Questions tagged [commentaries]
Questions related to Jewish commentaries, their meaning and their origin.
722 questions
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You shall not have any other gods
In Exodus 20:3 the words lo yihyeh (לֹא יִהְיֶה־לְךָ) are often translated as: 'you shall not have'. The base word is היה (hayah) meaning "to exist." Which reminded me of the Adon Olam ...
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Is there a commentary concordance?
I gather that there are both printed as well as on-line concordances for Tanac"h where one could enter a word or phrase and a list of matches appears.
Is there such a thing like a Rash"i or other ...
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What does Radak mean by מקור?
Sefer Yehoshua chapter one verse 13 reads:
זָכוֹר֙ אֶת־הַדָּבָ֔ר אֲשֶׁ֨ר צִוָּ֥ה אֶתְכֶ֛ם מֹשֶׁ֥ה עֶֽבֶד־יְהוָ֖ה לֵאמֹ֑ר יְהוָ֤ה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם֙ מֵנִ֣יחַ לָכֶ֔ם וְנָתַ֥ן לָכֶ֖ם אֶת־הָאָ֥רֶץ הַזֹּֽאת
...
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Sefas Emes and your mission
Someone mentioned that the Sefas Emes quotes in the name of the Chiddushei HaRim on that Mishnah (Avos 1:14), אם אין אני לי מי לי, וכשאני לעצמי מה אני, ואם... The Sefas Emes says, Every yid has ...
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How does the content of the JPS English translation of Miqra'ot Gedolot differ from that of the Hebrew version?
Because I am not yet fluent in Hebrew I am excited to learn that JPS is publishing an English translation of Miqra'ot Gedolot. (So far they've done Sh'mot, Vayikra, and Bamidbar.) As noted in one of ...
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Why did Hashem confuse the tongues of the tower-builders, rather than set them at enmity with each other?
Shalom.
I have tonight been grappling with a challenge to emunah posed by historical linguistics - i.e. the fact that new languages develop naturally, through the separation, or the divisions between, ...
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Mefaresh on Nedarim - author [duplicate]
I have potential heard that the mefresh on nedarim is not Rashi. If so, who is the author? Is there a clear source that it is not Rashi?
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Why did Rashi deduce Keruvim faces look like human infants (כְּר֨וּב = כְּיֶּ֔לֶד)?
Rashi on Shemot 25:18
כרבים CHERUBIM — They had the form of a child’s face (Sukkah 5b) כרבים. דְּמוּת פַּרְצוּף תִּינוֹק לָהֶם
While no description of the Keruvim faces is given :
Shemot 25:18
"...
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Why do the last words in psalms 119:11 seem superfluous?
Psalms 119:11 in the Koren Jerusalem Tanakh appears (in English) to say:
"Thy word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against Thee".
I was ...
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How did we live in Goshen in our own houses while still being slaves?
Bereshit 47:27 states that the Israelites (or Hebrews) settled in Egypt in the region of Goshen.
It also say they got them possessions therein. From 45:10 it seems they also had their own flock.
...
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Different words for curse
I noticed in translation different words are being used to describe 'curse'
1. מארה - m'erah, curse
2. קללה - klalah, curse
3. ארר - arar, curse
4. אלה - alah, curse
5. קבב - kavav, curse... maybe ...
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Why couldn't man be alone, and what was the need for Ezer K'Negdo?
Genesis 2:18:
"וַיֹּאמֶר י"א, לֹא-טוֹב הֱיוֹת הָאָדָם לְבַדּוֹ; אֶעֱשֶׂה-לּוֹ עֵזֶר, כְּנֶגְדּוֹ..."
And Y"E said: 'It is not good that (the) man should be alone; I will make him ...
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Nation, people, kingdom?
What definitions fit the most with these words:
לאם/לאום (l'om)
עם (am)
גוי (goy)
ממלכה (mamlachah)
They are all refering to Israel and the other people in the world; but how do i understand them when ...
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What "end" was Yaakov prevented from revealing, and to what extent does S'forno disagree?
In B'reshis 49:1, Yaakov tells his sons:
Gather, and I'll tell you what will occur to you in the end of the days.
S'forno explains "in the end of the days":
at the end of the days, with the ...
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Who explains Aharon not deviating in this way?
In the beginning of Be'haaloscha, Rashi explains that Aharon lit the menorah in the same fashion each time. Which meforash elaborates on this pshat, explaining that he did it with the same vigor ...
