1,416 texts · Page 13 of 30
Before God ever asked Israel to accept His kingship, He proved Himself through action. The Mekhilta lays out the sequence with deliberate precision, and the order matters. First, G...
R. Nathan says: Whence is it derived that the L–rd showed our father Abraham, Gehennom, the giving of the Torah and the splitting of the Red Sea? From (Genesis 15:17) "And it was, ...
(Exodus 20:17) says that God came to Sinai "in order to exert you." The Mekhilta reinterprets this: "exert" actually means "to make you great." God's arrival at Sinai was not meant...
Why is it written? It is deliberately superfluous to signal a gezeirah shavah (i.e., "identity"), viz.: It is written here (in Exodus) "Hebrew," and there (in Devarim) "Hebrew." Ju...
Can it not be deduced a fortiori? viz.: If a Hebrew maidservant, who goes out with (the appearance of pubertal) signs, does not go out with (loss of) organ prominences, then a Hebr...
(Exodus 21:7) "And if a man sells his daughter": Scripture speaks of a minor (under twelve). You say that it speaks of a minor, but perhaps it speaks of an adult!—Would you say tha...
The Torah uses the phrase "who did not designate her" in reference to a Hebrew maid-servant whose master has not taken her as his wife (Exodus 21:8). The Mekhilta unpacks this phra...
(Exodus, Ibid. 9) "And if to his son he designate her (as a wife)": He designates her to his son, but not to his brother. For it would follow (that he does designate her to his bro...
The Torah describes a young woman sold into servitude by her father and establishes the conditions under which she goes free. Rabbi Eliezer interprets the verse "Then she shall go ...
The Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael preserves a legal teaching from Rabbi Nathan that resolves an apparent contradiction in the Torah's laws about monetary obligations. On the one hand, ...
Rebbi (Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi) drew a profound parallel between divine punishment and human punishment. "There is 'death' at the hands of Heaven and 'death' at the hands of man," he ...
This passage, appearing in Mekhilta Tractate Nezikin 5:18, restates the teaching of Rebbi (Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi) that appears earlier in the same tractate: "There is 'death' at the...
R. Eliezer says: Scripture speaks of a Canaanite (as opposed to a Hebrew) man-servant. You say this, but perhaps it speaks of a Hebrew? (This is not so, for) it is written here "hi...
Despite the permanence of Canaanite servitude, there was one path to freedom that did not require the master's consent: suffering. If a master persecuted his Canaanite bondservant ...
If one steals away from his friend, (who asks to be paid for teaching him), and goes (and hides behind a fence) to learn Torah (i.e., to overhear the lesson that he is teaching), t...
"If fire go out and it find thorns" (Exodus 22:5). A person lights a fire on his own property, and it escapes. It reaches a neighboring field and destroys crops, haystacks, or stan...
Rebbi — Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi — analyzed the phrase "until elohim shall come the matter of both" (Exodus 22:8), which describes disputes brought before judges. The verse speaks of "...
The Torah was given with its signs — its built-in warnings against idolatry. The Mekhilta explains why this matters. Israel might have reasoned as follows: we are commanded against...
"Do not place your hand with an evildoer": This was the practice of the "clean-minded men of Jerusalem." They would not go to a feast until they knew who was going with them, and t...
(Exodus 31:13) says: "For it is a sign between Me and you." The Mekhilta reads "between Me and you" — between God and Israel — to the exclusion of the other nations. The Sabbath is...
Rebbi — Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi, the compiler of the Mishnah (the earliest code of rabbinic law) — makes a staggering claim about the Sabbath. If a person keeps even one Shabbat (the ...
"It is a sign forever" — the Mekhilta derives from this phrase that the Sabbath will never be lost from Israel. No matter what happens — exile, persecution, assimilation pressures ...
It's more than just a nice sentiment; it's a springboard for some incredible midrashic (rabbinic interpretive commentary) interpretations. The Midrash Mishlei, a collection of inte...
