5,112 texts · Page 88 of 107
The Book of Deuteronomy, or Devarim in Hebrew, opens with Moses preparing to bless the Israelites before they enter the Promised Land. But the Rabbis of the Midrash (rabbinic inter...
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...
Devarim Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic teachings on the book of Deuteronomy, opens up this very question for us. It begins with the verse, "This is the blessing," and then delves...
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...
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...
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: ...
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...
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...
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...
Kohelet Rabbah, the rabbinic commentary on Ecclesiastes, grapples with this very feeling. It opens with the powerful image of rivers flowing into the sea: "All the rivers go to the...
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...
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...
Kohelet Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Book of Ecclesiastes, suggests that "all matters are wearying" – especially matters of heresy. But what does that re...
Kohelet Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretations on the book of Ecclesiastes, wrestles with this very question, offering us some pretty intense stories. One tale recounts a...
The book of Kohelet, or Ecclesiastes, really digs into that feeling. And the rabbis of Kohelet Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretations of Kohelet, pick up on that theme in...
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...
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...
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...
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 ...
Our tradition wrestles with this very feeling. The book of Kohelet, or Ecclesiastes, famously explores the futility of life, that "all is vanity." But within the rabbinic expansion...
Ecclesiastes, or Kohelet as it's called in Hebrew, is full of his reflections, and one line in particular always gets me: "For with much wisdom is much vexation; and one who increa...
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...
The book of Ecclesiastes, or Kohelet as it's known in Hebrew, wrestles with this very idea. "Of laughter, I said it is confounded; and of joy, what does it accomplish?" (Ecclesiast...
Her story, found in Kohelet Rabbah, the commentary on Ecclesiastes, is a stark reminder that joy and sorrow can be two sides of the same coin. The verse we're looking at is from (E...
The Book of Ecclesiastes, or Kohelet as it's known in Hebrew, wrestles with this tension beautifully. And the Rabbis in Kohelet Rabbah, a classic midrashic (rabbinic interpretive c...
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...
Kohelet, or Ecclesiastes, grapples with these questions, and the rabbis of the Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary), specifically Kohelet Rabbah, offer some pretty fascinatin...
It’s a thought that runs through the heart of Ecclesiastes, that most enigmatic of biblical books. And it pops up especially vividly in the verse from (Ecclesiastes 2:9): “I grew g...
It grapples with the very human experience of seeking knowledge, stumbling, and trying to make sense of it all. The verse we're looking at today is (Ecclesiastes 2:12): "I turned t...
Times when clarity feels miles away, and we’re just grasping at shadows. Well, the book of Ecclesiastes, or Kohelet in Hebrew, speaks directly to that feeling. It's a book about se...
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...
Kohelet Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Book of Ecclesiastes, dives into this very idea, using the verse "The wise man, his eyes are in his head, but the fo...
That's what some of our sages suggest when interpreting the famous verse from Ecclesiastes (Kohelet) 2:24: "There is nothing better for a man than for him to eat and drink, and ind...
The book of Ecclesiastes, or Kohelet in Hebrew, grapples with this very idea, and the rabbinic commentary on it, Kohelet Rabbah, digs even deeper. It all starts with that famous li...
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...
King Solomon, wiser than anyone, certainly thought so. In the book of Ecclesiastes, or Kohelet as we call it in Hebrew, he tells us, "A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to b...
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...
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...
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...
Jewish tradition grapples with this question, especially when it comes to the timing of pivotal moments in our history. And sometimes, the answers are more surprising than you'd ex...
One particular passage in Kohelet (3:12-13) offers a surprising answer: "I know that there is nothing better for them, than to rejoice, and to do good during their lifetime. Also, ...
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, ...
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...
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...
(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...
It’s a universal human experience. And it's something the ancient rabbis wrestled with too, as we see in Kohelet Rabbah, a fascinating commentary on the Book of Ecclesiastes. The v...
It turns out, that feeling has deep roots in Jewish thought. We find it beautifully expressed in (Ecclesiastes 4:9-12): “Two are better than one; because they have a good reward fo...
We all have. But in Jewish tradition, the words we speak – and the intentions behind them – carry immense weight. Kohelet Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Bo...
