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Specifically, we're diving into a passage from Sifrei Devarim, a legal commentary on the Book of Deuteronomy, where things get, shall we say, a little… exclusive. The passage state...
Take this little snippet from Sifrei Devarim (Deuteronomy) – it’s a perfect example. We're diving into a passage that deals with who can and cannot join the "congregation of the L-...
It’s a question that’s echoed through Jewish history, and it pops up in some surprising places. to a seemingly small passage from Sifrei Devarim, a collection of legal interpretati...
The ancient text of Sifrei Devarim, a commentary on the book of Deuteronomy, grapples with this very question, specifically regarding a ger toshav, "a sojourning stranger." Now, a ...
Today, let's talk about forgotten harvests, generosity, and oddly specific measurements. We're diving into Sifrei Devarim, a collection of legal interpretations tied to the Book of...
THEY EACH SAID THREE THINGS. R. ELIEZER SAID: LET THE HONOUR OF YOUR FELLOW BE DEAR TO YOU AS YOUR OWN; BE NOT EASILY MOVED TO ANGER; REPENT ONE DAY BEFORE YOUR DEATH.LET THE HONOU...
The Hebrew Bible tells a straightforward story about Isaac digging wells in Gerar and feuding with the Philistines over water rights (Genesis 26). The Targum Jonathan transforms it...
In the Hebrew Bible, Jethro visits Moses in the wilderness, gives advice about delegating judges, and leaves. The Targum Jonathan on (Exodus 18) transforms this administrative visi...
The Hebrew Bible says Moses sent twelve spies into Canaan. The Targum Jonathan says he sent "keen-sighted men"—then reveals how spectacularly their vision failed them. Moses dispat...
The Targum Jonathan on (Deuteronomy 9) contains one of the most dramatic expansions in all of Aramaic literature. When Moses recalls the golden calf, the Hebrew says God was angry ...
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...
Another explanation. “Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion… And many nations shall join the Lord…” (Zechariah 2:14-15) R’ Chanina bar Papa said: this verse is only speaking of that...
[Ed.: "Menorah" down below should probably be Menuda. "Chazar l'Suro", is the only time in Chazal that that form appears. It appears frequently, also in regard to converts, as Chaz...
Three converts came to Shammai with impossible requests. All three were turned away. All three then went to Hillel, who accepted every one of them. The contrast, recorded in Shabba...
Agur: Rabbi Menachem de Lonzano mentions it in the introduction to his book 'Shtei Yadot' (Venice, 5488 [1728]). He intended to print it in the second part, following the 'Midrash ...
"Zuta": "Zuta" is an Aramaic and Arabic word meaning "small" in contrast to "Raba" which means "large" or "great". There are Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary)ic compilatio...
R. Eliezer, charged with heresy, was saved from punishment by saying, “The judge knows the truth" which the Hegemon interpreted as a tribute to his justice. Tlje reason why he got ...
Ankelos ben Kalinikos, nephew of the Roman Emperor Titus, was searching for truth. Despite being born into the most powerful family in the world, he felt a spiritual hunger that Ro...
Story of the man who tried Hillel ’s patience by asking him irrelevant questions, in the hope of angering him and thereby vanning a wager of 400 zuzim. The first question was: “Why...
Rabbi Eleazar ben Shimeon was not a small man, and the Talmud does not hide this fact. Multiple stories describe his extraordinary physical size, his immense strength, and — as thi...
Hananya, the nephew of Rabbi Joshua, was a respected scholar living in Babylon. And one day he made a decision that nearly split the Jewish world in two. He decided to set the cale...
The story of the conversion to Judaism of Abu Golis, a priest of Damascus living in Tiberias. Making a bad use of some money entrusted to him, he lost his sight. His former friends...
Rabbi Nehemia was a man of simple tastes. He ate plain food, lived modestly, and saw no reason to indulge in luxuries. One day, he invited a well-known gourmand — a man famous for ...
A king once determined to build a town and selected a site. The astrologers approved of the place on condition that a child be walled in alive, brought voluntarily by its mother. A...
The story of Dama ben Netina's respect for his parents did not end with the famous incident of the precious stone. The Talmud preserves additional details that deepened his reputat...
A. & B. Abraham & Nimrod. Pirke de R. Eliezer, XXVI. Midr. Hagadol, Gen. Lekh Lekha. Gen. R. 38 § 19. Gen. R. of Moses Hadar- shan to 11, 28 and 46, 28. Horowitz, Eked, I, 40. Jera...
A gentile once came to the great sage Shammai with a provocative request: "Convert me to Judaism, but only on the condition that you teach me the entire Torah while I stand on one ...
