ויצא יעקב מבאר שבע וילך חרנה ויפגע במקום וילן שם . . . כי בא השמש Jacob left Be’er-sheba, and set out for Haran. He came upon a certain place and stopped there for the night, for the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of that place, he put it under his head…

ואלה תולדות יצחק אברהם הוליד את יצחק   And these are the descendants of Isaac, Abraham’s son.  Abraham fathered Isaac Genesis 25:19 The Midrash Rabbah (Genesis 63:1) says: It is written (Proverbs 23:24)  “גיל יגיל אבי צדיק ויולד חכם ישמח בו” (the father of the righteous will greatly rejoice, and he who begets a wise…

ויהיו חיי שרה מאה שנה ועשרים שנה ושבע שנים And Sarah was a hundred and twenty-seven years old Genesis 23:1 Rashi comments that the Scripture writes “שנה” (years) after “hundred” and “twenty” and “seven” to teach us that when Sarah was twenty years old, her beauty was like that of a seven-year old. Many have…

ויאמר מהרי שלש סאים קמח סלת לושי ועשי עגות Make ready quickly three measures of fine meal, knead it, and make cakes Genesis 18:6 In the Talmud (Bava Metzia 87a) it is stated: ” כתיב קמח וכתיב סלת אמר רבי יצחק מכאן שהאשה צרה עיניה באורחים יותר מן האיש” Because the Scripture writes both קמח…

לך לך מארצך וממוֹלדתך ומבית אביך Go for yourself from your country, from your kindred and from your father’s house Genesis 12:2 The verse seems out of order; it would have been more appropriate to write: “מבית אביך וממולדתך ומארצך”. And our master suggested that the order of the verse was the basis for the…

וירא אלקים את האור כי טוב ויבדל בין האור ובין החשך (Genesis 1:5/’בראשית א’, ה) He who forms light and creates darkness is blessed and praised for ever and ever, for He them juxtaposed them one to the other so that man could distinguish himself by differentiating between light and darkness and between truth and…

אשה כי תזריע If a woman conceives Leviticus 12:2 R. Simlai said (Leviticus Rabbah 14:1): Even as man was created was after the creation of cattle, beasts and birds, so the laws concerning man come after those concerning cattle, beasts and birds. To explain this midrash, our master repeated the explanation given by the gaon…