Leviticus Rabbah, Vayikrah Rabbah, or Wayiqra Rabbah is a homiletic
midrash
''Midrash'' (;["midrash"]
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. he, מִדְרָשׁ; ...
to the Biblical book of
Leviticus (''Vayikrah'' 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 ...
). It is referred to by
Nathan ben Jehiel
Nathan ben Jehiel of Rome (Hebrew: נתן בן יחיאל מרומי; ''Nathan ben Y'ḥiel Mi Romi'' according to Sephardic pronunciation) ( 1035 – 1106) was a Jewish Italian lexicographer. He authored the Arukh, a notable dictionary of Talmud ...
(c. 1035–1106) in his ''Arukh'' as well as by
Rashi
Shlomo Yitzchaki ( he, רבי שלמה יצחקי; la, Salomon Isaacides; french: Salomon de Troyes, 22 February 1040 – 13 July 1105), today generally known by the acronym Rashi (see below), was a medieval French rabbi and author of a compre ...
(1040–1105). According to
Leopold Zunz
Leopold Zunz ( he, יום טוב צונץ—''Yom Tov Tzuntz'', yi, ליפמן צונץ—''Lipmann Zunz''; 10 August 1794 – 17 March 1886) was the founder of academic Judaic Studies (''Wissenschaft des Judentums''), the critical investigation ...
,
Hai Gaon
Hai ben Sherira (Hebrew: האי/י בר שרירא) better known as Hai Gaon (Hebrew: האי/י גאון, חאיי גאון), was a medieval Jewish theologian, rabbi and scholar who served as Gaon of the Talmudic academy of Pumbedita during the ...
(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
Jacob Neusner (July 28, 1932 – October 8, 2016) was an American academic scholar of Judaism. He was named as one of the most published authors in history, having written or edited more than 900 books.
Life and career
Neusner was born in Hartfor ...
date it to the 5th century. It originated in the
Land of Israel
The Land of Israel () is the traditional Jewish name for an area of the Southern Levant. Related biblical, religious and historical English terms include the Land of Canaan, the Promised Land, the Holy Land, and Palestine (see also Isra ...
, and is composed largely of older works. Its redactor made use of
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 inter ...
,
Pesikta de-Rav Kahana
Pesikta de-Rab Kahana (Hebrew: פסיקתא דרב כהנא) is a collection of aggadic midrash which exists in two editions, those of Solomon Buber (Lyck, 1868) and Bernard Mandelbaum (1962). It is cited in the ''Arukh'' and by Rashi.
The nam ...
, and the
Jerusalem Talmud
The Jerusalem Talmud ( he, תַּלְמוּד יְרוּשַׁלְמִי, translit=Talmud Yerushalmi, often for short), also known as the Palestinian Talmud or Talmud of the Land of Israel, is a collection of rabbinic notes on the second-century ...
, in addition to other ancient sources. The redactor appears to have referred also to the Babylonian
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 cente ...
, 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 consists altogether of 37 such homilies, each of which constitutes a separate chapter. Leviticus Rabbah often refers to Scriptural passages on which the homilies are based as "parshiyot," and are further designated according to their contents.
Of the 37 homilies, eight (1, 3, 8, 11, 13, 20, 26, 30) are introduced with the formula "''Patach R.''" or "The teacher has commenced"; eight (2, 4–7, 9, 10, 19), with "''Hada hu dich'tiv''" or "As it is written"; and 21 (12, 14–18, 21–25, 27–29, 31–37), with "''Zeh she-amar ha-katuv''" or "This is what the Holy Scriptures say."
Weiss explains that the redactor selected only these 37 texts for his exposition as indicating the prior existence of the
Sifra
Sifra (Aramaic: סִפְרָא) is the Halakhic midrash to the Book of Leviticus. It is frequently quoted in the Talmud, and the study of it followed that of the Mishnah. Like Leviticus itself, the midrash is occasionally called "Torat Kohanim", a ...
