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It’s not just about what we owe to God, but what we owe to each other. Today, let’s delve into a fascinating passage from Sifrei Devarim, a commentary on the Book of Deuteronomy, c...
It's in those moments, when things feel darkest, that Jewish tradition offers a powerful, almost defiant, message of hope. Sifrei Devarim, a collection of legal midrashim on the bo...
The ancient text of Sifrei Devarim, a commentary on the Book of Deuteronomy, uses just such a feeling to illustrate a terrifying point. The passage we're looking at grapples with t...
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...
The text begins with 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 e...
The verse says that Moses, "the servant of the L-rd," died "by the word of the L-rd" (Deuteronomy 34:5). Seems simple enough, right? But the ancient rabbis saw layers of meaning he...
That’s the heart of the message we find in the Book of Ben Sira, a treasure trove of Jewish wisdom literature written in Hebrew sometime in the Second Temple period. Let’s dive int...
The Book of Ben Sira, a text brimming with ancient wisdom, tackles this very struggle head-on. It warns us, in no uncertain terms: "Fall not into the hand of thine appetite; That i...
It’s easy to get caught up in the now, in what’s shiny and new. But what about the wisdom that comes from years of living, years of observing, years of learning? Ben Sira, that sag...
