2,541 texts · Page 96 of 283
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...
Rabbi Yoḥanan, a towering figure in the Talmudic era, offers a startling idea. He suggests that when God created the sea, He made a deal. A condition (tna’o in Hebrew) that it woul...
It’s easy to imagine grand, sweeping transformations, but sometimes, the most profound miracles are about containing the uncontainable – about fitting more into less. That’s what o...
In fact, the ancient Rabbis dove deep into the very first verses of Genesis to understand their roles. The Book of Genesis (1:14) tells us, "God said: Let there be lights in the fi...
And they all seem to stem from one little verse in Genesis (1:17): “God set them in the firmament of the heavens to illuminate upon the earth.” Rabbi Yoḥanan sees something special...
