Midrash & Aggadah
The stories Chazal tell behind the pesukim - Yosef's coffin in the Nile, Nachshon in the sea, Hillel on the roof - each one told from its source in the Gemara and Midrash. 14 stories, each a printed book starring your own child.
- Avraham and His Father's Idols - Avraham is left to mind his father's idol shop - and by evening every idol but one lies broken, with a stick in the biggest one's hand. The midrash of the boy who saw the truth when no one else did, from Bereishis Rabbah.
- The Stones That Wanted Yaakov - Yaakov lies down to sleep on the road to Charan, and the stones around him argue over which one will hold the tzaddik's head - until Hashem makes them one. That place, Chazal say, is where the Beis HaMikdash would stand.
- Baby Moshe and the Burning Coal - In Paroh's palace little Moshe puts the king's crown on his own head, and the advisors set a test of gold and a burning coal. How a malach's push saved his life, and why the greatest speaker of Torah was slow of speech.
- Moshe and the Thirsty Little Goat - A little goat runs away from Yisro's flock, and Moshe chases it to a pool of water, waits while it drinks, and carries it home on his shoulders. The moment Chazal say Hashem chose him to shepherd Klal Yisrael.
- Yosef's Coffin in the Nile - On the night of Yetzias Mitzrayim, while everyone gathers gold, Moshe searches for Yosef's coffin. Serach bas Asher leads him to the Nile, the coffin rises, and at Yam Suf the sea splits in Yosef's merit. A promise kept across the generations.
- Nachshon Jumps into the Sea - The Egyptians behind them, the sea in front, and nobody willing to go first - until Nachshon ben Aminadav jumps in first. The sea splits for the one who took the first step.
- Miriam's Well - For forty years in the midbar a rock-shaped well rolled along beside the camp and gave the whole nation water, in the merit of Miriam. Where it went, why it stopped, and where Chazal say you can still see it.
- The Mountains Who Wanted the Torah - Har Tavor and Har Carmel come running, each one sure the Torah belongs on its peak. Hashem chooses the lowest of them all. Why the Torah was given on a humble mountain, from the Gemara in Megillah.
- The Day the Whole World Was Quiet - No bird sang, no ox mooed, the sea stopped its waves and even the malachim fell silent - and into that stillness came the words Anochi Hashem Elokecha. The morning of Matan Torah, from Shemos Rabbah.
- Shlomo HaMelech and the Shamir - The Beis HaMikdash could not be built with iron, so Shlomo HaMelech needed the shamir - a creature the size of a barley grain that splits stone. A clever trap of glass, a hoopoe's nest, and a house of peace.
- Hillel on the Roof in the Snow - Too poor to pay the guard, Hillel climbs onto the roof of the beis medrash to listen at the skylight - and the snow falls all night. The Gemara's story of a grown, hard-working man who wanted Torah more than warmth.
- Choni and the Carob Tree - Choni asks a man why he is planting a tree that will not give fruit for seventy years - then falls asleep for exactly that long. A story from Taanis about planting for the people who come after us.
- Rabbi Chanina's Gift for Yerushalayim - Too poor to bring a gift to Yerushalayim, Rabbi Chanina ben Dosa polishes a great stone himself - and five strangers carry it there in a single moment. The midrash of the gift that comes from the heart.
- The Wall That Was Never Destroyed - When the Romans pulled down the walls of the Beis HaMikdash, one wall was left standing, because Hashem promised it would never be destroyed. The story behind the Kosel HaMaaravi, where the Shechinah has never left.