2,614 related texts · 5 related myths · Page 5 of 55
The Mekhilta interprets the verse "There He made for them statute and judgment" by asking what these two terms, statute and judgment, actually refer to. The first opinion identifie...
(Exodus 21:2) "If you buy a Hebrew man-servant": Scripture here speaks of one sold by beth-din (to pay for what he has stolen), in which instance he serves both the father and the ...
Rebbi (Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi) offers a dramatically different reading of the three marital obligations listed in (Exodus 21:10). Where Rabbi Yoshiyah identified "she'eirah" as food ...
The Torah states in (Exodus 21:12): "If one strikes a man." The language is specific, "a man." The Mekhilta immediately asks the obvious question: does this mean the law only appli...
The Torah declares: "And if one strikes his father and his mother, he shall be put to death" (Exodus 21:15). The Mekhilta explains why this verse is necessary when the Torah alread...
The phrase "if one curses his father and his mother" raises yet another question: with what name must the curse be spoken? Rabbi Achai taught that the offender is liable for the de...
Perhaps the common element between them is that they are dignitaries, and it is their eminence that accounts for this, wherefore you are exhorted against cursing them, as opposed t...
Beloved are the strangers, for by every epithet that Israel is called, the strangers are called. Israelites are called "servants," as it is written (Leviticus 25:55) "For unto Me t...
(Exodus 22:24) begins: "Im you lend money to My people." The word "im" typically means "if", suggesting optionality. But Rabbi Yishmael taught that this is one of the rare cases wh...
"Seven days shall it be with its mother", the Torah requires a first-born animal to remain with its mother for seven days before it can be given to a Kohen (a priest). But the Mekh...
The Torah drops a cryptic detail in the middle of an Edomite genealogy: this is Anah who found the yemim in the wilderness. For two thousand years, readers have argued about what y...
The narrative in Exodus 24 troubles the ancient interpreters. Nadab and Abihu, the comely young sons of Aharon, ascended the mountain with the elders, beheld the God of Israel, and...
The Torah has a default order. Moses before Aaron. Joshua before Caleb. Father before mother. Heaven before earth. Midrash Tanchuma Buber, Bereshit 14:1 collects the quiet exceptio...
“How has gold tarnished, the fine gold changed? The sacred stones are spilled at the head of every street” (Lamentations 4:1).“How has gold tarnished [yuam]?” Rabbi Shmuel said: Ho...
“Many days” – days of suffering, and similarly: “It was during those many days…the children of Israel sighed due to the work, and they cried out, and their plea rose to God from th...
The Book of Ben Sira, a treasure trove of wisdom literature, gives us a glimpse into this very idea, specifically through the lens of the priesthood. It speaks of one called to "mi...
The voice came again. Twice it called his name: "Abraham, Abraham!" "Here I am." "It is I. Fear not, for I am before the worlds, a mighty God who has created the light of the world...
Isaac was twenty-five years old when his father took him up the mountain to die. He didn't resist. The Josephus says this is what makes the Akedah (עקידה), the Binding of Isaac, so...
The Torah commands: "And the priest shall burn wood upon it every morning" (Leviticus 6:5), referring to the daily kindling of fire on the altar. The Mekhilta immediately asks: why...
Take blood, for example. Sounds straightforward. But in the world of Jewish law, nothing is ever just straightforward. It's a gateway to deeper understanding. The Sifrei Devarim, a...
Take the sacrifices described in the Torah. Vayikra Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic teachings on the book of Leviticus, sees them not just as offerings, but as embodiments of our ...
Book of Jubilees turns to Abram — Covenant of Abraham. The scene: Abram, having just received divine instructions, is at the altar. He’s not just going through the motions. This is...
Our scene unfolds in a small town in Judea, under the oppressive rule of the Seleucid Empire. King Antiochus IV Epiphanes has decreed that everyone must abandon their ancestral tra...
The Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael presents a step in a larger legal argument about why meat cooked in milk is forbidden to eat. The passage uses a technique called refutation, counteri...
