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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Why does Mordechai agree to put on the king's clothing?
From the Megillah, we read that Mordechai put on sack-cloth and ashes upon hearing of Haman's decree. Esther, alarmed to see her cousin in such a state, sends him fine clothes to put on, but he ...
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Midrash talpiyot in english on the web?
I am looking for an English version of Midrash talpiyot. But the best I could do was just view these versions https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/011261779. The version with more pages (and I ...
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Does the Midrash show any examples of adjectives attached to Rabbi when addressing a Rabbi?
Are there any historic examples, such as in the Midrash, that show someone addressing a Rabbi with an adjective such as
רַבִּי הַטּוֹב?
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Beresheet 5:24 - What happened to Enokh?
In this genealogical chapter, in the portion enumerating the lineage from Metushelakh to Noakh, everyone gets an "and he died" except for Enokh, who gets an "and he was no longer, for ...
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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:
"...
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Who are the Sinnites? [duplicate]
In Modern Hebrew, china is refered to as סין(Sin). There are three mentions of סין throughout tanach:
ויסעו מאלים ויבאו כל עדת בני ישראל אל מדבר סין אשר בין אילים ובין
סיני, בחמשה עשר יום לחדש השני ...
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What became of Moshe's staff?
Tradition teaches us that the staff used by Moshe was created on the sixth day (source: Pirkei Avot 5:6) and was given to Adam, then to Noach, then to Avraham and so on. After Moshe's death, what ...
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People born circumcised?
In this discussion, it's stated: "There is a minor tractate in the Talmud called Brit Millah which lists all the people born circumcised."
Can anyone point me towards a copy of this tractate ...
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Did Yakov ever find out the truth about the sale of Yosef?
Curious why the Torah never mentions anything about Yaakov inquiring as to what actually happened to Joseph and how he got to Egypt. Is there any scriptural basis to suggest he became aware of the ...
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Does a person’s soul see through the navel when the person passes away (Ben Ish Hai)
I was studying with someone earlier today and he mentioned that he once read in the Sefer Ben Ish Hai that when a person passes away, his soul can ‘see’ (I don’t really know what that means) through ...
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Sources in the Talmud Aggaditah and/or Midrashim on Samal and Lilit?
I know that there are sources in the Gemara Aggaditah on Samal and Lilit (לילית & ס"מ) as well as in the Zohar. I have seen her mentioned in Shabbat, Eruvin, and Niddah. Still, not a clear ...
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Source for the work on the mishkan being completed on Kislev 25
In the Pesikta Rabbati, we find a midrash that claims that the work on the mishkan was completed on the 25th of Kislev, even though it wasn't erected until Nisan.
אמר רבי חנינא בעשרים וחמשה בכסליו ...
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Looking for Avot deRabbi Natan B ch 9 & 42 *in English*
I'm translating an essay from French into English, and the author references Avot deRabbi Nathan version B twice. One quote is from chapter 9. The other is cited as being from chapter 42 and ...
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Why wait to get water in the Z'chut of Miriam?
After they left Egypt the Children of Israel crossed the Reed Sea and needed water. They got to Marah after 3 days (at which there were bitter waters) and complained as mentioned in Sh'mot 15:23. ...
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Why does Ruth Rabbah 5:6 quote Isaiah 53:5?
It seems that most meforshim (like Rashi, Radak, Ibn Ezra, Mahari Kara, Malbim) explain Isaiah 53 as referring to Klal Yisroel (or at least the righteous remnant of Klal Yisroel) and not the Moshiach. ...
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What is תַרְדֵּמַת מַרְמִיטָה?
Following on from my answer here
What is the third type of תרדמה - i.e. "תַרְדֵּמַת מַרְמִיטָה", that the Midrash in Bereishis Rabbah 17:5 is explaining:
רַב אָמַר שָׁלשׁ תַּרְדֵמוֹת הֵן, ...
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ציורים ממתנות כהונה לא, יא Page in Midrash Rabbah
I found a page at the back of Midrash Rabbah with that title and rows of boxes. Does anyone know what it is?
