Tales and Maxims from the Midrash (eBook)

SAmuel Rapaport (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2018
536 Seiten
Seltzer Books (Verlag)
978-1-4553-0097-6 (ISBN)

Infos

"e;JUST as the Written Law given by Moses emanates from God, whilst He Himself only proclaimed the first two commandments of the Decalogue, owing to the Israelites being too terrified to hear God's voice (Deut. 20. 19), and the whole of the Torah was then conveyed to Israel by Moses, so he likewise received the Oral law, which he was not allowed to commit to writing. This Oral law had to be taught by word of mouth side by side with the Written law, and thus the former became an unfolding and sequel to the latter."e;

Textauszug

 

INTRODUCTION

 

JUST as the Written Law given by Moses emanates from God, whilst He Himself only  proclaimed the first two commandments of the Decalogue, owing to the Israelites  being too terrified to hear God's voice (Deut. 20. 19), and the whole of the  Torah was then conveyed to Israel by Moses, so he likewise received the Oral  law, which he was not allowed to commit to writing. This Oral law had to be  taught by word of mouth side by side with the Written law, and thus the former  became an unfolding and sequel to the latter.

 

This, says the Midrash, 1 is meant by the words: 'Only take heed to thyself and  keep thy soul diligently lest thou forget the words--דברים meaning "words" as  well as "things"--which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy  heart all the days of thy life' (Deut. 4. 9). 'The words which thine eyes have  seen' means the Written words which can be seen, and 'lest they depart from thy  heart' refers to the Oral law, words committed to memory, laid up in the heart. From time immemorial, during the time of the prophets and even earlier, the  Israelites had established schools or assemblies for the teaching of the Torah.  To the places of worship schools were invariably attached in which religion was  taught, the Torah was read and exegetically expounded. Whenever a portion of  Holy Writ was read a דרש (Drash)--a searching  inquiry--into the meaning of every sentence was made, with explanations drawn  therefrom, based on the Oral law. Not only was this the case on Sabbaths and  Festivals, but on week-days too, especially so on Mondays and Thursdays, when a  small portion of the Torah was read, an institution ascribed to Ezra. 1 Later  on--probably in the time of the Maccabees--the reading of the prophets was also  introduced.

 

The dissertations and expositions which were held were known as מדרש (Midrash),  and this term was originally applied to both the הלכה (Halacha) and the אגדה  (Agada).

 

The sermons, dissertations and expositions of whatever nature--whether  exegetical, homiletical or ethical--were always given by word of mouth, but were  after delivery reduced to writing. A knowledge of the Scriptures on the part of  the audience was assumed, as the study of the Law was looked upon as one of the  highest religious duties. There was great anxiety on the part of these teachers  that nothing should be added to the Written law, which is known to us as the  עשרים וארבע--the Canon of the twenty-four books.

 

There is this line of demarcation betweenהלכה (Halacha) and אגדה (Agada), which in course of time were separated from one another, though the former contains  now and then a little of the latter, and vice versâ. 2 Halacha, derived from הלך (to go, walk), is a term denoting laws regulating man's walk in life--the  performance of his religious duties. The Aramaic translation of Onkeles (Exod.  21. 9) gives הלכה as an equivalent of משפט. Halacha, when decided by a majority  of the school, became incontrovertible, law that could not be gainsaid; and any  one, no matter how great his reputation for piety and learning, who might  attempt to impugn it, would be excommunicated. Thus we find such lights amongst the  Rabbis as Eleazer B. Hanoch, who, having questioned the Halacha on 'Purity,' was  put under the ban, in which he remained all his life, and a stone was thrown on  his coffin, since he had died under sentence. Akabyah b. Mahalalel was similarly  excommunicated for refusing to accept the decision of the majority on four  questions, and Rabbi Eliazar b. Horkynas, too, was put under the ban for  declining to recognize the decision of the majority on some points. The names of  the respective authorities in the Halacha were always retained.

 

The Agada, on the other hand, is a free interpretation of the Scriptures. As its  name implies: 'It was said.' Its assertions were not incontrovertible or not to  be gainsaid. There was, on the one hand, strong opposition to the Agada; but, on  the other hand, it was very highly esteemed by most, and not every one was  considered qualified to handle it. Even Rabbi Akiba received a mild rebuke when  he tried to dive into the depths of this method of teaching. 1 There grew up in  the course of time a saying: 'If you desire to find the greatness of the  Creator, study the Agada.' The names of the Agadic teachers were not always  mentioned, yet certain rabbis were known to have possessed an enviable capacity  for this branch of religious instruction, such as Rabbis Abahu, Ishmael, Eliazar  b. Azaryah, Eliazar b. R. José the Galilean, and others, and they were known as  the Rabbis of the Agada.

