1,204 related texts · Page 17 of 26
The Hebrew Bible records Moses making the most audacious request in Scripture: "Show me Your glory" (Exodus 33:18). Targum Onkelos renders the response with his most careful theolo...
When a lion roars, every animal in the forest freezes. Even the ones who have never been hunted. Even the ones too far away to be prey. The sound itself is the message: there is so...
Before the world was created, God hid the Torah. Not in a vault, not in a distant heaven — hidden in the fabric of things, waiting for the right person to find it. And then Abraham...
Each prophet saw God differently. Amos saw Him standing — "I saw the Lord standing beside the altar" (Amos 9:1). Isaiah saw Him sitting — "I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high ...
Why does the world hold together? Jeremiah gives the unlikely answer: "If not for My covenant day and night, I would not have established the fixed order of heaven and earth" (Jere...
After the conquest of Canaan, God deliberately left certain nations in the land — not because He couldn't remove them, but to test Israel (Judges 3:1-2). The rabbis found this prac...
Let’s rewind a bit. Remember the story of the golden calf? MOSES smashes the first set of tablets. Talk about a bad day! Afterward, Moses pleads with God, reminding Him that He bro...
The great Moses himself had such an experience. As we read in (Exodus 4:24), on the road one night, Adonai—God—encountered Moses and sought to kill him. Talk about a plot twist! Wh...
The Israelites knew that feeling intimately. Our story begins in just such a place: "The Lord spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the Tent of Meeting, on the first of the...
This week, we're diving into a powerful message about gratitude, using the ancient text of Bamidbar Rabbah, specifically Bamidbar Rabbah 1. It all starts with a verse: “The Lord sp...
Bamidbar Rabbah, the rabbinic commentary on the Book of Numbers, dives right into this question with a surprisingly poetic starting point. The verse we're looking at is "The Lord s...
The ancient sages pondered similar questions when interpreting the very first verse of the Book of Numbers, Bamidbar, which begins: “The Lord spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Si...
That feeling, that inherent worth… it's something the ancient rabbis grappled with too. And they found a powerful message about it in the very first verses of the Book of Numbers, ...
We find it in (Numbers 3:4): "Nadav and Avihu died before the Lord when they offered alien fire before the Lord in the wilderness of Sinai, and they had no children. Elazar and Ita...
Why priests were priests, Levites were Levites, and the firstborn... well, what was the deal with the firstborn? Our story begins in Bamidbar Rabbah 6, a section of the great Midra...
It's almost like a cosmic nudge, inviting us to dig a little deeper. Take, for example, the juxtaposition of the laws concerning lepers right before the section detailing the dutie...
Rabbi Yosei HaGelili, a sage known for his sharp insights, challenges us to consider just that. He points to a time when things were different for the Israelites, a time of purity ...
The sages of the Talmud grappled with this very emotion, particularly in the context of marriage and fidelity. And surprisingly, the Torah has a lot to say about it. to an intrigui...
But what does it all mean? , drawing on the rich tapestry of Jewish tradition to unravel this mystery. The Torah tells us, "The priest shall write these curses in a scroll, and era...
Yet, the rabbis of old saw a deep, underlying unity. A web of connections. Take, for example, the fascinating link they found between the laws of the nazir, the one who takes a vow...
The passage begins with a curious question, referencing the Book of Job: "Will a man be more just than God...?" (Job 4:17). It seems like a rhetorical question, almost a challenge....
In Bamidbar Rabbah – that’s a collection of rabbinic teachings connected to the Book of Numbers – there's a fascinating passage about how God commanded Moses to gather seventy men....
But in Jewish tradition, there are moments where even MOSES, our greatest prophet, seems to do just that. to one of those fascinating instances from Bamidbar Rabbah 19. The verse w...
We find an intriguing exploration of just that in Bereshit Rabbah 48, a section of the ancient midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary)ic collection on the book of Genesis. It al...
