1,204 related texts · Page 18 of 26
The verse from (Leviticus 23:24) sets the stage: "Speak to the children of Israel, saying: In the seventh month, on the first of the month, shall be a rest for you, a remembrance b...
The story begins with two prominent scholars, Rabbi Yoḥanan and Reish Lakish, deep in discussion. They were grappling with a seemingly simple question: Should the shofar (ram's hor...
“A princess among the nations,” Rabbi Yoḥanan said: Because Israel violated the terms that they accepted at Sinai, therefore, “she has become a vassal [lamas].” Sinai is lamas, the...
“For the Lord will not forsake forever. For, if He torments, He will have compassion according to His abundant grace. For He does not afflict willingly and torment the children of ...
Jewish tradition speaks of such moments as revelations of the Shekhinah (שכינה), the Divine Presence. But what exactly does that mean? And what does it look like? Sometimes, it see...
Isn't it astonishing how different interpretations can arise, even when dealing with texts we hold sacred? We're left scratching our heads, honestly, reading your words. Are you su...
And the time drew near that Israel must die (Gen. 47:29). Scripture states elsewhere in allusion to this verse: There is no man that hath power over the spirit to retain the spirit...
Behold, tomorrow about this time I will cause it to rain a very grievous hail, such as hath not been seen (Exod. 9:18). Zabdi the son of Levi said: He made a mark upon the wall and...
This is the thing that thou shalt do unto them (Exod. 29:11). Scripture says elsewhere in allusion to this verse: The wise shall inherit honor; but as for the fools, they carry awa...
This they shall give, everyone that passeth among them that are numbered, half a shekel (Exod. 30:13). Because they had sinned at the sixth hour,16Word-play reading the word boshet...
Go, get thee down (Exod. 32:7). The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses: Mankind has already compelled Me to descend from this place to witness its degradation, as is said: And ...
Hew these two tablets of stone (Exod. 34:1). When did Moses descend from the mountain? R. Judah the son of Shalum said: Moses remained on the mountain with the Holy One, blessed be...
That there are eleven days between one menstrual period and another is a law from Moshe at Sinai. Its explanation is that the law transmitted to Moshe at Sinai is like this: From t...
(Numb. 1:1) “Then the Lord spoke unto Moses in the Sinai desert.” This text is related (to Ps. 36:7), “Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains; Your judgments are like the ...
(Numb. 1:1-2) “Then the Lord spoke unto Moses in the Sinai desert […, ‘Take a census of the whole congregation of the Children of Israel…’].” This text is related (to Cant. 7:3), “...
(Numb. 1:1-2) “Then the Lord spoke unto Moses in the Sinai desert […,] ‘Take a census of the whole congregation.” This text is related (to Ps. 147:20), “He has not done so for any ...
(Numb. 1:1) “Then the Lord spoke unto Moses in the Sinai desert.” What did He say to him (in vs. 2)?37Numb. R. 1:9. “Take a census (literally: raise [rt.: ns'] the head) of the who...
(Numb. 3:14-15) “And the Lord spoke to Israel in the Sinai Desert, saying enroll the Children of Levi….” This text is related (to Ps. 92:13), “The righteous one shall flourish like...
(Numb. 25:4:) “Take all the heads of the people, and impale them [before the Lord in the sun].” R. Judan said, “He hanged the heads of the people, because they had not protested ab...
(Deut. 16:18:) “You shall appoint [judges and law officers] for yourselves”; and not for the peoples of the world. Another interpretation (of Deut. 16:18), “You shall appoint [judg...
The Book of Jubilees, also known as Lesser Genesis, is an ancient Jewish religious work of 50 chapters, considered canonical by the Ethiopian Orthodox Church as well as Ethiopian J...
This ancient Jewish text, considered canonical by some but not others, pulls no punches when it comes to predicting the future – or, perhaps more accurately, warning us about the c...
And one of the most fascinating stories revolves around a journey they take together and the shocking revelations Asmodeus makes along the way. After what must have been an exhaust...
