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.
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Eretz Yisroel as G-ds palace
Based on this answer, I was looking for sources that describe Eretz Yisroel as the "palace of G-d".
Are there any sources that describe Eretz Yisroel as such? As "Palace of the King&...
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Source for Bloody Fruits Story
Recall reading a story when I was younger, pretty sure in a kid's book of Midrash/Aggadah, like Our Sages Showed The Way.
Trying to find the original source, could be have some details wrong.
Someone ...
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Deeper meaning of Bat Shlomo midrash
Do any commentaries elucidate any deeper meaning into the story of Bat Shlomo in the tower (found here: The Medrash About Shlomo HaMelech's Daughter )
Obviously the Pashut message is that Gd runs ...
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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 ...
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Being MeChadesh Torah saves lives
HaRav Shaul Alter shlit"a, when he was at the Beis Medrash of Lakewood Commons in Lakewood earlier this month, he delivered a Divrei Chizuk (Words of Strength) on the war and quoted the Midrash ...
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Where can I find this text from Midrash Tanhuma?
Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo discusses Jesus association with Balaam and offers the following text from the uncensored Midrash Tanhumah :
“Bilaam foresaw that a man born from a woman would arise and ...
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Feast of achashverosh connected to failed 70 year prophecy
What is the source where it actually mentions that one of the reasons for the feast of Achashverosh was celebrating the "failed" prophecy of Yirmiyahu?
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attack against Persia (Iran) in the Acharis HaYomim
I saw a midrash that says that Edom (Europe, US?) will join forces with Arabia; together they
will attack Malchus Poras (Persia, Iran).After they defeat her, they will in turn attack
Yisrael, leading ...
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What is HaAshmurah HaRishona in the Mishnah
BH
What is HaAshmura HaRishonah?
Someone told me it is just a division in the night while someone else told me that it is referring to the Leviim guarding in the temple which ever it is does it speak ...
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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?
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What’s the deal with צרויה?
Found out recently that צרויה as in (Yoav Ben Tzruyah) was actually Yoav’s mom and not his father. Why is Yoav constantly referred to as the son of his mother, when the Tanach norm is to use their ...
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Is the aleph bet of Ben sira canonical? [closed]
Is אלפא ביתא אחרת לבן סירא (excluding the passages brought in the gemara) in the sefer אוצר מדרשים part of the jewish mesorah?
Specifically this passage:
כתיב עושה גדולות עד אין חקר ונפלאות עד אין ...
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Medrash about Adam originally not having fingers
I'm looking for the medrash that says that Adam (or another hunanoid creation) originally didn't have fingers but had spoon like appendages instead.
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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 ...
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How can a name exist before anything was Created
BH
I heard “before the world was created it was the Holy one blessed be He and His Great Name alone”
עד שלא נברא העולם, היה הקדוש ברוך הוא ושמו הגדול בלבד
Source
How can a name exist before ...
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Why was Adam created age 20? [duplicate]
The Midrash says Adam and Chava were created age 20.
Why so? Looking mainly for an answer as to why they weren't made babies and raised like we are (rather than asking what's special about 20?).
Happy ...
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Difference between aggadah in gemara and midrash
Much of the non-halachic aggadah quoted in the gemara overlaps with aggadah from the midrash such as midrash tanchuma or midrash rabbah and others. Yet there are some aggadah that are only found in ...
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Solomon and Nebuchadnezzar
In 1 Kings 10:13, Rashi says there that:
He cohabited with her and Nebuchadnezzar was born to her. He later destroyed the Temple that had stood 410 years in the territory of the twelve tribes. From ...
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Did Queen Vashti have a child?
Usually, the reason for Queen Vashti's punishment (leprosy or the growth of a tail) is related to the prophecy about the extinction of the Babylonian royal line.
Rav said: “Everything God promised [to ...
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Preserving the planet - Is damage irreversible according to this midrash?
The medrash in kohelet rabah 7:13
says to not destroy the planet on grounds that there's no one who will be able to repair the damages.
Is this an endorsement for Jews to be concerned with climate ...
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Losing 1/500th of your eyesight
The Gemara in Taanit says that when you take large strides, you lose 1/500th of your eyesight, and commentaries bring down that the remedy for this each week is to look at the Shabbos Candles when ...
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Midrash that Paul changed sabbath to sunday [duplicate]
I have heard a few times that there is a midrash (or other rabbinic source) that Paul, as some kind of "undercover pharisee" type situation, deliberately changed the sabbath to sunday in the ...
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Skills of the Shevatim
I recently read this story - 'Warrior Prophets' by Ben Tzion: https://ben-tzion.com/warrior-prophets/#:~:text=A%20Biblical%20Fiction%20Novel%20based,chaos%20sweeping%20the%20ancient%20world.
(Highly ...
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Moshe vs Eliyah
Torah says that there is no prophet like him and will never come a prophet like him. We know that Eliyah HaNavi will reveal the secrets of Torah which Moshe also didn't know, so then will Eliyah ...
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Any case of midrash contradicting Tanakh?
I believe that most Midrash stories were used for homiletic lessons that shouldn't be taken literally and according to some writers, midrash has some contradictory statements and opinions about the ...
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Meaning of this midrash
The Gemara says:
Rabba bar bar Chana recounted: "One time, we were traveling by ship, and we saw a giant fish with a type of parasite (kilbis) in its nostrils. The sea cast the fish ashore, and ...
