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Or perhaps put off fulfilling a commitment, thinking, "I'll get to it eventually?" Well, the ancient rabbis certainly had some thoughts on that. to a fascinating discussion from Va...
In Vayikra Rabbah 37, the Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary) explores this idea through a fascinating lens: vows. Specifically, it looks at instances where individuals made...
“How does the greatly crowded city sit alone? She has become like a widow. Great among the nations, a princess among the states: She has become a vassal” (Lamentations 1:1).“How [e...
There was an incident in which Rabbi Yehoshua was walking along the path.49This was a path through a field that was created by people traversing it. A certain person found him walk...
“A princess among the nations,” Rabbi Yoḥanan said: Because Israel violated the terms that they accepted at Sinai, therefore, “she has become a vassal [lamas].” Sinai is lamas, the...
“I remember my song in the night; I meditate with my heart, and my spirit searches” (Psalms 77:7). Rabbi Yehuda ben Rabbi Simon and Rabbi Aivu.58The text of the midrash (rabbinic i...
“She has no comforter.” Rabbi Levi said: Any place that it is stated: “Has no [ein],” [ultimately] she will have. “Sarai was barren, she had no [ein] child” (Genesis 11:30), but [u...
“The adversary extended his hand over all her delights; for she saw the nations entering her Sanctuary, whom You had commanded that they should not enter Your assembly” (Lamentatio...
There was an incident involving Miriam daughter of the baker, who was taken captive with her seven sons. The emperor took them and placed them behind seven partitions. He brought t...
“Zion spread her hands, there was no comforter for her; the Lord has commanded for Jacob that her adversaries surround her. Jerusalem has become like a pariah among them” (Lamentat...
“How the Lord has clouded [ya’iv] the daughter of Zion in His wrath.” Rabbi Ḥama bar Rabbi Ḥanina said: How did the Lord condemn in His wrath the daughter of Zion?8Rabbi Ḥama inter...
“And did not remember His footstool [hadom raglav],” Rabbi Ḥanina bar Yitzḥak said: The Holy One blessed be He does not remember that blood [hadam] that was between the legs of the...
“He severed in his enflamed wrath all the horn of Israel; He retracted His right hand from before the enemy. He burned in Jacob like flaming fire, consuming all around” (Lamentatio...
“He burned in Jacob like flaming fire, consuming all around.” Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish said: When calamity comes, it is only Jacob who senses it. What is the source? “He burned in J...
“The elders of the daughter of Zion sit on the ground, are silent. They have placed dust on their heads, have girded themselves with sackcloth. The virgins of Jerusalem have lowere...
“He wore away my flesh and my skin, broke my bones” (Lamentations 3:4).“He wore away my flesh” – this is the community. “And my skin” – this is the Sanhedrin (the supreme rabbinic ...
“Who is it who said and it occurred, if the Lord did not command it?” (Lamentations 3:37).“Who is it who said and it occurred, if the Lord did not command it?” – who did command? H...
There was an incident involving Rabbi Yehoshua ben Ḥananya, who went to the great city of Rome. They said to him: ‘There is a certain child in prison in disgrace.’10The Romans were...
“It was during the days of Aḥashverosh; that [hu] Aḥashverosh who reigned from India to Kush, one hundred and twenty-seven provinces” (Esther 1:1). Hu [appears] five [times] for ev...
Rabbi Akiva was sitting and lecturing and his students [began] dozing. He sought to rouse them; he said: Why did Esther merit to rule over one hundred and twenty-seven provinces? R...
“On his royal throne” – Rabbi Kohen (a priest) in the name of Rabbi Azarya: “On his royal throne [kisse malkhuto (Sovereignty)],” malkhuto is written [without the vav]. He sought t...
Rabbi Yitzḥak began: “But you did not call Me, Jacob, for you wearied of Me, Israel” (Isaiah 43:22). Rabbi Yoḥanan understood it [the verse in (Isaiah 43:22)] from this, as it is w...
It is written: “You have seen, for You behold mischief and spite; to requite is in Your hand: the helpless man commits himself to You; You are the helper of the orphans” (Psalms 10...
