Questions tagged [midrash]
Exegetical interpretation, often of verses in Tanach. The term also refers to books based on these interpretations, e.g., Midrash Rabba, Midrash Tanchuma, et al.
126
questions with no upvoted or accepted answers
10
votes
0
answers
118
views
Eliezer's daughter and descendants
Medrash Rabah Parshas Chayai Sara 59:9 says that Eliezer had a daughter and was hoping that she would marry Yitzchak. Avraham told him you are cursed (come from a cursed family) and my son is blessed. ...
7
votes
0
answers
65
views
Why does Pirkei d'Rebbi Eliezer only connect certain berachos of Shemoneh Esrei to events in Tanach?
According to Pirkei d'Rebbi Eliezer:
The first beracha of Shemoneh Esrei, "Blessed are You, Hashem, Protector of Avraham," refers to Hashem's protecting Avraham during the war with the four kings (ch....
7
votes
0
answers
307
views
Criteria for the list of Nashim Kesheiros (Medrash Breishis Rabsi)
The Medrash Breishis Rabsi Parshas Chaya Sara 23:1 lists 22* Nashim Kesheiros.
כ"ב נשים כשרות היו בעולם ואלו הן שרה, רבקה, רחל, לאה, סרח בת אשר, יוכבד, מרים, בתיה בת פרעה, דבורה, צללפונית אשת מנוח, ...
7
votes
1
answer
222
views
Source that Og told Sarah about the Akeidah, and thus she died
Someone recently told me that they were taught as a child that Og was the one who told Sarah about the Akeidah, causing her death. I always understood it as the Satan. Indeed, that's what Midrash ...
6
votes
0
answers
67
views
Earliest source for teaching Torah in secret to hide from the Romans
A number of online sources (such as this article by Rabbi Ari Enkin, or this article by Rabbi Yair Hoffman) mention the tradition that rabbonim used to go out into the woods and teach Torah while ...
6
votes
0
answers
184
views
Rabbi Akiva seeing Bar Kochba sleeping on his back?
I once saw it in some sefer that Rabbi Akiva saw Bar Kochba sleeping on his back (not on his side) and then he knew that he wasn't Mashiach. Does anyone know where this is written? I'm pretty sure its ...
5
votes
0
answers
137
views
Why isn't midrash rabbah learnt as much as other commentaries
I feel like there's more of a stress to learn other commentaries, and midrash rabbah and tanchuma are just nice things extra if you want to. I see amazing droshos in the midrash, and was wondering why ...
5
votes
0
answers
59
views
Are there accepted rules for the exposition of a set of juxtaposed verses (סמוכים)?
This question came about from learning Gemoro Brochos 21b but the question is not limited to this daf.
The Gemoro Brochos 21b quotes Rebbi Yehoshua ben Levi as expounding verses Devorim 4 (9 & ...
5
votes
0
answers
381
views
When did Bliha and Zilpah die?
I heard that Seder Olam Rabbah writes that both Rachel and Leah had already passed away by the time of twenty two years after Yaakov married them. We wanted to know if there are any sources when Bilha ...
5
votes
0
answers
212
views
The Fourth Exile, Persia or Rome?
When Avraham experiences a vision of 'fear, darkness, great, descending upon him', (Gen 15:12), the Midrash says that these four words refer to the 4 exiles. Fear is Babylon, darkness is Medea, great ...
5
votes
0
answers
328
views
What were Chazal referring to when they said there were 7 notes in a musical octave?
Related: What do Chazal mean when they say that when Moshiach comes there will be another note added to the octave making a total of 8 notes?
There is a well known Medrash (anyone help with the ...
5
votes
1
answer
100
views
Hava Amina for Kohen not becoming impure for father
The Midrash questions why the Torah has to specify that a Kohen becomes impure both for his deceased father and deceased mother. Why not just write his mother? It says:
[ד] יאמר "לאמו", מה תלמוד ...
4
votes
0
answers
45
views
Why did the Rambam single out Ribui?
In Sefer HaMitzvos, Shoresh 2, the Rambam says that anything derived using Rabbi Yishmael's 13 principles of derivation, or a Ribui (extraneous wording which tells us to include new laws), does not ...
4
votes
2
answers
65
views
Who carried the aron which traveled in front of the camp?
Rashi describes how the aron (which contained the broken pieces of the first luchos and which was taken out with the Jewish army in times of battle) would travel in front of the camp in the desert. ...
4
votes
0
answers
77
views
How can Rashi seemingly say that Mordechai had attended the feast of Achashverosh?
We find in a discussion in the Gemara (Megillah 12a):
״לַעֲשׂוֹת כִּרְצוֹן אִישׁ וָאִישׁ״, אָמַר רָבָא: לַעֲשׂוֹת כִּרְצוֹן
מָרְדֳּכַי וְהָמָן
"That they should do according to every man's [ish, ...
4
votes
0
answers
75
views
Could not find this in soncino Bamidbar rabbah
In the march 1986 issue of the jewish observer, they bring bamidbar rabbah 21 which says in the name of Yehoshua ben levi, “Hoshana rabba represents the ultimate downfall of defiant nations, just as ...