 

The Agada, of which the various Midrashim contain collections, and which some of  the Apocrypha have for their source, was written in the time of the Tanaim, and  consequently before the Halacha, which was only taken in hand by the school of  Rav Ashé.

 

Whilst the Agada seeks but free scope in its own teachings and in its own interpretation of Scripture, and does not intend to  invade the domain of Halacha, it yet occasionally touches some legal points. It  is the oldest exegesis of the Scriptures, and contains in its elevating  teachings, sermons, prayers, homilies, historical records, exhortations,  admonitions and consolations, conveyed frequently in allegories, legends,  parables and similes.

 

From the time of Ezra there were many institutions for the diffusion of this  kind of teaching by the Scribes and priests. It formed the vital element in the  nation's morality. When the Scribes took the place of the prophets, their  interpretation and exposition of the Scriptures also took the place of prophetic  utterances. In prosperity the people's favourite was the Halacha, 1 but in  adversity they preferred attending Agadic expositions, containing as they  did--among much else--words of comfort and consolation, instilling faith in God  and hope in His help and protection.

 

Rabbi Abahu and Rabbi Chanina b. Abbé were holding discourses at the same time;  the former preaching on Agada and the latter on Halacha. Rabbi Chanina's  audience, hearing of Rabbi Abahu's Agadic discourse, rudely left him, and went  to hear the latter. This gentle sage, distinguished for his meekness and piety,  felt aggrieved at the slight shown to his colleague, of which he was the  innocent and unwilling cause. He went to see Rabbi Chanina and tried to assuage  the grief caused him. 'It is hardly to be wondered at,' he said, 'that the  people come to hear me instead of craving for your words. For do we not find  this folly in almost every walk of life? Let a man offer cheap and flimsy finery  for sale, and he will find far more buyers than he who offers choice pearls and  precious stones.' 2 The Rabbis knew well how to make their Agadic discourses as attractive as possible, and to awaken their audience from  their lethargic condition when occasion arose. One device was to use words of  foreign languages, Latin, Greek, Persian, etc., in order to provoke questions  and further interest, and so well was the Agada known for its foreign words,  that if one found in the Mishna a word of doubtful meaning, recourse was had to  the written Agada for its elucidation.

 

Rabbi Akiba, once finding his audience drowsy and inattentive, used the  following device: 'What,' he asked, 'induced Esther to reign over 127  provinces?' The question at once roused the attention of the whole assembly, who  expected some subtle arithmetical solution, with which the Rabbi had no  intention of edifying them. But finding his device successful and attention  awakened, he answered the question by saying that 'it was proper for the  descendant of Sarah, who lived 127 years, to reign over 127 provinces.' 1 Rabbi Judah Hanasi, too, had recourse to enigmatical sayings: 'I know of a  woman,' he said, 'who bore 600,000 children at one time.' This was enough to  excite the curiosity of his congregation, who were depressed and in a dejected  spirit owing to the havoc wrought by the ruthless Hadrian. Seeing that the  assembly was quite puzzled at such a wonderful event, Rabbi Ishmael b. José  explained that that woman was no other than Jochabad, the mother of Moses, who  was not only a host in himself, but also delivered 600,000 men from slavery. 2 Some of the Rabbis wrote down their notes on Holy Writ as they occurred to them.  Rabbi Meir, who was a skilful Scribe and wrote a scroll of the Pentateuch for  his own use, is said to have written on the margin thereof short notes for his  discourses. A great many Agadic and other teachings were developed in the school of Yabné, or Jamnia, granted by Vespasian to Rabbi Jochanon b. Zakkai,  the last pupil of Hillel, and to his friends as well as to Gamliel's  descendants. This truly great load-star of the Jewish religion established his  school there, and the place became a new Jerusalem and the new seat of a...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 1.3.2018
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Geisteswissenschaften ► Religion / Theologie ► Judentum
• ISBN-10: 1-4553-0097-7 / 1455300977
• ISBN-13: 978-1-4553-0097-6 / 9781455300976