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Our ancestors did. (Genesis 35:13) tells us, "God ascended from upon him, in the place where He had spoken with him." It’s a simple sentence, but it opens a window into a profound ...
It all starts with the verse, "For He is exalted." The Rabbis ask, what does that truly mean? Rabbi Pappos offers a beautiful and subtle reading of the verse from (Song of Songs 1:...
Four sages once walked into a garden that wasn't really a garden at all. No, not the fruit orchard, but the Orchard — a mystical, metaphorical space where one could contemplate the...
We all know the story from Exodus, but the Rabbis in Shir HaShirim Rabbah, the collection of rabbinic commentary on the Song of Songs, really dig into the depths of that betrayal. ...
Vayikra Rabbah, a fascinating collection of rabbinic teachings on the Book of Leviticus, offers a profound and surprisingly intimate perspective. The text tells us that "adam" isn'...
It turns out, these two seemingly unrelated topics are deeply intertwined in some fascinating rabbinic discussions. , shall we? We find a compelling debate in Vayikra Rabbah 14, a ...
And Abraham was old, well stricken in age (Gen. 24:1). Scripture states elsewhere in allusion to this verse: Bless the Lord, O my soul. O Lord my God, Thou art very great; Thou art...
And Joseph made ready his chariot (Gen. 46:29). R. Yudan said in the name of R. Aibu: Two men were accorded more homage than any other men in all the world; they were Jethro and Ja...
And he took six hundred chosen chariots (Exod. 14:7). Whose beasts drew the chariots? If you should say they belonged to the Egyptians, has it not already been said: And all the ca...
For He is highly exalted (Exod. 15:1). He exalted me and I exalted Him. He exalted me in Egypt, saying: Israel is My son, My firstborn (Exod. 4:22), and I exalted him in Egypt, say...
The horse and his rider (Exod. 15:1). Was there only one horse? (Of course not!) All the horses were considered by Him as one, as in the verse When thou goest forth to battle again...
Our sages of blessed memory said: “Observe that the way of the Holy One, blessed be He, is not the way of man.” It is not man’s way to heal with what he wounds. If he wounds with a...
And thou shalt make curtains of goats’ hair for a tent (Exod. 26:7). Scripture says elsewhere in allusion to this verse: I have loved you, saith the Lord, yet ye say: “Wherein hast...
And Bezalel made the ark (Exod. 37:1). You do not find Bezalel’s name associated with any vessel made for the Sanctuary other than the ark. All the other work and all the other imp...
These are the accounts of the tabernacle (Exod. 38:21). It is written elsewhere in allusion to this verse: Thou throne of glory, on high from the beginning, thou place of our Sanct...
(Lev. 8:3:) “And assemble the whole congregation.” He said to him, “Where?”30See Lev. R. 10:9; cf. Gen. R. 5:7. He said unto him, “Unto the door of the tent of meeting.” Moses our ...
(Numb. 7:1), “So it came to pass on the day that Moses had finished.” Let our master instruct us: How many things preceded the act of creation? Thus have our masters taught: Seven ...
(Numb. 35:11:) “Where a killer may flee who has taken a life by mistake.” “By mistake,” and not on purpose. If someone goes and kills on purpose, then says, “It was by mistake that...
When you go out to war and you see horse and chariot, a people more numerous than you (Deuteronomy 20:1): This is what is stated in the verse (Proverbs 21:31), "The horse is readie...
