Eitz Yoseph News Today

From the blog of Yoni Mozeson at The Times of Israel

From the blog of Yoni Mozeson at The Times of Israel

Please note that the posts on The Blogs are contributed by third parties. The opinions, facts and any media content in them are presented solely by the authors, and neither The Times of Israel nor its partners assume any responsibility for them. Please contact us in case of abuse. In case of abuse, Midrash Tanchuma starts with a rather unusual assertion. The plague of darkness took the law in its own hands and delivered a more intense form of darkness than God instructed. One that the Midr...

“ Moshe said, ‘I must turn aside to look at this marvelous sight; why doesn’t the bush burn up?’ When God saw that he had turned aside to look, God called to him from inside the bush”: (Exodus 3:3-4) However Midrash Tanchuma adds an entirely different level of meaning.  God revealed himself to Moshe because “he recognized the pain.” According to the commentators to Midrash Tanchuma, the “Burning Bush” was actually a test of Moshe’s perception and sensitivity.  Moshe passed...

“ When God wished to give the Torah to Israel He said to them ‘Will you accept my Torah?’ They responded ‘Yes.’ He said, ‘then provide a guarantor that you will keep (the Torah).’” Let’s face it, God is beyond time so He knows full well whether we were destined to keep the Torah or not. Therefore the question can’t literally be “who will be the guarantor,”  but rather, what will motivate the Jewish People to keep the Torah. In fact, from our perspective of living 3,000 ...