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King David knew that feeling, and he gave voice to it in the Psalms. Psalm 141, to be exact. It begins, "I call upon you, O Lord; make haste to me; give ear to my voice when I call...
As we find in Midrash Tehillim, a collection of interpretations on the Book of Psalms, the answer is a dazzling, multi-layered chorus. Psalm 148 begins with a resounding call: "Hal...
Today, let’s explore a passage from the Pesikta deRav Kahana, specifically section 13, where Rabbi Abba bar Kahana unpacks a verse from the prophet Isaiah (10:30): “Raise your voic...
The ancient rabbis certainly did. They saw patterns, connections, and hidden meanings woven into the very fabric of time. Take, for instance, this passage from Pesikta DeRav Kahana...
We often think of God as being beyond human emotions, but Jewish tradition paints a far more nuanced picture. Let’s delve into a fascinating passage from Pesikta DeRav Kahana, a co...
Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer, a fascinating early medieval Jewish text, gives us glimpses of just such figures. It's not history in the way we think of it today, but more a tapestry of s...
We often think of grand gestures, sacrifices, or elaborate rituals. But what if I told you it’s something far simpler, something each of us carries within us every single day? Pirk...
That feeling, that sense of wonder and a connection to something vast, is at the heart of this story about Abraham, our patriarch. According to Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer, a fascinatin...
Jewish tradition has some fascinating things to say about that, especially when it comes to the grand sweep of history and the ultimate redemption. Let’s go back to Abraham, sittin...
We all know the big moments in his life – the covenant, the almost-sacrifice of Isaac. But sometimes the quiet moments, the unspoken fears, reveal the deepest longings of the heart...
Rabbi Eliezer, in Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer, a fascinating and somewhat enigmatic Midrashic (rabbinic interpretive commentary) text, tackles this very question. And his answer is surp...
The story unfolds during the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, a name synonymous with Babylonian power. He levied a false accusation against the Israelites, a people already displaced and v...
Tonight, we're diving into a fascinating passage from Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer, specifically chapter 35, that does just that. It centers on Jacob, later known as Israel, and a pivota...
We all know the story from Exodus 32 – Moses is up on Mount Sinai, receiving the Ten Commandments, and the Israelites, feeling abandoned, demand that Aaron make them a god. But how...
Jewish tradition has some powerful stories about that feeling – and about the surprising ways the tables can turn. Take, for example, the story of Samuel and Agag. In Pirkei DeRabb...
Rabbi Abbahu, a sage from the Talmudic period, tackles this very question in Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer, a fascinating text filled with stories and interpretations that shed light on b...
Chapter 49 offers us a particularly compelling example, focusing on the story of Esther and the hidden hand of merit. Rabbi Zechariah, the sage whose words are recorded in Pirkei D...
Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer, an ancient Jewish text, speaks of seven such wonders. Not the kind you find on a travel brochure, but events that shook the foundations of belief. We're tal...
That feeling isn’t new. In fact, there's a beautiful passage in the Yalkut Shimoni on Nach 499 that speaks directly to this. It uses the image of extinguished candles to describe t...
The story of Haman, the villain of the Purim story, is full of them. And according to the Yalkut Shimoni, a compilation of rabbinic commentary on the Bible, Haman's plot to annihil...
Jewish tradition certainly grapples with this idea, especially when considering the long and often painful history of exile. In the Yalkut Shimoni, a compilation of rabbinic commen...
The bits that make you scratch your head and think, "Wait, what was that all about?" Well, today we're diving headfirst into one of those fascinatingly strange passages: the case o...
It’s fascinating to see how ancient texts like Sifrei Bamidbar, a legal midrash on the Book of Numbers, attempt to define and describe where we might find that light. It all starts...
It's almost like one verse says one thing, and another… well, it says the opposite! It can be confusing. But Jewish tradition is brilliant at wrestling with these apparent contradi...
You're not alone! Our sages grappled with these apparent inconsistencies too. The passage opens with a head-scratcher concerning the number of angels. One verse says, "Is there any...
