1,481 texts · Page 30 of 31
And God remembered Noah (Gen. 8:1). May it please our master to teach us the benediction recited upon witnessing a rainbow. Thus did our masters teach us: Upon seeing a rainbow, on...
Go forth from the ark (Gen. 8:16). Scripture says elsewhere in reference to this verse: I counsel thee: keep the king’s command, and that in regard of the oath of God. Be not hasty...
And Noah, the husbandman, began and planted a vineyard (Gen. 9:20). Noah degraded himself when he began to till the soil. R. Judah the son of R. Shalum said: At first Noah was call...
And it came to pass in the days of Amraphel (Gen. 14:1). May it please our master to teach us whether a slave obtains his freedom if his owner assigns all his property to him as a ...
And the two angels came to Sodom (Gen. 19:1). May it please our master to teach us the number of death penalties the Beth Din (the court of seventy-one members) was empowered to im...
And Abraham was old, and well stricken in years (Gen. 24:1). Scripture states elsewhere in reference to this verse: A virtuous woman is a crown to her husband (Prov. 12:4). This ve...
And it came to pass that when Isaac was old (Gen. 27:1). May it please our master to teach us whether a blind man is permitted to stand before the ark to lead the congregation in p...
And Isaac trembled exceedingly (Gen. 27:33). Scripture states elsewhere in allusion to this verse: The hearing ear, and the seeing eye, the Lord hath made even both of them (Prov. ...
And God said unto Jacob: “Arise, go up to Beth-El” (Gen. 35:1). May our master teach us: How many times is a man’s “account book”7The heavenly ledger wherein man’s deeds are record...
37:3). The “son of his features” (ikunim, playing on zikunim, “old age”), for he resembled his father very closely. R. Ishmael said: He was called the son of his old age because Jo...
And Joseph was brought down into Egypt (Gen. 39:1). Scripture states elsewhere in reference to this verse: Come and see the works of God; he acts circuitously in His doings toward ...
And it came to pass after these things (Gen. 40:1). Scripture states elsewhere in reference to this verse: And I find more bitter than death the woman, whose heart is snares and ne...
And God almighty give you mercy before the man (Gen. 43:14). Scripture states elsewhere in allusion to this verse: For this let everyone that is godly pray unto Thee in a time when...
Another comment on Then Judah drew near unto him. He came near him and said huskily; “Oh, my lord, do not transgress the laws of justice because of us. Let thy servant, I pray thee...
And he sent Judah before him (Gen. 46:28). Scripture says elsewhere in reference to this verse: The wolf and the lamb shall feed together (Isa. 65:25). Observe that whomever the Ho...
And he sent Judah before him (Gen. 46:28). Scripture states elsewhere in reference to this verse: The envy also of Ephraim shall depart … Ephraim shall not envy Judah (Isa. 11:13)....
And the time drew near that Israel must die (Gen. 47:29). It is stated in Scripture in reference to this verse: For we are strangers before Thee, and sojourners, as all our fathers...
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...
And he called his son Joseph (Gen. 47:29). Why did he not summon Reuben or Judah? After all, Reuben was the firstborn, while Judah was a king. He ignored them and called Joseph ins...
And it came to pass after these things, that one said to Joseph: “Benold, thy father is sick” (Gen. 48:1). May it please our master to teach us whether a benediction may be recited...
And it came to pass after these things (Gen. 48:1). What is written previously on this subject? And the time drew near that Israel must die, and he called his son Joseph (Gen. 47:2...
Another comment on This is it that their father spoke unto them. and he charged them, and said unto them: “I am to be gathered unto my people” (Gen. 49:28–29). He said to them: If ...
1:1). Scripture states (elsewhere in allusion to this verse): He that spareth his rod hateth his son; but he that loveth him chastiseth him betimes (Prov. 13:24). Normally, if a ma...
And Joseph died, and all his brethren (Exod. 1:6). Nevertheless, the children of Israel were fruitful and increased abundantly (ibid., v. 7). R. Yannai declared: Each woman bore si...
