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.
63 questions from the last 365 days
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Why do the Sages often believe that the word רוב mean "majority," when it clearly means "a lot"?
It seems clear that the word רוב in biblical Hebrew means "a large amount." For example, Bereshit 48:16
וְיִדְגּוּ לָרֹב בְּקֶרֶב הָאָרֶץ may they teem into multitudes in the midst of the ...
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Origin of the Conservation of Biblical Personalities principle
There is a discussion on this site which is defined by a principle of Conservation of Biblical Personalities, when the midrash or aggadeta would quote various persons under the same name. Rabbi Tzvi-...
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The four descriptions of the world as a reference to the four galuyos
The Torah recounts the state of the world just after G-d created heaven and earth (Bereishis 1:2):
And the earth was without form and void; and darkness was on the face
of the deep. And a wind from G-...
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Biographies of the Matriarchs
I am looking for a biography of Sarah Immenu, Rivka Immenu, Rachel Immenu and Leah Immenu. I want to give a Drasha dedicated to Sarah next week, an obituary, if you will, and then I might do the same ...
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Akhenaten, Monotheism, King Paro, and Midrashim
Background and Reason I am Asking
I would like to know if there is any reason to believe, or disbelieve, that Akhenaten might have been the Pharaoh that faced the plagues. According to the Midrash, he ...
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Where to find good English translations of Jewish Texts like Yalkut Shimoni?
I’m interested in gaining access to Jewish texts like the Yalkut Shimoni. I’ve seen interesting excerpts translated, like 499 concerning the light of creation being the soul of the Messiah and I’d ...
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Who are the lulav and the hadasim?
There is a popular midrash that the four species on Sukkos represent four kinds of people. I usually see it in the form where the smell corresponds to mitzvos and the taste corresponds to Torah ...
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Where do we learn out that Nimrod tried to make himself into a deity?
I've always vaguely remembered the conventional story of Nimrod declaring himself a god and Avraham challenging him to change the course of the sun, etc. But after doing some active digging, it seems ...
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Where does the Medrash quote the Torah differently from the masoretic text?
The Wikipedia page on Midrash says as follows:
Although this material treats the biblical texts as the authoritative word of God, it is clear that not all of the Hebrew Bible was fixed in its wording ...
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How did Amram marry Yocheved, his aunt? [duplicate]
The Gemara Bava Batra 17a, lists Amram as one of the four people who never sinned. However, he married his aunt, which is forbidden in Vayikra 18:12.
If you are going to say that because it was before ...
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Are there Rabbinical commentaries on the symbolism of the altar fire revived by Nehemiah?
I gather that 2 Maccabees is outside the canon, but surely Rabbinical commentators were aware of it. With the goal of parsing out some of the symbolism seen in the following verses 1:23-28 (...
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What does Bereshit Rabbah mean when it says the Scriptures spoke untruths?
As far as I can tell Bereshit Rabbah 48:18 says that G-d actually repeated everything Sarah said to Abraham including that he was old, but the Torah falsely says that G-d only told Abraham that Sarah ...
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Looking for the source of a drasha
In the book “Between Cross and Crescent” the author cites a midrash which apparently says: “God revealed himself in four languages: Hebrew, Latin, Arabic and Aramaic”
apparently in reference to v'Zot ...
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Where does it say that Abraham rescues all Neshamos from gehinom?
I heard from a sephardic guy that Abraham rescues all Neshamos from gehinom. There is a caveat that he doesn't help those who sleep with a gentile woman. Does anyone know the source?
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What are the four names of Jesse?
Jesse was called by four names.
In Midrash Tanchuma, Ki Tisa 13 he is named as one of only 7 men who had multiple names.
But the text doesn't elaborate on Jesse. Are the four names explained anywhere ...
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Egyptian priests as closet monotheists, and Joseph’s Pharaoh as a Canaanite?
An exceptionally rare 1936 book by Rev Dr Izak Goller, called First Chapter, includes the following:
A powerful shepherd king of Canaan had invaded and conquered Egypt,
and one of his descendants ...
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Was the concept "Arich Anpin" was influenced by Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer 3:12 and Midrash Tanchuma Pekudei 3:16?
Was the concept "Arich Anpin" (Keter,Hokhmah,Binah) was influenced by Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer 3:12 and Midrash Tanchuma Pekudei 3:16?
Pirke DeRabbi Eliezer 3:12 - There (in the north) is the ...
