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When the rabbis wanted to describe how God teaches Israel, they reached for the most unglamorous image imaginable — a cattle prod. Yes, you read that right. A cattle prod. Believe ...
King David certainly did. In Vayikra Rabbah 30, we find a fascinating exploration of just that – David's quest for the "way of life" and "abundant joy," as he puts it in (Psalm 16:...
We know the etrog (citron), the lulav (palm branch), the hadassim (myrtle), and the aravot (willow) are central to the holiday. But beyond their literal forms, Jewish tradition oft...
Take the four species we use on Sukkot, the Feast of Tabernacles: the etrog (citron), the lulav (palm branch), the hadass (myrtle), and the aravah (willow). We wave them, we rejoic...
It’s a question that’s occupied Jewish thinkers for millennia, and today we're diving into a fascinating piece of that puzzle. Let's turn to Vayikra Rabbah, specifically chapter 31...
Jewish tradition wrestles with these questions constantly. Take, for example, the difficult case of the mamzer. The mamzer, often translated as "illegitimate child," occupies a com...
The story begins with Rabbi Zeira. When he arrived in the Land of Israel, he was troubled. He kept hearing people call each other mamzer and mamzeret. Now, a mamzer (masculine) or ...
We often think of poverty in terms of money, or the lack thereof. But what if poverty could also mean a lack of knowledge, a lack of connection, or even a lack of generosity? Vayik...
The ancient rabbis certainly thought so when reflecting on the history of Israel. Vayikra Rabbah, a midrash – a collection of rabbinic teachings – on the Book of Leviticus, explore...
Rabbi Ze’eira had a fascinating idea about this, especially when it comes to the Land of Israel. He said, remarkably, that even the conversation of the people living there is Torah...
Our story begins with a loaf of bread on the road, and it takes us on a journey filled with divine insight, legal intricacies, and a little bit of wine! The tale, found in Vayikra ...
“Great [rabati] among the nations,” but was it not already stated [in the verse]: “greatly [rabati] crowded”? Why does the verse say: “Great [rabati] among the nations”? It means g...
An Athenian came to Jerusalem and encountered a certain child. He gave him coins and said to him: ‘Go bring me figs and grapes.’ He said to him: ‘Well done, you with your coins and...
An Athenian came to Jerusalem. He devoted three and a half years to learn the language of wisdom,28Scholars would speak in riddles that could not be understood by the average perso...
An Athenian came to Jerusalem, and he greatly mocked the residents of Jerusalem. They said: ‘Who will go and bring him to us?’ One person said to them: ‘I will go and I will bring ...
A certain Cuthite passed himself off as an interpreter of dreams. Rabbi Yishmael ben Rabbi Yosei heard and said: Shall I not go and see this foolish Cuthite who deceives people? He...
A certain Cuthite said: ‘I will go and see a certain Jewish elder40Rabbi Yishmael ben Rabbi Yosei. who mocks people.’ He came and sat near him. He said to him: ‘I saw in my dream f...
A certain man came to Rabbi Yosei bar Ḥalafta and said to him: ‘I saw in my dream that they said to me: Arise and ascend to Cappadocia and you will take your father’s property.’45Y...
A certain woman came to Rabbi Elazar. She said to him: ‘I saw that the rafter in the house snapped.’ He said to her: ‘This woman will bear a male child.’ She went, and so it was fo...
There was an incident in which Rabbi Yehoshua was walking along the path.49This was a path through a field that was created by people traversing it. A certain person found him walk...
“Her adversaries have become the head, her enemies are tranquil, for the Lord has tormented her for her abundant transgressions; her infants are led into captivity before the adver...
“Gone from the daughter of Zion is all her splendor. Her princes are like deer that have not found pasture; they went powerless before the pursuer” (Lamentations 1:6)“Gone from the...
“The yoke of my transgressions is preserved in His hand, becoming entangled, coming upon my neck, sapping my strength. The Lord delivered me into the hands of those against whom I ...
“The Lord trampled all my mighty in my midst; He proclaimed a festival against me to break my young men; the Lord has trodden the maiden daughter of Judah in a winepress” (Lamentat...
