1,693 texts · Page 12 of 36
It wasn't just about piety and prayer, although those were certainly important. Our tradition also hints at a time of incredible abundance, almost… decadent. Sifrei Devarim, in its...
We're going to explore one tiny, but potent, verse today that unpacks just that idea. It all comes from Sifrei Devarim 317. It's a passage that's all about how God elevated humanit...
The ancient rabbis grappled with this feeling, particularly when thinking about the exiles of the Jewish people. They found echoes of this isolation, this sense of being utterly ab...
The ancient sages noticed this human tendency, too, and they saw it reflected in the relationship between Israel and the other nations. Sifrei Devarim, a legal midrash on the Book ...
Our tradition grapples with this too. The ancient text of Sifrei Devarim, a legal commentary on the Book of Deuteronomy, offers a powerful perspective on divine retribution and ult...
We see suffering, we experience loss, and we can’t help but wonder: where is G-d in all this? Does He even care? The ancient sages grappled with this too, and surprisingly, they fo...
It all starts with a verse from Deuteronomy – or Devarim, as we call it in Hebrew. It says, "…and by this thing you shall prolong days." (Devarim, Ibid.) But what is "this thing?" ...
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...
When a human king celebrates a special occasion, like a wedding, he shares his wealth and joy. But Sifrei Devarim, in its commentary on (Deuteronomy 33:2), challenges this very hum...
They saw layers of connection, echoes of stories past, and whispers of divine intent in every word. Take, for instance, a passage from Sifrei Devarim, a legal midrash on the Book o...
Today, we're diving into a fascinating passage from Sifrei Devarim 352, which explores this concept through the story of the tribe of Benjamin and a mysterious plot of land in Jeri...
The ancient text Sifrei Devarim offers a stunningly poetic answer, connecting blessings to something primal, something ancient and enduring. It speaks of "the first of the mountain...
The book of Devarim (Deuteronomy) describes the blessing to the tribe of Asher with the phrase, "and he shall dip his foot in oil" (Deuteronomy 33:24). But what does that mean? The...
Sometimes, the most profound truths are whispered in the echoes between our words and the response of the Holy Spirit. One intriguing idea comes from (Deuteronomy 33:25): "Iron and...
It’s a timeless human experience, and it’s something the ancient rabbis wrestled with too. In the book of Sifrei Devarim, a collection of early rabbinic legal interpretations on th...
We know he gazed out at the promised land, the land he would never enter. But was that all? Jewish tradition paints a far more vivid and dramatic picture. The Sifrei Devarim, an an...
The verse says that Moses, "the servant of the L-rd," died "by the word of the L-rd" (Deuteronomy 34:5). Seems simple enough. But the ancient rabbis saw layers of meaning here. The...
It’s something the Sages of the Talmud were keenly aware of, and it pops up in the most unexpected places. Take the very end of Moses’ life. "And Moses was one hundred and twenty y...
Another explanation. “And all the work that king Solomon had wrought in the house of the Lord was finished.” (Melachim I 7:51) What does ‘all the work’ mean? It was built by itself...
Every corner of the known world smelled like paradise the day King Solomon completed the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. According to the Pesikta Rabbati, a collection of midrashic (rabb...
"Zuta": "Zuta" is an Aramaic and Arabic word meaning "small" in contrast to "Raba" which means "large" or "great". There are Midrashic (rabbinic interpretive commentary) compilatio...
V. A beautiful woman, persecuted by the governor, put her gold in jars and covered it on the top with honey. She left them with a friend and went away. After the death of the goxer...
King Solomon was an excellent chess player. He played with Benaya his general and always won. Once a noise in the street drew Solomon to the window. Benaya took a piece from the bo...
King Solomon was asked what was the meaning of his saying, “Better is a dinner of herbs where love is, than a stalled ox and hatred therewith.” (Prov. 15, 17.) He said when he was ...
The sages of Israel taught that God does not scatter wisdom like rain falling on barren ground. He gives wisdom only to those who already possess it — to those who have labored to ...
