530 texts · Page 9 of 12
A merchant from one town traveled to a neighboring city to sell his goods. He set up his stall in the marketplace, offered fair prices, and began to attract customers. But the loca...
The death and last will of Rabbi Judah HaNasi — simply called "Rabbi" — was one of the most solemn moments in the history of the Jewish people. The Talmud (Ketubot 104a, Jerusalem ...
The sages taught that even when tragedy strikes at a moment of celebration, the celebration must not be disrupted. The Midrash (Pesikta 169b, Tanhuma Shemini) records an extraordin...
A woman came before Rabbi Akiba with a question that touched on ritual purity. She had found a blemish on her body and feared that it rendered her impure, which would separate her ...
The Talmud (Shabbat 33b) records a conversation that nearly got three sages killed — and did send two of them into hiding for thirteen years. Rabbi Yehuda, Rabbi Yose, and Rabbi Sh...
The Leviathan — the great sea creature that God created on the fifth day — was so enormous that the sages struggled to find words adequate to describe it. The Talmud (Bava Batra 74...
The Roman emperor Antoninus had a private and unusual friendship with Rabbi Judah ha-Nasi, the compiler of the Mishnah (the earliest code of rabbinic law). They met in secret and d...
High Priest Simeon & Alexander. Taanit, f. 7 b, 88 b. Meg. Taanit, ch. 9, 21 st Kislev. Yoma, f. 69 a. cf. 61 a. cf. J. Berakhot, IV, 1. cf. Pesikta, Parah. Pesikta Zutta to Exod. ...
A drunkard wandered into a cemetery — the one place in the ancient world where no sane person would voluntarily spend the night. The dead were there, and so were the spirits, and s...
Wicked-Brother-in-Law. Holeh Tamim u. Poel Sedek. • m Eisenstein, Oser, P. 343. Husin, Maasim Tobim, No. 2. Maase Buch No. 204. Levi, R. E. J. XXXIII, p. 234 ff. Ben Gorion I, p. 2...
The tale of "Wickedness Defeated" follows a pattern known across many cultures: a contest between cleverness and brute evil, in which the clever hero outwits a far more powerful ad...
Abraham ibn Ezra and Yehuda Halevi were two of the greatest Jewish minds of medieval Spain — but their partnership was as unlikely as it was legendary. Ibn Ezra was a wandering poe...
A Jewish sage was challenged to a public contest against a pagan wizard-priest — a battle of spiritual power that would determine, in the eyes of the watching crowd, whose god was ...
Rabbi Meir used to stop at the house of Judah the butcher whenever he made the pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Judah's wife was a righteous woman who looked after the traveling sage with ...
Joshua v. Levi & Prophet Elijah. Pesikta, f. 36 a. Nissim, f. 4 b. Maase Hashem, f. 41a to 43 a. Eliah Cohen, Meil Se- daka §439. Heilperin, Seder Hado- rot, s. v. Joshua b. Levi. ...
The evil eye is a supposed power of bewitching or harming by spiteful looks, attributed to certain persons as a natural endowment. This belief was widespread among ancient civiliza...
Jewish tradition grapples with this very idea when it comes to the people of Israel. Are we a numbered nation, or something… more? Bamidbar Rabbah, a collection of Midrash (rabbini...
Take the Book of Numbers itself, Bamidbar in Hebrew, where we get... well, a lot of numbers. But hidden within those numbers are stories, and insights into the way the ancient Isra...
We find ourselves in just such a situation in the Book of Numbers, Bamidbar in Hebrew. Specifically, in Bamidbar Rabbah, a Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary)ic compilation ...
We stumble upon one such instance in Bamidbar Rabbah, specifically in chapter 6. It concerns the census of the Kehatites, a clan within the Leviim (Levites). The text points out so...
And it’s why the Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary), specifically Bamidbar Rabbah 13, dwells on his name, his lineage, and his pivotal role. The text begins by asking a sim...
Take the creation story in Bereshit (Genesis). We read that the waters were gathered "to one place" (Genesis 1:9), allowing dry land to appear. But... what does that mean, exactly?...
Before humans, before animals, just… water. What was that like? Our sages imagined just that, and they gave the water a voice, a purpose, a mission. Bereshit Rabbah, that incredibl...
