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Jewish tradition wrestles with this feeling, especially when considering our relationship with the Divine. : how can one person chase away a thousand? It sounds impossible. Well, S...
The Jewish tradition grapples with this very idea – the absence of an advocate, the void when mercy seems to have vanished. It's a scary thought, isn't it? Sifrei Devarim, a collec...
Sifrei Devarim 333, in a rather striking interpretation, suggests that all the punishments in Egypt are "pinned on Pharaoh's head" because he was the first to subjugate Israel. It ...
The verse we're looking at is from Deuteronomy (Devarim) 32:48: "And the L-rd spoke to Moses on this very day..." Now, the Rabbis of old weren't ones to let a phrase like "on this ...
Our ancestors wrestled with these questions, and their answers, preserved in ancient texts, still resonate today. to a fascinating passage from Sifrei Devarim, a collection of earl...
Some get fertile fields, others rolling hills, but Zevulun? They get… the sea. Naturally, they weren't thrilled. As Sifrei Devarim 354 tells it, Zevulun essentially says, "Hey, God...
A blessing: "Blessed is He that broadens Gad." What does it mean? Simply put, the passage teaches us that the territory allotted to the tribe of Gad expanded eastward. Pretty strai...
We often think of tzedakah, usually translated as charity, as giving money to the poor. But what if it's something far more profound? The Sifrei Devarim, a legal midrash on the Boo...
We tend to focus on the big ones – the plagues, the splitting of the Red Sea – but Jewish tradition suggests the miraculous was woven into the very fabric of their experience. It w...
The Torah tells us that Moses was born, hidden, found by Pharaoh's daughter, and eventually fled to Midian. Targum Jonathan fills in the gaps with miracles, secret identities, and ...
When the Hebrew Bible says Aaron threw down his staff before Pharaoh and it became a serpent (Exodus 7:10), the Targum Jonathan makes a far more terrifying claim. The rod did not b...
The manna story in (Exodus 16) raises an obvious question: where did this miracle food come from? The Hebrew Bible says God "rained bread from heaven." The Targum Jonathan gives a ...
Leviticus 13 is the longest chapter in the book—a detailed medical manual for diagnosing skin diseases. The Targum Jonathan transforms it from clinical instructions into a color-co...
When Miriam died on the tenth day of the month Nisan, the well that had sustained Israel throughout their desert wanderings vanished. The Targum makes this connection explicit in a...
The rabbis once overruled God—and God laughed. According to Bava Metzia 59b, the incident began with an argument about an oven. Rabbi Eliezer declared a certain oven ritually pure....
When Pharaoh decided to enslave the Israelites, he consulted three advisors. According to Sotah 11a, what happened to each of them perfectly matched the advice they gave. Balaam re...
The Jewish people were redeemed from Egypt because of the righteous women. According to Sotah 11b, Rav Avira taught that while the men had given up hope under Pharaoh's slavery, th...
When Moses was born, the entire house filled with light. According to Sotah 12a, his mother Yocheved saw immediately that he was special—the Torah's phrase "she saw that he was goo...
Pharaoh's daughter did not accidentally find Moses. According to Sotah 12b, she came to the river to immerse herself—not for bathing, but to wash away the spiritual impurity of her...
On the night of the Exodus, while the entire nation of Israel was loading Egyptian gold and silver, Moses was doing something else. According to Sotah 13a, he was searching for the...
The death of Moses is the most devastating scene in the Torah—and the Talmud in Sotah 13b expands it into something almost unbearable. Moses pleaded with God not to let him die. He...
Most of the month of Adar had passed, and still no rain. The fields were cracking. The people of Israel sent a desperate message to Choni HaMe'aggel—Choni the Circle-Drawer: pray f...
Rabbi Yosei from Yokrat was the kind of man who terrified his own family. The Talmud in Tractate Taanit calls him a person "who has no mercy on his own son and no mercy on his daug...
Rabbi Pinchas ben Yair owned a donkey with a conscience. The Talmud in Tractate Taanit tells the story: some thieves stole the donkey and hid it in their cave for three days. They ...
