Prof. Rav Rachel Adelman is Associate Professor of Hebrew Bible at Boston’s Hebrew College, where she also received ordination. She holds a Ph.D. in Hebrew Literature from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and is the author of The Return of the Repressed: Pirqe de-Rabbi Eliezer and the Pseudepigrapha (Brill 2009), based on her dissertation, and The Female Ruse: Women's Deception and Divine Sanction in the Hebrew Bible (Sheffield Phoenix, 2015), written under the auspices of the Women's Studies in Religion Program (WSRP) at Harvard. Adelman is now working on a new book, Daughters in Danger from the Hebrew Bible to Modern Midrash (forthcoming, Sheffield Phoenix Press). When she is not writing books, papers, or divrei Torah, it is poetry that flows from her pen.
Last Updated
January 17, 2024
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Look and see! A sexually assaulted Jerusalem resists being blamed and shamed by Lamentations’ male narrator and demands that YHWH recognize her suffering.
Look and see! A sexually assaulted Jerusalem resists being blamed and shamed by Lamentations’ male narrator and demands that YHWH recognize her suffering.
We first meet Bat Tzion as YHWH’s defiant virgin daughter in Isaiah’s prophecy against the Assyrian king Sennacherib. The metaphor turns dark when Jerusalem is ravaged by the Babylonians.
We first meet Bat Tzion as YHWH’s defiant virgin daughter in Isaiah’s prophecy against the Assyrian king Sennacherib. The metaphor turns dark when Jerusalem is ravaged by the Babylonians.
Serach, daughter of Asher, is mentioned by name twice in the Torah—in the list of Jacob’s descendants who go down to Egypt and in the census in Numbers—without any details about her life. As a reward for breaking the news to Jacob that Joseph is still alive, the Midrash grants her immortality, gives her a key role during the exodus, and identifies her as the wise woman during King David’s reign.
Serach, daughter of Asher, is mentioned by name twice in the Torah—in the list of Jacob’s descendants who go down to Egypt and in the census in Numbers—without any details about her life. As a reward for breaking the news to Jacob that Joseph is still alive, the Midrash grants her immortality, gives her a key role during the exodus, and identifies her as the wise woman during King David’s reign.
The etrog tree, according to midrash, fulfilled God’s command in creation, such that the tree tasted like its fruit. It was also the tree of Knowledge from which Eve ate. By taking the etrog on Sukkot along with the other species, we atone for this primordial sin.
The etrog tree, according to midrash, fulfilled God’s command in creation, such that the tree tasted like its fruit. It was also the tree of Knowledge from which Eve ate. By taking the etrog on Sukkot along with the other species, we atone for this primordial sin.
“Now Joseph was well-built and handsome”—Genesis 39:7
“Now Joseph was well-built and handsome”—Genesis 39:7
What made Cain capable of murdering his brother? Why was the flood generation so wicked? According to Pirqei de-Rabbi Eliezer, the fallen angel Samael embodies the serpent and seduces Eve, whereupon she conceives Cain. Engendered by this “bad seed,” all the descendants of Cain become corrupt, destined to be wiped out by mighty waters.
What made Cain capable of murdering his brother? Why was the flood generation so wicked? According to Pirqei de-Rabbi Eliezer, the fallen angel Samael embodies the serpent and seduces Eve, whereupon she conceives Cain. Engendered by this “bad seed,” all the descendants of Cain become corrupt, destined to be wiped out by mighty waters.
YHWH’s first revelation to Moses at a sneh סְּנֶה, “bush,” signifies that it is not a future site of worship and foreshadows the revelation at Sinai.
YHWH’s first revelation to Moses at a sneh סְּנֶה, “bush,” signifies that it is not a future site of worship and foreshadows the revelation at Sinai.
1 Maccabees recounts how Mattathias instigated a rebellion against the Greeks out of zealotry against Jewish idolatry. Later midrashim tell how Mattathias’ daughter Channah goaded her father and brothers into fighting the Greeks to protect her from being raped by the local governor.