It’s a question that’s resonated throughout Jewish history, and the answer, surprisingly, is all about perspective. Our tradition teaches us that the way we count time is intimatel...
all who hate the righteous are, in effect, haters of the Holy One, blessed be He. Think of it like this: when we strike out against goodness, against justice, against those who emb...
This ritual, used for purification, has some fascinating details that our sages unpacked with incredible care. The Sifrei Bamidbar, a collection of legal interpretations on the Boo...
We find ourselves in the book of Devarim (Deuteronomy), where Moses is recounting his life to the Israelites. He’s looking back at his plea to enter the Promised Land, Eretz Yisrae...
Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, a towering figure in Jewish mysticism, offers a stunning vision. He takes a verse from Psalms (16:11) – "sated (sova) with joys in Your presence" – and giv...
This idea of "servant" comes up in Sifrei Devarim, that's the book of Deuteronomy, and it got me thinking. The verse we're looking at is (Deuteronomy 3:24), where Moses is pleading...
The Sifrei Devarim, a collection of early rabbinic legal interpretations on the Book of Deuteronomy, digs deep into what it truly means to "serve Him." We find a fascinating discus...
In the book of Sifrei Devarim, we find a fascinating perspective. The text points out a subtle, but significant, detail in the Torah's language. It doesn't say God promised the lan...
The ancient sages certainly pondered these questions. We find a fascinating discussion in Sifrei Devarim, a collection of legal interpretations on the Book of Deuteronomy. It cente...
the verse, "… that I command you to do" (Deuteronomy 11:22). Why this emphasis on doing? Well, it's because earlier it says, "And it shall be if you shall hear, etc." (Deuteronomy ...
The Sifrei Devarim, a collection of legal midrashim (rabbinic interpretive commentary) on the Book of Deuteronomy, grapples with this very feeling. Specifically, it asks a profound...
In Sifrei Devarim, a collection of early Jewish legal interpretations, we find a fascinating instruction about writing a Sefer Torah, a Torah scroll. It says, "that he shall write ...
The unpronounceable, the sacred Yod-Keh-Vav-Keh (יהוה), often referred to as the Tetragrammaton. It's a name so holy, so powerful, that we traditionally don't say it aloud. So, wha...
It suggests a powerful truth: that no other nation will be allowed to dominate Israel. But why? The text directs us to the Book of Daniel, specifically chapter 10. Daniel has this ...
Jewish tradition actually has a powerful image for that feeling, and it connects it directly to hope for the future. It comes from Sifrei Devarim, a commentary on the Book of Deute...
The Holy One of Blessing is High and Exalted, His throne is [also] High and Exalted. And from where do we know that the Holy One of Blessing is called "High and Exalted"? From (Isa...
Book of Eldad the Danite A Question and Answer between the People of Kairouan and Rabbi Zemach Gaon [Epstein, Eldad the Danite, Story I] Before the chariot of Israel and its horsem...
Legend from "Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary) Eicha Rabati" [From "Beit Akeid Haggadot" Part 1, 37] God said to Jeremiah, "Go to Anathoth," for as long as Jeremiah was in...
Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary) Yitbarach (May He Be Blessed) Blessed be the name of the King of kings, the Holy One blessed be He, who lives and endures forever and eve...
The Book of the Wellspring of Wisdom When Moses ascended on high, a cloud came up against him, and Moses our teacher did not know if one rides it or holds it. Immediately, the clou...
"It happened with King Jehoiachin, of whom it is written: 'Thus says the Lord, Write this man childless.' When he fell into the hands of the wicked Nebuchadnezzar, he was imprisone...
Alphabet of Rabbi Akiva (Nusaḥ II) [according to the Krakow and Amsterdam printings] Said Rabbi Aqibha: these are the 22 letters with which the Torah was given to the tribes of Isr...
These are the ten exiles which the precious Children of Zion have been exiled: Israel was exiled by Sennacherib in three expulsions; they were exiled afterward by Nebuchadnezzar wi...
