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The Torah is full of it, if we know where to look. Sometimes, the lessons we need aren't found in grand pronouncements, but in the behavior of animals. Bamidbar Rabbah 23, a sectio...
Rabbi Yehuda bar Simon starts us off with a powerful verse from Daniel (2:22): "He reveals the deep and the hidden [umsatrata]." Now, what exactly is being revealed? Rabbi Yehuda c...
Genesis tells us, "God said, 'Let there be light,' and there was light" (Genesis 1:3). Simple enough. But the rabbis of the Midrash, in Bereshit Rabbah, dive into some fascinating ...
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...
The ancient rabbis certainly did. They grappled with questions of creation, divine presence, and the seeming paradoxes of faith. And sometimes, they used the most unexpected method...
Imagine this: the rakia, the firmament – that expanse we see as the sky – is like a gigantic pool of water. Above that pool, there's a dome. And because of this cosmic pool, you ge...
Our tradition, as always, has some fascinating ideas. to Bereshit Rabbah, a classic collection of rabbinic interpretations of the Book of Genesis. Specifically, we're looking at th...
Take the creation story in Bereshit (Genesis). We read that the waters were gathered "to one place" (Genesis 1:9), allowing dry land to appear. But... what does that mean, exactly?...
Before humans, before animals, just… water. What was that like? Our sages imagined just that, and they gave the water a voice, a purpose, a mission. Bereshit Rabbah, that incredibl...