“For these I weep, my eye, my eye sheds water; for a comforter, restorer of my soul, has grown distant from me; my children have become desolate, because the enemy has prevailed” (...
There was an incident involving the two children of Tzadok the priest, who were taken captive, one male and one female. This one fell to a certain officer and that one fell to a ce...
There was an incident involving Miriam daughter of Nakdimon for whom the Sages alloted five hundred gold dinars for a basket of perfume each day. She nonetheless stood and cursed t...
There was an incident involving Miriam daughter of the baker, who was taken captive with her seven sons. The emperor took them and placed them behind seven partitions. He brought t...
“I called to my lovers, they deceived me; my priests and my elders perished in the city while they sought food for themselves to restore their souls” (Lamentations 1:19).“I called ...
“The Lord forsook His altar, cursed His Temple; He gave into the hand of the enemy the walls of its palaces. They raised their voice in the House of the Lord, like a day of festiva...
“Its gates sank into the ground; He eradicated and broke its bars. Its king and its princes are among the nations; there is no Torah; its prophets, too, could not find a vision fro...
“All your enemies opened their mouths wide against you; they whistled and gnashed teeth, they said: We have demolished! Indeed, this is the day for which we hoped; we found, we saw...
“I am the man who has seen affliction by the rod of His fury” (Lamentations 3:1).“I am the man” – Rabbi Ḥama bar Ḥanina began: “Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to Barukh s...
“He fenced me in that I will not emerge; He made my fetters heavy” (Lamentations 3:7).“He fenced me in that I will not emerge” – Rabbi Aivu said: This is the enclosure of the Arabs...
“He has broken my teeth with gravel, covered me in ashes” (Lamentations 3:16).“He has broken my teeth with gravel” – there was an incident involving the son of Rabbi Ḥananya ben Te...
“Remember my affliction and my anguish, wormwood and gall” (Lamentations 3:19).“Remember my affliction and my anguish [umrudi]” – the congregation of Israel says before the Holy On...
“It is the Lord’s kindnesses that have not ceased, for His mercies have not ended” (Lamentations 3:22).“It is the Lord’s kindnesses that have not ceased” – Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish ...
“Lord, You have fought the battles of my soul; You redeemed my life. Lord, You have seen the wrongs committed against me; judge my case. You have seen all their vengeance, all thei...
“You heard their taunt, Lord, all their thoughts about me. The lips of those who rise against me and their thoughts are against me all day. Look at their sitting and their rising; ...
“May You pursue them in wrath and destroy them from under the heavens of the Lord” (Lamentations 3:66).“May You pursue them in wrath and destroy them” – Jeremiah said: “May you pur...
“The precious sons of Zion, who were valued in gold, how are they considered earthenware jugs, the handiwork of the hands of the potter?” (Lamentations 4:2).“The precious sons of Z...
Wealthy families who once dined on aged wine and fine bread ended up rummaging through garbage heaps for food. Eikhah Rabbah, a 5th-century CE midrashic (rabbinic interpretive comm...
“Her nazirites were purer than snow, whiter than milk; their appearance was ruddier than gems, their form, a sapphire” (Lamentations 4:7).“Her nazirites were purer than snow,” for ...
“The blind wandered in the streets, having been sullied with blood, so that one could not touch their garments” (Lamentations 4:14).“The blind wandered in the streets.” The blind a...
“They hunted our steps from walking in our squares; our end approaches, our days are filled, as our end has come” (Lamentations 4:18).“They hunted our steps from walking in our squ...
“Be glad and rejoice, daughter of Edom, who resides in the land of Utz: the cup will pass to you too; you will get drunk, and you will be overturned” (Lamentations 4:21).“Be glad a...
“Remember, Lord, what befell us; look, and see our disgrace” (Lamentations 5:1).“Remember, Lord, what befell us.” Rabbi Yitzḥak began: “The greyhound, or the goat” (Proverbs 30:31)...
“Our water we drank for money; our wood comes at a price” (Lamentations 5:4).“Our water we drank for money.” One time, the tormentors entered and took their bread, their wine, thei...