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The term "divine presence" and "divine spirit" were used interchangeably?
Babylonian Talmud Sotah 11a:5 and Shemot Rabbah 1:28 depicts same scenery where divine wisdom in mishley is identified with Divine Presence. But in Babylonian Talmud Sotah 11a:5, it is written: "...
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Who threw the plate in that made the Egel Zahav עֵגֶל זָּהָב come out?
Yehuda haKohen relays:
The Hebrew worldview associates Yosef with cattle. In Moshe’s brakhot
to the different tribes at the end of Sefer D’varim, we see Yosef
likened to a shor – a bull. Our Sages ...
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Seeking Midrash that says that Moshe cannot enter the land because he killed the Mitzri
On 'rav lach' Hashem tells Moshe he cannot enter the land because he killed the Mitzri. Moshe responds that Hashem killed many Mitzrim. Hashem responds asking Moshe if he knows the ways of God (or ...
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Relationship between the imagery of Messiah in Targum Jerusalem Exodus 12:42 and Pirkei De Rabbi Eliezer 30:13
In Targum Jerusalem Exodus 12:42 the Messiah is depicted as coming from midst of Rome. And Pirkei De Rabbi Eliezer 30:13 portrays Messiah as coming from Edom (Isaiah 63:1). Was the imagery of Messiah ...
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Is the term "Memra" (Word) in the Targum Jerusalem Deuteronomy 24:7 connected with Avot De Rabbi Natan 34:9 and Sefer Yetzirah 1:9?
Targum Jerusalem Deuteronomy 26:17 goes like this:
"You have chosen the Word of the Lord to be king over You this day, that he may be your God."
Does this unique concept called "Word&...
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Relation between Midrash Genesis Rabbah 51 and Targum Jerusalem Genesis 18:17 [closed]
In Bereshit Rabbah 51 on Genesis 19:24 is found a very profound principle - whenever in the scripture is found "And the Lord, And the eternal" that means Hashem and his celestial court of ...
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What is the Chaya?
The medresh (Bereshit Rabba 14:9 - see full passage, as well as related Midrash Devarim Rabba 2:37; see also Zohar I 206a-207b, for example) records that the soul is composed of 5 levels:
ואהבת את ה' ...
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Archeological, geological and astronomical correlations to the flood of Noah
In reviewing tractate Rosh HaShanah 12a in connection with the rules regarding determining halacha between Rabbi Yehosuah and Rabbi Eliezer, I stumbled across an interesting detail concerning them.
It ...
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Did Avraham derive and keep the oral and written torah some how on his own before the yeshiva of Noach or only after?
BH
Hi in this text from sefaria it says that Avrahma even observed the mitzva of eruv tavshilin and even the whole Oral Torah...
the Gemara cites that Rav said: Abraham our Patriarch fulfilled the ...
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Kiddush levana vs women [duplicate]
There seems to be a connection between the first sin related to Chava and Kiddush Levana. Perhaps this comnection is the reason Ashkenazi women avoid saying Kiddush Levana. I appreciate anything to ...
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Source for Secret Signs that Yaakov gave Rachel [closed]
I heard some time ago that Kaf haChaim or some other author suggests that the secret signs that Yaakov gave Rachel were the places of the body, where later the kohanim had oil and blood applied during ...
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Midrashim that explore the exact meaning of "tov" in Genesis 1?
It's no secret that "good," in English as well as in Hebrew, is rather polysemous: on the one hand, it can mark the degree to which a given thing satisfies its purpose or relevant ideal (as ...
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All 3 forefathers called "Yisroel"?
B"H
I heard that there's a midrash that says that all 3 of the forefathers, Avraham, Yitzhak and Yaakov were all called Yisroel.
Is this true? If so where is it found?
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Looking for source re: David HaMelech and Circus/Theater
I'm looking for a source about David HaMelech using the 'excuse' of going to the circus/theater as a rebuff to his yetzer hara querying him why he rises at midnight.
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Per the Midrash - how can Hashem make it rain on Shabbat
Per the midrash quoted in this answer, Hashem keeps all commandments, if so how does the midrash explain why Hashem makes it rain on Shabbat wouldn't that be a Zoreia - Sowing
See Rambam Hilchot ...