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Meaning / Significance of the Ring on planet Saturn
Shabbos and the planet Saturn are linked. I was wondering if anyone has a source for the ring(s) on the planet Saturn being a wedding between the Jews / Shabbos / Hashem? I heard this idea before but ...
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Source for Ancient Prohibition against Writing Prayers?
This short article on the History of the Siddur claims:
In ancient times, customary daily prayers were recited by heart, or a
reader prayed aloud and the congregation responded to the blessings
with “...
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The curse of King Darius
In sefer Ezra 6:11 it tells us that King Darius decreed that anyone who attempted to disrupt the resumed construction of the beis hamikdash would have a beam removed from their home and they would be ...
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What’s the source for this midrash about Pharaoh?
R.Louis Ginzberg wrote in his book, Legends of the Jews 3:1:28-71
(40) ..... and I sent Moses and Aaron, My faithful messengers, to Pharaoh. When they came before the king of Egypt, they spake to him, ...
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What is Midrash Panim Acheirim and Midrash Abba Gourion?
What exactly are these midrashic texts as well as who was the author and when was it put together?
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G-d traveling 18,000 worlds
What’s the deeper meaning behind this midrash in Avodah Zara 3b:
ובליליא מאי עביד איבעית אימא מעין יממא ואיבעית אימא רוכב על כרוב קל
שלו ושט בשמונה עשר אלף עולמות שנאמר (תהלים סח, יח) רכב אלהים ...
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Men's response to women's teshuka - source and explanations
I am looking for what I thought was a gemara I learned a long time ago somewhere in moed but can't find now (I am still fairly sure it is there but it might very well not be). It effectively stated ...
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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. ...
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What happened during Matan Torah and when?
The Rebbe suggested that HaShem was pleased when He came to give them the Torah and saw everyone still sleeping in the early morning. Other sources indicated G-d's wrath: how dare Israelites make G-d ...
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Looking for a midrash concerning aveirot that increase suspicions of oneself in others
Shalom.
I asked this question a few days ago, and quickly deleted it when I realised it was Yom Tov (I am a Noachide). I tried reinstating the question just now, but noticed that it did not go to the ...
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Torah only given to share with others?
Where do Chazal say that Hashem gave the Torah to Klal Yisroel not for ourselves as individuals to learn rather to understand and give over to others?
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Is there a story where the sages taught that Cain was the son of the Satan
Do the sages teach that Cain came from the union from Eve and The Satan?
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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, ...
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What’s the source for this midrash?
This article cites a midrash about David's death that I've heard a few times:
The Last Day Of David HaMelech
Basically the angel of death kills him in the split second he’s not learning Torah because ...
- 1,782
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Who is Rabbi Koryah?
I have been reading up on Midrash Rabbah Bereshit 19:3 concerning Adam's location whilst Chava is speaking to the snake.
When it says that Adam had previously had sex with Chava and was now sleeping, ...
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Sandalphon and Azrael are the same archangels who gave the Torah to Moses?
I was hoping you guys could help me out with something. Recently, I heard a rabbi discussing the Kabbalah meaning of Moses receiving the Torah from Sandalphone. During the talk, the rabbi mentioned ...
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What does it mean when you read a certain Rabbi said in the name of another Rabbi?
I'm a Roman Catholic wading through the Midrash of Tehillim. What does it mean when you read a certain Rabbi said in the name of another Rabbi?
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Hashem wrapped Himself in Light
Midrash Tanchuma Vayachel 6:
שָׁאַל רַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן בֶּן יְהוֹצָדָק אֶת רַבִּי שְׁמוּאֵל בַּר
נַחְמָן. אָמַר לוֹ: אַתָּה בַּעַל הַגָּדָה, אֱמֹר לִי הֵיאַךְ בָּרָא
הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא אֶת ...
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3 Moshiachs in Midrash Rabbah?
We all know, that besides for the main Moshiach - Moshiach Ben Dovid (from Yehudah), who will fight Hashem’s wars, gather the scattered Jews and build the Beis Hamikdosh - there is another Moshiach - ...
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Hashem lamenting to Adam after he hid: "you used to delight talking to Me" - Source?
*During learning recently I stumbled across a beautiful passage (most likely a midrash) where Hashem was crying about how He missed is surprised how Adam would delight in talking to Him, but now he is ...
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Midrash Tanchuma. Shoftim 12: Colour, or host? What's the explanation?
דָּבָר אַחֵר, כִּי הַגּוֹיִם הָאֵלֶּה אֲשֶׁר אַתָּה יוֹרֵשׁ אוֹתָם אֶל מְעֹנֲנִים וְאֶל קֹסְמִים יִשְׁמָעוּ. אָמַר יִרְמְיָה הַנָּבִיא, כִּדְנָה תֵּימְרוּן לְהוֹם וְגוֹ' (ירמיה י, יא). אָמַר רַבִּי ...
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"land of the Chaldeans" or “fire of the Chaldeans.”?
According to midrash Pirkei De Rabbi Eliezer.26.2
"The second trial was when he was put into prison for ten years—three years in Kuthi, seven years in Budri. After ten years they sent and brought ...
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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 ...
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The Luz Bone has the size of a kernel of barley?
It is said:
The Midrash in Bereishit Raba describes this bone as a minuscule bone
from the spine, about the size of a single barley grain, and almost
cubic in shape.
See also this article on ...
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