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That’s kind of the vibe we get right at the very beginning of Bereshit Rabbah, the classic rabbinic commentary on the Book of Genesis. The text opens with a powerful, almost fierce...
Jewish tradition, in its wisdom, offers a gentle, yet firm, hand on our shoulder, guiding us back to the here and now. The very first verse of the Torah, Bereshit, "In the beginnin...
They believed every single letter, every seemingly insignificant word, held profound secrets. Take the very first verse of Genesis, Bereshit (בראשית): "In the beginning, God create...
This seeming contradiction sparked quite the debate amongst our Sages. Specifically, between the schools of Beit Shammai and Beit Hillel. These two houses, or schools, were known f...
The sages of old grappled with this very question. Rabbi Berekhya, quoting Rabbi Yehuda bar Simon, offers a stunning image. “By the word of the Lord the heavens were made,” from Ps...
It's like the whole thing is one giant, intricate tapestry. Take the creation of light, for example. The very first "Let there be light!" in Genesis. Rabbi Simon, in Bereshit Rabba...
The Bereshit Rabbah, a classic Midrashic collection that expands on the Book of Genesis, dives deep into the creation story. And in Bereshit Rabbah 3, Rabbi Shmuel bar Ami offers a...
We often read the opening verses of Genesis, "Let there be a firmament in the midst of the water," and move on. But the Rabbis saw so much more in those words! What images did they...
Pretty impressive. But unlike the other days, there's no resounding declaration of "that it was good." Why this omission? The rabbis of old certainly wrestled with this question, a...