4
votes
0
answers
109
views
Do we apply עושה מעשה עמך consistently anywhere it says עמך?
The Gemara in several places (BM 48b and 62a, Yevamos 22b, Sanhedrin 85a, BB 4a, BK 94b, Makkos 8b) quotes the exposition
ונשיא בעמך לא תאור - בעושה מעשה עמך
“A prince in your people you shall ...
4
votes
0
answers
78
views
Can an angel perform multiple agencies?
Bereishis Rabbah 50:2 states that one angel cannot perform multiple tasks:
אין מלאך אחד עושה שתי שליחות ולא שתי מלאכים עושים שליחות אחד.
One angel cannot perform two agencies, nor can two ...
4
votes
0
answers
121
views
What was the "Great river of the Ocean" shown to Jonah?
The Midrash Tanchuma in Vayikra discusses the wonders shown to Jonah by the fish which swallowed him after having saved it from the Leviathan (see the Midrash [ibid.] for further elaboration).
(Source ...
4
votes
0
answers
162
views
Where is the source of this Midrash/Agadita in the Ein Yaakov
I saw in the הקדמת הכותב of the Ein Yaakov the following midrash/agadita cited:
בן זומה אומר מצינו פסוק כולל יותר והוא שמע ישראל וגו׳ בן ננס אומר
מצינו פסוק כולל יותר והוא ואהבת לרעך כמוך ...
4
votes
0
answers
70
views
What order are the thirteen midos in?
We recite, before p'suke d'zimra, a list from R. Yishmael of thirteen midos by which the Torah is nidreshes, taken from Sifra. What determined their order?
You can stop reading now; the rest is just ...
4
votes
0
answers
113
views
Adam 's sin out of deveikut?
I found this online:
In his sefer "Bilvavi Mishkan Evneh," R' Itamar Shwartz emphasizes the important point that our existence in this world is for the purpose of being davuk to our Creator; to be ...
4
votes
0
answers
61
views
Midrashic non-literalism in the Taz
The Taz writes in his Divrei David (Genesis 1:23) regarding a Midrash:
ואין לנו להפקיע דברי חכמים מפשטן
"We should not remove words of the Sages from their simple interpretations."
Does the Taz ...
4
votes
0
answers
96
views
Location for medrash cited by the Chizkuni
The Chizkuni in Parshas Achrei Mos 16:22 writes that the ish iti (the person who would take the goat to har azazel) would not live through the year. He cites from a medrash that the person knew he was ...
4
votes
0
answers
72
views
Source for medrash that Klal Yisroel counted the omer when they came out of Mitzraim
The sefer Tur Bareket (OC 489, also brought here) quotes a medrash that Moshe Rabbeinu told Klal Yisroel to count 50 days towards matan torah.
Do any of our readers know the exact source in the ...
3
votes
0
answers
47
views
Is the Medrashic understanding at the Akeidah applied elsewhere?
In Bereisheet 22:2, Hashem commanded Avraham וְהַעֲלֵ֤הוּ שָׁם֙ לְעֹלָ֔ה to "raise [his son] up as a sacrifice." Rashi explains that the language was never that Hashem demanded an actual ...
3
votes
0
answers
76
views
Looking for a midrash mentioned by Falaquera
When Noah recovered from his wine, he enslaved his grandson Canaan to his sons Shem and Japheth. The relationship he envisioned for his sons Japheth and Shem is spelled out in Gen 9.27:
יפת אלהים ...
3
votes
0
answers
44
views
How old is מדרש ר׳ עקיבא בן יוסף אל אותיות קטנות?
I stumbled on these midrashim, I'm curious as to how old they are...
3
votes
0
answers
142
views
How tall was Chava?
Rashi here brings a Midrash that Adam Harishon's height was from earth until the Heavens. Based on the Midrash, was Chava that tall as well? Otherwise it would have been quite difficult to be married ...
3
votes
0
answers
76
views
"They could have walked out of Egypt" Source?
I have heard on multiple occasions of a Chazal that states something along the lines of:
"Had Binei Yisroel merited/been righteous enough, they could have walked out of Egypt."
There are a number of ...
3
votes
0
answers
234
views
Was King Achashverosh Jewish?
In this beautiful animated interpretation of the Purim story, at the crowning of King Achashverosh, the crowd announces (as soon as the crown is put upon his head):
"And he will rise upon the ...
3
votes
0
answers
88
views
Makkas Dam; monetary exchange
Midrash Rabbah describes how the Jews in Egypt became wealthy through the plague of blood by selling their water to the Egyptians who were desperate. This may be a thought experiment as I haven't seen ...
3
votes
0
answers
69
views
Half-Hallel in commemoration of the fallen Egyptians
There seem to be two separate explanations as to why we only say a "half" hallel on the intermediate and final days of Pesach. According to one opinion (as attributed to the Shibolet Haleket here) it ...
3
votes
0
answers
85
views
Charging interest to "your brother"
A deleted post from a long time ago made the claim that
[W]e are [allowed to charge interest to other Jews] but not from
immediate family. Even from another Jew, if he or she is not a member
of ...
