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The Torah gives us a fascinating glimpse of such a moment in the story of Bilam, the non-Jewish prophet hired to curse the Israelites. In Numbers, chapter 22, verse 31, we read: “T...
It's one of those biblical tales that's just packed with odd details, and the Rabbis of the Midrash had a field day unpacking it all. We find a fascinating take in Bamidbar Rabbah,...
We find ourselves in the book of Numbers, with Balak, the king of Moab, terrified of the Israelites. He hires the sorcerer Bilam to curse them. But, as we soon discover, things don...
The story of Pinḥas (Phineas) in the book of Numbers is a wild ride, a tale of zealotry, divine intervention, and a whole lot of questions about what's right and wrong. The scene i...
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...
Take, for example, the verse in Numbers: "This will be the land that will fall [tipol] to you as an inheritance." (Numbers 34:2). "Fall?" the Rabbis asked. Does land just fall? Isn...
We often think of creation as a solo act by the Almighty, but the ancient rabbis, wrestling with the very first verse of Genesis, "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the...
He sees the very first verses of Genesis as a foreshadowing of the choices we all face. "The earth was emptiness (tohu vavohu)" – he says, that represents the actions of the wicked...
The passage opens with that foundational verse, Genesis 1:26: "And God said: Let us make Man in our image, in our likeness, and let them dominate…” But what does it mean? Rabbi Yoḥ...
