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Rabbi Nathan drew a sharp line between what Israel experienced at Sinai and what the rest of the world perceived. The nations heard about the revelation. Israel saw it. That differ...
(Ibid.) "If you buy (lit.,) a servant Hebrew": Is Scripture speaking of a servant who is a Hebrew, or the servant of a Hebrew? And how am I to understand (Leviticus 25:46) "And you...
"the woman and her children": What is the intent of this? That her children are (slaves) as she is. This tells me only of a bondswoman, that her children are as she is. Whence do I...
(Exodus 21:35) says: "And if the ox of a man strike" — the Mekhilta immediately draws a legal boundary. The phrase "of a man" excludes the ox of a minor. A child who owns an ox tha...
"My people": If an Israelite and a gentile stand before you to borrow, "My people" take precedence. A poor man and a rich man—the poor man takes precedence. Your poor (i.e., the po...
Rabbi Hoshaya, quoting Rabbi Afes, paints a breathtaking picture of the future. He says that in the days to come, Jerusalem will be like a torch for all the nations, and they will ...
The story of the Tower of Babel, found in Genesis, offers a powerful explanation, but it's in texts like Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer – a fascinating collection of stories and interpreta...
It's fascinating to dig into the details and see what we can uncover. one small corner of that world, focusing on the rules around nesachim, or libations – the pouring out of wine ...
The ancient Israelites certainly did. As they stood poised to enter the Promised Land, Moses, in the book of Devarim (Deuteronomy), doesn't sugarcoat the challenge. He tells them, ...
And it's pretty straightforward. (Deuteronomy 12:29) states: "When the L-rd your G-d will cut off the nations." Okay, but what does that mean? Sifrei Devarim takes that verse and t...
But hidden in these details are profound ideas about community, ownership, and our obligations to each other. to a passage from Sifrei Devarim 282, a portion of the ancient comment...
A picture of abundance and blessing. But have you ever stopped to think about what it really means, and where it comes from? The phrase appears multiple times in the Torah, includi...
It’s a question as old as… well, as old as humanity itself! And, wouldn’t you know it, our tradition has something pretty interesting to say about it. Sifrei Devarim 311 gives us a...
And in a fascinating little verse, we get a glimpse of how God saw their unique position in the world. It all comes from Sifrei Devarim, a collection of legal interpretations on th...
We’re looking at Deuteronomy 317 in Sifrei Devarim. Here, the text describes other nations, not in terms of people, but in terms of livestock. Specifically, it paints a picture usi...
We find a glimpse of a possible answer tucked away in Sifrei Devarim, a collection of early rabbinic legal interpretations on the Book of Deuteronomy. Specifically, in section 328,...
The shofar on Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish New Year) was not just a call to repentance. According to the Targum's version of (Numbers 29), the trumpets served a cosmic combat function...
The Torah says the Levites have no land inheritance. Targum Jonathan goes further, specifying exactly what they receive instead—twenty-four gifts of the priesthood. That number doe...
The covenant at Moab in (Deuteronomy 29) is addressed to the Israelites standing there. Targum Jonathan expands the audience to infinity: "all the generations which have arisen fro...
Another explanation. “Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion… And many nations shall join the Lord…” (Zechariah 2:14-15) R’ Chanina bar Papa said: this verse is only speaking of that...
Arise, my light, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you [For behold, darkness will cover the earth, and thick darkness will cover the nations, and th...
"Until he comes to Shiloh" - as in the future all of the nations of the world will bring a present to (shai le) the Messiah, the son of David, as it is stated (Isaiah 18:7), "at th...
When the Holy One came to give the Torah to Moshe, he said over the order of the Readings, the Mishna, the aggadah (non-legal rabbinic narrative) and the Talmud as it says "And God...
What does God do all day? The Talmud in Tractate Avodah Zarah takes this question seriously. The rabbis laid out a detailed twelve-hour schedule. During the first three hours, God ...
