Were There Really Midreshei Halakhah?
The term “Midrash Halakhah” can imply that the purpose of these teachings was to derive halakhot through midrashic methods. In this paper I will attempt to demonstrate that we have no literary proof that Midrash Halakhah was a distinctive and dominant learning style prior to and during the Tannaitic...
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
HUC
2015
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| In: |
Hebrew Union College annual
Year: 2013, Volume: 84/85, Pages: 25-47 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Parallel Edition: | Non-electronic
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| Summary: | The term “Midrash Halakhah” can imply that the purpose of these teachings was to derive halakhot through midrashic methods. In this paper I will attempt to demonstrate that we have no literary proof that Midrash Halakhah was a distinctive and dominant learning style prior to and during the Tannaitic period. It will be proposed that the earliest and most prominent method of relating to Scripture was through simple and short explanations of words and phrases. Thus the majority of midreshei halakhah are actually apodictic explanations which do not employ hermeneutical rules (middot), do not cite other verses, and do not use other midrashic techniques. In later generations, many simple perushim were embellished, giving the false impression of a highly developed literary style of midrash. I propose five different styles of simple midrashim: Apodictic, Logical, Derived, Tannaitic Support, and Narrative, and have prepared a sampling of teachings to investigate the frequency of usage of each style. The trend is obviously clear - most of the core teachings in the works of midreshei halakhah are apodictic, and the majority of the teachings are explanations, not halakhot. Thus there is no proof for the existence of a distinctive method of deriving halakhot. |
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| Contains: | Enthalten in: Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, Hebrew Union College annual
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