Midrash Tadshe (
Hebrew
Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
: מדרש תדשא) is a
small midrash which begins with an interpretation of
Gen.
The Book of Genesis (from Greek language, Greek ; Hebrew language, Hebrew: בְּרֵאשִׁית ''Bəreʾšīt'', "In hebeginning") is the first book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament. Its Hebrew name is the same as its i ...
1:11:
The name of the author occurs twice, and the midrash closes with the words "'ad kan me-divrei R.
Pinchas ben Yair." No other authors are named.
Midrash Tadshe must not be confused with another baraita bearing the title ''Baraita de-Rabbi b. Yair,'' which deals with gradations of virtues, the highest of which causes its possessor to share in the holy spirit.
Contents
Midrash Tadshe is unusual in several respects, compared to other midrashim. Although written in pure
Hebrew
Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
, it contains numerous expressions which are not found elsewhere, such as חג העומר and חג השופרות and ככבים שרועים (= "planets," p. 19). The structure of the midrash is very loose.
The midrash is generally symbolic in tendency, and it plays much on groups of numbers. Section 2 contains a symbolization of the
Tabernacle
According to the Hebrew Bible, the tabernacle ( he, מִשְׁכַּן, mīškān, residence, dwelling place), also known as the Tent of the Congregation ( he, link=no, אֹהֶל מוֹעֵד, ’ōhel mō‘ēḏ, also Tent of Meeting, etc.), ...
, and, according to
A. Epstein Abraham Epstein ( he, אברהם עפשטיין; 19 December 1841 – 1918) was a Russo-Austrian rabbinical scholar born in Staro Constantinov, Volhynia.
Epstein diligently studied the works of Isaac Baer Levinsohn, Nachman Krochmal, and S. D. Lu ...
, the central idea of the midrash is the theory of three worlds — earth, man, and the Tabernacle. Section 10 contains a mystical explanation of the numbers mentioned in connection with the offerings of the princes (
Numbers
A number is a mathematical object used to count, measure, and label. The original examples are the natural numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, and so forth. Numbers can be represented in language with number words. More universally, individual numbers can ...
7:12-89). Combinations and parallelisms based on the number ten are found in sections 5 and 15; on seven, in 6, 11, and 20; on six, in 20; on five, in 7; on four, in 20; on three, in 12, 18, etc. Desultory expositions of
Genesis
Genesis may refer to:
Bible
* Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of mankind
* Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Book of ...
2:17; 3:3, 14 et seq.;
Exodus
Exodus or the Exodus may refer to:
Religion
* Book of Exodus, second book of the Hebrew Torah and the Christian Bible
* The Exodus, the biblical story of the migration of the ancient Israelites from Egypt into Canaan
Historical events
* Ex ...
7:12 et seq., 83 et seq.;
Leviticus 13:2, 14:34;
Lamentations
The Book of Lamentations ( he, אֵיכָה, , from its incipit meaning "how") is a collection of poetic laments for the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BCE. In the Hebrew Bible it appears in the Ketuvim ("Writings") as one of the Five Megillot ...
1:1 et seq.;
Numbers
A number is a mathematical object used to count, measure, and label. The original examples are the natural numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, and so forth. Numbers can be represented in language with number words. More universally, individual numbers can ...
4:3, 27:7; and Deut. 32:12, are contained in sections 7, 10, 17, 20, 21, and 22.
Analogies with the Book of Jubilees
Especially noteworthy is section 8, on "the ages of the pious," the
Patriarchs
The highest-ranking bishops in Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, the Catholic Church (above major archbishop and primate), the Hussite Church, Church of the East, and some Independent Catholic Churches are termed patriarchs (and in certa ...
, the
Matriarchs, and the twelve sons of
Jacob
Jacob (; ; ar, يَعْقُوب, Yaʿqūb; gr, Ἰακώβ, Iakṓb), later given the name Israel, is regarded as a patriarch of the Israelites and is an important figure in Abrahamic religions, such as Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. J ...
, giving also the dates of their births. In this list the months are not designated as
Nisan
Nisan (or Nissan; he, נִיסָן, Standard ''Nīsan'', Tiberian ''Nīsān''; from akk, 𒊬𒊒𒄀 ''Nisanu'') in the Babylonian and Hebrew calendars is the month of the barley ripening and first month of spring. The name of the month is ...
