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(Exodus 15:14) "Peoples heard—they quaked": When the peoples heard that Pharaoh and his hosts were lost in the sea, that the rule of Egypt had ended, and that their idolatry had be...
(Exodus, Ibid.) "Quaking has seized the dwellers of Plasheth": Once the dwellers of Plasheth heard that Israel had entered the land, they said: They have come to take revenge for t...
The Mekhilta reads the phrase "By the greatness of Your arm they were struck still as stone" as describing a specific historical moment. When the Israelites emerged from the Red Se...
The Mekhilta offers a variant tradition that shifts the scene from the Red Sea to the Jordan River. When Israel crossed the Jordan into the Promised Land, all the kings of Canaan b...
Four are called "acquisitions": Israel—viz. "this people whom You have acquired." Heaven and earth—viz. (Genesis 14:22) "Acquirer of heaven and earth." The Temple—viz. (Psalms 78:5...
(Exodus 15:18) "You will bring them and You will plant them": The fathers prophesied without knowing what (they were prophesying). It is not written "You will bring us and You will...
Four are called "inheritance": the Temple—viz. "in the mountain of Your inheritance." Eretz Yisrael—viz. (Devarim 15:4) "in the land which the L–rd Your G–d gives You as an inherit...
Rabbi Yossi Haglili makes one of the most poignant observations in all of rabbinic literature. When Israel stood at the Red Sea and sang, they used the future tense: "The Lord will...
(Ibid. 20) "Then Miriam the prophetess took": Where do we find that Miriam was a prophetess? She said to her father (Amram): In the end, you will beget a son who will be the savior...
The Mekhilta notices something unusual about the verse "And Moses made Israel journey from the Red Sea" (Exodus 15:22). Rabbi Yehoshua points out that this particular journey was i...
R. Eliezer says: They journeyed by word of the L–rd. For in two or three places we find that they journeyed by word of the L–rd; and here, too, they journeyed by word of the L–rd. ...
Thus we find that they went back (the distance of) three journeys (at Moses' behest), viz. (Numbers 33:8-10) "And they journeyed from Pi Hachiroth … And they journeyed from Marah a...
R. Eliezer says: They journeyed by the word, for thus do we find in two or three places. What, then, is the intent of "And Moses made Israel journey?" He did so against their will,...
Rabbi Yehudah ben Ilai makes a disturbing claim in the Mekhilta: idolatry crossed the Red Sea with Israel. The very nation that had just witnessed God's greatest miracle — the spli...
Rabbi Akiva shares a story he heard directly from Rabbeinu Hakadosh — Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi, the compiler of the Mishnah (the earliest code of rabbinic law). The tale concerns a man...
The Mekhilta examines the verse "And they went in the desert for three days without finding any water" (Exodus 15:22) and presents two conflicting interpretations. Rabbi Yehoshua t...
The Mekhilta records an alternative explanation for why Israel went three days without water. According to this view, the problem was not the desert at all. The problem was their c...
The Mekhilta records a disagreement between two sages about the verse "And they came to Marah" (Exodus 15:23). Rabbi Yehoshua says that Israel came to three places at that time. Ra...
The Mekhilta presents two sharply different readings of the verse "And the people caviled against Moses, saying: What shall we drink?" Rabbi Yehoshua takes the generous view: the p...
"and he cast it into the waters": Others say: Israel were (hereby) imploring (mercy) and praying before their Father in heaven. As a son implores and guards himself before his fath...
The Torah says that God tested Israel at Marah with the word "nisahu." But what does this word actually mean? Two rabbis offered completely different readings. Rabbi Yehoshua argue...
"All of the illness which I placed in Egypt I will not place upon you" — God promised the Israelites immunity from the plagues that devastated their former oppressors. But then the...
When the Israelites arrived at Eilim after their grueling desert journey, they found an oasis that defied all natural proportion. Twelve springs of water bubbled up from the earth,...
A small detail in (Exodus 16:1) caught the attention of the rabbis of the Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael. The verse states that the Israelites journeyed from Eilim and arrived in the Wi...