Midrash Tehillim, a fascinating collection of interpretations on the Book of Psalms, offers some intriguing insights. It explores the meaning behind Psalm 20, verse 4: "Remember al...
A reader can skim over those parts of the Torah, but hidden inside are fascinating insights into the heart of Jewish practice. to a small verse in Bamidbar, the Book of Numbers, an...
This ritual, detailed in Numbers 19, is all about purification, and this passage zeroes in on the specific rules surrounding the heifer itself and its ashes. The passage starts wit...
Sometimes, it's not about the specific law itself, but about how we understand the entire system. one example from Sifrei Devarim 74, a commentary on the Book of Deuteronomy, to se...
The book of Devarim, Deuteronomy, chapter 18, verse 4, gives us a peek into this ancient practice. Specifically, Sifrei Devarim, a collection of early rabbinic legal interpretation...
The Targum Jonathan opens Leviticus 6 with a line that does not exist in the Hebrew Bible: the burnt offering "is brought to make atonement for the thoughts of the heart." Standard...
The one who offered his sacrifice on the first day was Nachshon ben Aminadab of the tribe of Judah (Numbers 7:12). Our Rabbi, the one who offered the sacrifice to the altar, taught...
After the sword went through the camp, the Levites stood with blood on their hands. They had killed brothers, neighbors, friends. And Moses turned to them with a startling instruct...
Bamidbar Rabbah turns to Kingdom of Nazirite. So, what's going on here? Why all the fuss about hair? Rabbi Yoshiya suggests that the verse emphasizes the importance of the peace of...
We offer things up, whether it's time, effort, or, as in the ancient Israelite tradition, animal offerings. But to whom are we offering? And why? The book of Numbers, in chapter 28...
The verses in question, (Leviticus 1:9) and 1:13, detail the process of offering a burnt offering, a ‘olah, to God. Both verses specify the washing of the innards and legs of the a...
The ancient rabbis did. And they found profound meaning in the garments worn by the priests in the Beit Hamikdash, the Holy Temple. It's a story woven with symbolism and the desire...
“Those close to him” (Esther 1:14) – they brought the calamity close to themselves. “Karshena” – who was appointed over the vetch3A plant used as animal feed. [karshinin]; “Shetar”...
(Lev. 22:29:) “And when you sacrifice an offering of thanksgiving to the Lord.” R. Pinhas, R. Levi, and R. Johanan said in the name of R. Menahem of Galilee, “In the future to come...
The familiar story centers on the Akeidah, the Binding of Isaac, from Genesis 22. But other ancient texts offer us glimpses that fill in the emotional landscape, adding layers of m...
The ancient texts are filled with such accounts, stories that chill us to the bone and make us question the very nature of humanity. And when it comes to treachery, one group stand...
In the mystical world of Jewish thought, especially as revealed in the Tikkunei (spiritual repair) Zohar, it all weaves together in a surprisingly beautiful way. The Tikkunei Zohar...
The Mekhilta, the halakhic midrash on Exodus from the tannaitic period, examines a stunning prophecy from Isaiah about the final ingathering of exiles. Isaiah declares: "And they 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...
That tension, that disconnect, is right at the heart of Psalm 50, and it’s something the Rabbis grappled with deeply. Midrash Tehillim, a collection of rabbinic teachings on the Bo...
It’s a story The familiar version gives us, but sometimes the details – the why behind the drama – get lost. the tradition turns to The book of Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer, a fascinatin...
Sifrei Bamidbar turns to Unintentional Idolatry and the Sacrifice Required. The core question we're confronting comes from (Numbers 15:27): "And if one soul sin (the sin of idolatr...
Our journey starts in the book of Sifrei Devarim, which lays out some pretty specific rules about where and how sacrifices should be made. But here's the twist: it wasn’t always so...
Sifrei Devarim turns to Slaughtering Sprinkling and Making the Pesach Offering. The answer, according to this passage, lies in the very same phrase: "and you shall make the Pesach....
