1,822 related texts · Page 34 of 38
The ancient texts are full of such moments, and they often reveal hidden truths about human nature. to one of those stories, a fascinating take on the reunion of Jacob and Esau. Re...
The story of Simeon and Levi, found in Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer 38, explores just that kind of fiery zeal. It all starts with the violation of their sister, Dinah, by Shechem. The te...
We know the story of their fraught relationship, the birthright, the blessing... but what about the inheritance? It's a question that takes us deep into the heart of sibling rivalr...
Not just any rod, but the rod. A rod created in the twilight of creation itself, before the first Shabbat (the Sabbath). Rabbi Levi, a sage from the Talmudic period, tells us its s...
It's more than just a divine special effect. It's a symbol, layered with meaning, hinting at the complex relationship between Israel and the world. : fire and thorns. Not exactly a...
The ancient texts are full of these brushes with oblivion, and the forces, both divine and human, that intervene. to a fascinating passage from Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer, a collection...
We all know the verse: "And they shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years" (Gen. 15:18). But how does that square with other timelines we find in the Torah?...
Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer, a fascinating work of aggadic literature, gives us a glimpse, a chilling, visceral snapshot of their suffering. Rabbi Akiva, a towering figure in Jewish tra...
Jewish tradition certainly has. Let’s consider a particularly potent example from Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer, Chapter 49, a text filled with dramatic narratives and moral teachings. He...
The Jewish tradition grapples with these questions constantly, and sometimes the answers are found in the most unexpected places. Today, we're diving into a fascinating passage fro...
The Yalkut Shimoni, a compilation of rabbinic teachings on the Bible, sheds light on this very question, drawing from (Psalm 87:1-2): "Of the sons of Korah, a song with musical acc...
She relentlessly pursued him, but he resisted. But the Yalkut Shimoni, that incredible compilation of Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary)ic interpretations, gives us a glimp...
We know him as the liberator of the Israelites, the one who received the Torah on Mount Sinai. But what about the years before the burning bush? The Yalkut Shimoni, a compilation o...
This story centers around Moshe – yes, that Moses – but it's a chapter of his life you likely won't find in your typical Sunday school lesson. It begins with a war brewing between ...
It's like when Moses, in the book of Devarim (Deuteronomy), reminds the Israelites about the land G-d promised them, saying, "which the L-rd swore to your fathers… to Abraham, to I...
We often picture him as this towering, almost superhuman figure, but behind the miracles and the commandments, there was a real person grappling with a monumental task. And sometim...
This idea of "servant" comes up in Sifrei Devarim, that's the book of Deuteronomy, and it got me thinking. The verse we're looking at is (Deuteronomy 3:24), where Moses is pleading...
It's a story about Reuven, Jacob's eldest son, and a deeply troubling act. "And it was, when Israel dwelt in that land, that Reuven went and lay with Bilhah, his father's concubine...
The Sifrei Devarim, a collection of early rabbinic legal interpretations on the Book of Deuteronomy, offers a stunningly beautiful and profoundly challenging answer. It starts with...
It's almost as if they're walking magnets for blessings. Well, Jewish tradition actually speaks to this phenomenon directly, suggesting that the presence of the righteous is a cata...
Sifrei Devarim, a part of Jewish legal literature, uses that very image to kick off a powerful message about Torah study. It paints a picture of two people walking a mil (a unit of...
It's not always as simple as being the oldest, especially when we delve into Jewish tradition. We’re talking about inheritance, specifically the rights of the bechor, the firstborn...
Specifically, we're looking at the verse saying "and there will not be with him a strange god." Now, on the surface, this seems pretty straightforward: no idolatry. And one interpr...
The Sifrei Devarim, a fascinating work of halakhic Midrash (a legal interpretation of the Torah), tackles this very question, offering us a glimpse into the symbolic richness of th...
The ancient sages grappled with this very idea. The verse we're looking at today, from Sifrei Devarim 329, part of the legal commentary on the Book of Deuteronomy, hits hard. It st...
