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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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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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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Halachic extension of the Giving of the Torah and marriage analogy [duplicate]
The sages frequently liken the Giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai to a chuppah (wedding ceremony), where Hashem is symbolized by the chosson (groom) and the Knesses Yisroel is symbolized by the kallah ...
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Haman's gallows originating from Noach's ark
There is an interesting Yalkut Shimoni, remez 256 (on parshas Beshalach) where it details that when Haman was searching for a large enough beam of wood with which to make the gallows - he ended up ...
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Was Vashti Evil?
Is there any basis within the text of the Megillah itself to lend credence to the common Midrashic theme that Vasti was evil?
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How did Rivka get married when she was three years old?
What does the Medrash mean when it tells us that Rivka was three years old when she married Yitzchok? Is that meant in a literal sense? If so, how is this to be explained in a rational way?
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Who was/were the leaders during the Asarah Harugei Malchus?
I know that the Asarah Harugei Malchus took place over generations. Nonetheless, who is recognized as being the original antagonist? Who is the one who went to Chazal about the claim about Yosef's ...
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What is the exact meaning of "ha Elohim" in Genesis 22:1?
In Genesis 22: 1 we read:
"And it came to pass after these things, that ha Elohim tested Abraham, and He said to him, "Abraham," and he said, "Here I am."
I see that the ...
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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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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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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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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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Explanations from חז״ל for Noah's ark?
Today, a very learned friend of mine and I were discussing the difficulty of the literal interpretation of Noah's ark. That is, we could not fathom how multiple samples of every animal on earth could ...
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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 is meant by the 974 "worlds" that were "created and destroyed"?
Midrash Tehillim 90:13 says that God created and destroyed 974 worlds before this one. What exactly does that mean?
I've heard it used in defense of a modern understanding of evolution and cosmology ...
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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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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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Anyone who says these people sinned is mistaken. For real?
The Gemara (Talmud Bavli Shabbos 55b-56b) relates that several Biblical figures who, from the text itself, seemed to have sinned, in reality did not. These statements take the form of "כל האומר פלוני ...
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If there were people before/during Avraham's life that recognised Hashem, why was Avraham chosen specifically?
We know that Shem lived during the life of Avraham Avinu, described as Malki Tzedek.
Why is Avraham considered the first to spread ethical monotheism (concluding in G-d choosing him) if it's known ...
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How do I know if a midrash is accepted?
I have found many different types of midrashic works. Some are, as far as I can tell, accepted as being authoritative. Meaning they were written (compiled?) by the sages in roughly the Talmudic era. ...
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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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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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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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Where is the midrash of Tobit?
A summarized account of the Apocryphal work Tobit (Tuvia in Hebrew) is supposed to appear in Bereishit Rabbah. (Source: Wikipedia) I have read that the midrashic account is connected to Jacob's vow (...
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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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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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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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How did Vashti grow a tail?
מגילה דף יב (Megillah 12b) gives two reasons as to why Vashti did not go to Achashveirosh when he requested her to the party:
a) Vashti had Tzarat (a metaphysical skin affliction)
b) גבריאל (the ...
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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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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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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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Why pray for Y'hoshua and not Kalev?
Rashi to Sh'lach 13:16 notes that Moshe prayed that God save Y'hoshua from the other spies' plot. This is a paraphrase of a g'mara (Sotah 34b) which implies strongly that Moshe did not similarly pray ...
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