4,108 texts · Page 54 of 86
We get this cryptic verse: "Ḥanokh walked with God, and he was no longer, as God took him" (Genesis 5:24). It's intriguing! What does it mean that God "took" him? Did he die? Did h...
In the Torah, names often carry a powerful weight, hinting at a person's destiny or reflecting a significant moment. Take Noah, for example. (Genesis 5:29) tells us, "He called his...
In Bereshit Rabbah, a classic collection of rabbinic interpretations of the Book of Genesis, we find this idea explored through a rather unsettling lens: famine. Specifically, the ...
Take Noah, for instance. We all know the story: the ark, the flood, the animals two-by-two. But what about Noah before the flood? What kind of person was he? Well, the book of Bere...
We all know the story: the ark, the flood, the animals two by two. But have you ever stopped to wonder about the timing of it all? It's not just about the rain, but about the gener...
(Genesis 9:18). It seems straightforward. But wait a minute... Was Yefet actually the eldest? That's what some of our Sages wondered. Why does Shem get top billing? Why not list th...
In the Torah, the word heḥel (הֵחֵל), meaning "began," is one of those words. It pops up in some pretty unsettling contexts. In Bereshit Rabbah 26, a classic collection of rabbinic...
The verse says, "The children of the great men [benei haelohim] saw the daughters of man, that they were fair, and they took for themselves wives, from whomever they chose." Simple...
This week, we're diving into a passage from Bereshit Rabbah 26, a rich collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Book of Genesis, that wrestles with this very question. The ver...
Ever read something in the Bible that just makes you stop and say, "Wait, what?" I get that feeling every time I stumble upon (Genesis 6:4): "The Nefilim were on the earth in those...
It’s a powerful, devastating verse that sets the stage for the Flood. But the Rabbis of the Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary), in Bereshit Rabbah, weren't content with a s...
The verse in question is (Ecclesiastes 2:23): “For all his days are pains, and anger is his concern; even at night his heart does not rest. This too is futility.” But what does thi...
The Torah tells us, in (Genesis 6:5), that God saw the wickedness of humankind was "great" – raba in Hebrew – before the Flood. But what kind of "great" was it? Rabbi Ḥanina sugges...
The Torah tells us, in (Genesis 6:6), "The Lord regretted that He had made man on the earth, and He was saddened in His heart.” Whoa. Heavy stuff. But what does it really mean? The...
The flood narrative in Genesis is one of the most challenging passages in the Torah, wrestling as it does with divine regret and the wiping out of nearly all life. It all starts wi...
It’s not just about the rain, or the oceans. It's about something much deeper – a relationship, even a conversation, between God and the very elements of the universe. We find a fa...
Jewish tradition grapples with this very question, comparing different eras and communities that faced divine judgment. to some intense comparisons drawn from Bereshit Rabbah, a cl...
Innocent creatures caught in the wake of human sin. But the ancient rabbis grappled with this question too, offering powerful, and perhaps unsettling, explanations. In Bereshit Rab...
The animals? Did they really deserve to be wiped out along with everyone else? Well, the rabbis of old had some thoughts on that. Rabbi Azarya, quoting Rabbi Yehuda bar Simon, offe...
Rabbi Yoḥanan, a prominent Jewish sage, offers a fascinating, and perhaps surprising, perspective. He says that the sentence, the punishment, of the generation of the Flood lasted ...
That feeling, that precarious balance between merit and grace, is at the heart of a fascinating discussion about Noah in Bereshit Rabbah, a classic collection of rabbinic interpret...
In Bereshit Rabbah, a classic collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Book of Genesis, we find a fascinating discussion about the depth of that relationship. Rabbi Yoḥanan, R...
It's not just filling space, but rather, like a master musician hitting a note again and again until it resonates deep within us. Take the story of Noah. (Genesis 6:9) tells us: "T...
The ancient rabbis certainly knew it. They saw it baked right into the words of the Torah itself. Take, for instance, the opening of Parashat Noah, the portion of Genesis that tell...
