What is Midrash?

Rabbinic Biblical Interpretation

Midrashim—rabbinic compilations of biblical interpretation—are vast treasure troves of scriptural exegesis. But much more than this, they convey narratives replete with insights into human nature; they present a full range of rabbinic ingenuity, humor, worship, and wisdom. Midrashic literature is vast and varied. The term midrash is sometimes used more broadly as a synonym for aggadah, which is a term that includes rabbinic stories, maxims, and parables that appear throughout rabbinic literature. Midrash is the means by which the rabbis made biblical ordinances relevant, taught moral lessons, told stories, and maintained the Jewish metanarrative that shaped and continues to sustain the Jewish people. Compendia of midrashim not only preserve interpretations and teachings but also reveal a curiously postmodern, multivoiced approach to scriptural exegesis.

The term midrash, from the Hebrew root d.r.sh., “to inquire, search out,”  indicates both the process—an attempt to investigate scripture, to understand laconic or obscure biblical verses so as to make meaning—and the fruit of that process. These compilations are often categorized according to three descriptive binaries: halakhic or aggadic; exegetical or homiletical; and tannaitic (70–200 CE) or amoraic (200–500 CE). Several midrashic collections were also composed in the Middle Ages (600–1200).

In addition to the topically organized halakhic collections (Mishnah, Tosefta, and two Talmuds), the rabbis also produced works of midrash (pl., midrashim) containing exegesis of, and elaboration upon, biblical verses. Midrashic works are formulated as commentaries on scripture—sometimes moving verse by verse, sometimes elaborating on select verses. Even those that focus on select verses (such as the opening verse of the weekly Torah reading in the synagogue) follow the biblical sequence. 

Halakhic Midrash

Midrashic works may be divided into two main categories: halakhic and aggadic. Works of halakhic midrash are tannaitic (i.e., they contain the teachings of pre-220 CE sages), proceed verse by verse, and feature exegesis of the legal sections of the Bible, beginning with the description of the Passover offering and unleavened bread in Exodus 12. The designation halakhic midrashim is actually a misnomer, for although they comment primarily on the legal portions of the Torah, they do not do so exclusively, and they also contain a great deal of nonlegal material. The main extant halakhic—that is, tannaitic—midrashim are the Mekhilta de-Rabbi Ishmael and the Mekhilta de-Rabbi Shimon bar Yoḥai on Exodus (mekhilta means “rule, norm”), the Sifra on Leviticus, Sifre Numbers, and Sifre Deuteronomy (Sifra and Sifre both come from the root sefer, “book”). On the basis of the names of the authorities cited in these works, their technical terminology, and their hermeneutical presuppositions, many scholars attribute the Mekhilta de-Rabbi Ishmael and Sifre Numbers to the school of the second-century tanna R. Ishmael, and the Mekhilta de-Rabbi Shimon bar Yoḥai, the Sifra, and Sifre Deuteronomy to the school of his contemporary, R. Akiva. The former works employ a more constrained and contextual method of exegesis than the latter.

Scholars debate whether rabbinic midrash was a genuinely interpretive activity that generated law (midrash yotser) or an ex post facto legitimating activity that supplied existing laws and traditions with an authoritative foothold in scripture (midrash mekayem). Phenomenologically speaking, it is clear that rabbinic literature employs midrashic techniques to generate, extend, define, refine, and adjudicate interpretations of the written text on the one hand, and on the other to justify existing teachings or customary practices that were not in the first instance derived by exegesis of the written text.

Aggadic Midrash

Redacted in the late amoraic period, or in some cases much later, works of aggadic midrash contain teachings attributed to both the earlier tannaitic and the later amoraic sages.  These works focus on the narrative or nonlegal portions of the Pentateuch and the “five scrolls” (Megillot): Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, and Esther. These works are freer in both style and content than the tannaitic midrashim, often weaving complex interpretive structures out of verses from widely disparate parts of the Bible. Some of these works may have their roots in homilies delivered within rabbinic circles or other settings, though many bear the earmarks of polished literary crafting. The aggadic midrashim teach, inspire, console, and are an important source for discerning the general worldview of rabbinic culture. The texts presented in the Posen Library are divided chronologically, as tannaitic, amoraic, and medieval.

Read More: 

• Tannaitic Midrash

• Amoraic Midrash

• Medieval Midrash