Prophecy

3,491 texts · Page 59 of 73

The gift of prophecy in Israel, from Moses at Sinai to the last prophets, and the divine voice that still echoes.

Cain and Creation of Mincha

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We've all been there. So, what do we do? How do we make sure we still fulfill our obligation to connect with the Divine? That's exactly what Devarim Rabbah 8 explores. It delves in...

The Origin of Blessing Food After Eating

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It seems so natural, so ingrained in Jewish practice, that we might not even stop to ask why. But the Rabbis of old, they were always asking. They wanted to know the source, the re...

Death of Moses of Joshua

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In Jewish tradition, we find a fascinating story in Devarim Rabbah that touches upon just such a concept when it comes to the death of Moses. The text starts by asking, "What is he...

Moses and Creation of Listen

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It's not just about being polite! It’s about life itself. (Deuteronomy 32:1) begins, “Listen, heavens, and I will speak, and the earth will hear the sayings of my mouth.” A simple ...

Do the Heavens Have a Mouth, Heart, and Ears

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It's not just poetic flourish. According to Devarim Rabbah, there's a profound and multifaceted reason why Moses calls upon them as witnesses, as partners, as something more. Rabbi...

Moses Wrestles the Angel

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Devarim Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic teachings on the Book of Deuteronomy, gives us a glimpse into that incredible scene, a cosmic struggle between life and death, between Mose...

Moses Looks Upon the Promised Land He Cannot Enter

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Moses had spent a lifetime leading the Israelites through the desert, of receiving the Torah at Sinai, of being the conduit between the Divine and humanity. The Holy One, blessed b...

Death of Moses of Behold

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The ancient rabbis wrestled with this very idea, and their insights, preserved in texts like Devarim Rabbah, can still resonate deeply today. Our story begins with Moses, nearing t...

The Ten Deaths Written for Moses in the Torah

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It sounds almost unbelievable, doesn't it? Yet, according to Devarim Rabbah, this is precisely the monumental struggle Moses faced at the end of his life. Rabbi Yoḥanan tells us th...

Solomon's Search for Meaning as King in Jerusalem

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Like everyone else is contributing, and you're just... there? Our sages grappled with this feeling, and their stories, preserved in texts like Kohelet Rabbah, offer surprising comf...

Three Prophets Named After Their Fathers

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It’s a question that comes up right at the beginning of Kohelet Rabbah, the ancient rabbinic commentary on the Book of Ecclesiastes. It kicks off by asking about the opening line: ...

Vanity of Vanities and What It Really Means

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It starts with a bang: "Vanity of vanities, said Kohelet; vanity of vanities, everything is vanity" (Ecclesiastes 1:2). But what does that even mean? What is this "vanity," this he...

The Sages Almost Suppressed the Book of Ecclesiastes

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That question, that nagging feeling, is at the heart of the Book of Ecclesiastes, or Kohelet in Hebrew. And it’s a question the Rabbis grappled with deeply. The opening verse of Ko...

I Crushed and I Will Heal - Destruction Followed by Hope

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Kohelet Rabbah, a fascinating exploration of the book of Ecclesiastes, delves into this very idea, offering a surprisingly hopeful perspective. The verse they latch onto is a power...

The Earth Abides Forever But Kingdoms Fall

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The book of Ecclesiastes, or Kohelet in Hebrew, grapples with this very question. And in Kohelet Rabbah, a collection of Rabbinic interpretations on Ecclesiastes, we find some fasc...

The Wind That Goes South and Turns North

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The book of Ecclesiastes, or Kohelet in Hebrew, wrestles with this too. "The wind goes to the south, and turns to the north; around and around the wind turns, and on its rounds the...

Conversion to Judaism as Rivers Flowing to the Sea

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The sages of old certainly did. And they saw that natural flow as a parallel to something quite profound about conversion to Judaism. Kohelet Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic teach...

Isaiah Before the King

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The ancient rabbis grappled with it too. In fact, the book of Kohelet, or Ecclesiastes, dives headfirst into the cyclical nature of existence. And Kohelet Rabbah, a rabbinic commen...

Joseph's Tears and the Longing That Never Ends

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That feeling resonates deeply within Jewish tradition. We see it reflected in the ancient text of Kohelet Rabbah, specifically in its interpretation of the verse "all the rivers go...

Ishmael and Adam of Edom

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They found a surprisingly relevant metaphor in the Book of Ecclesiastes, or Kohelet. The verse says, "all the rivers go to the sea." Kohelet Rabbah, a Midrashic (rabbinic interpret...

Professional Weariness and the Study of Torah

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Kohelet Rabbah, the commentary on Ecclesiastes, gets it. It starts with the line "all matters are wearying." But it doesn't stop there with the doom and gloom. It actually dives in...

The Human Eye That Is Never Satisfied With What It Sees

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Kohelet Rabbah, in its wonderfully enigmatic way, wrestles with this very question, using the verse, "The eye is not satisfied..." as its jumping-off point. It’s a verse that speak...

Moses and the King of Rabbis

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"What was is what will be," it says, "and what was done is what will be done; and there is nothing new under the sun" (Ecclesiastes 1:9). But is that really true? Are we just doome...