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What does it mean to be a complete Tzaddik or an incomplete Tzaddik?
I was reading of Noach and there some disagreement on whether he was a complete Tzaddik or an incomplete Tzaddik. What does this mean? How is it determined?
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Ana Nafshi Ketivat Yehavit - G-d in the Torah
In the Talmud (Babylonian Talmud, Shabbat 105a), Rabbi Yochanan teaches that Anochi is an acronym for: “Ana Nafshi Ketivat Yehavit”.
This can be understood as that G-d Himself wrote and gave the Torah ...
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A voice is heard in Ramah
Jeremiah 31:15 teaches us that ‘A voice is heard in Ramah (could also be understood as ‘on high’)’, it seems to exist of lamenting and weeping (a mourning of some kind). And it’s connected to the ...
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Spiritual Boredom
Because of all the routines, standard prayers, repeating cycles etc, someone told me that going to the synagogue became quite boring for him. He still saw the value of those things, but he didn’t ...
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Prohibition to eat blood [closed]
Leviticus 7:26-27 teach us about the prohibition to eat blood, whether it be of fowl or of beast, in any of the dwellings.
So is one allowed to eat the blood of the fish?
Is one allowed to eat blood ...
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The darkness that came upon Avraham
At the brit bein habetarim (Bereshit 15:12) it is stated:
וַיְהִ֤י הַשֶּׁ֨מֶשׁ֙ לָב֔וֹא וְתַרְדֵּמָ֖ה נָֽפְלָ֣ה עַל־אַבְרָ֑ם וְהִנֵּ֥ה אֵימָ֛ה חֲשֵׁכָ֥ה גְדֹלָ֖ה נֹפֶ֥לֶת עָלָֽיו׃
And it came to pass,...
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Ps. 144:1 "Etzbe'otai l'milchama"?
Every motzaei Shabbat before ma'ariv, I have the custom to sing Tehillim 144 and Tehillim 67. However, the first passuk (verse) always confounds me:
לְדָוִד: בָּרוּךְ יְהוָה, צוּרִי-- ...
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How do we explain the criticism of Rashi by his grandsons?
Rabbi Shlomo Yitzhaki, better known today as Rashi, was easily the most prolific commentator on the Tanach and Talmud in history in the sense that he commentated on most of the Talmud and, I believe, ...
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English translation of Ibn Ezra's Torah commentary
I'm trying to look for a book with Ibn Ezra's commentary on the Torah, with both Hebrew, and English translations. However, I can't find one. Could anyone recommend a book which has this?
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What is the source of not to speak dvarim betelim
BH
What’s the source and meaning of not speaking dvarim Beteilim purposeless words?
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Summary of mefarshim in back of Gemara
Hey can anyone write a brief summary of some of the most used mefarshim in the back of the Oz VeHadar Gemara for example and maybe a fact on the nature of the commentary. for eg. the Ritva, is he ...
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The parallel of 6000 years and the six days of creation
I have read in the Yalkut Biurim-section of the Mesivta Gemara Sanhedrin (p. 98 of the Yalkut Biurim), that the six days of creation are intertwined with the teaching that the world will exist for ...
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Who comes and what will happen in Edom Bozrah?
Looking at Isaiah 63:1
Who is this coming from Edom? In crimsoned garments from Bozrah.
Who is this, majestic in attire, pressing forward in His great might?
“It is I, who contend victoriously, ...
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"Rambam In Context" Sefer
Is anyone aware of a Sefer which traces the psokim of the Rambam to their source in the Gemoro together with providing the necessary background and other varying halachic opinions? In other words a ...
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To pass אעביר (Exo 33:19), what does it mean?
Exodus 33:19 reads: " אני אעביר כל־טובי על־פניך ", I know it's often translated somewhat like this: "I will make all My goodness pass before thee (before thy face)", but I noticed it's root ע - ב - ר ...
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Facing the Tent of Meeting from the tents of the people?
Balaam saw that the tent openings of the Israelites do not face each other; rather each opening was behind the next one, so that no one would look in the house of his friend. (BT Bava Batra 60a)
I ...
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The I, the Self which makes us do things independent of G-d
I watched a video of R' Mendel Kessin (20:58-37:52) in which he talks about 4 levels of arrogance, and the concept of "yesh od milvado" presented by the Yetzer HaRah inside us. What he explains is ...
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Business models based on Torah
Are there any good writings/books/halacha/teachings on how to integrate values (or certain commandments) of the Torah into a Business?