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Uttering the name of God to kill people
According to the Midrash Tanchuma (see also see also Shemot Rabbah 1:29, Yalkut Shimoni 167 and Yalkut Reuveni: Parashat Shemot), Moshe killed the Egyptian (Exodus 2:11-12) by uttering a particularly ...
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Why did the nations reject the Torah if they were obligated regardless as bnei noach?
There's a well known midrash that HaShem went around offering the Torah to other nations prior to offering it to Israel, with the nations rejecting it for various reasons (restrictions on theft, ...
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Theodical arguments from Bereshit Rabbah 69:5 - why are they rarely if ever used?
According to Bereshit Rabbah 69:5, Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaacov prayed for aging, suffering and sickness, and before this, these conditions did not exist in the human experience.
The reasons are given ...
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What were David's reasons for writing Psalms?
BH
What were David's reasons for writing the Book of Psalms?
Are they in chronological order to the events that happened in his life?
Did he write some of the psalms as the event was happening?
- 1,527
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Pharaoh made himself according to "Ezekiel 29:3"?
Ezekiel 29:3
Speak these words:
Thus said the Sovereign GOD:
I am going to deal with you, O Pharaoh king of Egypt,
Mighty monster, sprawling in your channels,
Who said,
My Nile is my own;
I made it [...
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Why Pharaoh of Exodus, in Ezekiel 29:3?
Ezekiel 29:3:
"Speak these words:
Thus said the Sovereign GOD:
I am going to deal with you, O Pharaoh king of Egypt,
Mighty monster, sprawling in your channels,
Who said,
My Nile is my own;
I ...
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Was Deuteronomy 18:15, interpreted messianically in Judaism?
Deuteronomy 18:15 “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brethren—him you shall heed— 16 just as you desired of the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of ...
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Midrash about our "age" in Olam Haba
I once heard that there is a midrash that states in Olam Haba, we start each day as children, then the next quarter we are adolescent, then adult, then old age, so that we can enjoy the goodness of ...
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1000th generation, and creating the world out of Rachamim
I recently saw in a (Chassidic) sefer that the concept of "Hashem intended to make the world out of justice, but saw that it wouldn't last, so made it out of mercy" (Rashi on Bereshit) means ...
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What is the connection between Hashem's battle with the dragon and creation in Tehilim Chapter 74?
Tehilim 74:13-17 recounts a series of victories of Hashem. The first couplet documents victories in battle against both the tanin and the Leviathan:
אַתָּ֤ה פוֹרַ֣רְתָּ בְעׇזְּךָ֣ יָ֑ם שִׁבַּ֖רְתָּ ...
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4
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What does the Vav in Eliyahu represent?
There is a famous Midrash that Yaakov took a Vav from Eliyahu. This is why their names are spelled
אליה & יעקוב
They say it has to do with the announcements.
What did he take?
I.e. what כח was in ...
user15294
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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 ...
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Interpreting and accepting contemporary reports of fantastic events
Are there any contemporary sources that discuss how to approach reports or stories in circulation among the Jewish public that stretch credulity? Is it incumbent upon us to find meaning in them?
I am ...
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Justice and the idea that God seeks the pursued
In a recent question, the OP sought a source for the idea that God "always sides with the pursued, regardless of merit" and the accepted answer came from Leviticus Rabbah 27:5:
וְהָאֱלֹהִים ...
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Where does it say it’s not about the job but rather it’s the merits?
BH
I heard that it's not about the Job or certain profession that you have rather it's your merits that actually bring you your parnasa if this is an accurate statement according to the Talmud what is ...
- 1,527
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Yonah and Leviathan midrash
Anyone know the source for some midrash about when Yonah is in the mouth of the fish and then they go to the Leviathan and Yonah shows him his bris and he runs away?
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Nevi'im written before they happened
In parshas Nasso Rashi brings a medrash to explain the verse:
Numbers 7:23:
וּלְזֶ֣בַח הַשְּׁלָמִים֘ בָּקָ֣ר שְׁנַ֒יִם֒ אֵילִ֤ם חֲמִשָּׁה֙ עַתֻּדִ֣ים חֲמִשָּׁ֔ה כְּבָשִׂ֥ים בְּנֵֽי־שָׁנָ֖ה חֲמִשָּׁ֑ה ...
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Reference to an automated nachash who goes to the market for you?
I’m searching for a reference to the place in the Gemara which talks about there being, in the messianic era, some kind of helper which I think is the nachash which goes to the store and the ...
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