It's an age-old question: how can we possibly dedicate ourselves fully to learning when life keeps pulling us in a million different directions? Well, Midrash Tehillim offers some ...
Some verses in the Psalms sound simple until you stack them against each other. The Midrash grapples with one such verse: "Ask of me and I will give you the nations." Seems straigh...
King David knew that feeling well. Midrash Tehillim, a collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Book of Psalms, dives deep into the context and meaning behind David's songs. A...
Even Moses, leading the Israelites out of Egypt, felt that way. He looked at the nations surrounding them, nations far more numerous, and thought, "These nations are more numerous ...
Ever find yourself reading the Psalms and wondering, "What's really going on here?" We do too! to a fascinating passage from Midrash Tehillim, a collection of rabbinic interpretati...
It’s a question that’s echoed through the ages, and one that our tradition wrestles with beautifully. Midrash Tehillim, a collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Book of Psal...
The ancient rabbis felt it too, especially after the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE. They saw the world changing, and not for the better. Midrash Tehillim, a collection ...
The ancient collection of rabbinic teachings called Midrash Tehillim uses a powerful analogy to describe exactly that feeling – and it centers on the life of King David. Imagine th...
It’s not just about remembering a historical event; it’s about something far more profound. Midrash Tehillim 8, a commentary on the Book of Psalms, delves into the very heart of th...
Why we don't have all the answers, especially when it comes to the big questions like, "What's the ultimate reward for doing good?" Midrash Tehillim 9, a beautiful exploration with...
The passage opens with an intriguing idea: prayer itself as judgment. David, contemplating his own mortality and the possibility of divine judgment, seems to be saying, "If my judg...
The ancient rabbis certainly did. And they taught that we are, in fact, surrounded by forces we can’t always perceive. a fascinating passage from Midrash Tehillim, a collection of ...
A discussion of "rana," which can be translated as a cry or supplication. But it's not just any cry; it's a cry of righteousness. The Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary) dra...
It seems the answer, according to ancient wisdom, lies not in triumph alone, but in the crucible of adversity. The Midrash Tehillim, a collection of homiletic interpretations on th...
Rabbi Simon, in the ancient collection of homiletic interpretations known as Midrash Tehillim, sheds light on this very idea. He suggests that simply reciting poetry doesn't make o...
His story, as explored in Midrash Tehillim, offers a fascinating glimpse into faith, doubt, and the unwavering mercy of God. Midrash Tehillim, a collection of rabbinic teachings on...
Yet, praise is central to Jewish tradition. Why? to a fascinating passage from Midrash Tehillim, a collection of homiletical interpretations on the Book of Psalms, and see what we ...
Picture Moses on Mount Sinai for forty days and forty nights, wrapped in cloud and fire. No clocks, no sunrise, no sunset as we know it. So how did he know when it was day and when...
The verse "day by day he utters speech" (Psalm 19:3) isn't just about the sun rising and setting. It's about each day possessing its own individual character, its own set of wonder...
Midrash Tehillim, a collection of rabbinic teachings on the Book of Psalms, offers a beautiful interpretation of (Psalm 19:9), "The precepts of the LORD are straightforward." But w...
Let’s dive into what the ancient interpreters found within those words. Midrash Tehillim, a collection of rabbinic commentaries on the Book of Psalms, offers some fascinating persp...
"He prepares a table before me." What does that even mean in the context of a comforting psalm? Midrash Tehillim connects this to the manna, that miraculous food that sustained the...
The story, as told in Midrash Tehillim, revolves around the moment Shlomo wanted to bring the Aron Kodesh, the Ark of the Covenant, into the Kodesh Hakodashim, the Holy of Holies. ...
It's a question that ancient Jewish texts grapple with, revealing profound insights into justice, repentance, and the ultimate fate of our souls. to a passage from Midrash Tehillim...
In Midrash Tehillim, a collection of rabbinic teachings on the Book of Psalms, Psalm 27, "The Lord is my light and my salvation," becomes a springboard for exploring just that. But...
