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There is dispute among the commentators as to whether or not Ramban meant that seriously or just said it for the debate. R. Yaakov Kamanetzky z"l writes (Emet L'yaakov Genesis 44:18) that Ramban just said it for the sake of the debate. The Chattam Sofer (Orach Chaim 1:16) understands that Ramban was expressing a serious belief, but limited his view to extra-...
22
Here is a sampling of the interpretations offered by the commentators (all taken from commentaries to the verse in question):
Rashi
God inscribed (part of) His name on Cain's forehead:
חקק לו אות משמו במצחו
Ibn Ezra
God gave Cain a horn:
ויש אומרים כי האות קרן
God gave Cain courage and removed his fear:
ואחרים אמרו שנתן חוזק בלבו והסיר פחדו ...
19
The beginning of each stanza spells the name of the author שלמה הלוי. I surmise that the author wanted to spell his name and therefore reversed the order.
19
Midrash, Bereishit Rabbah 22:12
וַיָּשֶׂם ה' לְקַיִן אוֹת, רַבִּי יְהוּדָה וְרַבִּי נְחֶמְיָה. רַבִּי יְהוּדָה אָמַר הִזְרִיחַ לוֹ גַּלְגַּל חַמָּה, אָמַר רַבִּי נְחֶמְיָה לְאוֹתוֹ רָשָׁע הָיָה מַזְרִיחַ לוֹ הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא גַּלְגַּל חַמָּה, אֶלָּא מְלַמֵּד שֶׁהִזְרִיחַ לוֹ הַצָּרַעַת, הֵיךְ מָה דְאַתְּ אָמַר וְהָיָה אִם לֹא יַאֲמִינוּ לָךְ וְלֹא ...
19
I just discovered that many Rishonim address this question. For example:
Tosafos to Taanis 11a s.v. אסור לאדם
אסור לאדם לשמש מטתו בשני רעבון - ואם תאמר הרי יוכבד נולדה בין החומות ואותו העת עת רעב היה וע"כ שימשו מטותיהן בשני רעבון ויש לומר דלכ"ע לא הוי אסור אלא למי שרוצה לנהוג עצמו בחסידות ויוסף לא שימש אבל שאר בני אדם שימשו
If you ask, Yocheved, ...
18
One of the first Tosafot in Gittin 2a (מתני' המביא גט) brings that the reason the Get has 12 lines is because the gematriya of Get is 12.
ומה שנוהגים לכתוב י"ב שורות בגט אומר ר"ת משום דגט גימטריא י"ב
That which we're accustomed to write 12 lines in a Get- Rabbeinu Tam says because "Get" has a gematriya of 12
17
I asked Rabbi Dovid Rosenbaum, shlita, how every one of Rabbi Akiva's 24,000 students could not have treated each other with proper respect when Rabbi Akiva had taught that the most important pasuk in the Torah was "V'Ahavta l'Reacha Kamocha . . ." ("you shall love your fellow as yourself")? He answered with another question: "The better question is when ...
17
The Maharal (Gur Aryeh ibid) explains that the Gemara which says that a person will surely die in a pit full of snakes and scorpions is only when it is full of snakes and scorpions, but this pit just had a few.
The Ohr HaChaim explains that the brothers felt Yosef was deserving of death because he had testified falsely about them to their father in matters ...
15
Bava Batra (16b) records a dispute (found earlier in Tosefta Kiddushin (5:17 in R. Lieberman's edition) regarding the interpretation of Genesis (24:1) which states that God blessed Abraham "bakol" (literally: with everything):
Rabbi Meir says: The blessing is that he did not have a daughter.
Rabbi Yehuda says: On the contrary, the blessing was that he had a ...
14
In the Yerushalmi (Shekalim 1:3), Rav Yochanan ben Zakkai's position that the tribe of Levi was obligated to give the annual half-Shekel Temple tax is derived from the verse (Exodus 30:13) זה יתנו where זה is 12 in Gematria, implying all 12 tribes need to give the tax. Rambam (Shekalim 1:7) rules like this opinion.