The Talmud (Hullin 41b, Avodah Zarah 25b) preserves a cautionary teaching about the vulnerability of scholars traveling on dangerous roads. Students of the sages were sometimes set...
Kamsa&Fall of Jerusalem. Git tin, f. 55b, 56b, 57. Sanhedrin (the supreme rabbinic court), f. 104. Pirke de R. Eliezer, ch. 49. Tanh. Numb. Hukkat § 1. and B. ibid. p. 99. Midr. Ha...
Destruction of Bet Tur. Gittin, f. 57 a. Sanhedrin (the supreme rabbinic court), f. 17 b. Rosh Hashana, f. 18 b. Taanit, 26 b, 29 a. Mishnah (the earliest code of rabbinic law) Taa...
Robert of Sicily. Wickerhauser, p. 167. Ring. Badder, Badische Sagen, No. 405. Comestor, 1, III. Eisenmenger I, 351 ff. Gervasius, ed. Lieb- recht, p. 8 and note 12, p. 77. Gesta R...
Rabbi Akiba was walking through a cemetery when he encountered something terrible — a dead man, naked and blackened, carrying an enormous load of wood on his back. He was running a...
The rabbis took the washing of hands before meals with deadly seriousness — and the Talmud (Yoma 83b, Hullin 106a) preserves stories showing why. A man once neglected to wash his h...
If neglecting to wash hands before meals could lead to disaster, the Talmud teaches that neglecting to wash after meals was equally dangerous — and one story proved why. A man's fa...
The daughter of Rabbi Hanina ben Dosa fell into a deep pit, and the entire neighborhood panicked. They rushed to tell the great miracle-worker that his child was in mortal danger, ...
The Talmud (Shabbat 156b) tells the story of a woman who consulted astrologers about her newborn son. They told her with certainty: "Your son will be a thief." She was devastated. ...
The death and last will of Rabbi Judah HaNasi — simply called "Rabbi" — was one of the most solemn moments in the history of the Jewish people. The Talmud (Ketubot 104a, Jerusalem ...
A group of pagan astrologers — men who read the stars and claimed to know the future — once came before a Jewish court. They had traveled from distant lands, driven by a question t...
Rabbi Akiba was once traveling by ship when a terrible storm struck. The waves rose like mountains, the wind tore at the sails, and the vessel broke apart beneath the passengers' f...
The Talmud (Shabbat 33b) records a conversation that nearly got three sages killed — and did send two of them into hiding for thirteen years. Rabbi Yehuda, Rabbi Yose, and Rabbi Sh...
The Talmud in Sanhedrin (f. 97a) tells of a place called the City of Truth — a settlement where no one had ever spoken a lie. Every word uttered within its walls was honest. Every ...
Onkelos — known in some traditions as Aquila — was a Roman nobleman, a nephew of the Emperor himself, who converted to Judaism. His conversion scandalized the imperial court and be...
Wicked-Brother-in-Law. Holeh Tamim u. Poel Sedek. • m Eisenstein, Oser, P. 343. Husin, Maasim Tobim, No. 2. Maase Buch No. 204. Levi, R. E. J. XXXIII, p. 234 ff. Ben Gorion I, p. 2...
Frog Princess. Eisenstein, Oser, p. 344. Maase Buch No. 143. Helvicus, Historien I, ch. 14, p. 64. Eisenmenger, I, p. 399. Tendlau, Fellmeier, No. 1. Griinbaum, Jiid. Dtsch. Chrest...
When Moses sent twelve spies into the land of Canaan to scout the territory before the Israelite invasion, ten of them came back terrified. "We saw giants there," they reported. "T...
Grateful Dead. Pesikta, f. 164 a. Tanh. Deut. Haazinu §8. Adhan, Bineot Deshe, f. 25 b. Shaare Jerushalayim, p. 88—90, No. 4. Sef. Hamaasiyot ed. Araki Cohen ch. 90. Archiv f. Slav...
Solomon & Daughter of King of Ammon. Gittin, f. 68b. cf. Yalk. Hadash. • m Hirz, Emek Hamel ekh, f. 15. Jellinek, B. H. II, p. 86. Eisenstein, Oser, p. 530. Maase Buch No. 104. Ten...
38- Wiinsche, J. Talmud, p. 148 f. Griinbaum, Jud.Deutsch Deu ts ch. Chres t. p. 400. Singer, Z. V. Vlksd. II, p. 298. Ancona, II Cavaliero Senso, p. 97—130; 151—187. _ Gaster, Chr...
