple effects in the cosmos. Rabbi Avin kicks things off with a powerful id...
In the book of Vayikra, Leviticus, we read a troubling story about the "son of an Israelite woman" who, as the verse says, "went out" (Leviticus 24:10). But...went out from where? ...
to one such tale, found in Vayikra Rabbah 32, a collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Book of Leviticus. The passage begins with a seemingly simple statement: "And he was t...
Jewish tradition wrestles with these questions constantly. Take, for example, the difficult case of the mamzer. The mamzer, often translated as "illegitimate child," occupies a com...
Today's story, drawn from Vayikra Rabbah 32, dives into just that: the plight of the mamzer. The mamzer. It's a loaded term. In Jewish law, it refers to a child born from certain f...
We find a powerful starting point in (Leviticus 25:35): “If your brother will become poor, and his means fail in proximity to you; you shall support him, stranger or resident alien...
We often think of poverty in terms of money, or the lack thereof. But what if poverty could also mean a lack of knowledge, a lack of connection, or even a lack of generosity? Vayik...
Jewish tradition is full of stories exploring this very idea. Today, we're diving into a fascinating passage from Vayikra Rabbah, a Midrash on the book of Leviticus, that unpacks t...
Vayikra Rabbah, a fascinating collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Book of Leviticus, delves into this very question, challenging us to examine our motivations and the imp...
The passage centers around the verse from Isaiah (58:12): “Through you, ancient ruins will be rebuilt; you will reestablish generations-old foundations.” What does that even mean? ...
We all know rain is a blessing, a sign of divine favor. But what if it rained at the wrong time? What if the heavens opened up right when you were trying to do your weekly shopping...
Vayikra Rabbah, a fascinating collection of rabbinic interpretations of the Book of Leviticus, gives us a glimpse into that idyllic vision. Specifically, it discusses the verse “I ...
This question, believe it or not, has occupied Jewish thinkers for centuries. And it all stems from a seemingly simple verse in Leviticus (26:42): “I will remember My covenant with...
It’s a question the rabbis grappled with, and in Vayikra Rabbah 36, we find some fascinating—and differing—answers. The text explores just how long the merit, the z’chus, of the pa...
Vayikra Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Book of Leviticus, tackles this very question. And it does so with a story – a really compelling one. It starts with...
“The greatly crowded city,” Rabbi Shmuel taught: There were twenty-four thoroughfares in Jerusalem, each and every thoroughfare had twenty-four streets, each and every street had t...
A certain Jerusalemite went to see a merchant in Athens. He was put up in an inn. He found people who were beginning to sit and drink wine. After he ate and drank, he sought to sle...
An Athenian came to Jerusalem and encountered a certain child. He gave him coins and said to him: ‘Go bring me figs and grapes.’ He said to him: ‘Well done, you with your coins and...
An Athenian came to Jerusalem and encountered a certain child. He gave him coins and said to him: ‘Go and bring me something so that I can eat, be sated, and have leftovers to take...
An Athenian came to Jerusalem and found a discarded mortar. He took it and brought it to a tailor. He said to him: ‘Sew this broken mortar for me.’ [The tailor] took out a handful ...
An Athenian came to Jerusalem and encountered a certain child. He gave him coins and said to him: ‘Go and bring me eggs and cheese.’ When [the child] returned, [the Athenian] said ...
A visitor from Athens arrived in Jerusalem with a trick question, certain he could stump the local priests. According to Eikhah Rabbah, a midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary)...
An Athenian came to Jerusalem. He entered a school and found children sitting there but their teacher was not there with them. He was asking them questions and they would respond. ...
An Athenian came to Jerusalem, and he greatly mocked the residents of Jerusalem. They said: ‘Who will go and bring him to us?’ One person said to them: ‘I will go and I will bring ...
A certain Cuthite said: ‘I will go and see a certain Jewish elder40Rabbi Yishmael ben Rabbi Yosei. who mocks people.’ He came and sat near him. He said to him: ‘I saw in my dream f...
A certain man came to Rabbi Yosei bar Ḥalafta and said to him: ‘I saw in my dream that they said to me: Arise and ascend to Cappadocia and you will take your father’s property.’45Y...
A certain woman came to Rabbi Elazar. She said to him: ‘I saw that the rafter in the house snapped.’ He said to her: ‘This woman will bear a male child.’ She went, and so it was fo...
There was an incident in which Rabbi Yehoshua was walking along the path.49This was a path through a field that was created by people traversing it. A certain person found him walk...
Jeremiah wrote the Book of Lamentations as an alphabetical curse — each verse beginning with the next letter of the Hebrew alphabet, a devastation so systematic it marched from Ale...
“She weeps bitterly at night and her tears are on her cheeks; she has no comforter from all her lovers. All her allies have betrayed her, have become her enemies” (Lamentations 1:2...
“I remember my song in the night; I meditate with my heart, and my spirit searches” (Psalms 77:7). Rabbi Yehuda ben Rabbi Simon and Rabbi Aivu.58The text of the midrash (rabbinic i...
“And her tears are on her cheeks [leḥya],” over her priests, just as it says: “He shall give to the priest the foreleg, the jaw [haleḥayayim], and the maw” (Deuteronomy 18:3). Alte...
“She has no comforter.” Rabbi Levi said: Any place that it is stated: “Has no [ein],” [ultimately] she will have. “Sarai was barren, she had no [ein] child” (Genesis 11:30), but [u...
Even the angels turned against Israel. According to Rabbi Yaakov of Kefar Hanan, quoted in Eikhah Rabbah (a 5th-century CE midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary)ic commentary o...
“Her adversaries have become the head, her enemies are tranquil, for the Lord has tormented her for her abundant transgressions; her infants are led into captivity before the adver...
“For the Lord has tormented her for her abundant transgressions.” Is it, perhaps, for nothing? The verse states: “For her abundant transgressions.” “Her infants are led into captiv...
“Gone from the daughter of Zion is all her splendor. Her princes are like deer that have not found pasture; they went powerless before the pursuer” (Lamentations 1:6)“Gone from the...
“Jerusalem remembered in the days of her affliction and her wretchedness, all her delights that she had from the days of old; with the fall of her people into the hand of the adver...
