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The Torah prohibits chametz in two locations during Passover: in your houses and in your boundaries. But a careful reader might wonder whether these two prohibitions share the same...
(Exodus 13:8) commands, "And you shall tell your son on that day." But when exactly is "that day"? The verse sits within a passage about the month of Nisan, so one might think the ...
I might think that just as in the armpiece there is one parchment, so, should there be in the headpiece. And this would follow, viz.: Since the Torah prescribes tefillin (leather p...
The Torah commands placing tefillin (leather phylacteries worn during prayer) "upon your hand." But where exactly on the hand? The Hebrew word yad can mean the entire arm from shou...
Rabbi Eliezer agreed that the tefillin (leather phylacteries worn during prayer) belong on the upper arm rather than the palm, but he arrived at the conclusion through entirely dif...
The verse (Exodus 13:9) states, "And it shall be to you as a sign upon your hand and as a memorial between your eyes." The Mekhilta derived from the sequence of this verse a precis...
(Exodus 13:10) commands, "And you shall keep this statute at its appointed time." The word "statute" — chukkah — could theoretically refer to any number of commandments. Perhaps it...
I have not succeeded (in deriving the halacha (Jewish religious law)h) by logic alone. (I must, therefore, derive it thus:) It is written here (Exodus) "Veha'avarta," and there (Le...
What happens when a sheep that has never given birth delivers twin males at the exact same moment? Rabbi Yossi HaGlili tackled this unusual scenario head-on, and his ruling surpris...
The Torah is specific about how to redeem the firstborn of a donkey: "And every firstling of an ass shall you redeem with a lamb" (Exodus 13:13). The Mekhilta takes this precision ...
If only a donkey's firstborn is redeemed, what does the Torah mean when it says in (Numbers 18:15), "but redeem shall you redeem the first-born of the unclean beast"? The Mekhilta ...
The Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael addresses a practical legal question arising from (Exodus 13:13): "Every human first-born among your sons shall you redeem." The commandment to redeem...
(Exodus 13:15) records a foundational obligation: "and every firstling of my sons I shall redeem." The redemption of the firstborn, known as pidyon haben, is one of the Torah's mos...
The Mekhilta preserves one of the most comprehensive lists of a father's obligations to his son in all of rabbinic literature. By Torah mandate, a man must do the following for his...
There are four sons: a wise son, a wicked son, a simple son, and one who does not know how to ask. What does the wise son say? "What are the testimonies and the statutes and the ju...
The Torah draws a direct line between the tenth plague and a permanent commandment: "And the Lord killed every first-born... therefore, I sacrifice to the Lord every male first-bor...
And do not wonder at this phenomenon. For it is written (II Kings 6:5-6) "As one of them was felling a tree, the ax blade fell into the water, and he cried out 'Alas, master, (Elis...
When the Israelites left Egypt and marched into the wilderness, they did not travel unprotected. God surrounded them with clouds of glory—miraculous pillars that shielded, guided, ...
(Exodus, Ibid. 21) "And the L–rd went before them by day": We are hereby taught that as one metes it out to others, so is it meted out to him. Abraham accompanied the ministering a...
Rebbi — Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi — told a parable about the Roman emperor Antoninus that illuminates why God personally guided Israel through the wilderness. Antoninus was presiding at ...
When Israel stood at the edge of the Red Sea and saw the water raging before them, their first instinct was to flee into the desert. But God had sealed that escape route too. The M...
"and I will be honored through Pharaoh": Scripture here apprises us that when the L–rd exacts punishment of the nations, His name is aggrandized in the world, as it is written (Isa...
In the past, Pharaoh's servants said to him (Exodus 10:7) "How long will this one be a stumbling block to us?" and now (Ibid. 14:5) "What is this that we did in sending Israel away...
An analogy: A man sent to his servant: Go and bring me a fish from the marketplace. He goes and buys him a rotten fish, at which the master says to him: Either eat the fish, or rec...