It's more than just a question for farmers and meteorologists. Our sages explored this very idea, diving deep into the practical and even the mystical implications of rainfall. The...
It’s a question that's been wrestled with for centuries, and it pops up in the most unexpected places in Jewish tradition. : Do we receive blessings because of our ancestors' good ...
That’s the vibe I get from this little passage in Bereshit Rabbah 68. It’s all about Jacob leaving Beersheba, and the Rabbis are picking apart why he made such a point of leaving t...
It’s truly fascinating. In (Genesis 30:14), we read about Reuben, Jacob’s eldest son, finding dudaim (דּוּדָאִים) in the field. The verse states: "Reuben went during the days of wh...
Dina, Jacob’s daughter, goes out to visit the women of the land, and is defiled by Shechem, the son of Hamor the Hivite. Shechem then asks his father to obtain Dina as his wife. Ja...
We all know the story of Joseph and his coat of many colors, sold into slavery by his jealous brothers. But what about Reuben? What role did he play in this dramatic saga? (Genesis...
Take the story of Joseph and his brothers in Egypt. We know Joseph, now a powerful Egyptian official, tests his brothers after years of separation. He orders his steward to fill th...
That’s where Judah found himself in the biblical story of Joseph. to a powerful moment from that saga, as illuminated by the ancient commentary of Bereshit Rabbah. The verse we’re ...
The verse we're talking about is (Genesis 49:12), part of Jacob's blessings to his sons: "His eyes shall be red from wine, and his teeth white from milk.” Now, on the surface, it s...
The Torah, in (Genesis 49:20), says of Asher, "From Asher, his bread is rich, and he will provide royal delicacies." Simple enough. But as is often the case with sacred texts, ther...
In Devarim Rabbah, a compilation of rabbinic teachings on the Book of Deuteronomy, we find a fascinating connection between looking after the Levites – members of the tribe of Levi...
The book of Ecclesiastes, or Kohelet as it's known in Hebrew, gets it. It’s a book that doesn't shy away from the complexities, the contradictions, the sheer messiness of being hum...
The book of Ecclesiastes, or Kohelet in Hebrew, certainly thought so, at least in one rather pointed verse. "I find more bitter than death," it says, "the woman whose heart is snar...
We all know the story of the first set, shattered in anger at the sight of the Golden Calf. But what about the second? Was it just a simple do-over? Shemot Rabbah, the compilation ...
According to Shir HaShirim Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretations of the Song of Songs, Hugras was a Levite, part of the choir that served in the Temple. Now, the Levites...
One of those moral quandaries that the ancient rabbis loved to wrestle with. They found wisdom in the most unexpected places – even in the behavior of weasels! Vayikra Rabbah, a co...
to a fascinating exploration from Vayikra Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Book of Leviticus. The verse in question is from (Psalm 50:23): "One who slaughter...
It might sound… unexpected, even a little irreverent. But Jewish tradition, in its beautiful, often surprising way, sometimes paints just such a picture. There's a fascinating pass...
The book of Leviticus, or Vayikra in Hebrew, opens with laws about sacrifices. But within Vayikra Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretations on Leviticus, we find ourselves c...
It's not just about skin disease. It's about something far deeper. Something that touches on the very fabric of our community and our souls. In Vayikra, Leviticus, we find the word...
The lulav, the palm branch we wave during Sukkot, the Festival of Booths, seems simple enough. But what if that seemingly innocent branch had a dark secret? Vayikra Rabbah, a fasci...
“For the Lord has tormented her for her abundant transgressions.” Is it, perhaps, for nothing? The verse states: “For her abundant transgressions.” “Her infants are led into captiv...
“He is like a bear in ambush to me, a lion in hiding” (Lamentations 3:10).“He is like a bear in ambush to me” – this is Nebuchadnezzar. “A lion in hiding” – this is Nevuzaradan. Al...
“To subdue under his feet all the prisoners of the earth” (Lamentations 3:34).“To subdue under his feet…” – this is Nebuchadnezzar, in whose regard it is written: “[And everywhere]...
“We bring our bread at the peril of our lives due to the sword of the wilderness” (Lamentations 5:9).“We bring our bread at the peril of our lives.” Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel said:...
