RABBINIC MIDRASH

Gary G. Porton (University of Illinois)

I

INTRODUCTION The present essay is an introduction to rabbinic midrash and to the modern study of that material; that is, it discusses a particular type of literature produced by a specific group of J ews who flourished from the first through the seventh centuries of the common era and the work of the more interesting contemporary scholars on those writings. 1 In the traditional texts of Judaism, midrash carries three different technical meanings: 1) It signifies biblical interpretations; 2) it designates the process of that interpretation; and 3) it describes the collections of those interpretations. In all instances, the defining characteristic of midrash is the overt connection of the rabbinic statement to a biblical text. Therefore, midrash is "a type of litera• ture, oral or written, which stands in direct relationship to a fixed, canonical text, considered to be the authoritative and the revealed word of God by the midrashist and his audience, and in which this canonical text is explicitly cited or clearly alluded to." As we shall see below, examples of rabbinic midrash appear in collections solely devoted to that activity and in texts with much broader interests, such as the talmuds. Further, we shall note that midrash is an

I There are numerous bibliographies on midrash; unfortunately, they become dated as soon as they are published. See, for example, H.L. Strack and G. Stemberger, Introduction to the Talmud and Midrash, trans., Markus Bockmuehl (Edin• burgh: T&T Clark, 1991), 254-353. John T. Townsend, "Rabbinic Sources," The Study qf ]udaism: Bibliographical Essays, ed., Jacob Neusner (New York: KTAV, 1972), 64-77. Lee Haas, "Bibliography on Midrash," The Study qf Ancient ]udaism Volume 1: Mishnah, Midrash, Siddur, ed.,Jacob Neusner (New York: KTAV, 1981), 93-103. Second Printing (Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1992). Emil Schürer, The History qf the ]ewish People in the Age qf ]esus Christ (175 B.C.-A.D. 135). A New English Version Revised and Edited by Geza Vermes and Fergus Millar (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1973), I, 90-99. Richard S. Sarason, "A Select Bibliography on Scholarship on Midrashic Literature," Studies in Aggadah, Targum and ]ewish Liturgy in Memory qf ]oseph Heinemann, eds., Jakob J. Petuchowski and Ezra Fleischer (Jerusalern: The Magnes Press, 1981), 71-73.John T. Townsend, "Minor Midrashim," Bibliographi• cal Essays in Medieval ]ewish Studies: The Study qf ]udaism Volume II (New York: KTAV, 1976),331-392. 218 GARY G. PORTON

integral part of the rabbinic enterprise; it does not represent a unique mind-set or endeavor. The distinguishing trait of the rabbis in late antiquity was their knowledge; they laid claim to a body of information which was unavailable to the rest of the J ewish population. The rabbis taught that masheh rabbenu, Moses our rabbi, had received a dual revelation on Mount Sinai. The Written Torah, the first five books of the Hebrew Bible-Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuter• onomy-was accessible to all Jews. All they had to do was to open a Torah scroll or to hear it read in the synagogues. However, the Oral Torah, the second element of the revelation at Sinai, was in the possession of the rabbis alone. Each rabbi had received the Oral Torah from his teacher, who had received it from his teacher, and so forth. The unbroken chain stretched back from the rabbis of late antiquity to the first rabbi, Moses, who had conversed with God face to face and who had received the total revelation, con• tained in both torahs, from YHWH. The Written Torah together with rest of the books of Hebrew Bible stand at the center of rabbinic Judaism. The T aNaKh-Tarah, Nevi'im (Prophets), Ketuvim (Writings)-provides the history, mythol• ogy, and symbols upon which and from which the rabbis of late antiquity and subsequent generations constructed what we now call Judaism. And, it is the Oral Torah which interpreted that history, developed the mythology, and explained the symbols, so that the Written Torah which had been revealed in the distant past could serve as the foundation upon which Judaism could be constructed in the present age. The Written Torah was the perfect revelation from the perfect Deity. It was viewed as a faultless document which accurately reflected God's will and expectations for human beings. It theory, at least, it contained all humans needed to know to live their lives in accordance to the Divine Plan. Even though the Writ• ten Torah was not always clear or consistent, the Oral Torah gave it clarity, explained its enigmas, solved its contradictions, filled in its lacunas, and defined how its teachings were to be put into practice by theJews oflate antiquity. While some attempts were made dur• ing the first two and a half centuries of the common era, found especially in Mishnah, the earliest document produced by the rab• bis, to create a system of thought and action whose connections to the Written Torah were tenuous, or at least covert, these soon were replaced by traditions, teachings, and stories whose ties to and sup• posed or real derivations from the Written Torah were made clear and explicit. In some cases, pericopae were taken directly from Mishnah and recast in terms of the specific biblical passages from