Rabbi Chanina ben Dosa and his wife lived in crushing poverty. Every Friday before Shabbat (the Sabbath), his wife would fire up the oven and throw in some kindling—not to bake bre...
The Hebrew Bible says God "hardened Pharaoh's heart" and he pursued the Israelites (Exodus 14:8). Targum Onkelos translates this without softening or explaining. The hardening stan...
The Hebrew Bible records Moses and the Israelites singing a triumphant song after the sea closes over the Egyptians (Exodus 15). Targum Onkelos transforms this victory hymn into so...
The Hebrew Bible says God "passed before" Moses and proclaimed the Thirteen Attributes of Mercy (Exodus 34:6). Targum Onkelos renders this as God "made His Shechinah pass" before M...
The Hebrew Bible says God opened the mouth of Balaam's donkey, and it spoke (Numbers 22:28). Targum Onkelos translates this miracle without flinching. The donkey talks. No metaphor...
"Until the end of the first watch," said R. Eliezer. Let us see: with whom does R. Eliezer agree? If he hold that the night is divided into three watches, then let him say "until t...
How does R. Eliezer arrive at these conclusions? Does he apply the signs to the beginning or to the end of each watch? If he applies his signs to the beginning of each watch, then ...
...It is written (Ps. 119:62) At midnight do I constantly rise to give thanks unto Thee. Did David rise at midnight? Behold! He arose at the beginning of the night, for it is said,...
[It is written] (Ps. 66:1) A prayer of David, preserve my soul, for I am pious. R. Levi and R. Isaac both explain this passage. One said : "Thus said David before the Holy One, pra...
Furthermore, said R. Levi b. Chama, in the name of Resh Lakish : "What is meant by the passage (Ex. 24:12) And I will give thee the tablets of stone, with the law and the Commandme...
(1) ROSH HASHANAH (Fol. 2b) "When Aaron died, Sichon was still living (Fol. 3), as it is written (Num. 21, 1) And the Canaanite, the king of Arad, heard. What did he hear? He heard...
(4) R. Joshua, however, says: "Whence do we know that the Patriarchs were born in the month of Nissan? It is said (I Kings 6, 1) In the fourth year, in the month Ziv (glory), which...
Nimrod declared himself a god to be worshipped. He made a round tower of stone planted in the midst of the earth, and placed a throne of cedar on the stone, and upon this one of ir...
Trayanos kills Pappos and Lulianos in Laodicea. He said to them "If you are brethren of the Three Youths then you also may be saved miraculously.” They replied “They and Nebuchadne...
Nahum ish Gamzo, also called Nahum of Hamadi used to say, “Everything for the best.” Sent to the Emperor with presents, miracles happened. He came to a place where during the night...
The story of Kamsa and bar Kam§a and the fall of Jerusalem. A man had company and had invited Bar Kamsa who was his enemy, by mistake. He afterwards turned him out in spite of his ...
It was the custom to present newly married people with a hen and a cock and once the Roman soldiers passing by caught the birds and ate them; the Jews then attacked them. This was ...
When the prophet Isaiah prayed for a sign to confirm that King Hezekiah would recover from his illness, God performed one of the most spectacular miracles in all of scripture: the ...
(147.) R. Akiba began his life as a very poor man and ended it as a very rich one. He had a large crown made for his wife set with many precious stones, and when his children asked...
Rabbi Hanina ben Dosa was one of the most miracle-working sages in all of Jewish history. He lived in grinding poverty — the Talmud says that each week he survived on a single meas...
R. Gamliel was proud and harsh and forced R. Joshua to stand up in the college during his lecture. Those present, greatly irritated, forced R. Gamliel to resign. R. Elazar b. Azary...
A man came before Rabba and declared: "I am poor, yet every day I eat fattened fowl and drink aged wine." Rabba was skeptical. How could a poor man afford such luxuries? The man ex...
The Exempla of the Rabbis preserves a sprawling collection of tales about Solomon and the power of the divine Name. In these stories, Solomon commands demons, builds the Temple wit...
13. Rabbi Meir once left synagogue earlier than usual. Wonder at the reason. He had overheard a snake saying, “I am sent to kill R. Judah the Antoti and his whole family because ha...
