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And nowhere is it more poignant than in the story of Moses, right before his passing. Imagine this: Moses, the greatest prophet, standing at the edge of the Promised Land, knowing ...
In fact, the Sifrei Devarim, a collection of early legal midrashim on the book of Deuteronomy, highlights this idea beautifully. It all starts with the verse in Numbers (Bamidbar 2...
Here he was, the leader who brought the Israelites out of Egypt, the one who stood face-to-face with God on Mount Sinai... and none of his sons were deemed fit to succeed him. Acco...
This one, from Sifrei Devarim, a collection of legal interpretations and homilies related to the Book of Deuteronomy, really got to me. The story goes that Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakka...
The ancient rabbis certainly understood that feeling. They saw it reflected in a particularly difficult year for the Israelites, a year marked by a triple tragedy. The Sifrei Devar...
We all know the story: the great leader, having guided his people for forty years through the wilderness, gazes upon the Promised Land from Mount Nebo, and then…the Torah simply te...
That’s how Joshua, Moses’ successor, felt when Moses died. Imagine the weight of that grief, the sheer absence of a leader, a teacher, a friend. But according to Sifrei Devarim, Go...
The ancient text Sifrei Devarim paints a powerful picture of just that feeling, and offers a startling, hopeful response. Imagine the entire congregation of Israel standing before ...
In Sifrei Devarim, specifically section 306, we find a powerful analogy that really makes you think. It starts with the verse, "Listen, O heavens" (Deuteronomy 32:1). But what does...