Meekness of Tar f on. cf. Nedarim, f. 62. J. Shebiit, IV, 2. Kallah, f. 5 b. Lonzano, Maarikh, No. 6. Maase Buch No. 72. - 206— no. Dead Women in Cemetery Foretell Future. Berakhot...
The sages of the Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary) asked a question that seems simple but opens onto infinity: where does all the water in the rivers go? Every river on ea...
King Solomon, the wisest of all kings, once taught a lesson about wealth and poverty using the simplest of demonstrations: two meals. The first meal was served in the house of a ri...
King Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, was once brought a legal case so subtle that its resolution required the full depth of his legendary understanding. The dispute centere...
The story of Solomon's daughter and the bastard — the mamzer — is one of the most poignant tales in rabbinic literature. The Midrash (Tanhuma, Introduction) tells how Solomon, desp...
The story of Solomon and the boiled egg appears in multiple collections, each version adding new details to the king's legendary wisdom. In this telling, drawn from German and Jewi...
Solomon and the worthless woman — a tale from the collection of Solomon's legendary encounters with the full range of human character. The sages preserved these stories as illustra...
Blood Test. Baba Batra, f. 58 a. Parables of Solomon, I. Zabara, Shaashuim, LXII. ed. Davidson. Simhat Hanefesh (the vital soul), p. 12. Sef. Hasidim, ed. Hil- desheimer § 291. Far...
Solomon sThreeM a xims. Dibre Hayamim sihel Moshe, ed. Constple. 1516. Farhi, O. P. I, f. 23. Jellinek, B. H. IV, p. 148. Eisenstein, Oser, p. 532. Husin, Maase Nissim, No. 31. Yal...
Solomon & Daughter of King of Ammon. Gittin, f. 68b. cf. Yalk. Hadash. • m Hirz, Emek Hamel ekh, f. 15. Jellinek, B. H. II, p. 86. Eisenstein, Oser, p. 530. Maase Buch No. 104. Ten...
Solomon and chess — a pairing that connects the king's legendary wisdom with the world's most intellectual game. While chess in its modern form postdates Solomon by many centuries,...
A man was granted a wish — and what he wished for became the source of his downfall. The tale of the "Foolish Wish" is found in dozens of cultures, but the Jewish version carries a...
Two words haunted ancient Israel: shedim (demons) and se'irim. The Israelites were forbidden from sacrificing to either. They sacrificed anyway. The se'irim were the hairy ones, sa...
When the Song of Songs sings, "King Solomon made for him a palanquin" (Song of Songs 3:9), the sages of Pesikta de-Rav Kahana 1:2 hear something far beyond a royal carriage. The Ki...
When the tribal chieftains of Israel brought their gifts to the newly raised Tabernacle, they came with an oddly specific number of things. Six covered wagons. Twelve oxen. One wag...
When the chieftains of Israel rolled up to the Tabernacle with six covered wagons, the Torah uses a strange word for those wagons — tzav. Pesikta de-Rav Kahana 1:8 turns the word u...
The Rabbis teach that King Solomon, for all his wisdom, committed three transgressions of kingship that the Torah had warned against. He multiplied horses. He multiplied wives. He ...
There is a tradition, preserved in the Ma'aseh Book and cited in Gaster's Exempla of the Rabbis (no. 1, 1924), that ten kings will have ruled over the whole world before history fi...
Rabbi Yohanan ben Matya instructed his son one morning to go out and make sure the Jewish workers hired for the day were fed well. "Feed them adequately," he said. "Do not cut corn...
The prophet Isaiah met King Hezekiah outside Jerusalem. The meeting was not a diplomatic visit. Isaiah carried a message from God: Hezekiah's children would do evil. Hezekiah did n...
A poor man, unable to work, resolved to stay in his house and wait for God to provide. One day, when he had nothing at all to eat, a fat cow wandered through his open door. The man...
A poor but pious man had three silver pieces — all he had in the world. He took them to the mill, bought flour for his household, and walked home carrying the sack. On the way, at ...
The question of how oral tradition becomes binding is an old one, and the Talmud answers it with a scene in Solomon's court. Rav Yehudah, reporting in the name of Shmuel, taught th...
