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Rabbinica
Rabbinic literature, in its broadest sense, is the entire spectrum of rabbinic writings throughout Jewish history. However, the term often refers specifically to literature from the Talmudic era, as opposed to medieval and modern rabbinic writing, and thus corresponds with the Hebrew term ''Sifrut Chazal'' ( he, ספרות חז״ל "Literature f oursages," where '' Hazal'' normally refers only to the sages of the Talmudic era). This more specific sense of "Rabbinic literature"—referring to the Talmudim, Midrash ( he, מדרש), and related writings, but hardly ever to later texts—is how the term is generally intended when used in contemporary academic writing. The terms ''meforshim'' and ''parshanim'' (commentaries/commentators) almost always refer to later, post-Talmudic writers of rabbinic glosses on Biblical and Talmudic texts. Mishnaic literature The Midr'she halakha, Mishnah, and Tosefta (compiled from materials pre-dating the year 200 CE) are the ear ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rabbi
A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as '' semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of the rabbi developed in the Pharisaic (167 BCE–73 CE) and Talmudic (70–640 CE) eras, when learned teachers assembled to codify Judaism's written and oral laws. The title "rabbi" was first used in the first century CE. In more recent centuries, the duties of a rabbi became increasingly influenced by the duties of the Protestant Christian minister, hence the title " pulpit rabbis", and in 19th-century Germany and the United States rabbinic activities including sermons, pastoral counseling, and representing the community to the outside, all increased in importance. Within the various Jewish denominations, there are different requirements for rabbinic ordination, and differences in opinion regarding who is recognized as a rabbi. For ex ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Judaism
Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in the Middle East during the Bronze Age. Modern Judaism evolved from Yahwism, the religion of ancient Israel and Judah, by the late 6th century BCE, and is thus considered to be one of the oldest monotheistic religions. Judaism is considered by religious Jews to be the expression of the covenant that God established with the Israelites, their ancestors. It encompasses a wide body of texts, practices, theological positions, and forms of organization. The Torah, as it is commonly understood by Jews, is part of the larger text known as the ''Tanakh''. The ''Tanakh'' is also known to secular scholars of religion as the Hebrew Bible, and to Christians as the " Old Testament". The Torah's supplemental oral tradition is represented by later texts s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Talmud
The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the centerpiece of Jewish cultural life and was foundational to "all Jewish thought and aspirations", serving also as "the guide for the daily life" of Jews. The term ''Talmud'' normally refers to the collection of writings named specifically the Babylonian Talmud (), although there is also an earlier collection known as the Jerusalem Talmud (). It may also traditionally be called (), a Hebrew abbreviation of , or the "six orders" of the Mishnah. The Talmud has two components: the Mishnah (, 200 CE), a written compendium of the Oral Torah; and the Gemara (, 500 CE), an elucidation of the Mishnah and related Tannaitic writings that often ventures onto other subjects and expounds broadly on the Hebrew Bible. The term "Talmud" may refer to eith ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chazal
Chazal or Ḥazal ( he, חז״ל), an acronym for the Hebrew "Ḥakhameinu Zikhronam Liv'rakha" (, "Our Sages, may their memory be blessed"), refers to all Jewish sages of the Mishna, Tosefta and Talmud eras, spanning from the times of the final 300 years of the Second Temple of Jerusalem until the 7th century CE, or 250 BCE – 625 CE. Rabbinical eras; eras of the Halakha Chazal are generally divided according to their era and the main writing done in that era: * ''Soferim'' ("scribes"): Sages from before the era of Ezra the scribe until the ''Zugot'' era, including the men of the Great Assembly. This era stretches from the '' Matan Torah'' ("giving of the Law"; Moses receiving the Torah on Biblical Mount Sinai), to the ''Halakha'' ("traditions") era, including the times of Simeon the Just. * ''Zugot'' ("pairs"): Five pairs (''zugot'') of sages from consecutive generations, who lived during a period of around 100 years towards the end of th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Midrash
''Midrash'' (;"midrash" ''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. he, מִדְרָשׁ; or מִדְרָשׁוֹת ''midrashot'') is expansive using a rabbinic mode of interpretation prominent in the . The word itself means "textual interpretation", "study", or " |
Midrash Halakha
''Midrash halakha'' ( he, הֲלָכָה) was the ancient Judaic rabbinic method of Torah study that expounded upon the traditionally received 613 Mitzvot (commandments) by identifying their sources in the Hebrew Bible, and by interpreting these passages as proofs of the laws' authenticity. The term ''midrash halakha'' is also applied to the derivation of new laws, either by means of a correct interpretation of the obvious meaning of scriptural words themselves or by the application of certain hermeneutic rules. The word ''midrash'' is rooted in the term ''drash'', literally "seek," or "enquire," but practically meaning exposition. ''Midrash'' is then "that which has been expounded," or more simply, a work focused on rabbinic exposition (of the Torah or of Torah based laws and ethics). The word is applied only to compilations of ''Tannaic midrash'' or to the ''Tannaic'' exposition process. However, the common term ''midrash'' used by itself has come to be a shorthand for the ter ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Seder Olam Rabbah