Another interpretation: “From people [mimtim] by Your hand” – who are these courageous men who took theirs from under the hand of God? And who was that? That was the generation of ...
“Those close to him” (Esther 1:14) – they brought the calamity close to themselves. “Karshena” – who was appointed over the vetch3A plant used as animal feed. [karshinin]; “Shetar”...
“There was a Judean man in the Shushan citadel, and his name was Mordekhai, son of Ya'ir, son of Shimi, son of Kish, a Benjamite” (Esther 2:5).“There was a Judean man [ish] in the ...
“Was [haya] [a Judean man in the Shushan citadel]….” Rabbi Yoḥanan said: Everyone about whom “haya” is stated, it is he at the beginning and it is he at the end.9 He was righteous ...
It is written: “And set it in the ears of Joshua” (Exodus 17:14), this is one of four righteous people to whom a portent was given; two sensed it and two did not sense it. A porten...
“Esther did not disclose her family or her people, as Mordekhai had commanded her; Esther followed Mordekhai’s instructions, as it was when she was fostered by him” (Esther 2:20).“...
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...
“When they [the king’s servants] spoke to him [Mordekhai] daily and he did not heed them, they told Haman, to see whether Mordekhai’s words would prevail; for he had told to them t...
What did Mordekhai say to someone who would say to him: “Why are you violating the king’s command?” (Esther 3:3) Rabbi Levi said: Mordekhai would say: ‘Moses our master cautioned u...
“Haman saw that Mordekhai was not bowing and prostrating himself to him and Haman was filled with wrath” (Esther 3:5).“Haman saw that Mordekhai was not bowing and prostrating himse...
“In the first month, that is, the month Nisan, in the twelfth year of King Aḥashverosh, he had cast a pur, that is, the lot, before Haman for each day and for each month, to the tw...
“If it pleases the king, let it be written to eliminate them and I will weigh out ten thousand talents of silver by the hands of the king's craftsmen, to bring to the king's treasu...
Rabbi Levi said: Accursed are the wicked who are engaged in evil counsel against Israel, and each one of them counsels in his way and says: ‘My counsel is better than your counsel....
“Mordekhai knew everything that had been done, and Mordekhai rent his garments and donned sackcloth and ashes. He went out in the midst of the city and cried a loud and bitter cry”...
“The king said to her: What troubles you, Queen Esther, and what is your request… Esther said: If it pleases the king, let the king and Haman come today to the banquet… The king sa...
Rabbi Berekhya said: The Holy one blessed be He recorded the redemption of Israel in the Torah, as it is written: “If a stranger who is a resident among you shall prosper…” (Leviti...
From the very first moment of creation, God assigned every major figure in history a specific role. Esther Rabbah preserves a remarkable list, attributed to Rabbi Berekhya, that re...
The rabbis of Esther Rabbah made a stunning claim: every time the Hebrew word vayhi ("it was") appears in the Torah, it signals disaster. Rabbi Tanhuma, Rabbi Berekhya, and Rabbi H...
The exile of the Jewish people under Ahasuerus was not an accident. According to Esther Rabbah, it was prophesied in detail centuries before it happened, embedded in verses from Is...
It sounds radical, I know. According to some accounts, God bestowed immense honor upon Moses, gifting him dominion over the entire earth, the seas, the rivers – all the elements th...
Sometimes, the deepest truths are hidden in plain sight, masked by complexity or sheer volume of information. This is something the author of The Wars of God seems to anticipate. R...
Central to Judaism is the absolute oneness of God. It’s right there in the Shema, that foundational declaration: “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one” (Deuteronomy 6:...
Jewish tradition speaks of such moments as revelations of the Shekhinah (שכינה), the Divine Presence. But what exactly does that mean? And what does it look like? Sometimes, it see...
It’s a question that has echoes through Jewish tradition, and one that comes up in a fascinating discussion about bowing down, prostration, and the very nature of God’s glory. The ...
What if you perform those actions for someone else? Does that automatically make you an idolater? The Talmud, in Sanhedrin (the supreme rabbinic court), tackles this very question....