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Hatzlelponi and Tzelelponit
In Bamidbar Rabbah 10:5 it says that Shimshon's mother was called Hatzlelponi:
"אִמֵּיהּ דְּשִׁמְשׁוֹן הַצְלֶלְפּוֹנִי שְׁמָהּ, וְהִיא מְיֻחֶסֶת עַל שֵׁבֶט יְהוּדָה, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (דברי הימים א ד, ...
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Do any Jewish sources give a non-literal interpretation of the census in Bamidbar?
Are there any classical commentators that state that "elef" didn't literally mean 1 thousand, or something else to that effect, that would result in a smaller number? I am reading Ani Maamin ...
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How to explain Bereishis Rabbah 55:7 to a Noahide? [closed]
There it is stated about the umos haoilom that Hashem will send them to gehinom and was asked by a Noahide why are they sent to gehinom.
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The Medrash About Shlomo HaMelech's Daughter
The Medrash in Parsha Ki Sisa says the following story:
Shlomo HaMelech had a beautiful and wise daughter. As she got older,
he sought a husband for her. Astrologers advised the king that she was
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What happened to the male Leviathan?
According to tradition (see Rashi to bereishis 1:21), Hashem created a male and female Leviathan, but then He killed the female and salted it for the righteous. What happened to the male? Did it die ...
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Were all the Jews enslaved in Egypt?
According to this Midrash there were Jews and
They had favored positions among the Egyptians and could not dream of giving up their wealth. Therefore, they died in the plague of darkness.
(...
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Is there a midrash that says all of the water in the world split at the time of the splitting of the reed sea?
Is there a midrash that states that all the bodies of water split during the splitting of the reed sea? If yes, I would think that such an event would be recorded in some secular history book? Are ...
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What's the explanation of this Yalkut (if there is any)?
I was reading this article and in the first sentence it references a Yalkut Shimoni that states that "Jael, Hagar, Asenath, Zipporah, Shiphrah, Puah, the daughter of Pharaoh, Rahab and Ruth were among ...
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Moshe's mussar of bnei reuven and bnei gad - medrash source
I was wondering if the oilam could please help me find the specific source in the medrash...
I read from Rabbi Yissochor Frand shlita (here) how Moshe criticised the Bnei Reuven and Gad after they ...
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English Exodus Rabbah
Is anyone aware of a full text of Shemos Rabbah in English available online? Sefaria has bits and pieces, but I'd like the full thing.
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How does one calculate from pesach to the keriat yam suf?
Quote“We are all familiar with the historical reason for celebrating the ‘seventh day of Passover’ – for (according to the Midrash) the miracle of the splitting of the Red Sea took place seven days ...
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Rav S.R. Hirsch and fairy tales
There's a famous criticism Rav Hirsch had about fairy tales- I think he was responding to the Grimm Brothers specifically.
He says that reading such stories are very bad chinuch, since it affects our ...
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Are there any Midrashim where Yitzchak was actually sacrificed by Avraham?
Are there any Midrashim where Yitzchak was actually sacrificed by Avraham?
https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/1136172-gen-22-11-16a-the-story-of-the-near-sacrifice-of-isaac-is
"a later midrashic ...
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Looking for midrash source
A couple of years ago I heard a vort based on a midrash. The midrash apparently stated that when Yisrael were enslaved in Egypt, the Egyptians made them work very hard at building magnificent ...
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What is the source that says David wrote Psalms / Tehillim while hiding from Saul
I'm trying to find the source of the common tradition that David wrote at least part of Tehillim while on the run from Shaul, but I can't find any sources. Does anyone here know of a source for this ...
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Greeting the old
Could someone help me understand the meaning behind this saying from Midrash Tanchuma (Ki Tisa 27):
המקבל פני זקן כאלו מקבל פני שכינהWhoever greets the old - it is as if they greet the Divine ...
