1,793 texts · Page 22 of 38
Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai grappled with this very question. He believed that it wasn't truly kiddush (the sanctification blessing over wine) Hashem, a sanctification of God's name, i...
Jewish tradition wrestles with that very question when it comes to mitzvot (commandments), commandments. Specifically, the Sifrei Devarim, a collection of early Jewish legal interp...
That feeling isn't new. Our ancestors wrestled with it too, especially when it came to learning and observing mitzvot (commandments), commandments. to a passage from Sifrei Devarim...
It’s a question that’s plagued humanity for millennia, and Jewish tradition offers a surprisingly simple, yet profound, answer: satiety. We're warned, in Sifrei Devarim (Deuteronom...
The Sifrei Devarim offers a fascinating, and perhaps unsettling, perspective. It wasn't just about being "bad." It was about something far more insidious: complacency born of abund...
We all know the basic story: humanity, united, decided to build a tower reaching to the heavens, and God, displeased, scattered them, confusing their languages. But what really got...
Jewish tradition certainly understands that feeling, and sometimes, it uses stark contrasts to drive home the point. Today, we're diving into a passage from Sifrei Devarim, specifi...
We find a passage that starts with the seemingly straightforward command to drive out "all the nations." But wait! The text immediately anticipates a potential misunderstanding. "A...
Our tradition grapples with these questions all the time, especially when it comes to seemingly disparate commandments. to one such conundrum, found in Sifrei Devarim, concerning t...
That’s the message tucked away in Sifrei Devarim, a legal midrash on the Book of Deuteronomy. Specifically, it’s commenting on (Deuteronomy 12:28), which says, "Take heed and heark...
That feeling is at the heart of a powerful idea in Judaism: the concept of being a chosen people. But what does it really mean? It’s a question that’s sparked debate and wonder for...
It's not just a nice thing to do; it's woven into the very fabric of our covenant with God. to a passage from Sifrei Devarim 110, a portion of the ancient legal commentary on the B...
It all starts with the Land. The Sifrei Devarim, a collection of legal midrashim (rabbinic interpretive commentary) on the Book of Deuteronomy, offers a profound observation: "For ...
Sometimes, buried in the details of ritual and law, are surprisingly relevant insights into justice and fairness. Let's take a little journey into the Sifrei Devarim, a collection ...
The core question revolves around the phrase "a man or a woman" in (Deuteronomy 17:2), which deals with idolatry. Seems straightforward. But the rabbis weren’t ones to take things ...
It wasn't just a difference of opinion, a harmless cultural practice. Oh no. According to them, idolatry was a spiritual cancer, a plague on the soul. Sifrei Devarim, one of the ea...
There's this fascinating little discussion in Sifrei Devarim 158 about horses – yes, horses! Specifically, how many horses a king can have. It sounds almost trivial. But beneath th...
For millennia, people have sought guidance from… well, some pretty unusual places.This is a fascinating peek into the beliefs and practices that our ancestors wrestled with, trying...
Deuteronomy, or Devarim, is the fifth book of the Torah, and it’s full of instructions on how to live a just and righteous life. In Devarim 19:14, we read a seemingly simple prohib...
We’re going to dive into one tiny, but fascinating corner of those rules today, all thanks to a passage in the Sifrei Devarim, a collection of legal interpretations on the Book of ...
Jewish tradition understands that feeling, and it appears even in... the bathroom. Seriously. We’re diving into a tiny verse in Devarim (Deuteronomy) 23:13. It’s easy to skip over,...
Not in a scary, Big Brother kind of way. More like… a loving parent hoping you’ll make the right choices. This idea comes to life in the Sifrei Devarim, a collection of legal inter...
Our tradition grapples with it head-on. Sifrei Devarim, an ancient commentary on the Book of Deuteronomy, offers a powerful perspective on this. It states, "without wrong": meaning...
(Deuteronomy 32:7) tells us, "Remember the days of yore" (Devarim 32:7). That little word, yore, it's packed with meaning. It's not just about remembering the past; it's about lear...
Sifrei Devarim 310, a passage from the ancient commentary on Deuteronomy, really digs into this idea. It starts with a powerful line: "Reflect upon the years of generation upon gen...
What about everyone else? Well, Sifrei Devarim 311 sheds some light. It interprets the verse about consulting "your elders, and they shall say it to you" (Deuteronomy 32:7) as a re...
That’s the image Sifrei Devarim 318 paints for us, riffing on the verse "and the blood of the grape will you drink as wine." It’s not about hard work, the text suggests. No more ti...
The Jewish tradition grapples with these questions in powerful, sometimes terrifying, imagery. to one such image: the cup of retribution. It all starts with a verse from Psalms (75...
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 tradition offers a fascinating glimpse into this very question, through the examples of two of the greatest figures in Jewish history: David, the shepherd-king, and his son, So...
It’s a question that bubbles up from time to time, and our sages, bless their memory, certainly pondered it. What did the other nations make of that earth-shattering event? Well, S...
That feeling, that's what we're diving into today. We’re looking at a tiny phrase tucked away in Sifrei Devarim, a collection of legal midrashim (rabbinic interpretive commentary) ...
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...
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...
They tell us of Moses' death. But… wait a minute. How could Moses himself have written about his own demise? It's a question that's puzzled Jewish scholars for centuries. The Sifre...
R. DOSA B. HARKINAS SAID: MORNING SLEEP, AND MIDDAY WINE, [AND CHILDREN’S TALK, AND SITTING IN THE MEETING-HOUSES OF THE IGNORANT] DRIVE A MAN OUT OF THE WORLD.MORNING SLEEP—what d...
(Genesis 5:24) is one of the most mysterious verses in the Torah. "Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him." That is all the Hebrew says. No explanation of where he...
The Hebrew Bible says the "sons of God" saw that human women were beautiful, and took wives from among them (Genesis 6:2). That's all it says. The Targum Jonathan rewrites the scen...
The Hebrew Bible says God told Noah to enter the ark, and that rain would begin in seven days (Genesis 7:4). It does not explain why seven days. The Targum Jonathan does, and the e...
When the Flood ended, the Hebrew Bible says God sent a wind to dry the earth (Genesis 8:1). The Targum Jonathan says God sent "the wind of mercies." One word changes the theology. ...
Genesis 10 is the Table of Nations—a genealogy listing Noah's descendants and where they settled. In the Hebrew Bible, it reads like a census. The Targum Jonathan turns it into a p...
The instructions for building the Tabernacle in (Exodus 25) read like an architectural blueprint in the Hebrew Bible. The Targum Jonathan adds theological meaning to nearly every m...
The blessings of (Deuteronomy 28) receive domestic detail. Being blessed "when you go out" becomes "blessed shall you be in your coming in to your houses of instruction, and blesse...
Chapter 1 From Adam to the Flood was 1656 years, and this is their enumeration: Adam 130, Seth 105, Enosh 90, Kenan 70, Mahalalel 65, Jared 162, Enoch 65, Methuselah 187, Lamech 18...
The Flood was all of twelve months,1R. Eliyahu from Vilna explains that according to Seder Olam a year about which no details are given is a simple, regular year of 354 days follow...
Eli led Israel for forty years, and the day Eli died, he forsook his tabernacle, as it is said, “He rejected the tent of Joseph” (Psalm 78:67), and “He gave His strength into capti...
Another explanation: And you will quickly perish (Deuteronomy 11:17)—exile after exile. And thus do you find with the ten tribes, exile after exile. And thus do you find with the t...
“For you have not yet come…” (Devarim 12:9) this was said in order to permit private altars between the ‘resting place’ and the ‘inheritance’, because the resting place refers to S...
