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To a story from Bamidbar Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic teachings on the Book of Numbers, that explores just this. The story goes that God tells Moses to gather seventy men to he...
The Book of Numbers, Bamidbar in Hebrew, picks up the story after the tumultuous events at Sinai. In Bamidbar Rabbah 15, a Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary), or interpreti...
Bamidbar Rabbah 16 opens with a powerful quote from (Isaiah 40:8): "The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever." Rabbi Aḥa the Great uses this ...
The verse in (Numbers 13:2), “Send you men,” seems simple enough. But Bamidbar Rabbah, a fascinating collection of Midrashic (rabbinic interpretive commentary) interpretations on t...
The verse from Proverbs (26:6) sets the stage: “One who sends things by the hand of a fool cuts off his feet and drinks rancor.” Ouch. Strong words. But here's the puzzle: were the...
We're good at selective hearing. Well, Jewish tradition suggests this happened big time with the story of the spies sent to scout the land of Canaan. Our story comes from Bamidbar ...
The story of the spies sent to scout the Land of Canaan in the Book of Numbers is a powerful example of how fear and negative speech can derail even the most promising journeys. Th...
We're in the thick of the story of the spies, sent to scout out the Land of Israel. They return with tales of giants and fortified cities, sowing fear among the Israelites. But bef...
The scene is set in (Numbers 14:1): “The entire congregation raised and sounded their voice and the people wept that night.” It sounds dramatic, doesn't it? But what was behind all...
We find ourselves in a similar place in Bamidbar Rabbah 16, grappling with the aftermath of the Israelites' lack of faith and their subsequent punishment of wandering the desert fo...
That feeling resonates deeply in a powerful passage from Bamidbar Rabbah 16. It explores the fraught relationship between God and the Israelites, focusing on their repeated rejecti...
In the book of Numbers, we find Moses doing just that, wrestling with God over the fate of the Israelites. It’s a moment of incredible intensity, revealing a deep and complex relat...
The ancient rabbis pondered this very question, drawing a profound parallel between a human father and God, our ultimate Father. to Bamidbar Rabbah, specifically section 17, to unp...
The passage begins with the famous verse from (Numbers 15:38), commanding us to wear tzitzit (ritual fringes worn on garments), fringes, on the corners of our garments, including a...
It zeroes in on the verse, "You shall not rove after your heart" (Numbers 15:39), explaining that our hearts and eyes often act as mediators of temptation, leading us down paths we...
It’s a tale of ambition, delusion, and a very dangerous offering. The scene is set: Moses, leading the Israelites. And then comes Koraḥ, a Levite, challenging Moses’s leadership, s...
It's more than just letters; it's a tapestry woven with stories, numbers, and profound insights. Today, we're going to delve into a fascinating passage from Bamidbar Rabbah 18, a t...
The Bamidbar Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic teachings on the Book of Numbers, dives into this very question, and what it reveals is both awe-inspiring and, well, a little unsettl...
It's not just about the big stories, but the tiny details, the way things are phrased. The Bamidbar Rabbah (Numbers Rabbah), a collection of rabbinic teachings on the Book of Numbe...
The Book of Ecclesiastes puts it perfectly: “All this I attempted with wisdom; I said: I will become wise, but it is distant from me” (Ecclesiastes 7:23). This feeling, this yearni...
It’s a question that echoes through the ages, and our sages have pondered it in countless ways. The verse from (Ecclesiastes 8:1), "Who is like the wise man, and who knows the mean...
Jewish tradition is full of these moments, and one of the most famous revolves around the parah adumah, the red heifer. In Bamidbar, the Book of Numbers, we find the commandment: "...
To a fascinating exploration of just that, drawing from the ancient wisdom of Bamidbar Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic teachings on the Book of Numbers. Our starting point is the ...
The Book of Numbers, in the Bamidbar Rabbah, grapples with this very question when describing the plague of fiery serpents. "The Lord sent the fiery serpents against the people, an...
The Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary), specifically Bamidbar Rabbah 19, poses a fascinating question: Why isn’t Moses, the leader who struck the rock and brought forth wat...
Jewish tradition sees so much more. The Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary), specifically Bamidbar Rabbah 19, unpacks this verse, revealing layers of meaning and offering pr...
A quote from (Numbers 22:2): "Balak son of Tzipor saw all that Israel had done to the Emorites." This sets the stage for a larger discussion about divine justice and fairness. "Bal...
Like we can somehow pull the divine wool over God's eyes. Today, we’re diving into a fascinating passage from Bamidbar Rabbah 20 that explores this very idea, highlighting three fi...
It sounds like something straight out of a fantastical tale, but it's at the heart of our story today, found in Bamidbar Rabbah 20. We’re diving into the episode where Balak, king ...
He was a non-Israelite diviner, a kind of prophet, hired to curse the Israelites as they approached Moab. But the story takes a twist, doesn't it? Let's look at the moment when God...
Why the darkness? The passage opens by connecting God’s encounters with Bilam, the non-Israelite prophet, specifically noting that God "came to Bilam at night." This links back to ...
The verse tells us, "God's wrath was enflamed because he was going, and the angel of the Lord stood on the way as an impediment to him, and he was riding on his donkey, and his two...
It's one of those biblical tales that's just packed with odd details, and the Rabbis of the Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary) had a field day unpacking it all. We find a f...
The story of Bilam, found in the Book of Numbers, is one wild ride. But the real juicy stuff? It's in the Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary), specifically Bamidbar Rabbah, ...
We find ourselves in the book of Numbers, with Balak, the king of Moab, terrified of the Israelites. He hires the sorcerer Bilam to curse them. But, as we soon discover, things don...
Our tradition teaches us that each individual is unique, a world unto themselves, with their own distinct ruach (spirit) and temperament. And it’s precisely this understanding that...
The Torah tells us, "When you besiege a city…you shall not destroy its trees" (Deuteronomy 20:19). Seems pretty straightforward. Protect the environment, even in wartime. But then ...
Our tradition grapples with this very question when we consider our relationship with God. What could we possibly offer the Divine? What does God need from us? Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Abba...
The ancient rabbis did, and they spun some incredible tales around the question. The Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary), specifically Bamidbar Rabbah 21, delves into this v...
Our journey starts with a verse: "Say to them: This is the fire offering that you shall bring to the Lord: unblemished lambs in the first year, two each day, a continual burnt offe...
Jewish tradition grapples with this very idea – the seeming imbalance between what we offer God and what God offers us. The passage in Bamidbar Rabbah 21, a collection of rabbinic ...
Like after all the hard work, the dedication, the striving... shouldn't there be a bonus round of celebration? Well, Jewish tradition understands that feeling perfectly. to a fasci...
It's not about being stingy, but about creating a sense of progression, a journey. Believe it or not, we find a hint of this idea in the book of Bamidbar Rabbah, specifically in se...
The Torah, in the book of Numbers (30:2), grapples with this very idea: "Moses spoke to the heads of the tribes of the children of Israel, saying: This is the matter that the Lord ...
The book of Numbers, Bamidbar in Hebrew, recounts the Israelites' journey through the wilderness. In chapter 32, we encounter the tribes of Reuben and Gad. "The children of Reuben ...
As we'll see, it's a feeling that resonates profoundly within Jewish tradition. Our journey begins with the Book of Numbers, Bamidbar (במדבר), specifically (Numbers 33:1): "These a...
Maybe, just maybe, there's a hidden message in those seemingly random journeys. In the Book of Numbers – in Hebrew, Bamidbar – we find a detailed list of all the places the Israeli...
When the Torah says, “Command the children of Israel, and say to them: For you are coming to the land of Canaan; this will be the land that will fall to you as an inheritance” (Num...