, the legal interpretation of Leviticus: "The redactor of the Vayikra Rabbah had nothing to add to the
ifra he collected therefore only those haggadic explanations which he found on various texts and passages." This surmise by Weiss is, however, contradicted by the fact that nearly all the chapters of Leviticus Rabbah (with the exception of chapters 11, 24, 32, 35, and 36) refer to legal passages. Thus, the redactor of Leviticus Rabbah collected homiletic expositions also of such texts as were treated in the Sifra. The conjecture of Theodor that in the older cycle of weekly lessons the passages on which the homilies of Leviticus Rabbah were based consisted in certain paragraphs, or in lessons for certain festivals, seems therefore to be correct.
The length of Leviticus Rabbah is the same as that of the edition quoted by
Nathan ben Jehiel
Nathan ben Jehiel of Rome (Hebrew: נתן בן יחיאל מרומי; ''Nathan ben Y'ḥiel Mi Romi'' according to Sephardic pronunciation) ( 1035 – 1106) was a Jewish Italian lexicographer. He authored the Arukh, a notable dictionary of Talmud ...
in the ''Arukh'', since he refers to passages from chapters 36 and 37 as "the end." Aside from some transpositions, eliminations, and glosses, the printed text of Leviticus Rabbah is noteworthy as containing, at the end of the first three chapters, annotations from
Tanna debe Eliyahu
''Tanna Devei Eliyahu'' (Hebrew: תנא דבי אליהו; alternate transliterations include ''Tana D'vei Eliyahu'' and ''Tana D'vei Eliahu'') is the composite name of a midrash, consisting of two parts, whose final redaction took place at the e ...
which were not contained in the older manuscripts.
Comparison to the Pesikta
In its plan, as well as in the form of the several chapters, Leviticus Rabbah bears great resemblance to the
Pesikta de-Rav Kahana
Pesikta de-Rab Kahana (Hebrew: פסיקתא דרב כהנא) is a collection of aggadic midrash which exists in two editions, those of Solomon Buber (Lyck, 1868) and Bernard Mandelbaum (1962). It is cited in the ''Arukh'' and by Rashi.
The nam ...
. Like the lectures in the Pesikta, the homilies in Leviticus Rabbah begin with a larger or smaller number of poems on passages mostly taken from the
Writings. Then follows the exposition proper of the passage to which the homily refers. The explanation often covers only a few verses, or even a few words of the first verse, of the passage on which the parashah is based. In some cases, long pieces, in others brief sentences only, have been adduced in connection with the Scriptural passages, seemingly in accordance with the material at the redactor's disposal.
Inasmuch, however, as the homilies in Leviticus Rabbah deal largely with topics beyond the subject matter of the Biblical text itself, the explanations of the individual verses are often replaced by series of homiletic quotations that refer to the theme considered in the homily.
[Compare chapters 8, 12-15, 18, 19, 23, 31-34, 36, 37] In this, Leviticus Rabbah differs from the Pesikta, for in the Pesikta the individual explanations are seldom lacking. And while the Pesikta rarely quotes lengthy homiletic excerpts after the
proem
__NOTOC__
A preface () or proem () is an introduction to a book or other literary work written by the work's author. An introductory essay written by a different person is a ''foreword'' and precedes an author's preface. The preface often closes ...
s, Leviticus Rabbah quotes such materials after the conclusion of a proem, in the course of each chapter, and even toward the end of a chapter. These excerpts often have minimal relation to the context. But otherwise, Leviticus Rabbah carefully follows the form of the Pesikta. The end of each chapter in Leviticus Rabbah, like the Pesikta, consists of a passage containing a Messianic prophecy.
References
*
External links
Full Text of Leviticus Rabba in Hebrewosted by Bar-Ilan University
a selection from the work translated into English by Samuel Rapaport.
Leviticus Rabbahin English translation at the Internet Archive
{{Authority control
Leviticus
Book of Leviticus