, etc., but as "the first," "the second," etc. The dates for
Zebulun
Zebulun (; also ''Zebulon'', ''Zabulon'', or ''Zaboules'') was, according to the Books of Genesis and Numbers,Genesis 46:14 the last of the six sons of Jacob and Leah (Jacob's tenth son), and the founder of the Israelite Tribe of Zebulun. Some ...
and
Benjamin
Benjamin ( he, ''Bīnyāmīn''; "Son of (the) right") blue letter bible: https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/h3225/kjv/wlc/0-1/ H3225 - yāmîn - Strong's Hebrew Lexicon (kjv) was the last of the two sons of Jacob and Rachel (Jacob's thir ...
are lacking in the present text, but are given in a citation by
Baḥya and in
Yalkut Shimoni
The ''Yalkut Shimoni'' ( he, ילקוט שמעוני), or simply ''Yalkut'', is an aggadic compilation on the books of the Hebrew Bible. It is a compilation of older interpretations and explanations of Biblical passages, arranged according to the ...
, where, however, the months are named and not numbered. The length of life ascribed to the sons of Jacob agrees with that given in
Seder Olam Zutta
Seder Olam Zutta (Hebrew: ) is an anonymous chronicle from 803 CE, called "Zuta" (= "smaller," or "younger") to distinguish it from the older ''Seder Olam Rabbah.'' This work is based upon, and to a certain extent completes and continues, the olde ...
, but only the
Book of Jubilees
The Book of Jubilees, sometimes called Lesser Genesis (Leptogenesis), is an ancient Jewish religious work of 50 chapters (1,341 verses), considered canonical by the Ethiopian Orthodox Church as well as Beta Israel (Ethiopian Jews), where it is ...
gives the days and months of their births, and even it does not state the length of their lives.
On the other hand, section 6 of Midrash Tadshe is in entire agreement with Jubilees (2, 3, 4, 7, 10, 12, 14, 15, and 23) in its statement that 22 varieties of things were created in the world—seven on the first day; one on the second; four on the third; three on the fourth; three on the fifth; and four on the sixth—and that these 22 varieties correspond to the 22 generations from
Adam
Adam; el, Ἀδάμ, Adám; la, Adam is the name given in Genesis 1-5 to the first human. Beyond its use as the name of the first man, ''adam'' is also used in the Bible as a pronoun, individually as "a human" and in a collective sense as " ...
to
Jacob
Jacob (; ; ar, يَعْقُوب, Yaʿqūb; gr, Ἰακώβ, Iakṓb), later given the name Israel, is regarded as a patriarch of the Israelites and is an important figure in Abrahamic religions, such as Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. J ...
(and to the 22 letters of the alphabet).
Epstein has drawn attention to other striking analogies between this midrash and the Book of Jubilees, especially to the theory of R'
Pinchas ben Yair (p. 31) that
Adam
Adam; el, Ἀδάμ, Adám; la, Adam is the name given in Genesis 1-5 to the first human. Beyond its use as the name of the first man, ''adam'' is also used in the Bible as a pronoun, individually as "a human" and in a collective sense as " ...
was created in the first week, and that
Eve
Eve (; ; ar, حَوَّاء, Ḥawwāʾ; el, Εὕα, Heúa; la, Eva, Heva; Syriac: romanized: ) is a figure in the Book of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible. According to the origin story, "Creation myths are symbolic stories describing how the ...
was formed in the second week, from his rib; this serving as the foundation for the rule of purification given in
Lev. 12:2 et seq., with which Jubilees 3:8 can be compared. On these grounds, Epstein advances the hypothesis that in this and many other passages the author of the Midrash Tadshe used the Book of Jubilees, which existed at that time in
Hebrew
Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
and was much larger in scope than at present, and was ascribed, "on account of its
Essenic tendency," to R' Pinchas, who was famous for his great piety. However, it is unlikely that the present Book of Jubilees is incomplete, and a much more plausible view of Epstein's is that which regards the Midrash Tadshe as the work of Rabbi
Moses ha-Darshan
Moshe haDarshan (circa early 11th century) ( he, משה הדרשן, trans. "Moses the preacher") was chief of the yeshiva of Narbonne, and perhaps the founder of Jewish exegetical studies in France. Along with Rashi, his writings are often cited ...
