Showing posts with label targum yonatan. Show all posts

Parashat Beshalach - Pillar of Cloud

Friday, January 26, 2024 · Posted in , , , , ,




Shemot 14:19 And the malach of G-d, who went before the camp of Yisrael, moved and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud went from before them and stood behind them.
20 So it came between the camp of the Egypt and the camp of Yisrael. Thus it was a cloud and darkness to the one, and it gave light by night to the other, so that the one did not come near the other all that night.
The pillar of cloud which had been leading the Benei Yisrael through the desert now moved to their rear. This was to separate the Benei Yisrael from the Egyptians. The Egyptians were shooting arrows and catapulting stones into the camp of the Benei Yisrael, but all these missles were absorbed by the pillar of cloud. (Targum Yonatan; Zohar; Rashi)
Normally, the pillar of cloud would remove itself at night, making way for the pillar of fire (13:21), but on this seventh night of Pesach, the pillar of cloud did not depart. Instead, it moved to the rear of the camp of the Benei Yisrael, separating them from the Egyptians. (Rashi)
The pillar was half dark and half glowing. The dark, cloudy side was toward the Egyptians, while the glowing side faced the Benei Yisrael. Since the Egyptains were in total darkness, they could not even see to aim their weapons. They were totally disoriented.

(Targum Yonatan; Targum Yerushalmi; Midrash, Tehillim 27)

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Vayetze - Five Miracles

Monday, November 12, 2018 · Posted in , , , ,


Five miracles occurred with Jacob when he left Be'er-Sheva:



  1. The day was cut short, and the sun set before its time, because G‑d wished to talk to him
  2. When he awoke in the morning, he found that the four stones (depicting the four wives that he was destined to marry) that he had placed under his head when he lay down, had turned into one stone
  3. He rolled the stone from the well - with one hand, although normally, it required the combined effort of all the local shepherds to remove it
  4. The well began to flow and the water rose to meet him, and it continued to flow for the entire duration of Yaakov's stay in Charan (in verse 10, the Targum will add that it flowed for twenty years)
  5. The earth 'jumped' before him, and on the same day that he left home he arrived in Charan.
Targum Yonatan 28:10

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