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Midrash Rabbah (10 Vol. Set)


miguel1981

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Read an excerpt from the Torah modern commentary that referenced the Midrash Rabbah that I found illustrative. With good amazon reviews it looks it would be a good addition to the Jewish references works in Accordance.  

 

 

"The definitive English translation of Midrash Rabbah

Midrash Rabbah, one of the monumental productions of Rabbinic literature, is the most striking testimony to the joy and reverence with which the Jews have cherished the Bible. It is an essential commentary on the Torah, containing a treasury of homiletic, ethical, and moral interpretations of the Scriptures as expounded by the Rabbis during Talmudic times.

The Midrash represents, in a unique form, the essence of Judaism, its ethical standards, and its insight into the human heart. It spans the gamut of human knowledge, with passages about astronomy, medicine, metaphysics, and much more. For centuries the Midrash has been the staple that nourishes the Jewish imagination. Jews have always sought and found comfort and inspiration in the Midrash by understanding Biblical history in the light of their own experiences.

The modern reader will find much in the Midrash that is both fascinating and inspiring. This elegant ten-volume set includes the complete English translation of Midrash Rabbah on the Five Books of the Torah and on the Five Megilloth."

 

https://www.amazon.com/Midrash-Rabbah-10-Vol-Set/dp/0900689382

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I'm not an expert on this content. Obviously, the version linked to above is a different translation, but I wonder how it compares to what we already carry? Perhaps someone with more knowledge about both can comment.

 

Nothing to see here ;-)

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That's Talmud and Mishna. Midrash Rabba is something different. The best ist here (with English translation) the Artscroll Edition.

Talmud and Mishna is about Halacha, Mirdrash Rabbat about ethics.

 

Accordance does not offer Mirdrash Rabba.

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Yes, Midrash Rabba is something different from Talmud and Mishnah which are available on Accordance.  I suggest that you do a RESEARCH on this term MIDRASH and you will be enlightened about this genre of Rabbinic Literature.

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Again, while no expert, I do know the difference. My apologies for the mixup. I ran the search shown in the image further up in a hurry and noticed over 2600 hits for Rabbah. I didn't mean to mix up Mishna and Midrash. I was just juggling a number of things at once :-)

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I was just juggling a number of things at once :-)

Tomorrows blog on the new series and brilliant sale announcement by any chance??????

 

;o)

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I dont know how accurate this is but its worth the research.

 

Very interesting as to the meaning of Midrash concerning Jewish thought!  Even more so i am tempted to purchase the book format. I still say this is a plus +1

 

 

Midrash is an interpretive act, seeking the answers to religious questions (both practical and theological) by plumbing the meaning of the words of the Torah. (In the Bible, the root d-r-sh is used to mean inquiring into any matter, including occasionally to seek out God’s word.) Midrash responds to contemporary problems and crafts new stories, making connections between new Jewish realities and the unchanging biblical text.

Midrash falls into two categories.When the subject is law and religious practice (halacha ), it is called midrash halachaMidrash aggadah, on the other hand, interprets biblical narrative, exploring questions of ethics or theology, or creating homilies and parables based on the text. (Aggadah means”telling”; any midrash which is not halakhic falls into this category.)

Midrash Halacha

It is often difficult to determine, simply from reading the biblical text, what Jewish law would be in practice. The text of the Torahis often general or ambiguous when presenting laws. Midrash halacha attempts to clarify or extend a law beyond the conditions assumed in the Bible, and to make connections between current practice and the biblical text. It made possible the creation and acceptance of new liturgies and rituals which de facto replaced sacrificial worship after the fall of the Second Temple, and the maintenance of continuity by linking those practices to the words of the Torah .

Midrash halacha from the two centuries following the fall of the Temple was collected in three books — the Mekhilta on Exodus, the Sifra on Leviticus, and the Sifrei on Numbers and Deuteronomy — known as the tannaitic midrashim. (The tannaim were the rabbis from the time of the Mishnah, edited in approximately 200 C.E.)

Midrash Aggadah

The type of midrash most commonly referred to (as in, “There is a midrash which says…”) is from the collections of midrash aggadah, most of which were compiled between about 200 and 1000 C.E. (Many midrashim circulated orally before then). Midrash aggadah may begin its exploration with any word or verse in the Bible. There are many different methods of interpretation and exposition.

Written by rabbis both steeped in Bible and absorbed by the Jewish questions of their time, works of midrash aggadah often occupy the meeting ground between reverence and love for the wording of the fixed text of the Torah, and theological creativity. Midrashic writings thus often yield religious insights that have made Torah directly applicable to later Jewish realities, especially the concerns of its authors. Some of what midrash aggadah yields is insight into the burning, sometimes time-bound questions of those who wrote it. Still, the interpretations produced often have more universal and timeless application to our, or any, generation.

In addition to works devoted to midrashic compilations, midrash aggadah also appears throughout the two TalmudsMidrash Rabbah, the “Great Midrash,” is the name of the collections linked to the five books of the Torah and the “Five Scrolls” (EstherSong of SongsRuthLamentations, and Ecclesiastes) read on holidays. Some of these works read like verse-by-verse commentaries. Others may have originated in sermons linked to the weekly Torah reading.

More can be learned here https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/midrash-101/

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Even if you know Hebrew, the various volumes of Midrash Rabbah are a challenge (How much more so the Mishna in Hebrew and the Talmud (both Babylonian and Jerusalem) in Aramaic and Hebrew).  There are a number of sets of Midrash Rabbah in Hebrew with excellent commentaries and explanations (some of them academic in quality) without which you cannot understand  the text before you.  Having the text in English may supplement and be an aid to having the the Hebrew original but can in no way suffice for an in depth and comprehensive understanding of the nuances of the texts. In sum, don't rely on an English translation alone if you want to understand Midrash Rabbah.

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Adding the midrash to the Accordance library would be a fantastic benefit both for Jewish users and Researchers of the Hebrew and Greek scriptures.

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  • 4 years later...

+1. I recently purchased the Jewish Annotated NT and the Jewish SB --- both on sale right now! --- and there are HUNDREDS of references to the Rabbah Midrash. I'd love to read those refs...and for them to be tagged after that 😉

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  • 3 months later...

Wil Gafney is requesting this module: 

 

 "please forward my desire for the Midrash Rabbah as a module."
 

The Rev. Wil Gafney, Ph.D.+

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On 7/20/2022 at 1:50 PM, Billy32792 said:

Wil Gafney is requesting this module: 

 

 "please forward my desire for the Midrash Rabbah as a module."
 

The Rev. Wil Gafney, Ph.D.+

 

Thought I'd append this here....

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  • 6 months later...

Another vote for the Midrash Rabbah, for many of the same reasons Andrew Patterson listed.  To be clear, I'd want an English translation; my Hebrew isn't strong enough at this point to easily refer to the Hebrew text when following up references, and my Aramaic was never that good.    That said, if an English version became available here, I'd likely put the Hebrew/Aramaic text on my wishlist and get around to it sometime.  

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I’ll mention this one to our team as well. Thanks for bringing it back up!

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+1 Very interested

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+1 Very interested too

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me too... would certainly buy

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