What is written prior to the episode in which Moses was keeping the flock? Many things are designated for certain purposes even before they are introduced into the world.14This is ...
And God spoke unto Moses, and said unto him: “I am the Lord; and I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob” (Exod. 6:2). May our masters teach us the punishment that is i...
And the Lord spoke unto Moses (Exod. 7:19). Scripture says elsewhere in allusion to this verse: Surely oppression turneth a wise man into a fool; and a gift destroyeth the understa...
See, I have set thee in God’s stead to Pharaoh (Exod. 7:1). The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses: The wicked Pharaoh boasts that he is a god. Make him realize that he is an i...
When Pharaoh shall speak unto you (Exod. 7:9). Scripture states (elsewhere in reference to this verse): Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are...
And the Lord said unto Moses: “Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh; lo, he cometh from the water” (Exod. 8:16). Why did Pharaoh go to the waters early in the mor...
Stretch out thy hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness (Exod. 10:21). Where did the darkness come from? R. Judah and R. Nehemiah discussed this question. R. Judah held: It ...
Our sages of blessed memory said: The Holy One, blessed be He, followed the military tactics employed by kings when inflicting the plagues upon them. When the people of a province ...
And it came to pass, when Pharaoh had let the people go (Exod. 13:17). The word let go (shallah) indicates “to escort,” as in the verse Abraham went with them to bring them (leshal...
And Moses took the bones of Joseph (Exod. 13:19). How did Moses know where Joseph’s grave was to be found? They say that only Serah the daughter of Asher had survived from that gen...
And Moses led Israel onward from the Red Sea, and they went out into the wilderness of Shur (Exod. 15:22). The wilderness of Shur is actually the wilderness of Kazab. They say that...
And Moses said unto Joshua: “Choose us out men, and go out, fight with Amalek” (Exod. 17:9). From this verse it is apparent that Moses treated his disciple Joshua as his equal. Thi...
17:10–11). Could the hand of Moses actually wage war or cause a war to cease? This indicates that whenever the Israelites glanced upward and directed their hearts to their Father i...
And God spoke all these words (Exod. 20:1). He spoke them all simultaneously. He causes death and restores life at the same time; He wounds and He heals simultaneously; He answers ...
21:1). Scripture says elsewhere in reference to this verse: He declareth His word unto Jacob … He hath not dealt so with any nation (Ps. 147:19–20). Aquila the convert, Hadrian’s n...
That they take for me an offering (Exod. 25:2). May it please our masters to teach us: What did they do with the surplus offering?1The surplus offering was from the funds contribut...
When thou takest the sum of the children of Israel (Exod. 30:12). R. Tanhuma the son of Abba began the discussions with the verse Sweet is the sleep of a laboring man, whether he e...
Bezalel the son of Uri (Exod. 31:2). He was one of the seven descendants of Adam called by various names. Jesse was called by four names, Bezalel by six, Joshua by eight, Elijah by...
And he gave unto Moses, when he had made an end of speaking with him (Exod. 31:18). R. Simeon the son of Lakish said: This may be compared to a man whose teacher is instructing him...
Hew these two tablets of stone (Exod. 34:1). Scripture states elsewhere in allusion to this verse: The wrath of a king is as messengers of death; but a wise man will pacify it (Pro...
And the Lord said unto Moses: “Write thou these words” (Exod. 34:27). May our masters teach us: Is one who writes two letters on the Sabbath (while unmindful of the prohibition or ...
And Moses said unto the children of Israel: “See, the Lord hath called by name Bezalel the son of Uri” (Exod. 35:30). May it please our masters to teach us: How far must a person g...
And He called to Moshe: And why does it say, "And He called?" Rather it is is because it stated above (Exodus 40:35), "and Moshe could not come to the Tent of Meeting" - when the D...
(Lev. 7:11:) “This is the law of the sacrifice for peace offerings.” You find that all of the [other] sacrifices that they would bring, they would bring for sins. In the case of th...
