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The Torah, the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, is so concise, that every word, every phrase, even a name, can hold layers of meaning. Take Ketura, for example. Who was she, r...
It’s a question that perplexed some of our sages, too. Take Ishmael, for example. (Genesis 25:12) starts out: "These are the descendants of Ishmael son of Abraham, whom Hagar the E...
Jewish tradition certainly sees patterns in the past, especially when it comes to times of hardship. We find a fascinating example of this in Bereshit Rabbah 64, a collection of ra...
It centers on Jacob, later to be known as Israel, at a pivotal moment in his journey. The verse in question: "He encountered the place" (Genesis 28:11). The text tells us that Jaco...
There's something to that. In fact, the rabbis saw that connection way back when. We find ourselves in (Genesis 29:1), where it says, "Jacob lifted his feet, and went to the land o...
We often think of the big players – kings, prophets, warriors – as isolated figures. But Jewish tradition reminds us that even the mightiest oak grows from the smallest acorn, and ...
Jewish tradition offers comfort and hope in those moments. It reminds us that even in the depths of despair, we are noticed, and our fortunes can change. The verse in Psalms (145:1...
The verse we're looking at is (Genesis 30:23), where Rachel, finally blessed with a son, exclaims, "God has removed my disgrace!" But what exactly is this "disgrace" she's referrin...
The ancient rabbis certainly thought it was possible. to a fascinating passage from Bereshit Rabbah, a classical collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Book of Genesis, spec...
Our ancestors did too. In fact, there's a fascinating passage in Bereshit Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretations of the Book of Genesis, that digs into just that feeling....
In (Genesis 31:43), after Jacob decides to leave Laban and return to his homeland, Laban confronts him, saying, "The girls are my daughters, and the boys are my sons, and the flock...
In (Genesis 31:51), we hear Laban say to Jacob, "Here is this pile and here is the monument that I have established between me and you.” Now, this might sound like a simple boundar...
One that stings, and echoes through the ages. We see it play out in the story of Jacob and Esau. In (Genesis 32:7), Jacob's messengers return with a troubling report: "We came to y...
The ancient rabbis grappled with these questions too, and in Bereshit Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretations of the Book of Genesis, we find a fascinating, if somewhat un...
We're looking at Bereshit Rabbah 87, a section of the great Midrash, which is a collection of rabbinic commentaries on the Book of Genesis. The verse that sparked this particular d...
Jewish tradition certainly has. There's a fascinating story in Bereshit Rabbah 89 that makes you think twice about speaking carelessly. The story begins simply enough. A woman appr...
But Jewish tradition, with its beautiful layers of interpretation, sees something far deeper. The rabbis of Bereshit Rabbah, an ancient and profound commentary on the Book of Genes...
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...
Our journey begins with a seemingly simple verse from (Genesis 42:5): "The sons of Israel came to acquire grain among [betokh] those who came, as the famine was in the land of Cana...
It centers around the verse: "He slaughtered feast-offerings to the God of his father Isaac" (Genesis 46:1). Why Isaac? Why not Abraham, the patriarch of them all? Rabbi Yehoshua b...
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...
Our Sages, delving deep into the Torah, grapple with this very idea in Bereshit Rabbah 97, a section of the ancient Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary). They begin with a ve...
The Torah tells us, "Jacob called to his sons, and he said: Gather, and I will tell you what will befall you at the end of days. Assemble and hear, sons of Jacob, and listen to Isr...
First, "Naphtali is a doe let loose [sheluḥa]." The Rabbis connect this to the land of Naphtali being full of irrigated fields [beit hashelaḥin]. They point to (Deuteronomy 3:17), ...
The book of Bereshit Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic homilies on the Book of Genesis, gives us a peek into just that, focusing on the patriarch Jacob and the sage Rabbeinu Yehuda ...
The Torah portion of Vayechi recounts the death of Jacob and the journey to bury him in the Cave of Machpelah. We read in Genesis (50:10-11): “They came to the threshing floor of A...
But our sages delve into the depths of these words, seeking to understand the true scope of Moses’s blessing. Rabbi Eliezer ben Yaakov points out something fascinating: The text do...
It's not always as simple as a direct hand from above. Sometimes, there's a cosmic chess game happening behind the scenes. Devarim Rabbah, in its very first section, opens with a p...
The Torah is full of these stories, and they often leave us scratching our heads. One such story is that of Moses, perhaps the greatest prophet in Jewish history, who led the Israe...
We often hear about the plagues, the parting of the Red Sea, the mighty hand of God... But what about the internal processes, the spiritual shifts that paved the way for that monum...
Devarim Rabbah, in its unique way, uses a verse from Deuteronomy as a springboard to delve into just that. The verse in question is (Deuteronomy 4:39): "You shall know this day and...
It all starts with the verse, “You shall know that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God” (Deuteronomy 7:9). Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Abba uses a parable to unpack this idea. Imagi...
It's a poignant moment, and the book of Devarim Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic teachings on the Book of Deuteronomy, sheds light on the depth of that experience. "You are crossin...
That’s what I want to talk about today, by diving into a powerful story from Devarim Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic teachings and interpretations on the Book of Deuteronomy. This...
We all know the story of the first set, shattered in anger at the sight of the Golden Calf. But why two in the first place? Devarim Rabbah, a collection of homilies on the Book of ...
We often think of grand things – governments, economies, armies – but what if the foundations are more subtle, more... human? Our story today takes us into the heart of Jewish law,...
They’re more than just tales; they're lenses through which we understand ourselves and the world. Today, let’s peer through one of those lenses, focusing on the biblical figure of ...
Take reading from the Torah, for example. The verse we're looking at is from (Deuteronomy 29:2): "Moses summoned all Israel, and he said to them: You have seen everything that the ...
Devarim Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic teachings on the book of Deuteronomy, opens our eyes to just how deeply Torah can impact us. It starts with a verse from Proverbs (4:22): “...
In (Deuteronomy 31:14), God says to Moses, "Behold, your days are approaching to die; summon Joshua, and stand in the Tent of Meeting and I will command him." This verse, "Behold, ...
The Book of Deuteronomy, or Devarim in Hebrew, opens with Moses preparing to bless the Israelites before they enter the Promised Land. But the Rabbis of the Midrash (rabbinic inter...
It sounds almost unbelievable, doesn't it? Yet, according to Devarim Rabbah, this is precisely the monumental struggle Moses faced at the end of his life. Rabbi Yoḥanan tells us th...
It starts with a bang: "Vanity of vanities, said Kohelet; vanity of vanities, everything is vanity" (Ecclesiastes 1:2). But what does that even mean? What is this "vanity," this he...
"For to the man who is good before Him, He gave wisdom, knowledge, and joy; but to the sinner He gave the task to gather and to amass, to give to one who is good before God. This, ...
And the ancient Rabbis, in their commentary called Kohelet Rabbah, dive deep into a specific verse that really makes you think: "What has been, already is, and what will be has alr...
That’s a feeling woven deep into the tapestry of Jewish tradition, a feeling the rabbis grappled with intensely. how they expressed it. The story begins with the passing of Ḥiyya b...
The book of Ecclesiastes, or Kohelet as it's known in Hebrew, wrestles with these very feelings. One verse in particular, (Ecclesiastes 6:10), really gets to the heart of it: "What...