It's easy to imagine everyone just carrying on, oblivious, but Jewish tradition suggests otherwise. The Torah tells us, "Noah was a righteous man [ish]" (Genesis 6:9). Seems simple...
In the book of Bereshit, Genesis, we find two such words used to describe key figures: tamim and haya. What do they really mean? , because the Rabbis of old sure had some fascinati...
Rabbi Yehuda offers a beautiful analogy. Imagine a prince with two sons, one older and stronger, the other younger and perhaps more vulnerable. To the younger, the prince says, "Wa...
It's easy to just say "God did it," but Jewish tradition wrestles with these questions. It digs deep, looking for meaning, for justice, for a reason why. Take the verse in (Genesis...
The verse in Genesis (6:14) states: "Craft for you an ark of cypress wood; you shall craft the ark with compartments, and you shall coat it within and without with pitch." Now, Rab...
We all know the story: the flood, the animals two-by-two, a rainbow of hope at the end. But what about the blueprints? How did Noah actually build this thing? The Torah, in (Genesi...
What about the nitty-gritty? How did Noah see in there? Where did everyone go to the bathroom? Our Sages, wrestling with the very same questions, dove deep into the Torah's descrip...
To a fascinating passage from Bereshit Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretations of the Book of Genesis, and uncover some hidden layers of meaning. The verse in question, (G...
We all know the classic story: two of every animal, safe from the flood. But what about the things that aren't exactly animals? (Genesis 6:19) tells us, "And of every living being,...
We all know the story: the flood, the ark, two of every animal… but the logistics! How did he feed them all? What did he eat? The Torah tells us, "And you, take for you from all fo...
To a fascinating passage from Bereshit Rabbah 32, a collection of rabbinic interpretations of the Book of Genesis. The verse that kicks it all off is God's instruction to Noah: "Co...
True greatness lies not in squashing the competition, but in celebrating it? That’s the kind of wisdom we find nestled within the ancient texts of our tradition. Take Bereshit Rabb...
Why do bad things happen to good people? It’s a question that’s haunted humanity for millennia. Our tradition grapples with this head-on, not offering easy answers, but rather invi...
It turns out, this isn't just a human tendency. The Torah itself, according to some rabbinic interpretations, goes out of its way to avoid using harsh or impure language. Take the ...
When we delve into the rich tapestry of rabbinic tradition, specifically Bereshit Rabbah, a collection of early Jewish interpretations of the Book of Genesis, we find some fascinat...
That’s kind of what the ancient Rabbis were wrestling with when they looked at the story of Noah, specifically (Genesis 7:6): “And Noah was six hundred years old, and the flood was...
Not just the big picture of Noah and the ark, but some of the why and the how behind this cataclysmic event. It's a story we all know, but Bereshit Rabbah 32 offers some pretty fas...
Sometimes, it's in the details, in the seemingly small phrases, that we find the biggest insights. Take the story of Noah, for instance. We all know the basics: flood, ark, animals...
We get glimpses of the Ark in the Bible, but Jewish tradition, particularly in the Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary), fills in the blanks, offering us vivid images of that...
Because sometimes, the universe has a funny way of showing us that insight isn't exclusive to the scholars and sages. We find a perfect example in Bereshit Rabbah, specifically sec...
The rabbis of old grappled with this very question. How high did the water actually get? The Bereshit Rabbah, a classic collection of rabbinic interpretations of Genesis, dives int...
Wouldn't you know it, our sages wrestled with it too, finding fascinating answers hidden in the verses of Torah. Our journey begins with the story of Noah and the flood. (Genesis 8...
(Ecclesiastes 9:14) tells a strange little story: "There was a small city, with few men in it, and a great king came against it and surrounded it." What does it mean? In Bereshit R...
Bereshit Rabbah, a classic collection of rabbinic interpretations of the Book of Genesis, delves into this very idea, exploring how God’s mercy permeates everything. The verse from...