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Guard the Matzos/Mitzvos
There is a frequently cited midrash that we read "Guard the Matzos" as "Guard the Mitzvos". I see this cited all over the internet, but no one seems to give the exact source. Could someone let me know ...
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What is the meaning of Psalms 118:5?
מִן־הַ֖מֵּצַֽר קָרָ֣אתִי יָּ֑הּ עָ֜נָ֗נִי בַּמֶּרְחָ֣ב יָֽהּ
From the straits I called God; God answered me with a vast expanse.
I put הַ֖מֵּצַֽר into a contemporary Hebrew dictionary and it does ...
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If a husband intentionally warns his wife knowing that she will not sin, does she drink?
Berachos 31b:
״אִם רָאֹה תִרְאֶה״, אָמַר רַבִּי אֶלְעָזָר: אָמְרָה חַנָּה לִפְנֵי הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא: רִבּוֹנוֹ שֶׁל עוֹלָם, ״אִם רָאֹה״ — מוּטָב, וְאִם לָאו — ״תִּרְאֶה״ אֵלֵךְ וְאֶסְתַּתֵּר ...
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What inspired Pharaoh's daughter to convert?
The Midrash Mishlei (31:5) writes
"ותקם בעוד לילה" - זו בתיה בת פרעה, גויה היתה ונעשית יהודיה, והזכירו
שמה בין הכשרות, בשביל שעסקה במשה, לפיכך זכתה ונכנסה בחייה לגן עדן - She rises while it'...
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Who First Knew of the Messiah
In Parashah Shemot 4:13, Moses says to G-d, "Send, I pray You, by the hand of whom You will send." On p. 77 of Rabbi M. Schneerson's book "Torah Studies" he explains that midrash (Lekach Tov) ...
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Berachot 3a - Verb choices regarding Temple destruction
Pesikta Rabasi (28 mid.) suggests that there are two aspects of the Temple. An upper [spiritual] one and a lower [physical] one.
אחריבנו אמר רבי תחליפא בר קרויה באותה שעה נכנסו כל מלאכי השרת ועמדו ...
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Why would the Jewish sages, in Talmud Sanhedrin 98b, link the name of the Messiah to Isaiah 53:4?
Why would the Jewish sages (who don't believe that the messiah will suffer and die), in Talmud Sanhedrin 98b, link the name of the Messiah to Isaiah 53:4, where the context talked about someone that ...
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Was Potiphar's wife a righteous woman?
I remember hearing that Potiphar's wife was a righteous woman. She had a vision showing her that she would become an ancestress of the Jewish people. She naturally assumed it would be through her ...
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Is there a Midrash that men gave birth early in the Torah?
I'm told there's a midrash which takes it literally when the Torah says that 'Jared begot Enoch' and so on, ie it argues that it was the men who gave birth in those days. Can anyone help me find it? (...
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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....
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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. ...
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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 ...
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Did Abraham and Noah know of each other?
Are there any sources that discuss whether Abraham and Noah knew of each other's existence, if there was ever any interactions between the two and/or if they ever met (not sure if their lives actually ...
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Post-Flood Atmospheric Changes
Rav Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld quotes his grandfather who brings a Midrash saying that the world before the Flood didn't feature decay, therefore Noah didn't realize his grape juice was going to turn into ...
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Source for Avraham's Conversation About Hoshana Rabba
Although many websites quote a Midrash saying Hashem told Avraham,
"I will give your descendants a special day for forgiveness: Hoshana Rabbah. If they are not forgiven on Rosh Hashana then let ...
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Pharaoh ruled Nineveh for 500 years?
A footnote in this edition of the Midrash Vayosha refers to "Pharaoh's assignment to rule Nineveh for 500 years".
I'm aware of midrashim around Pharaoh being the King of Nineveh. But where does this ...
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Two beginnings related to heavens and earth
IIRC, there is a medrash conecting the first letter of torah (beit) + the word reshit by saying that with 2 beginnings (meaning the heavens and earth) the world came into existence. Does anyone happen ...
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