1,204 related texts · Page 12 of 26
Take mourning rituals, for example. The familiar seven-day period of intense mourning, the shivah. Where did that come from? The Rabbis of old grappled with this very question. "Th...
There’s a fascinating passage in Devarim Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic teachings on the Book of Deuteronomy, that sheds light on this very concept. It all starts with a verse we...
Devarim Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic teachings on the Book of Deuteronomy, tackles this very question. It starts with a bold statement. Rabbi Elazar says that after God spoke a...
We often think of the Torah, the Five Books of Moses, as the core, the foundation. But what about all the rest? What about the details, the nuances, the things that seem to go beyo...
It all starts with a verse from Ecclesiastes (12:11): "The words of the wise are like goads, and like nails well fastened are the collectors of wisdom; they are given from one shep...
The Shemot Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic homilies on the Book of Exodus, offers some fascinating insights. Rabbi Aḥa ben Rabbi Ḥanina kicks things off with a quote from (Psalms ...
We often picture a grand, almost theatrical event. But the ancient texts hint at something far more profound, and even a little terrifying. The Shemot Rabbah, a classic collection ...
In Shemot Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Book of Exodus, we find a fascinating exploration of this very question. It begins with a verse: "Behold, I am sen...
The book of Exodus and the sages of the Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary) explore this very idea. In (Exodus 32:7), we read, "The Lord spoke to Moses: Go descend; for your...
a passage from Shir HaShirim Rabbah, a commentary on the Song of Songs, that grapples with just that. It all starts with a verse: "By the fragrance of your good oils, your name is ...
It wasn't just handed to us on a silver platter, so to speak. According to the ancient rabbis, receiving the Torah at Sinai was contingent on something quite surprising: finding su...
"While the king was at his feast..." (Song of Songs 1:12). Rabbi Pinḥas, quoting Rabbi Hoshaya, connects this verse to the King of Kings, the Holy One, blessed be He, and His "feas...
to one little verse that the Rabbis found particularly rich: "My beloved is like a gazelle or a fawn; behold, he is standing behind our wall, gazing from the windows, peering throu...
Specifically, (Song of Songs 7:10): “Your palate is like fine wine that goes pleasantly for my beloved, moving the lips of the sleeping.” A seemingly simple verse… but in Shir HaSh...
The core debate boils down to this: Did the descendants of Noah, meaning all humanity before the giving of the Torah at Sinai, offer only burnt offerings, or did they also offer pe...
Vayikra Rabbah, specifically section 13, offers a fascinating glimpse into their thought process, starting with a powerful verse from Habakkuk: "He stood and assessed the earth" (H...
But the ancient Rabbis wrestled with this idea, and their insights are surprisingly relevant even today. The passage begins by quoting (Psalms 50:16): "But to the wicked one, God s...
That’s the kind of feeling we're going to explore today, but with a very specific location in mind: Zion. We find a fascinating passage in Vayikra Rabbah, a midrash (rabbinic inter...
Isn't it frustrating when someone twists your words, puts ideas in your mouth, and generally acts in bad faith? That's the vibe I get from this next section of "The Wars of God." S...
The text challenges a particular assumption: that every detail of Jewish law, every halacha (Jewish religious law), was directly given to Moses at Sinai. To illustrate this, it del...
And Jacob sent messengers (Gen. 32:4). Scripture states elsewhere in allusion to this verse: And the Lord uttereth His voice before His army; for his camp is very great, for He is ...
All of the commandment that I command you today (Deuteronomy 8:1): Any commandment that you do, say [that] it is as if you heard it today at Sinai from Moshe; as so is it written, ...
The essence of life comes from prayer. Rabbi Nachman of Breslov derives this from a single verse: "Prayer to the God of my life" (Psalms 42:9). Prayer is not merely an appeal to th...
The true tzaddik (a righteous person), Rabbi Nachman of Breslov teaches, is the one who looks at every detail of creation and asks: why did God make it this way? Why does a lion ha...
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. ...
(Exodus 19:22) "And also the Cohanim, who draw near to the L–rd": We are hereby apprised that the Cohanim are not included in "the people" (above, 21). And thus is it written (Levi...
(Ibid. 4) "You shall not make for yourself an idol (lit., "a carving")": I might think that he may not make one that projects but he may make one that is flat. It is, therefore, wr...
(Exodus 20:21) "And you shall slaughter thereon": alongside it (i.e., alongside the top). You say "alongside it, but perhaps it is to be understood literally, i.e., "upon it"? And ...
(Exodus 20:22) instructs: "Do not build them gazith." The Mekhilta explains that "gazith" means "gezuzoth" — hewn stones, specifically stones upon which iron tools have been used. ...
The Torah states in (Exodus 20:22): "And when you make an altar of stones unto Me." The Mekhilta zeroes in on the Hebrew word "im" — which can mean either "when" or "if" — and asks...
The Talmud claims you are never alone. According to Berakhot 6a, the sage Abba Binyamin taught that if the human eye were granted permission to see demons, no living creature could...
How long will the Messianic era last? The Talmud in Sanhedrin 99a records a staggering range of opinions—from forty years to eternity. Rabbi Eliezer said forty years, based on (Psa...
When the final redemption comes, God will redeem Israel from one place only: Zion. Not from the desert, not from the waters, not from any place of exile — from the Temple Mount. "F...
“He destroyed, in His ire, the strongholds of the daughter of Judah.” Rabbi Yudan said: Each and every castle that was in Jerusalem was not fit to be conquered in any less than for...
“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”...
We tend to think of "nature" as this impersonal force, but Jewish tradition often sees things differently. It paints a picture of a vast, intricate cosmic bureaucracy, teeming with...
Ancient texts wrestled with this too, and the Book of Jubilees dives deep into the complexities of time, observance, and the potential for things to go terribly, terribly wrong. Th...
The ancient texts grapple with this very human tendency, this slippery slope that can lead to societal breakdown. to the Book of Jubilees, a text that offers a fascinating, if some...
It’s a book filled with fascinating expansions on the stories we find in Genesis, and here, we find a heartfelt plea passed down through generations. This passage comes in the 36th...
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...
The thirty-sixth and final zodiac demon, Bianakith, confessed: "I lay waste houses and cause flesh to decay. But if a man writes certain holy names on the front door of his home, I...
On the third day, Ezra sat under an oak tree. A voice came from a bush opposite him. "Ezra, Ezra." He rose to his feet. "Here I am, Lord." The voice from the bush was deliberate. U...
Fire and brimstone, a pillar of salt, and some very unhappy angels. But the details… the details are truly something else. According to Ginzberg’s Legends of the Jews, it wasn’t ju...
It's more than just a tradition; it's a direct line back to one of the most pivotal moments in our history, the Akeidah, the Binding of Isaac. The story goes that after Abraham pro...
We often think of it as a commandment straight from Mount Sinai, a divine decree etched in stone. And it is. But the story, as it often does in Jewish tradition, has layers and nua...
Sometimes, it's the small acts of kindness, the quiet moments of compassion, that truly define us and pave the way for greatness. Take Moses, for example. Before he parted the Red ...
It's not just a casual greeting – it's packed with meaning, a divine lesson whispered across the ages. Imagine Moses standing on Mount Sinai, the air crackling with divine energy. ...
Today, let's talk about the descendants of Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law. You know, Jethro, the Midianite priest who gave Moses refuge and wise counsel. What happened to his family ...