Variantly: "on the fifteenth day of the second month": Why is "day" mentioned? To know on which day the Torah was given to Israel. (Rosh Chodesh of the) Nissan on which Israel left...
Variantly: "on the fifteenth day of the second month": Why is the day mentioned? To know on which day the manna descended for Israel. Israel ate from the wafer that they took out o...
When the Israelites ran out of food in the desert, they did not handle it well. (Exodus 16:2) records that "the entire congregation of the children of Israel caviled against Moses ...
Rabbi Elazar Hamodai offered a surprising claim about what life was actually like for the Israelites in Egypt. Contrary to what one might expect from a nation of slaves, Israel liv...
"from the heavens": from the goodly treasure trove of the heavens, viz. (Devarim 28:12) "The L–rd will open for you His goodly treasure trove, the heavens, etc." R. Shimon b. Gamli...
Moses and Aaron stood before the entire assembly of Israel in the wilderness and made a promise that must have sounded almost too good to believe: "In the evening you will know tha...
The Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael draws a sweeping conclusion from the verse "and you will know that the L-rd took you out of the land of Egypt" (Exodus 16:6). The teaching here is not...
When the Israelites grumbled in the wilderness about food, Moses and Aaron told them (Exodus 16:7): "And in the morning you will see the glory of the Lord." The Mekhilta de-Rabbi I...
In (Exodus 16:9), Moses instructed Aaron to tell the entire congregation of Israel to "draw near before the Lord." Two rabbis in the Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael disagreed about what ...
"and, behold, the glory of the L–rd appeared in the cloud": R. Yossi Haglili says: So long as Israel railed against Moses and Aaron, at once, "the glory of the L–rd appeared in the...
The Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael reveals a remarkable exchange between God and Moses concerning the Israelites' complaints in the wilderness. The verse states: "I have heard the cavil...
Rabbi Eliezer described one of the most vivid and beautiful scenes in all of rabbinic literature: the step-by-step process by which the manna descended from heaven each morning. Be...
(Exodus 16:13) says simply that "in the morning there was a layer of dew." But the Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael saw in this plain statement a description of one of the most elaborate ...
Rabbi Tarfon offered one of the most striking images in all of Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael. He said the manna descended from heaven on the very palms of God. The word "mechuspas" use...
Issi ben Yehudah taught a remarkable detail about the manna that fell in the wilderness: when it descended for Israel, it was visible to all the nations of the earth. The peoples o...
When the manna first appeared in the wilderness, the Israelites had never seen anything like it. (Exodus 16:15) records their reaction: "And the children of Israel saw it, and each...
Rabbi Yossi and Rabbi Shimon used a vivid and startling metaphor to describe how the Israelites ate in the wilderness. They said Israel "stuffed themselves like horses" when the ma...
The Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael offered a remarkable tradition about Joshua the son of Nun and his unique relationship with the manna. (Psalms 78:25) says "He sent them sustenance to...
(Exodus 16:16) "This is the thing that the L–rd has commanded. Gather of it, each man, etc.": They said: Now Nachshon ben Aminadav and his household will go out and will gather a l...
Moses gave the Israelites a simple instruction in (Exodus 16:19): do not leave any manna over until morning. What happened next exposed a fault line running through the entire nati...
When the manna melted each morning under the desert sun, it did not simply evaporate. According to the Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael, the melted manna formed streams that flowed all th...
Rabbi Elazar Hamodai expanded the promise of Sabbath observance far beyond three festivals. Where Rabbi Yehoshua linked Shabbat (the Sabbath) to Pesach (Passover), Shavuot, and Suc...
(Exodus 16:26) "Six days shall you gather it, etc.": We are hereby apprised that the manna does not descend on Sabbath. Whence do we derive (the same for) a festival? From (the sup...
R. Yehoshua says: He said to Israel: If you keep this Sabbath the Holy One Blessed be He is destined to give you three festivals: the festival of Nissan (Pesach), the festival of S...
