9,687 related texts · Page 94 of 202
R. Yonathan says: This (derivation) is not necessary. If labor is forbidden on the first and last days, which are neither preceded nor followed by holiness, then how much more so c...
The Torah states in (Exodus 12:16) that "all labor shall not be done" on the festival days. The Mekhilta asks a pointed question: who exactly is covered by this prohibition? The an...
Rabbi Yonathan arrives at the same conclusion as Rabbi Yoshiyah — that a non-Jew may perform labor for a Jew on the festival — but takes a completely different route to get there. ...
The Torah commands in (Exodus 12:17), "And you shall watch over the matzot." The Mekhilta takes this verse as the foundation for one of the most detailed areas of Passover law: the...
Rabbi Yoshiyah takes the verse "And you shall watch over the matzot" and performs one of the most beloved wordplays in all of rabbinic literature — a reading that transforms a law ...
(Ibid. 19) "For whoever eats leavening, that soul shall be cut off": What is the intent of this? From (Ibid. 15) "Whoever eats chametz shall be cut off," I would know only of chame...
R. Yoshiyah said to him: Why is this different from all of the "sayings" in the Torah, which were from Moses to say to Israel? Here, too, from Moses to say to Israel. Why, then, is...
"and slaughter the Pesach (Passover): It is a mitzvah to slaughter it as a Pesach offering. If he does not offer it as such, he transgresses the mitzvah. I might think that in the ...
The Torah describes the Israelites in Egypt dipping hyssop into blood "which is in the saf." The Mekhilta records Rabbi Yishmael's reading of this enigmatic word, and his interpret...
And thus do you find with the forefathers, that they deported themselves with circumspection (in this regard), viz.: (Genesis 22:3) "And Abraham arose early in the morning," (Ibid....
"and the L–rd will skip over the blood": Now does this not follow a fortiori, viz.: If of the blood (on the door) of the Pesach (Passover) of Egypt, the less "formidable," which ob...
The Mekhilta reveals a breathtaking symmetry in the covenant between God and Israel. The verse in Deuteronomy says, "And the Lord has affirmed this day to make you His chosen peopl...
The prophet Micah painted one of the most beloved images in all of Jewish prophecy: "And each man will sit under his grapevine and under his fig tree, and none shall make them afra...
The Mekhilta, the tannaitic midrash on Exodus, turns to one of the most severe prophecies in the Hebrew Bible: the destruction of Esau's descendants. The prophet Obadiah declares: ...
The Mekhilta, the tannaitic midrash on Exodus, discovers a hidden connection between two events separated by centuries — the plague of the firstborn in Egypt and Abraham's nighttim...
The Mekhilta, the tannaitic midrash on Exodus, addresses a question that cuts to the heart of the Passover story: who actually killed the firstborn of Egypt? The verse states simpl...
The Mekhilta, the tannaitic midrash on Exodus, probes the geographic scope of the tenth plague with meticulous care. The verse states: "And the Lord smote every firstborn in the la...
And we are hereby apprised that the captives rejoiced in all the decrees inflicted by Pharaoh upon Israel, (for which they were punished) in keeping with (Mishlei 17:5) "He who rej...
The Mekhilta, the tannaitic midrash on Exodus, extends its devastating logic about the plague of the firstborn to the animal kingdom. The verse states that God struck "every firstb...
"for there was no house where no one had died": R. Nathan said: Now were there not houses without first-born?—(The resolution:) If one lost a first-born, he would make an image of ...
The Mekhilta, the tannaitic midrash on Exodus, records Rabbi Nathan's interpretation of one of the most loaded words in the Exodus narrative. The Torah says the Egyptians "vayashil...
"and they emptied out Egypt": We are hereby apprised that their idols melted and returned to their former state, (so that they were now permitted to take them.) And whence is it de...
The Mekhilta, the tannaitic midrash on Exodus, takes up a question about the Israelites' first stop after leaving Egypt: a place called Succoth. "And they traveled from Rameses to ...
R. Akiva says: "succoth" refers to the clouds of glory, as in (Isaiah 4:5) "And the L–rd will create on the entire base of Mount Zion and on all of its branchings a cloud by day an...