13
A collection of four medrashim can be seen here along with their translations and an explanation.
Pirkay DeRabbi Eliezer, ch. 31.
ר' יהודה אמר: כיון שהגיע החרב על צוארו, פרחה ויצאה נשמתו של יצחק. כיון שהשמיע קולו מבין שני הכרובים ואמר, "אל תשלח ידך אל הנער," חזרה הנפש לגופו. והתירו ועמד על רגליו. וידע יצחק תחיית המתים מן התורה, שכל המתים עתידין להחיות. ...
12
The first individual to know of the Messiah was Adam HaRishon. This is stated explicitly in Sanhedrin 38b in the name of Reish Lakish, by Yose ben Chalafta in Seder Olam Rabbah 30 and Rabbi Yehuda bar Simon in Bereshit Rabbah 24:2 which teach that Adam was shown all the righteous, each generation and its Sages and those who would teach and explain the Torah.
...
11
It is clear that angels have jealousy towards humans from Tosfiyos Brachos 3a that says that some say that we say certain prayers in Aramaic in order that the angels should not be jealous of us, and Tosfiyos does not say there is no jealousy, only that we say other prayers in Lashon Kodesh so that can not be the reason. Also Rashi Braishis 1:26 indicates ...
11
The story is found in מדרש שוחר טוב to Tehillim (39:2). (Menachem's comment [now deleted])
This is probably the earliest source.
It is also quoted in the אורחות צדיקים (in שער כ"ה, שער לשון הרע) [on that page, toward the bottom in blue text]
(from Menachem, in another deleted comment)
According to he.Wikipedia, this story is also quoted in אגדות המלך שלמה ...
10
You seem to be looking for the Bar Yuchnei. Talmud Bechoros 56b:
פעם אחת נפלה ביצת בר יוכני וטבעה ששים כרכים ושברה שלש מאות ארזים
Once the Bar Yuchnei's egg fell and it flooded sixty cities and destroyed three hundred cedars.
The gemara there says that normally this wouldn't happen, but this particular egg was rotten so the bird threw it away.
It ...
answered Jan 10 '13 at 18:10
Hod - Monica's Army
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10
Chassidic thought explains that because every person is unique in his nature and thought processes, he has a unique path in the service of G-d. Similarly, each of Rabbi Akiva’s disciples had his own approach. Because they were highly developed individuals, each had internalized his particular approach to the point that it dominated his personality.
Operating ...
10
The Gur Arye explains that Y'hoshua's falling into the spies' plot would reflect poorly on Moshe, whose protege he was. This reasoning doesn't apply to Kalev.
The Avodas Yisrael explains (not in answer to this question) that Y'hoshua did not want the honor of leading the people, and wanted Moshe to retain that position. (See Rashi to B'haalos'cha 11:28.) ...
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Targum Pseudo Jonathan to Genesis 2:15,
ודבר השם אלקים ית אדם מן טור פולחנא אתר דאתבריא מתמן ואשריה בגינוניתא דעדן...
And God took Adam from the mountain of worship, the place from which he was created, and put him in the Garden of Eden
Pirush Yonatan says this refers to mount Moriah, the Temple Mount
Targum Pseudo Jonathan Genesis 22:2, referring to ארץ ...
10
R' Tzvi Berkowitz told me that R' Yaakov Kaminetzky told him that the Ramban was only saying that for the purposes of the debate, in order to avoid addressing a question to which they would not accept the answer. This was along the lines of the principle of being "דוחה בקש" (pushing off with straw) someone who asks from an illegitimate standpoint.
However, ...
10
This question is addressed by several Acharonim.
R. Pinchas Horowitz says that during the 7 days of inauguration Moshe did not erect the Mishkan by himself. Since multiple people did the act together it was not a violation of Shabbat labor.