3
votes
0
answers
235
views
What is the date ending the 700 years mentioned in these midrashim?
Based on this answer I was able to have some extra fun reading over Shabbat.
First, I would like to say, that I was amazed as to how much of the material I was allready familiar with, mostly from ...
2
votes
0
answers
39
views
Understanding ערלים comparisons
In Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer chapter 29 (uncensored version), we read:
ולמה מלן, בשביל הטהרה שלא יטמאו את אדניהם במאכליהם ובמשתיהם, שכל מי שאוכל עם הערל כאלו אוכל עם הכלב, מה הכלב שלא נמול כך הערל שלא ...
2
votes
0
answers
78
views
The Satan's rebellion in Rabbinic literature?
My understanding is that in most of Rabbinic literature, the Satan is viewed as simply the angel with the job of accusing mankind like in Iyov, and that the Christian notion of him as having rebelled ...
2
votes
0
answers
39
views
Why did Gabriel interfere with Joseph’s cloak?
In Ginzberg’s Legends of the Jews, a legend is quoted which says that Joseph was eventually found not-guilty of assaulting Mrs Potiphar because, when the Egyptians examined the tear pattern on the ...
2
votes
0
answers
54
views
Story of Shlomo and birds
Just heard today that apparently there’s some midrash where Shlomo sees two birds perched on top of his castle and he overheard one bird saying to the other “with the stomp of my foot I can crumble ...
2
votes
0
answers
42
views
Source for the practice of messianic interpretation of calamity
I seem to recall a Rashi somewhere in Nach which explains a Pasuk as praising B’nei Yisrael, who see every calamity that befalls them as heralding Mashiach.
Can anyone source this?
2
votes
0
answers
47
views
Drashos based on the doubled verb
In Menachos 17b, the gemara explains a drasha:
ור"א א"כ לכתוב רחמנא אם האכל האכל א"נ אם יאכל יאכל מאי האכל יאכל שמעת
מינה תרתי
And what would Rabbi Eliezer respond? He would say that ...
2
votes
0
answers
77
views
Midrash on commandments for non-Jews
Note: I had recalled seeing this or a similar question somewhere on the site but couldn't find it.
There's a midrash that appears in two versions (that I know of), one in Midrash Tehillim 21:1:
"...
2
votes
0
answers
65
views
Why does Rashi specifically tell us his interpretation method on 3:8?
In Bereishis 3:8, Rashi makes the following comment about his method of interpretation:
וישמעו. יֵשׁ מִדְרְשֵׁי אַגָּדָה רַבִּים וּכְבָר סִדְּרוּם רַבּוֹתֵינוּ עַל מְכוֹנָם בִּבְ"רַ וּבִשְׁאָר ...
2
votes
0
answers
130
views
Rashi Comment on Twins Tube with Pebbles
Rashi to Genesis 25:26
ואחרי כן יצא אחיו וגו’ צֵא וּלְמַד מִשְּׁפוֹפֶרֶת שְׁפִּיהָ קְצָרָה, תֶּן לָהּ שְׁתֵּי אֲבָנִים זוֹ אַחַר זוֹ, – הַנִּכְנֶסֶת רִאשׁוֹנָה תֵּצֵא אַחֲרוֹנָה וְהַנִּכְנֶסֶת ...
2
votes
0
answers
63
views
Expressing benefit in the Pentateuch
Regarding the prohibition of deriving benefit from a murderous animal (shor haniskal), the gemara (e.g. Bava Kamma 41a) suggests (in an initial interpretation) that, from the fact that the Torah uses ...
2
votes
0
answers
193
views
How many righteous men are in each generation?
I have been reading questions about the lamed-vav, the 36 righteous people who exist in each generation.
But Rashi, in Zecharia 11:12 cites the gemara in Chullin 92a which has an opinion that there ...
2
votes
0
answers
90
views
Why is the actual length of Galus Mitzraim not mentioned in the Torah?
Chazal expound that the Jews were in Mitzraim for 210 years (see Rashi to Bereishis 42:2, and to Avodah Zarah 9a). Why is this figure mentioned nowhere explicitly, especially when other numbers are (...
2
votes
0
answers
63
views
A name adding to our development into who we are/become?
In Bereshit 2:19 Adam gets the honorable task to name the animals. The Midrash Genesis/Bereshit Raba 17:4 tells us that the first man, Adam, looked into the essence and nature of every creature and ...
2
votes
0
answers
81
views
Search for Eliyahu Kitov source in Midrash (Bar Ilan search?)
Looking for someone who can search all midrashim/chazal/yalkut etc for original source
If I had otzar or bar ilan, I'd do it myself, using search words like I typed below from kitov's hebrew text. I'm ...
2
votes
0
answers
671
views
Adducing Gezerah Shavah (גזירה שוה), list of Gezerah Shavah (גזירה שוה) words
In Genesis 37:15 we read
Then a man found him, and behold, he was straying in the field, and
the man asked him, saying, "What are you looking for?"
טווַיִּמְצָאֵ֣הוּ אִ֔ישׁ וְהִנֵּ֥ה תֹעֶ֖ה ...