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Jewish tradition suggests that success isn't just handed out; it’s earned through trials, through proving ourselves worthy. Bamidbar Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic teachings on t...
Our story begins with the instruction to Moses to craft two silver trumpets, kliyot keseph, hammered meticulously. "Craft for you two silver trumpets; hammered, you shall craft the...
The Book of Bamidbar Rabbah (Numbers Rabbah), in its 15th section, delves into just that, using the seemingly simple instruction of crafting silver trumpets as a springboard. "Craf...
"Craft for you." (Numbers 10:2) It's all about the personal nature of leadership and the instruments that come with it. "Craft for you," the Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commenta...
It’s a question the rabbis grappled with centuries ago, and their insights, drawn from the Torah itself, are surprisingly relevant today. We find a fascinating discussion in Bamidb...
Jewish tradition teaches that there's a profound spiritual power in gathering together, a power that even resonates in the heavens. But is any gathering automatically holy? The Mid...
To a story from Bamidbar Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic teachings on the Book of Numbers, that explores just this. The story goes that God tells Moses to gather seventy men to he...
The book of Bamidbar Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic teachings on the Book of Numbers, sheds light on this very question. We find ourselves at a pivotal moment in the Israelites' ...
The Book of Numbers, Bamidbar in Hebrew, picks up the story after the tumultuous events at Sinai. In Bamidbar Rabbah 15, a Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary), or interpreti...
In Bamidbar Rabbah – that’s a collection of rabbinic teachings connected to the Book of Numbers – there's a fascinating passage about how God commanded Moses to gather seventy men....
It's like a secret code, hinting at deeper meanings. Take this verse from (Numbers 11:16): "Gather to Me seventy men [ish]..." Why ish, and not the more common Hebrew word for men,...
Moses knew the feeling. Leading the Israelites through the desert? No small feat! And it seems even he needed a little help. We find ourselves in Bamidbar Rabbah 15, a section of t...
It all starts with a seemingly simple instruction: "Send you men that they may scout the land of Canaan that I am giving to the children of Israel" (Numbers 13:2). But before we di...
The Torah tells us even MOSES and AARON, the very leaders who led us out of Egypt, experienced that feeling. It all stems from the story of the spies, doesn't it? We read in Bamidb...
Bamidbar Rabbah 16 opens with a powerful quote from (Isaiah 40:8): "The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever." Rabbi Aḥa the Great uses this ...
The verse in (Numbers 13:2), “Send you men,” seems simple enough. But Bamidbar Rabbah, a fascinating collection of Midrashic (rabbinic interpretive commentary) interpretations on t...
The verse from Proverbs (26:6) sets the stage: “One who sends things by the hand of a fool cuts off his feet and drinks rancor.” Ouch. Strong words. But here's the puzzle: were the...
We're good at selective hearing. Well, Jewish tradition suggests this happened big time with the story of the spies sent to scout the land of Canaan. Our story comes from Bamidbar ...
Like checking the price tag after you’ve already won the lottery. Well, according to Bamidbar Rabbah 16, part of the larger collection of Midrashic (rabbinic interpretive commentar...
We all know the story of the spies. The Israelites, poised to enter the Promised Land, get cold feet. "Let's send some scouts ahead," they suggest to Moses. But what was really goi...
The Torah tells us, "Moses called Hoshea son of Nun, Joshua [Yehoshua]" (Numbers 13:16). But here's the question: why did Moses change Hoshea's name to Joshua? What prompted this a...
The story of the spies sent to scout the Land of Canaan in the Book of Numbers is a powerful example of how fear and negative speech can derail even the most promising journeys. Th...
Even in the Bible, the order in which things are presented can tell a whole story. Take the story of the spies sent by Moses to scout out the Land of Canaan, the Promised Land, bef...
Sometimes, a seemingly simple verse can open up a whole world of interpretation and insight. Let’s take a look at a moment in the Book of Numbers, Bamidbar, specifically chapter 13...