Is There Really Anything New Under the Sun

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The book of Ecclesiastes, or Kohelet, touches on this very feeling. It asks: "Is there anything of which one can say, 'Look! This is new'? It has already existed long ago, before o...

There Is No Memory of Former Things or People

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It's a question that the book of Ecclesiastes, or Kohelet, wrestles with head-on. The verse in question, from (Ecclesiastes 1:11), states, "There is no memory of the former ones; a...

Why Ecclesiastes Begins in the Middle of the Story

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You're dropped right into the action, and you wonder, "Wait, shouldn't this have been explained earlier?" Well, the ancient rabbis grappled with a similar feeling about the Book of...

Solomon's Relentless Search for Wisdom's Meaning

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The Book of Ecclesiastes, or Kohelet as it's known in Hebrew, grapples with this very feeling. It's a wisdom text, a philosophical exploration of life's meaning, or sometimes, its ...

What Is Warped in This World Cannot Be Straightened

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The book of Ecclesiastes, or Kohelet as it's known in Hebrew, touches on this very feeling. Specifically, there's a line in (Ecclesiastes 1:15) that says, "That which is warped can...

The Heart's Many Roles According to the Sages

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We often talk about the heart as the seat of our emotions, but what does that really mean? The ancient rabbis certainly pondered this. In Kohelet Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic i...

Solomon and the Queen of Simon

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That feeling isn't new. In fact, the book of Ecclesiastes, or Kohelet in Hebrew, wrestles with it head-on. "I said in my heart: Come now, I will experiment in joy, and see goodness...

Divine Spirit and the Lawgiver

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Kohelet, the book of Ecclesiastes traditionally attributed to Solomon, wrestles with just that. And Kohelet Rabbah, the rabbinic commentary on Ecclesiastes, digs even deeper. Let's...

Moses Versus Bilam and the Contrast of Wisdom

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That feeling of existential dread isn't new. In fact, it’s wrestled with in some of our most ancient texts. to a passage from Kohelet Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretatio...

Enosh and Creation of Simon

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Ecclesiastes has a way of stopping you cold with a single sentence, and (Ecclesiastes 2:21) is one of them: "For there is a man whose toil is with wisdom, and with knowledge, and w...

A Time to Be Born and a Time to Die Says Ecclesiastes

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Kohelet Rabbah, a fascinating collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Book of Ecclesiastes, dives into this very idea, particularly when it comes to life, death, and the mome...

Stars and Firmament of Hezekiah

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This question has been debated for centuries, and today, we're diving into a fascinating discussion about it from the ancient text of Kohelet Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic inter...

Caleb and the Dreamer

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A time for everything, as the saying goes. But what does that really mean? Well, one fascinating interpretation comes to us from Rabbi Yehoshua of Sikhnin, found within Kohelet Rab...

What Advantage Does the Worker Gain From Toil

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The rabbinic commentary on it, Kohelet Rabbah, digs even deeper. It all starts with the question: "What is the advantage of one who works, in that he toils?" (Ecclesiastes 3:9). It...

The Matters God Has Given Humanity to Engage

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What does it really mean? Kohelet Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Book of Ecclesiastes, digs into this very question, using the verse from (Ecclesiastes 3:1...

Abbahu — Solomon at the Dawn of Creation

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The ancient rabbis, in Kohelet Rabbah, that treasure trove of commentary on Ecclesiastes, dive deep into this verse. Rabbi Tanhuma suggests a simple, elegant idea: the world came i...

Elijah — Adam and Eve in Eden

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The sun rises, the seasons turn... it all seems so fixed, so unchangeable. But is it, really? Kohelet Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretations on the book of Ecclesiastes, ...

Elijah — Moses at the Dawn of Creation

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The ancient Rabbis, in their commentary called Kohelet Rabbah, dive deep into a specific verse that really makes you think: "What has been, already is, and what will be has already...

Zekharya in Heaven

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The verse from Ecclesiastes (3:16) sets the stage: “Moreover, I have seen, under the sun, in the place of judgment there is wickedness, and in the place of justice there is wickedn...

Are Humans Really Better Than Animals

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Today, we're diving into a fascinating passage from Kohelet Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Book of Ecclesiastes, to explore this very dilemma. The passage ...

Everything Returns to Dust But the Soul Returns to God

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We find ourselves grappling with this very question in the ancient text of Kohelet Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretations of the Book of Ecclesiastes. The verse in questi...

Who Knows If the Human Spirit Ascends Upward

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Today, we're diving into a passage from Kohelet Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Book of Ecclesiastes, to explore what it has to say about the ultimate fate ...

The Tears of the Oppressed With No One to Comfort

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The book of Ecclesiastes, or Kohelet, grapples with this very human experience. "I returned and saw all the oppressions that are performed under the sun; and behold the tears of th...

Better the Unborn Who Never Saw Evil Done

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(Ecclesiastes 4:3) dances with it: "Better than both of them is one who has not yet been, who has not seen the evil actions that are done under the sun." Now, Kohelet Rabbah, a col...

Shabbat and the Dreamer

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The book of Ecclesiastes, or Kohelet as it's known in Hebrew, has something to say about that. "A handful of tranquility is better than two handfuls of toil and herding wind" (Eccl...