Panim Yafos Parshas Naso
ונראה דהקמת כל שבעה ימים לא היה ע"י משה עצמו כמו כל מלאכת המשכן שנעשה
ע"י אחרים ונקרא ע"...
10
This is found in Tanna Devei Eliyahu Rabba, beginning of chapter 18 and Yalkut Shamoni Eicha 1034.
The Tanna Devei Eliyahu version is:
מאי שפכי כמים לבך נוכח פני ה' מכאן אמרו כל ת"ח שיושב וקורא ושונה ועוסק בתורה הקב"ה יושב כנגדו וקורא ושונה עמו
What does "Poor out your heart like water opposite the face of Hashem" mean? From here they ...
10
The following I remember from a Sicha of the Lubavitcher Rebbe:
Rashi at the end of Parshas VaYeira feels the need to explain why the "news" Abraham received about his family tree is written right after the Akeidah (or at all) ? He answers by showing the Medrash which states that once Issac went through the Akeidah, (at age 37) he was ready to marry, so the ...
10
The Seder Olam Rabba (ed. Leiner) states (ch. 2) that they were twins and were both 22 when they got married:
נמצאו רחל ולאה נשאו בנות כ"ב כ"ב, שהיו תאומות
Thus, Rachel and Leah were both married at age 22, for they were twins.
According to Rav Chaim Kanievsky's sefer Lamechsa Atik, which gives names and dates and other unspecified details for the ...
10
R. Ezekiel Landau discusses this aspect of the tale in his commentary there. He explains that the spirit cannot leave the body until the body decomposes, and that is why we conduct burials in a manner that will quicken the process, by burying directly in the ground and using linen shrouds. A mat of reeds slows the rotting process and therefore the body of ...
10
Tehillim 54
לַמְנַצֵּ֥חַ בִּנְגִינֹ֗ת מַשְׂכִּ֥יל לְדָוִֽד׃
For the leader; with instrumental music. A maskil of David,
בְּב֣וֹא הַ֭זִּיפִים וַיֹּאמְר֣וּ לְשָׁא֑וּל הֲלֹ֥א דָ֝וִ֗ד מִסְתַּתֵּ֥ר עִמָּֽנוּ׃
when the Ziphites came and told Saul, “Know, David is in hiding among us.”
Tehillim 57 (Thanks, Dr. Shmuel)
לַמְנַצֵּ֣חַ אַל־תַּ֭שְׁחֵת לְדָוִ֣ד ...
9
From part of my answer here:
The Lubavitcher Rebbe (Likutei Sichot Volume 5, page 146) gives a very practical reason why Avraham waited to have a bris. Rashi explains that G-d's commandment to Noach after the flood, forbidding spilling a mans blood (Genesis 9:6) applies to spilling ones own blood as well. As such, Avraham was legally unable to circumcise ...
9
Sukkah 52b:
ארבעה מתחרט עליהן הקדוש ברוך הוא שבראם ואלו הם: גלות, כשדים, וישמעאלים ויצר הרע
- There are four that the Holy One, Blessed is He, regrets having created. And these are they: The exile, the Chaldeans, the Ishmaelites, and the evil inclination.
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The short answer to this question is that the midrashim read history backwards.
That is, since we know, for example, that Yishmael is not chosen over Yitzchak to be the "carrier" of God's blessing and promise to Avraham, the author of the midrash assumes that there must have been something undeserving in him or he must have done something wrong. Therefore, ...
9
There is disagreement about this among the commentators. Here is a quote from the Artscroll Rashi Chumash Bereishis 2:23 footnote 4:
Divrei Dovid...says that this prohibition [to have relations with animals] did not come into effect until after the creation of Eve. Gur Aryeh, Maharsha, and others strongly reject this position and take the matter of Adam ...
9
You may want to check this reference to vol 3, p.263 on regard chanuka:
Teach the jewish chanuka, don't feed the child with fairy tales. It
does not beguile childhood and youth with the notions of a world that
does not exist, it does not seek to win their hearts and minds for a
life which reality will never afford them.
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