A friend of mine talked about the way he integrated his own ...
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Tosfos Within the Same Mesechta
Are the comments of Tosfos in the same Mesechta generally considered to be aligned, meaning that, if there is an apparent contradiction, we try and look for a resolution?
How about Tosfos in ...
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Rabbi Dovid Tzvi Hoffmann: The tree of knowledge of good and evil and morallity
Rabbi Dovid Tzvi Hoffmann in his commentary to Bereishis 2:7 explains (thanks to AlHaTorah for making this available) that originally, it was the will of Hashem that man was going to learn knowledge ...
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Writing a commentary on Chumash using Microsoft Word
I am trying to write a commentary (in Hebrew) on Chumash. I would like to have a layout where the verses are at the top of the page, and the commentary underneath (adjusted for size based on how much ...
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The half shekel and atonement for the soul
In parashas Ki Sissa, G-d instructs Moshe to collect from all the people, half a shekel:
When thou dost take the sum of the children of Yisra᾽el after their
number, then shall they give every man a ...
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Comparisons between life in Eden and life in the wilderness
I'm looking for sources comparing the Israelites' life in the wilderness to life in Eden.
The Chassidic understanding of the sin of the m'raglim is that they wanted to continue their wholly spiritual ...
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Bar Enash; what, who(m) and why?
Daniel 7:13 uses the words k’bar enash, “like a human (being)”. It’s in Aramaic. I often hear that these words would be a translation for the Hebrew k’ben Adam. But because Aramaic and Hebrew are ...
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How was the non-Jewish city of Shushan "confounded"?
In Megillat Esther, 3:15, after the king sends out his edict, the text says וְהָעִ֥יר שׁוּשָׁ֖ן נָבֽוֹכָה, and the city of Shushan was confounded (or perturbed).
Clearly, the Jews were, but the non-...
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I will descend to Sodom and Amorah
In Genesis 18:21 G-d seems to say something like: I will descend now and see, whether according to her cry, which has come to Me, they have done.
Did He really descend right at that moment in time or ...
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Correct translation of Micah 5:1
1 Samuel 23:23 speaks of 'thousands of Yehudah', Micah 5:1 also speaks of 'thousands of Yehudah', but then I noticed Zechariah 12:5-6 which speaks of 'princes/leaders of Yehudah'. I know there are two ...
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Your name shall be 'Yisrael', but what does it mean and why so?
In relation to another question of mine I would like to know what the name Yisrael really means.
It literally says Ya'akov is now names Yisrael because he has struggled AND has overcome.
I heard ...
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Choshech, Anan v'Araphel? What does this mean?
I have a question regards Devarim 4:11 which in Hebrew reads: "עַד-לֵב הַשָּׁמַיִם חֹשֶׁךְ, עָנָן וַעֲרָפֶל". Transliteration reads the words 'choshech, anan and araphel'. It seems to me that there ...
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Ezekiel 37:27-28 My Mishkan v.s. My Mikdash
Ezekiel 37:27-28 reads something like:
My dwelling-place also shall be over them; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. And the nations shall know that I am the LORD that sanctify ...
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What are the 3 worlds of the Kli Yakar?
The Kli Yakar talks about 3 created worlds. What is he referring to?
Kli Yakar Bereshit 1:1:
ויש עוד דרך שלישי, אבל אין כל אדם יכול לעמוד עליו והוא להכיר מציאת השם ית' מתוך החקירה וידיעת כל הנמצאים ...
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Mishlei Proverbs 16:4
I found some different translations of Mishlei 16:4. On the chabad.org website it is translated as:
'The Lord made everything for His praise - even the wicked man for the
day of evil'
While the ...
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Intellect above heart; the way to beat the Yetzer hara?
Before I ask my question I would like to present a couple of teachings from the chabad website which have to do with my question:
Looking at the sefirot there is this general accepted twofold ...
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The time periods of the Acharit HaYamim?
Could someone please explain me the concepts of the following terms?
What do the different periods in time refer to and stand for?
- Olam Hazeh
(Acharit HaYamim)
- Olam Haba
- Yemot HaMashiach
- ...
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Is there a "peshat"-style commentary on Chaim Vital's Etz Chayim?
Does there exist a commentary that explains the basic (if it weren't kabbalah i would say "peshat") of Chaim Vital's Etz Chayim (as opposed to a commentary "al derech ha-derush" which expands or ...
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