The word ugoth in the phrase "ugoth matzoth" (Exodus 12:39) refers to thin wafers — flat cakes of unleavened dough. The Mekhilta establishes this meaning by cross-referencing two o...
Two verses in the Torah appear to contradict each other about how long the Israelites were connected to Egypt. One verse states: "And the habitation of the children of Israel in th...
Rebbi (Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi) noticed the same numerical tension between two biblical verses about the duration of Israel's time in Egypt. One says "they shall serve them and they s...
R. Eliezer says: On it they were redeemed; but they are destined to be redeemed only on Tishrei, as it is written (Psalms 81:4) "Blow the shofar (of redemption) on the month (of Ti...
"This is the statute of the Paschal offering." Scripture speaks of (both) the Pesach (Passover) of Egypt and the Pesach for all the generations. These are the words of R. Oshiyah. ...
The Torah states a blunt exclusion about the Paschal lamb: "No stranger may eat of it." The Mekhilta explains who "stranger" includes, and the answer is broader than it first appea...
R. Eliezer says: The (non-) circumcision of one's servants does not prevent him from eating the Pesach (Passover). And what is the intent of "and you shall circumcise him, etc."? I...
Rabbi Akiva ruled that a Jewish master may not keep uncircumcised male servants in his household. Circumcision — the sign of the covenant between God and Abraham — was required of ...
R. Eliezer says: What is the intent of "toshav and sachir"? (i.e., Is it not already written [(Exodus 12:43)] "No stranger may eat of it"?) To reason from Pesach (Passover) to teru...
The Torah states: "And if there live with you a stranger, and he would offer a Pesach (Passover) to the Lord" (Exodus 12:48). The Mekhilta immediately identifies a potential misund...
"let all of his males be circumcised": We are hereby apprised that (non) circumcision of his males prevents him from offering the Pesach (Passover). Whence do we derive the same fo...
The Mekhilta preserves a remarkable legal case involving a woman named Beluria, a proselytess — a non-Jewish woman who converted to Judaism. Beluria owned several maid-servants, an...
The Torah declares: "And every uncircumcised one shall not eat of it." The Mekhilta asks a pointed question: why is this verse necessary at all? The Torah already stated "No strang...
"One Torah shall there be for the citizen and for the stranger" (Exodus 12:49). This verse — one of the most sweeping declarations of equality in the Torah — might seem redundant. ...
"Sanctify unto Me every first-born"—generic (implying both males and females). (Devarim 15:19) "the male"—specific, (excluding females). If I have the generic, why do I need the sp...
The Torah states: "in man and beast, he is Mine" (Exodus 13:2), declaring God's ownership of every first-born. The Mekhilta draws from this verse a principle of elegant symmetry: w...
The Torah commands: "the one lamb shall you offer in the morning, and the other lamb shall you offer in the afternoon" (Numbers 28:4). This is the tamid, the daily perpetual offeri...
The students of a great teacher reported that he expounded a striking principle using the words of the prophet Jeremiah: "Therefore, behold, days are coming, says the Lord, when it...
Moses commanded the people: "Remember this day when you went out of Egypt" (Exodus 13:3). The Mekhilta notices that this verse, taken alone, refers to the daytime — "this day." The...
Where does the obligation to say grace after meals — Birkat HaMazon — come from? The Mekhilta traces it to a single verse: (Deuteronomy 8:10), "And you shall eat and you shall be s...
The Torah explicitly commands a blessing after eating — (Deuteronomy 8:10) states, "You shall eat and you shall be satisfied and you shall bless the Lord your God." But what about ...
The verse (Exodus 13:3) states, "and chametz shall not be eaten." The passive phrasing — "shall not be eaten" rather than "you shall not eat" — caught the attention of Rabbi Yoshiy...
(Exodus 13:3) records Moses telling the people, "This day you go out, in the month of Aviv." The Hebrew word Aviv means spring. But the verse seems redundant — everyone present alr...
Rabbi Yoshiyah tackled a question about the scope of the commandment of first fruits, bikkurim. (Deuteronomy 26:2) commands, "Then you shall take of all the fruits of the earth." R...