''Seder Olam Rabbah'' ( he, סדר עולם רבה, "The Great Order of the World") is a 2nd-century CE Hebrew language chronology detailing the dates of biblical events from creation to Alexander the Great's conquest of Persia. It adds no stories beyond what is in the biblical text, and addresses such questions as the age of Isaac at his binding and the number of years that Joshua led the Israelites. Tradition considers it to have been written about 160 CE by Jose ben Halafta, but it was probably also supplemented and edited at a later period. Name In the Babylonian Talmud this chronicle is several times referred to simply as ''Seder Olam'', and it is quoted as such by the more ancient biblical commentators, including Rashi. But starting in the 12th century, it began to be designated as ''Seder Olam Rabbah'' to distinguish it from a later, smaller chronicle, '' Seder Olam Zuṭa''; it was first so designated by Abraham ben Nathan Ha-Yarhi. Structure In its present form, ''Sed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sifre
Sifre ( he, סִפְרֵי; ''siphrēy'', ''Sifre, Sifrei'', also, ''Sifre debe Rab'' or ''Sifre Rabbah'') refers to either of two works of ''Midrash halakha'', or classical Jewish legal biblical exegesis, based on the biblical books of Numbers and Deuteronomy. The Talmudic era Sifre The title ''Sifre debe Rav'' (lit. "the books of the school of Rav") is used by Chananel ben Chushiel, Isaac Alfasi, and Rashi; it occurs likewise in Makkot 9b. The 8th century author of Halachot Gedolot names four "exegetical books belonging to the Scribes" (Heb. ''Midrash sofrim'') and which, in all appearances, seem to refer to "Sifre debe Rav" and which comprised the following compositions: 1) ''Genesis Rabbah'' 2) '' Mekhilta'' (on Exodus), 3) ''Sifrei'' (on Numbers) and 4) ''Sifrei'' (on Deuteronomy). Regarding the reference in Sanhedrin 86a to the Sifre of Rabbi Simeon, see Mekhilta of Rabbi Shimon; the question has likewise been raised whether, in view of the well-known close relation th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sifre Zutta
Sifre Zutta ( he, ספרי זוטא) is a midrash on the Book of Numbers. Medieval authors mention it under the titles "Sifre shel Panim Acherim" and "Vi-Yeshallehu Zutta"; and to distinguish from it the Sifre, '' Or Zarua'' calls the latter "Sifre Rabbati." The Sifre Zutta has not been preserved; and apparently was no longer extant by the time of Abraham Bakrat (around 1500). However, fragments of ''Sifre Zutta'' have been discovered in the Cairo Geniza, and excerpts from it are quoted in the Midrash HaGadol and in Yalkut Shimoni. Compilations have been published. Quotations in other early works Earlier authors knew of it and occasionally quoted it, e.g., R. Samson of Sens in his commentary on the mishnaic orders Zera'im and Ṭohorot. Numerous fragments are found in Yalkut Shimoni to Book of Numbers. Quotations are found also in Numbers Rabbah to Naso. The "Mekhilta to Numbers" frequently quoted by Maimonides in his ''Sefer ha-Mitzvot'' is identical to the Sifre Zutta; for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alphabet Of Akiba Ben Joseph
Alphabet of Rabbi Akiva ( he, אלפא-ביתא דרבי עקיבא, ''Alpha-Beta de-Rabbi Akiva''), otherwise known as Letters of Rabbi Akiva ( he, אותיות דרבי עקיבא, ''Otiot de-Rabbi Akiva'') or simply Alphabet or Letters, is a midrash on the names of the letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Two versions or portions of this midrash are known to exist. Version A of ''Alphabet'' Version A, which is considered by Adolf Jellinek to be the older form, and by to be of a much more recent origin, introduces the various anthropomorphized letters of the Hebrew alphabet that God engraved from His crown with a pen of fire contending with each other for the honor of forming the beginning of creation (bereshit). It is based upon Genesis Rabbah 1 and Shir haShirim Rabbah on 5:11, according to which Aleph (א) complained before God that Bet (ב) was preferred to it, but was assured that the Torah of Sinai, the object of creation, would begin with Aleph (אנכי = Anochi = I am); it, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Leviticus Rabbah
Leviticus Rabbah, Vayikrah Rabbah, or Wayiqra Rabbah is a homiletic midrash to the Biblical book of Leviticus (''Vayikrah'' in Hebrew). It is referred to by Nathan ben Jehiel (c. 1035–1106) in his ''Arukh'' as well as by Rashi (1040–1105). According to Leopold Zunz, Hai Gaon (939-1038) and Nissim knew and made use of it. Zunz dates it to the middle of the 7th century, but ''The Encyclopaedia Judaica'' and Jacob Neusner date it to the 5th century. It originated in the Land of Israel, and is composed largely of older works. Its redactor made use of Genesis Rabbah, Pesikta de-Rav Kahana, and the Jerusalem Talmud, in addition to other ancient sources. The redactor appears to have referred also to the Babylonian Talmud, using several expressions in the sense in which only that work employs them. Contents Leviticus Rabbah is not a continuous, explanatory interpretation to Leviticus, but a collection of exclusive sermons or lectures on the themes or texts of that book. It consi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Genesis Rabbah
Genesis Rabbah (Hebrew: , ''B'reshith Rabba'') is a religious text from Judaism's classical period, probably written between 300 and 500 CE with some later additions. It is a midrash comprising a collection of ancient rabbinical homiletical interpretations of the Book of Genesis (''B'reshith'' in Hebrew). It is expository midrash to the first book of the Torah, assigned by tradition to the amora Hoshaiah (or Osha'yah), who flourished in the third century in Roman Syria Palaestina. The midrash forms an aggadic commentary on Genesis, in keeping with the midrashic exegesis of that age. In a continuous sequence, broken only toward the end, the Biblical text is expounded, verse for verse, often word for word. Only genealogic passages and passages that furnish no material for exposition (as the reiterated account of Abraham's servant in ) are omitted. Simplicity Genesis Rabbah contains many simple explanations of words and sentences, often in the Aramaic language, suitable for th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