That feeling isn't new. Our ancestors wrestled with it too. Let’s delve into a fascinating passage from Bereshit Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretations of the Book of Gen...
The verse in Isaiah (11:13) says, "The jealousy of Ephraim will cease." Now, Bereshit Rabbah, that incredible collection of rabbinic interpretations of Genesis, sees a connection h...
It's part of the human condition. But have you ever considered that this struggle might be… a cosmic drama playing out on a miniature scale, right inside of you? That’s the kind of...
Our story begins, as so many do, in the book of Exodus. "Moses was herding the flock of his father-in-law Yitro, the priest of Midyan, and he led the flock into the wilderness, and...
The passage we're looking at begins with God instructing Moses: "Go and gather the elders of Israel, and say to them: The Lord, the God of your fathers, God of Abraham, of Isaac, a...
The ancient rabbis saw that struggle playing out in the life of Moses, as he stood on the cusp of his world-changing mission. The book of Exodus (4:18) tells us, "Moses went and re...
The verse says, "The Lord said to Moses in Midyan: Go, return to Egypt; as all the men who sought your life are dead" (Exodus 4:19). Simple enough. But the Rabbis of the Midrash (r...
It's all there in the book of Exodus, chapter 7, verse 9: "When Pharaoh will speak to you, saying: Provide a wonder for you; then you shall say to Aaron: Take your staff, and cast ...
The Book of Exodus tells us, "Moses extended his staff toward the heavens and the Lord sent thunder and hail, and fire ran down to the ground, and the Lord rained hail upon the lan...
Rabbi Shimon, in Shemot Rabbah, really zeroes in on this. He points out the verse in Exodus (21:18), "If men quarrel and one strikes the other." Rabbi Shimon emphasizes that "nothi...
The Shemot Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Book of Exodus, dives deep into this question, particularly in section 30. It all starts with a verse from Isaiah...
It's not just about power, but about the very fabric of society and our relationship with the Divine. The book of Exodus, specifically 22:27, lays down a firm rule: "You shall not ...
Jewish tradition is filled with these "what ifs," these pivot points where history teetered. Take the story of the Golden Calf. According to Shemot Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic...
We find a powerful idea tucked within Shemot Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Book of Exodus. It centers around the verse: "And you, draw Aaron your brother ...
Our tradition teaches that the Torah isn't just a book; it's a blueprint for creation, a manifestation of God's very being. And the luchot, the tablets upon which the Ten Commandme...
Good intentions, maybe, but with a track record that's... well, let's just say "mixed"? That's the feeling at the heart of a beautiful passage in Shemot Rabbah 49, a collection of ...
It’s a deeply human experience, and it’s one that our ancestors grappled with too, especially at Sinai. The ancient collection of rabbinic teachings known as Shir HaShirim Rabbah, ...
It might sound strange, but even the type of tree can hold a profound lesson. to a passage from Shir HaShirim Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Song of Songs,...
The mystics of old certainly did. They saw this feeling echoed in the Song of Songs, that passionate and enigmatic book we call Shir HaShirim in Hebrew. Specifically, in the verse:...
It's more than just sand and scorching sun. It's a place of transformation, of revelation, of becoming. : "Who is this ascending from the wilderness like columns of smoke, perfumed...
Ever felt that sting of doubt, that little voice whispering, "Where is He now?" It's a question that's echoed through the ages, a challenge thrown at the heart of faith itself. And...
We're diving into Shir HaShirim Rabbah, a Midrash – a collection of rabbinic teachings – on the Song of Songs. Specifically, we're looking at verse 7:8, "This, your stature, is lik...
It’s a thought that echoes through the ancient wisdom of Vayikra Rabbah (Leviticus Rabbah), a Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary)ic collection interpreting the book of Levit...
Vayikra Rabbah 22, a fascinating collection of stories and teachings, explores just that. It suggests that everything – from frogs to plants to even inanimate objects – can be inst...