Elijah the prophet. Just the name conjures up images of fire, brimstone, and unwavering devotion to God. But was he all thunder and lightning? Or was there more to this fiery figur...
Chapter twenty-one of the Tanya makes a metaphysical claim about Torah study that goes beyond anything said before: when you study Torah, God wraps Himself around your mind. The lo...
Sefer HaRazim (ספר הרזים), the Book of Mysteries, is a Jewish theurgic text dating to approximately the 3rd-4th century CE, making it one of the earliest structured works of Jewish...
"I shall sing to the Lord," for He is merciful. The Mekhilta turns from God's power and wisdom to the attribute that defines the Jewish understanding of the divine character more t...
"And it was, on the third day, when it was morning" (Exodus 19:16) — the day the Torah would be given at Sinai. The Mekhilta draws a remarkable inference from this verse: God "aros...
The Mekhilta brings one more example to illustrate its principle about biblical language. (Ezekiel 43:2) describes the return of God's glory to the Temple: "And the glory of the Go...
At Mount Sinai, God issued a specific invitation: "Go up, you and Aaron with you." The Mekhilta notices something crucial about this command. It names Moses and Aaron by implicatio...
The Mekhilta offers a parable that illuminates the logic behind the order of events at Sinai. A king of flesh and blood enters a new province. His servants immediately urge him: "M...
(Exodus 20:15) describes an extraordinary moment at Sinai: "And all the people saw the sounds and the lightnings." The people did not merely hear the divine voice — they saw it. Ra...
"And all the people saw" — the sounds of sounds and the flames of flames. The Mekhilta asks: how many sounds were there at Sinai, and how many flames? The answer is not a specific ...
At Sinai, God made a statement to Israel that no other nation in history could claim: "You saw that from the heavens I spoke to you." The Mekhilta pauses on this verse to draw out ...
Rabbi Nathan drew a sharp line between what Israel experienced at Sinai and what the rest of the world perceived. The nations heard about the revelation. Israel saw it. That differ...
When God gave the Torah at Mount Sinai, the Torah says He "descended" upon the mountain (Exodus 19:20). But it also says He spoke "from the heavens" (Exodus 20:22). These two state...
Rabbi Nathan interpreted the prohibition against idolatry in (Exodus 20:20) — "You shall not make alongside Me" — with striking directness. God is saying: do not think you can make...
"You shall not steal" — this is the eighth of the Ten Commandments. But what kind of stealing does it prohibit? The Mekhilta argues it refers to kidnapping, not theft of property. ...
Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer, an ancient Jewish text, has a pretty unsettling answer: the north. Specifically, it tells us that the north is "the abode of the destroying spirits, earthqu...
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...
Like you're about to figure something out, and then BAM! A little voice pops up to say, "Hold on a second..." Well, that’s kind of what's happening in this passage from Sifrei Deva...
One particularly evocative image is that of an eagle, caring for its young. This imagery appears in Sifrei Devarim, a collection of legal midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary)...
The Ten Commandments in (Exodus 20) are a list in the Hebrew Bible. In the Targum Jonathan, they are a spectacle. Each commandment is a living entity of storm and flame that flies ...
When Moses finished building the Tabernacle, he stood outside and refused to go in. His reasoning, according to the Targum Jonathan, was striking: Mount Sinai had been holy for onl...
The Hebrew Bible records that Moses invited Hobab his father-in-law to travel with Israel, and Hobab refused. The Targum Jonathan expands this exchange into a deeply personal plea ...
The Targum Jonathan on (Deuteronomy 5) does something extraordinary with the Ten Commandments. Where the Hebrew gives each commandment as a prohibition, the Targum expands every si...
The covenant at Moab in (Deuteronomy 29) is addressed to the Israelites standing there. Targum Jonathan expands the audience to infinity: "all the generations which have arisen fro...
Rabbah bar bar Hana's journeys were not limited to the sea. An Arab guide led him across the desert to the most sacred and terrifying locations in biblical geography. According to ...
