Guide
What Is Leviticus Rabbah?
5th–7th Century
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The midrashic collection Leviticus Rabbah was compiled between the fifth and seventh centuries CE and is composed of thirty-seven homilies. Although the book of Leviticus deals primarily with ritual matters, the homilies in Leviticus Rabbah use the biblical texts as springboards for discussions of theological and ethical topics. Like other amoraic midrashim, Leviticus Rabbah is written in mishnaic Hebrew and western Aramaic, suggesting a Palestinian redaction.
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Law as Story and Prayer in Leviticus Rabbah
Leviticus Rabbah 27:6
Leviticus Rabbah 27:6 turns a legal question into narrative, showing that the Shema‘ can be recited anywhere.
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Alexander the Great and Simeon the Just
Leviticus Rabbah 13:5
The hare: this refers to Greece; because it chews [lit., raises up] its cud (Leviticus 11:6): for it raises up righteous individuals. Alexander the Macedonian, when he saw Simeon the Just, rose up on…
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The Sale of the Priestly Service
Leviticus Rabbah 21:9
Thus shall Aaron enter [the holy place] (Leviticus 16:3): R. Berekhiah [said] in the name of R. Levi: Thus [be-zot]: Scripture makes known that [Aaron] lived 410 years [the numerical equivalent of the…
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The Rabbis’ Monopoly on Torah Study
Leviticus Rabbah 9:3
An event concerning R. Yannai, who was walking on the way. He met a person who was very overbearing. He [R. Yannai] said to him, “Will the rabbi accept my hospitality?” He said to him, “Whatever…
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A Rabbinic Scholarly Elite
Leviticus Rabbah 2:1
It is the custom of the world that a thousand enter upon the study of Scripture, but [only] a hundred come forth [successfully]. Out of a hundred who [proceed] to the [study of] Mishnah, ten come…
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Giving Charity Leads to Wealth
Leviticus Rabbah 37:2
There was a case of a man who had two sons, one who did many charitable acts and another who did not give charity at all. The one who regularly did charitable acts sold his house and everything that…
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Providing for the Poor
Leviticus Rabbah 34:1–9
Happy is he who considers the poor (Psalm 41:2). R. Abba ben Jeremiah said in the name of R. Meir: This refers to one who crowns the good inclination over the evil inclination. Isi said: This refers…
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The Soul Is to the Body as God Is to the World
Leviticus Rabbah 4:8
Why did David’s soul praise the Holy One? He thought: The soul fills the body, and God fills the earth, as it is written: For I fill the heaven and the earth, says the Lord (Jeremiah 23:24). The soul…
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Abraham’s Prayer on Behalf of Sodom
Leviticus Rabbah 10:1
You love justice and hate wickedness (Psalm 45:8, NJPS). R. Judan in the name of R. Azariah applied this verse to Abraham our father at the time when he beseeched [God] for mercy on behalf of the…
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The Divine Matchmaker
Leviticus Rabbah 8:1
R. Levi opened [his discourse by quoting the verse]: For God is judge, lowering one and raising another (Psalm 75:8). A [Roman] matron asked R. Yosi bar Ḥalafta, saying to him, “In how many days did…
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Saul and the Necromancer
Leviticus Rabbah 26:7
To what was Saul comparable at that time [when he swore by God that no harm would come to the necromancer]? [It is comparable] to a woman who is with her lover and swears by her husband’s life.
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The Old Man and the Fig Tree
Leviticus Rabbah 25:5
Hadrian, let his bones rot, was walking up from Tiberias to the Land of Israel when he saw an old man planting saplings. Said Hadrian: Old man, old man, up at sunrise free at sunset—had you toiled in…
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Leviticus Rabbah on Peace
Leviticus Rabbah 9:9
R. Simeon ben Yoḥai said: Great is peace, for the entirety of the blessings are included in it. May the Lord give strength to His people. May the Lord bless His people with peace (Psalm 29:11)…
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Leviticus Rabbah on Leprosy
Leviticus Rabbah 17:6–7
6. It is written: [When you come into the land of Canaan, which I give to you for a possession,] and I put the plague of leprosy [in a house of the land of your possession] (Leviticus 14:34). R. Ḥiyya…
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Leviticus Rabbah on Care for the Soul and the Poor
Leviticus Rabbah 34:3
A merciful person does good for his soul [ . . . ] (Proverbs 11:17). This refers to Hillel the Elder. When he would take leave of his disciples, he would go out walking. His disciples asked him,…
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Alexander’s Adventures past the Mountains of Darkness
Leviticus Rabbah 27:1
Alexander the Macedonian went to visit King Kazia past the mountains of darkness. He came to a certain province called Carthage, which was inhabited entirely by women. [Some women] came out to greet…
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Leviticus Rabbah on Serving God without the Temple
Leviticus Rabbah 7:3
R. Aḥa [said] in the name of R. Ḥanina bar Papa: Since when the Temple was standing Israel would offer all the sacrifices in the Torah, why do they now [study the laws] of [the sacrifices]? The Holy…
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Confession on Yom Kippur Eve
Leviticus Rabbah 3:3
Let the wicked give up his ways, the sinful person his plans; let him turn back to the Lord, who will pardon him; to our God, who freely forgives (Isaiah 55:7). Said R. Biba bar Avina, “How should a…
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A Pedagogue Aids in Violence
Leviticus Rabbah 2:5; 10:3
2:5. R. Simeon b. Yoḥai said, “[This may be compared] to a king who had an only son. Every day he instructed a member of his household and said to him: ‘Make sure that my son eats! Make sure that my…
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The Four Species as Representing the Human Body
Leviticus Rabbah 30:14
R. Mani expounded: All my bones shall say, Lord, who is like you (Psalm 35:10, NJPS)? This verse was only stated with reference to the lulav: the spine of the lulav is like the spine of a person, and…
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The Shofar as Eliciting Divine Mercy
Leviticus Rabbah 29:3
Judah bar Naḥmani in the name of R. Simeon ben Lakish expounded: God [Elohim] ascends amid acclamation; the Lord [Yhwh] to the blasts of the shofar (Psalm 47:6). When the Holy One ascends to sit on…
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Leviticus Rabbah on Pharaoh’s Daughter
Leviticus Rabbah 1:3
These are the sons of Bithiah, the daughter of Pharaoh (1 Chronicles 4:18). R. Joshua of Sikhnin said, in the name of Rabbi Levi: The Holy One said to Bithiah, the daughter of Pharaoh, “Moses was not…
Related Guide
Amoraic Midrash
2nd–9th Centuries