by hadassah | Dec 1, 2025 | The Rabbis
Mekhilta of Rabbi Ishmael, Beshalah: Moses and the Bones of Joseph This Midrash expands the verse in Exodus (Ex. 13:19) which states tersely of Moses that upon the Exodus from Egypt, Moses took the remains of Joseph with the Israelites. It is an excellent...
by hadassah | Dec 1, 2025 | The Rabbis
Megillat Ta’anit: The Law of the Sadducees and the Boethusians Megillat Ta’anit is a list of days on which fasting and mourning were not permitted. To this list was appended a “scholion,” a commentary explaining each of the entries. The scholion, a compilation...
by hadassah | Nov 26, 2025 | The Rabbis
Babylonian Talmud Eruvin 54b- The Teaching of the Oral Law The Talmud relates several descriptive stories and events to show how the study of the oral law was conducted. These stories reveal that it was a detailed and tedious process which could only be...
by hadassah | Nov 26, 2025 | The Rabbis
Josephus, Life 191-8- Simeon ben Gamliel I In the course of relating his role in the Great Revolt against Rome (66–73 C.E.), Josephus refers to Simeon ben Gamliel (I) who was the son of the Gamliel mentioned in the New Testament. Simeon (Simon) was a leading...
by hadassah | Nov 26, 2025 | The Rabbis
Babylonian Talmud Shabbat 30b-31a- The Patience of Hillel The Babylonian Talmud preserves a group of stories that circulated in the amoraic period (after 200 C.E.) in Babylonia. These stories contrast Hillel with his colleague Shammai. The stories picture...
by hadassah | Nov 26, 2025 | The Rabbis
Sifre Deuteronomy 113- Hillel as Legislator Hillel, the first century B.C.E. sage, enacted the prozbul, a legislative decree, in order to encourage people to make loans to one another even though there was an upcoming sabbatical year. In the sabbatical year,...
