More Midrash

Bereishit Rabbah 30:8 Noah was perfect in his generation. What’s the most interesting word in this sentence? Well, this midrash opts for “was”, leading us to surprising wisdom.

Bereishit Rabbah 2:3 “The earth was formless and void…” (Genesis 1:2-5). Rabbi Yehudah bar Simone interpreted this reading as applying to [future] generations. This midrash explores references to later generations within the first few lines of Genesis.

Bereishit Rabbah 96:1. In the Torah scroll, every parashah begins on a new line or after a significant space from the last word of the previous parashah. Vayechi, however, the final parashah of Genesis, begins immediately after the last word of Vayigash. Our midrash offers three suggestions for what meaning we can make of such a “closed off” text.