The Talmud in Tractate Avodah Zarah says that every afternoon, God plays with Leviathan—the colossal sea creature described in (Job 41:1) and (Psalms 104:26). The fourth quarter of...
The respect that Dama ben Netina showed his father was legendary among the sages of Israel — and Dama was not even Jewish. He was a gentile merchant in Ashkelon, and his story beca...
A Jew who mixed with the Gentiles, had given up everything in order to carry favour with them. Once when he was invited to the prince, an enemy of his put some boys to jeer at him ...
A gentile once confronted Rabbi Yohanan ben Zakkai with a cutting observation: "Your ceremony of the red heifer looks exactly like witchcraft. You take a cow, burn it, grind it up,...
The respect that Dama ben Netina showed his father became the standard against which all filial devotion was measured — and Dama was not even Jewish. He was a gentile merchant in t...
The commandment to honor one's father and mother stands among the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:12), equal in weight to the commandments governing humanity's relationship with God. T...
A Jew once owned a cow that refused to work on the Sabbath. The story, preserved in the Midrash (Pesikta Rabbati 14) and the Maase Buch, became one of the most beloved animal tales...
A Jewish man and a gentile once made a wager about whose religion was true. Satan, disguised as an ordinary man, appeared and ruled in favor of the gentile, who took all the money....
Jacob sent messengers ahead to his brother Esau (Genesis 32:4). The Hebrew word is malachim — messengers, angels. The midrash says this literally: Jacob sent actual angels. He had ...
"Have we not all one Father? Did not one God create us?" (Malachi 2:10). Judah approaches Joseph — who is not yet revealed as his brother — and identifies his family: "We, your twe...
And it turns out, according to some ancient Jewish texts, the answer might be closer – and more dangerous – than we think. Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi, a sage from the Talmudic period,...
“You have called, as on the appointed day, my fears from all around, and there was no refugee or remnant on the day of the Lord’s wrath. Those whom I nurtured and reared, my enemy ...
“My enemies hunted me like a bird, without cause. They bound my life in the pit, and cast stones at me” (Lamentations 3:52–53).“My enemies hunted me like a bird, without cause. The...
Another matter: “After these matters, King Aḥashverosh promoted Haman” – there were calculations there. Who calculated? Rabbi Yehuda said: Haman calculated. He said: If Esther is a...
We're so used to breezing past those genealogical lists in Genesis, but tucked within them are echoes of ancient understandings about the world and its peoples. Today, let's zoom i...
The question centers around a powerful promise God makes to Abraham in (Genesis 17:6): "I will greatly increase thee, and set thee among the nations, and kings shall proceed from t...
And the Lord remembered Sarah (Gen. 21:1). Scripture says elsewhere in allusion to this verse: Then the nations that are left round about shall know that I, the Lord, have builded ...
And God did prove Abraham (Gen. 22:1). Observe this difference between the earlier generations and the later generations: The earlier generations were tested by the Holy One, bless...
And the Lord went before them by day (Exod. 13:21). Has it not already been said: Do not I fill heaven and earth? (Jer. 23:25), and also: The earth is full of His glory (Isa. 6:3)?...
And I will get me honor upon Pharaoh (Exod. 14:4). This verse tells us that whenever the Holy One, blessed be He, exacts retribution from the nations, His name is exalted in the wo...
And God spoke (Exod. 20:1). May it please our master to teach us: What things have their reward in the world-to-come? Thus do our masters teach us: These are the things whose inter...
Behold, I send an angel before thee, to keep thee (Exod. 23:20). Scripture says elsewhere in reference to this verse: But I said: “How would I put thee among the sons, and give the...
And the Lord said unto Moses: “Write thou these words, for after the tenor of these words I have made a covenant with thee and with Israel” (Exod. 34:27). Scripture states elsewher...
(Lev. 11:1-2:) “Then the Lord spoke unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying […], ‘Speak unto the Children of Israel, saying, “These are the creatures that you may eat….”’” It is stated (...
