Jewish History

Who was Yiscah? The Torah doesn’t say explicitly that Yiscah (Gen. 11:29) is Sarah, but the Talmud (Megillah 14a) does say so. Rashi (on v.29) adds that the name “Yiscah” is related to the word “nesichah” (“anointed one”, i.e., royalty),…

How was Pharaoh punished when he took Sarah? The Midrash says that Pharaoh and his household were smitten with leprosy.

What does AVRECH (Gen.41:43) mean? The Hebrew word AVRECH, is interpreted in several ways. The Targum translates it as “This is the king’s father” (from AV, father, and RECH, an Aramaic word meaning “king”). The Midrash gives two other interpretations:…

Do we know what tribes Jews come from? Priests (Kohanim) and Levites are from the tribe of Levi. Otherwise, Jews’ tribal lineages are hardly ever known, though a few Jews trace their descent back to King David, which means they’re…

How long were the Hebrews in Egypt? How long were they enslaved there? The time from the arrival of Jacob and his family in Egypt until the Exodus was only 210 years. The 400 years in Gen.15:13 is from the…

How did Moses’ mother “see that he was good” when he was born (Ex.2:2)? Avos de-Rabbi Noson asks “What could his mother have seen in him to know that he was better than other men?”, and answers that he was…

When did Job live? The Talmud (Bava Basra 15a) records many opinions as to when Job lived. A particularly popular view is that he lived in the time of Moses.

Who was the angel who shielded the Israelites from the Egyptians before they crossed the Red Sea? The commentaries say that the angel in Ex.14:19-20 was the same one who carried the pillars of cloud and fire before the Israelites…

What did the manna look like? The Torah (Ex. 16:148; Num.11:7-9) says that the manna accompanied the dew, was in a thin layer, and looked like frost. It also says that the people ground the manna in mills or mortars,…