Forty days! Now, think about that journey, from the south all the way to the north. That's a long walk. Could they really have covered all that ground, the entire breadth of the la...
We're in the thick of the story of the spies, sent to scout out the Land of Israel. They return with tales of giants and fortified cities, sowing fear among the Israelites. But bef...
It’s a story found within Bamidbar Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Book of Numbers. The scene is set: Moses has sent out spies to scout the Land of Israel. ...
Believe it or not, there's a story about that – a powerful one, drawn from Bamidbar Rabbah, specifically section 16. It's a tale of complaining, consequences, and a little bit of d...
Talk about a tough crowd! We find ourselves in the book of Numbers, Bamidbar in Hebrew, and the people are, shall we say, less than grateful. They're constantly complaining, doubti...
That feeling resonates deeply in a powerful passage from Bamidbar Rabbah 16. It explores the fraught relationship between God and the Israelites, focusing on their repeated rejecti...
In the book of Numbers, we find Moses doing just that, wrestling with God over the fate of the Israelites. It’s a moment of incredible intensity, revealing a deep and complex relat...
It’s a question that echoes throughout Jewish tradition, and one place we find it wrestled with is in Bamidbar Rabbah – specifically, in section 16. Bamidbar Rabbah, if you're not ...
That’s kind of the situation the Israelites found themselves in after the sin of the spies. They'd just heard a terrifying report about the Land of Israel and, gripped by fear, the...
Rabbi Zakai of She'av offers a beautiful insight. He imagines the Israelites asking God: "Master of the universe, everywhere else You call it the land of Canaan, but here, ‘the lan...
The passage begins with the famous verse from (Numbers 15:38), commanding us to wear tzitzit (ritual fringes worn on garments), fringes, on the corners of our garments, including a...
It all starts in (Numbers 16:1): “Koraḥ, son of Yitzhar son of Kehat son of Levi, and Datan and Aviram, sons of Eliav, and On, son of Pelet, sons of Reuben, took…” Took what, you a...
We often think of it as pure power-grabbing, but the ancient texts suggest a more nuanced, almost heartbreaking, story of ambition, family, and perceived injustice. The Book of Num...
It all begins with the tzitzit (fringes) on a garment. The Torah tells us, "They shall make for themselves a fringe [tzitzit]" (Numbers 15:38). Now, Korah, ever the instigator, see...
His story, recounted in Bamidbar Rabbah (Numbers Rabbah) 18, is a wild ride of ambition, rebellion, and some seriously bad consequences. So, "Korah took…" That's how the story begi...
Our stories are woven into our lineage, and sometimes, those threads get tangled. to a fascinating passage from Bamidbar Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic teachings on the Book of N...
In this week's portion, we encounter the rebellion of Koraḥ, a story that's not just about one disgruntled guy, but about the very foundations of leadership and faith. "Koraḥ assem...
The ancient Rabbis certainly thought so, and they found wisdom in the story of KORAH's rebellion against Moses. The text in Bamidbar Rabbah (Numbers Rabbah), a classical Rabbinic i...
It’s a tale of ambition, delusion, and a very dangerous offering. The scene is set: Moses, leading the Israelites. And then comes Koraḥ, a Levite, challenging Moses’s leadership, s...
The story of Koraḥ's challenge to Moses' leadership is a powerful one, filled with jealousy, ambition, and a profound questioning of divine authority. We find a particularly insigh...
This week, we're diving into a story from Bamidbar Rabbah – a collection of rabbinic teachings on the Book of Numbers – that explores just that feeling. It centers on Moses, and a ...
The story of Moses and the rebellion of Korah, Datan, and Aviram in the Book of Numbers gives us a powerful example. The Torah tells us, “The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: ‘Speak to...
Remember him? He was the guy who led a rebellion against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. The Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary) connects the "treacherous brother" – nifs...
Who was Korah? We find him in the Book of Numbers, leading a rebellion against Moses and Aaron. He challenged their authority, questioning why they held such power. A dangerous mov...