.
Later usage
Either due to its beginning, or for some other reason, R' Pinchas ben Yair was regarded as the author of this midrash, and
Numbers Rabbah
Numbers Rabbah (or Bamidbar Rabbah in Hebrew) is a religious text holy to classical Judaism. It is a midrash comprising a collection of ancient rabbinical homiletic interpretations of the book of Numbers (''Bamidbar'' in Hebrew).
In the first prin ...
13:10 and 14:12,18 contain excerpts from the midrash in the name of R' Pinchas ben Yair.
Yalkut Shimoni
The ''Yalkut Shimoni'' ( he, ילקוט שמעוני), or simply ''Yalkut'', is an aggadic compilation on the books of the Hebrew Bible. It is a compilation of older interpretations and explanations of Biblical passages, arranged according to the ...
excerpted several passages from it, and it has been cited by various authors.
The midrash has been edited according to manuscript sources by
Adolf Jellinek
Adolf Jellinek ( he, אהרן ילינק ''Aharon Jelinek''; 26 June 1821 in Drslavice, Moravia – 28 December 1893 in Vienna) was an Austrian rabbi and scholar. After filling clerical posts in Leipzig (1845–1856), he became a preacher at t ...
and by
A. Epstein Abraham Epstein ( he, אברהם עפשטיין; 19 December 1841 – 1918) was a Russo-Austrian rabbinical scholar born in Staro Constantinov, Volhynia.
Epstein diligently studied the works of Isaac Baer Levinsohn, Nachman Krochmal, and S. D. Lu ...
.
[''Beiträge zur Jüdischen Alterthumskunde,'' Vienna, 1887]
References
Jewish Encyclopedia bibliography
*
Zunz Zunz ( he, צוּנְץ, yi, צונץ) is a Yiddish surname:
* (1874–1939), Belgian pharmacologist
* Sir Gerhard Jack Zunz (1923–2018), British civil engineer
* Leopold Zunz (Yom Tov Lipmann Tzuntz) (1794–1886), German Reform rabbi an ...
, G. V. p. 580;
*
Rab Pe'alim, pp. 114 et seq.;
*
Adolf Jellinek
Adolf Jellinek ( he, אהרן ילינק ''Aharon Jelinek''; 26 June 1821 in Drslavice, Moravia – 28 December 1893 in Vienna) was an Austrian rabbi and scholar. After filling clerical posts in Leipzig (1845–1856), he became a preacher at t ...
, B. H. iii., pp. xxxiii. et seq.; vi., p. xxix.;
*
A. Epstein Abraham Epstein ( he, אברהם עפשטיין; 19 December 1841 – 1918) was a Russo-Austrian rabbinical scholar born in Staro Constantinov, Volhynia.
Epstein diligently studied the works of Isaac Baer Levinsohn, Nachman Krochmal, and S. D. Lu ...
, l.c. pp. i.-xiv.;
*idem, Le Livre des Jubilés, Philon et le Midrasch Tadsche, in R. E. J. xxi. 80 et seq., xxii. 1 et seq.;
*
Isaac Hirsch Weiss
Isaac (Isaak) Hirsch Weiss, also Eisik Hirsch Weiss () (9 February 1815 – 1 June 1905), was an Austrian Talmudist and historian of literature born at Groß Meseritsch, Habsburg Moravia.
After having received elementary instruction in Hebrew ...
, ''Dor'', iv. 216;
*
Emil Kautzsch
Emil Friedrich Kautzsch (4 September 1841 – 7 May 1910) was a German Hebrew scholar and biblical critic, born at Plauen, Saxony.
Biography
He was educated at Leipzig, in whose theological faculty he was appointed privatdozent (1869) and ...
, Apokryphen, ii. 37;
*
W. Bacher, Ag. Tan. ii. 497, 499;
*
Grünhut, Sefer ha-Liḳḳuṭim, ii. 20b.
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