1,724 texts · Page 27 of 36
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...
Talk about pressure! In this week's Torah portion, Chukat, we find a particularly fraught moment (Numbers 20:8). God tells Moses, "Take the staff…and give the congregation and thei...
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 Torah, gives us a powerful story, one unpacked beautifully in Bamidbar Rabbah, a classical midrashic (rabbinic interpretive commentary) collection (a mi...
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...
In Jewish tradition, there are moments where even MOSES, our greatest prophet, seems to do just that. to one of those fascinating instances from Bamidbar Rabbah 19. The verse we're...
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...
The Torah gives us a fascinating glimpse of such a moment in the story of Bilam, the non-Jewish prophet hired to curse the Israelites. In Numbers, chapter 22, verse 31, we read: “T...
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...
Today we're diving into a fascinating passage from Bamidbar Rabbah 20 that explores exactly that: the surprising power held within seemingly minor mitzvot (commandments), or comman...
Our story begins in Shittim, a place whose name, as we'll see, carries a weight of meaning. "Israel was dwelling in Shittim, and the people began to engage in harlotry with the dau...
The story of Pinḥas (Phineas) in the book of Numbers is a wild ride, a tale of zealotry, divine intervention, and a whole lot of questions about what's right and wrong. The scene i...
God Himself steps in to clarify Pinḥas's lineage. But why now? What did God see that prompted this? The Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary), specifically Bamidbar Rabbah 21,...
The Torah gives us some pretty strong clues, and it all boils down to how they chose to attack us. Think about the story of Balaam and Balak. Remember that? Balak, the King of Moab...
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...
Take, for example, the verse in Numbers: "This will be the land that will fall [tipol] to you as an inheritance." (Numbers 34:2). "Fall?" the Rabbis asked. Does land just fall? Isn...
A powerful image. "The power of His deeds He told to His people" (Psalms 111:6). According to Bamidbar Rabbah, God could have simply created a new land for the Israelites. But inst...
Jewish tradition, particularly in the ancient collection of Midrashim (rabbinic interpretive commentary) called Bereshit Rabbah, grapples with this very question. It's a mind-bendi...
This seeming contradiction sparked quite the debate amongst our Sages. Specifically, between the schools of Beit Shammai and Beit Hillel. These two houses, or schools, were known f...
It sees echoes of the very first moments of creation rippling through time, playing out in the lives of individuals and entire generations. Rabbi Yehuda bar Simon, in Bereshit Rabb...
The Rabbis certainly did. In Bereshit Rabbah, an expansive collection of Rabbinic interpretations of the Book of Genesis, we find a fascinating take on the very first verses, conne...
He sees the very first verses of Genesis as a foreshadowing of the choices we all face. "The earth was emptiness (tohu vavohu)" – he says, that represents the actions of the wicked...
Take the creation story in Genesis, for example. We read in (Genesis 1:16) that God made "two great lights" – the sun and the moon – to rule the day and the night. Seems straightfo...
Jewish tradition is full of these moments, and they often happen in the most unexpected ways. Today, we're diving into a fascinating passage from Bereshit Rabbah, a collection of r...
Dig a little deeper, and you’ll find some fascinating questions and interpretations. Now, there's a curious little detail about that verse. The Bereshit Rabbah, a classic collectio...
It sounds shocking, I know. The story starts with a curious discovery. In Rabbi Meir's personal Torah scroll, a peculiar reading was found in the verse “And, behold, it was very [m...
We might swat them away without a second thought, but according to the Rabbis, even these creatures have a purpose. As we find in Bereshit Rabbah, even these so-called "superfluous...
It's more than just a day off; it's a taste of something truly divine. Bereshit Rabbah, a fascinating collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Book of Genesis, offers some bea...
It’s more than just a day off. It's a taste of paradise, a hint of the World to Come, a weekly reset button for the soul. And according to our sages, even the food tastes better! R...
Even Shabbat, the day of rest, felt that way once. Isn't that incredible? Our sages grappled with a question: why did God specifically bless Shabbat? Bereshit Rabbah, a collection ...
The book of Bereshit Rabbah, a classical collection of Rabbinic interpretations of Genesis, dives deep into this very idea, and it’s wild. Our entry point is a seemingly minor deta...
Our Sages pondered that feeling deeply, especially when thinking about rain. Not just the physical rain, but what it represents. What is rain in the grand scheme of things? In Bere...
The ancient rabbis certainly did. They saw a deep connection between what happens on Earth and what happens within us. Take, for example, the verse in (Genesis 2:6): "…and watered ...
The verse we're focusing on is from (Genesis 2:7): "Then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground [adama], and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became ...
The ancient rabbis certainly did. And they found a fascinating clue hidden in plain sight, connecting the Garden of Eden to... the Ark of the Covenant! It all hinges on a single wo...
An apple? Maybe… but our tradition offers a whole orchard of possibilities! The rabbis of the Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary), in Bereshit Rabbah 15, really sink their t...
We all know the story: paradise, temptation, the apple, the fall. But before all that went down, there's this single verse in (Genesis 2:15): "The Lord God took the man and placed ...
The ancient rabbis certainly did, and they found some pretty compelling answers hidden in the very first chapters of the Torah. to a fascinating passage from Bereshit Rabbah, a col...
Take, for example, the verse in (Genesis 2:21), "He took one of his sides [mitzalotav]..." Now, mitzalotav can mean either "one of his ribs" or "one of his sides." So, which was it...
The ancient rabbis did! And they weren't shy about asking some pretty direct questions. Let's take a peek into a fascinating passage from Bereshit Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic ...
We get a glimpse into that, and a whole lot more about marriage, divorce, and forbidden relationships in this fascinating passage from Bereshit Rabbah 18. It all starts with the fa...
No. The text from Bereshit Rabbah 19 offers some fascinating insights into this pivotal moment in the Garden of Eden. Rabbi Yudan, quoting Rabbi Yoḥanan ben Zakkai, and Rabbi Berek...
We know the story: disobedience, shame, exile. But the ancient rabbis, in their boundless creativity, spun even more wondrous tales around that pivotal moment. The verse in (Genesi...
It contrasts Adam, the first man, with Job, the righteous sufferer, highlighting their very different responses to adversity. The text begins with Adam's infamous excuse: "The woma...