The Torah touches on this, not directly, but in subtle glimpses. Let’s look at how the death of Aaron, the High Priest, is described, and what Moses thought of it. We find this ide...
Is it just for a select few, a royal inheritance? Or is it for everyone? Sifrei Devarim, a fascinating commentary on the Book of Deuteronomy, tackles this head-on. It begins by que...
The verse references Shimon, one of Jacob's sons, and it says, "His (Shimon's) hands did battle for him." This echoes a passage from Genesis (Bereshith 34:25), "And there took, two...
It’s a timeless human experience, and it’s something the ancient rabbis wrestled with too. In the book of Sifrei Devarim, a collection of early rabbinic legal interpretations on th...
You can almost feel his anticipation, his heart swelling with hope. But then… the hammer drops. "This is the land that I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob," God tells Moses, as we...
En esos tiempos hubo una guerra entre Kush y los Bnei Kedem. Salió Konkos Rey de Kush a la guerra contra Aram y los Bnei Kedem, dejando a Bilam -que es Laban el Arameo de Petor- el...
..[With regard to] this did [Jeremiah] say to have it written, 'Surely the shepherd boys will drag away [the evil ones, Edom or Babylonia in defeat].' (Jeremiah 49:20, 50:45) Rabbi...
3 The Staff of Your Strength G-d shall send forth from Zion. Which staff is this? This is the staff of Jacob about which it is said: "Because with my staff I crossed this Jordan." ...
"Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary) Vayisu": It is based on the verse "They journeyed, and the terror of God was upon the cities that were around them, and they did not pur...
Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai boarded a ship bound for Rome on a mission to the emperor. That night, on the water, a figure appeared in his dream. It was Ashmedai, king of the demons. "A...
Alexander the Great tied two eagles together with meat in front of them, so they fly upwards with him until his eyelids dropped from the cold. He then descends in a glass box to th...
A Kuthean disputed with R. Meir as to the righteousness of Jacob who only separated Levi tithed as one of the io tribes, instead of separating one more for the remaining two. For h...
R. Eliezer, charged with heresy, was saved from punishment by saying, “The judge knows the truth" which the Hegemon interpreted as a tribute to his justice. Tlje reason why he got ...
Story of the son of R. Reuben the Libellarius to whom the angel of death appeared in the form of an old man at the wedding festivities. He was treated with great respect on the adv...
Rabbi Ishmael ben Yose was making his pilgrimage to Jerusalem — one of the three annual journeys that every Jewish man was commanded to undertake. Along the way, he passed through ...
Rabbi Yohanan ben Matya instructed his son to hire Jewish laborers and feed them properly. The son went out, hired the workers, and came back with a question that stopped his fathe...
Simeon ben Rabbi forgot to invite Bar Kappara to dinner. The latter wrote on the door: ‘‘After joy death.” Invited afterwards to another dinner, he kept the guests so amused by his...
The sages would not allow a girl to do as she wanted or to expose herself before the man, who had become lovesick and very ill in consequence. Licentiousness was not to be encourag...
Korah was the richest man who ever lived — and his wealth destroyed him. The Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary) teaches that three hundred mules were needed just to carry t...
Tamptation of Matia b. Heresh. J. Shabbat (the Sabbath), ch. 3. cf. Story of R. Meir in Kiddush (the sanctification blessing over wine)in. Midr. Abhir in Yalk. § 161. Midr. Decal. ...
Ben Sabar was traveling home one evening when he came upon a young orphan girl weeping by the side of the road. She had no family, no dowry, and no one willing to marry her. Withou...
Rabbi Johanan ben Matya gave his son a simple instruction: go and hire laborers, and make sure to feed them properly. The son went out, found workers, and promised them a meal. But...
Seven Good Years when Young. Midr. Zutta (Ruth) ed. Buber, p. 55. Nissim, f. 36b. Yalk. II, § 607. Rappaport, R. Nissim. Husin, Maase Nissim, No. 33. Yalk. Sip. Ill, pp. 107, no. c...
