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Philo, a Jewish philosopher living in Alexandria around the time of Jesus, offers a unique allegorical interpretation of the Torah. And in this particular midrash, number 16, he ta...
The sheer scale of devastation... it's almost too much to comprehend. And that brings us to a fascinating little puzzle tucked away within the text of Genesis, a question that the ...
The verse in question, from Genesis 6:13, states that "all things which existed upon the earth shall be consumed." But why? The text grapples with this apparent injustice. One expl...
The Torah tells us plainly: "Enter thou and all thy house into the ark, because I have seen that thou art a just man before me in that generation" (Genesis 7:1). But why? What made...
Genesis 7:2 lays it out: seven pairs of every clean animal, but only one pair of unclean animals. Seems straightforward, but... why? That’s a question that’s been puzzling interpre...
The animals are all loaded, the family’s aboard… what’s the hold-up? Well, our sages pondered this very question, and, as they often do, came up with some beautiful and thought-pro...
Take the story of Noah and the Ark. We all know the basic plot: God sends a flood, Noah builds an ark, and saves his family and the animals. But what about the deeper meaning? What...
Genesis 7:4 tells us that the rain fell for this specific duration, but why this particular number? Philo, in his Midrash, delves into this very question, and his answer is surpris...
Take, for instance, the verse in Genesis 7:4: "I will destroy every living substance that I have made from off the face of the earth." (Genesis 7:4) Doesn't that phrasing strike yo...
