What’s In a House? (Shemot)
As you may know, I love midrash. Midrash is a type of Jewish text that simultaneously pays close attention to…
As you may know, I love midrash. Midrash is a type of Jewish text that simultaneously pays close attention to…
Moses stayed on Mount Sinai for forty days and forty nights. God spoke, then gave Moses the tablets. What else did Moses begin to know?
Rashbam – an avowed pshat interpreter – nonetheless includes a rabbinic interpretation that “uproots the plain meaning of the verse.”
Exodus 22:27 prohibits cursing judges and leaders. Is this a way to silence those questioning leadership? Rashbam thinks it is something more fundamental.
Biblical poetry works primarily with parallelism. Rabbinic commentary mostly ignores this formal quality of biblical language, but not Rashbam!