1 Maccabees recounts how Mattathias instigated a rebellion against the Greeks out of zealotry against Jewish idolatry. Later midrashim tell how Mattathias’ daughter Channah goaded her father and brothers into fighting the Greeks to protect her from being raped by the local governor.
Atop the kappōret, the ark’s cover, sat the golden cherubim, which framed the empty space (tokh) where God would speak with Moses. Drawing on the connection between the word kappōret and the root כ.פ.ר (“atone”), and noting how the golden calf episode interrupts the Tabernacle account, the rabbis suggest that the ark cover served as a means of atoning for the Israelites’ collective sin.
Atop the kappōret, the ark’s cover, sat the golden cherubim, which framed the empty space (tokh) where God would speak with Moses. Drawing on the connection between the word kappōret and the root כ.פ.ר (“atone”), and noting how the golden calf episode interrupts the Tabernacle account, the rabbis suggest that the ark cover served as a means of atoning for the Israelites’ collective sin.
Clothing, beginning with Joseph’s coat, functions both as a marker of distinction and as the source of undoing in the Joseph story. Pirkei de-Rabbi Eliezer adds layers of history to this coat: it is the original garments made from the sloughed skin of the serpent that God gave to Adam and Eve, which was then worn by Nimrod, Esau, and Jacob. Midrash Tanchuma claims it to be the (future) High Priest’s tunic.
Clothing, beginning with Joseph’s coat, functions both as a marker of distinction and as the source of undoing in the Joseph story. Pirkei de-Rabbi Eliezer adds layers of history to this coat: it is the original garments made from the sloughed skin of the serpent that God gave to Adam and Eve, which was then worn by Nimrod, Esau, and Jacob. Midrash Tanchuma claims it to be the (future) High Priest’s tunic.
The liturgical readings of Rosh Hashanah tell of Sarah, Rachel, and Hannah being “remembered” by God, making barrenness and conception the locus of divine providence.
The liturgical readings of Rosh Hashanah tell of Sarah, Rachel, and Hannah being “remembered” by God, making barrenness and conception the locus of divine providence.
Who were these women and what were these mirrors used for? Reconstructing the narrative: the historical-critical method vs. midrash.
Who were these women and what were these mirrors used for? Reconstructing the narrative: the historical-critical method vs. midrash.
Literature and art are replete with images of angels descending to earth and joining humanity. One source for this image is a terse account in Genesis describing fallen angels, which is expanded upon in Second Temple literature. This interpretive tradition is suppressed in the classic rabbinic literature only to resurface again in the late narrative midrash, Pirqe de-Rabbi Eliezer.
Literature and art are replete with images of angels descending to earth and joining humanity. One source for this image is a terse account in Genesis describing fallen angels, which is expanded upon in Second Temple literature. This interpretive tradition is suppressed in the classic rabbinic literature only to resurface again in the late narrative midrash, Pirqe de-Rabbi Eliezer.
After being swallowed by a fish, Jonah prays to God in its belly. Pirqe de-Rabbi Eliezer reads this prayer midrashically, as a description of an alternative mission for Jonah in the underworld, in which he saves the fish from the Leviathan and promises to bring it (the Leviathan) as a sacrifice for the righteous in the end of days.
After being swallowed by a fish, Jonah prays to God in its belly. Pirqe de-Rabbi Eliezer reads this prayer midrashically, as a description of an alternative mission for Jonah in the underworld, in which he saves the fish from the Leviathan and promises to bring it (the Leviathan) as a sacrifice for the righteous in the end of days.
The reason for Mordecai’s defiance is not explained in the book of Esther. The midrash, the targum, and the Greek versions of Esther fill in the gaps.
The reason for Mordecai’s defiance is not explained in the book of Esther. The midrash, the targum, and the Greek versions of Esther fill in the gaps.
The literary similarities between the expulsion of Ishmael account and that of the Akedah implies that a trial is taking place.
The literary similarities between the expulsion of Ishmael account and that of the Akedah implies that a trial is taking place.