Variantly: "and shalishim": Three (Egyptians) against every one (Israelite). Others say: three hundred against one. And how did Pharaoh know how many Israelites died in the three d...
The Mekhilta reveals a darkly ironic scene at the shore of the Red Sea. Pharaoh caught up with the Israelites camped by the water, and the Torah says he "pressed ahead." But the Me...
When the Israelites saw the Egyptian army bearing down on them and the Red Sea blocking their escape, the Torah says they "were exceedingly afraid." But what did they do with that ...
The Mekhilta brings the prophet Jeremiah into its sustained argument about the power of prayer, citing one of the sharpest contrasts in all of Scripture: "Cursed is the man who tru...
With the Egyptian army bearing down and the Red Sea blocking their path, the Israelites succumbed to terror. It was Moses who stepped forward and spoke the words that steadied an e...
At that time, Israel were like a dove fleeing the hawk and seeking refuge in the cleft of the rock, where the serpent hissed. If she enters within—the serpent; if she goes out—the ...
Israel were four factions at the sea: One was for lunging into the sea; another, for returning to Egypt; another for warring against them; another, for crying out against them. Tho...
R. Meir says: "the L–rd will war for you": He will perform for you miracles and (acts of) strength, and you will stand still. Israel asked Moses our teacher: "What can we do?" He a...
Rabbi Eliezer preserves a stunning exchange between God and Moses at the shore of the Red Sea. The Israelites were trapped — the sea raging before them, the Egyptian army closing b...
R. Yishmael says: In the merit of Jerusalem I will split the sea for them, as it is written (Isaiah 52:1) "Awake, awake, clothe yourself in splendor, O Zion. Don your robes of glor...
The Mekhilta records an astonishing claim: God split the Red Sea not because of anything the Israelites had done, but because of a promise He had made to their forefather Abraham c...
Rabbi Bana'ah taught that God split the Red Sea for the Israelites in the merit of their ancestor Abraham. The proof lies in a striking verbal parallel between two verses. When Abr...
Rabbi Shimon HaTemani declared that God split the Red Sea in the merit of a single commandment: circumcision. The covenant of Abraham, inscribed in the flesh of every Jewish male, ...
Rabbi Avshalom the Elder told a parable to explain why God responded to Moses' extended prayer at the Red Sea with what seemed like impatience. The parable captures the tenderness ...
Rabbi Eliezer ben Yehudah of Bortutha declared that God split the Red Sea in the merit of the twelve tribes of Israel. The tribal structure of the nation — not the faith of any sin...
Rabbi Eliezer HaModai preserved one of the most extraordinary statements God ever made about the people of Israel. When Moses cried out at the Red Sea, God responded: "Why do you c...
Others say: The faith that they had in Me suffices for Me to split the sea for them. They did not say to Moses: How can we go out to the desert without food? But they believed in M...
R. Yossi Haglili says: When Israel entered the sea, Mount Moriah was uprooted from its place, with the altar of Israel built upon it, and its woodpile upon it, and Isaac bound upon...
"And you, raise your staff": Ten miracles were performed for Israel at the sea: The waters were split and became like a dome, viz. (Habakkuk 3:14) "You split (the sea) for his trib...
(Exodus 14:20) "And one did not come near another the entire night": Scripture hereby apprises us that a standing Egyptian could not sit down, and a sitting one could not stand up....
The Mekhilta extends its catalogue of divine judgment by east wind to yet another generation: the builders of the Tower of Babel. The pattern grows stronger with each example — God...
And whence do you derive (the same for) the upper and the lower waters and the depths? From (Psalms 77:17) "The waters saw You, O G–d; the waters saw You and quaked. The depths qua...
The Holy One Blessed be He heals all who enter the world, viz. (Exodus 15:26) "for I am the L–rd who heals you", (Jeremiah 17:14) "Heal me, O L–rd, and I will be healed. Save me, a...
Rabbi Nechemiah painted a vivid picture of the chaos that engulfed the Egyptian army at the Red Sea. When God unleashed thunder from the heavens, the physical world below shattered...
