The eye of a needle

Hi,

"Rabbi Yosi said: Gd said to Israel, 'My children! Open one entrance of repentance for me, like a needle's eye, and I will open entrances suited to wagons and caravans for you.'"

(Midrash, Shir haShirim Rabbah 5:2)

Gmar tov,
Mordechai

Miriam's well - more than just water

Hi,

“From what source did the Jews nourish their fruit throughout their forty years in the wilderness? Rabbi Yochanan said: From the well, from which came most of their benefit.

"The well produced various types of grasses, vegetation and trees. We know this because after Miriam died, when the well stopped, they said (Bamidbar 20), ‘This is not a place of vegetation, figs and grapes.’”

(Midrash, Shir haShirim Rabbah 4)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Re-creating Sinai

Hi,

"Rabbi Eliezer's study hall was arranged like eyelashes (in an arc, presumably), with a single stone designated as his seat. Once Rabbi Yehoshua entered and kissed the stone, saying, 'This stone is like Mount Sinai, and the one who sits there is like the Ark of the Covenant.'"

(Midrash, Shir haShirim Rabbah 1)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Intellectual equilibrium

Hi,


"When a drop of water falls into a cup filled with oil, a drop of oil is forced out.

"So, too, when a Torah thought enters the heart a thought of mockery is forced out, but if a thought of mockery enters the heart then a Torah thought is forced out."

(Midrash Shir haShirim Rabbah 1)

Have a good day,
Mordechai