Midrash As Literature

Essays discuss Jewish critical interpretations of the Bible and the influence of these writings on modern literature

David Stern shows how the parable or mashal--the most distinctive type of narrative in midrash--was composed, how its symbolism works, and how it serves to convey the ideological convictions of the rabbis. He describes its relation to similar tales in other literatures, including the parables of Jesus in the New Testament and kabbalistic parables. Through its innovative approach to midrash, this study reaches beyond its particular subject, and will appeal to all readers interested in narrative and religion.

In Midrash and Theory, David Stern presents an approach to midrashic literature through the prism of contemporary theory. As midrash--the literature of classical Jewish Scriptural interpretation--has become the focus of new interest in contemporary literary circles, it has been invoked as a precursor of post-structuralist theory and criticism. At the same time, the midrashic imagination has undergone a revival in the larger Jewish community and shown itself capable of exercising a powerful influence and hold on a new type of contemporary Jewish writing. Stern examines this resurgence of fascination with ancient Jewish interpretation from the persepctive of the cultural relevance of midrash and its connection to its original historical and literary contexts.

Proceeding by means of intensive readings of passages from the early midrash on Exodus The Mekilta, Boyarin proposes a new theory of midrash that rests in part on an understanding of the heterogeneity of the biblical text and the constraining force of rabbinic ideology on the production of midrash. In a forceful combination of theory and reading, Boyarin raises profound questions concerning the interplay between history, ideology, and interpretation.

This book explores a central phenomenon in the development of modern Jewish literature: the retelling of tradtional Jewish narratives by twentieth-century writers. It shows how and toward what ends Biblical stories, legends, and Hasidic tales have been used in shaping modern Hebrew literature. The author's impressive knowledge and careful analysis of both early and modern Hebrew texts reveal the main literary features of the genre, while making an important contribution to current discussions of the relationship between midrash and literature, the relationship between myth (and other traditional narratives) and modern literature, and the concept of intertextuality. The book also provides many fresh insights on the various issues of modern Jewish existence addressed in these works. Among these are: the revival of the Jewish tradition by reinterpreting it in light of new values, the preservation of Jewish identity entering into Western culture, the changing roles of men and women in Jewish culture, challenges to traditional Jewish views of sexuality, attempts to physically destroy the Jewish people, moral and political issues raised by the establishment of the State of Israel, and the conflict between Jews and Arabs.

An introduction to the seven Midrash compilations with a lucid account of their main points. Copyright © Libri GmbH. All rights reserved.

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""This is a book not only for Milton scholars but for academics writing in the recently active field of literature and Midrash (and literature and the Bible). There are deep reserves of learning behind it; unlike Saurat, Fletcher, and Baldwin, Dr. Werman reads the Hebrew and Aramaic sources expertly. She provides a wealth of new information which less scholarly academics will probably exploit.""--Jason P. Rosenblatt, Professor of English, Georgetown University ""Werman's study corrects much that has been written about Milton's Hebraism and adds significant new information. The appendix is enormously valuable and will assist future scholars in pursuing more specifically detailed study of Milton's use of midrash.""--James H. Sims, Distinguished Professor of English, The University of Southern Mississippi The use of Jewish nonbiblical sources (Midrash) in Paradise Lost has never been so thoroughly examined as in this volume, in which Golda S. Werman combines esoteric scholarship with interesting facts and insightful commentary to answer questions that have perplexed literary scholars for decades. At the beginning of the twentieth century, when literary scholars first discovered the midrashic elements in Paradise Lost, one school of critics responded with skepticism and disbelief--why, they asked, would a Puritan poet dig through ancient Hebrew and Aramaic texts for material to be used in a Christian epic on the fall of man? They insisted that Milton could not read difficult midrashic texts and that everything not taken from Christian or classical sources is a product of the poet's own rich imagination. Another school regarded Milton's use of Midrash as proof of his profound knowledge of Talmud, Midrash, the Zohar, and other Hebrew/Aramaic texts. In Milton and Midrash, Werman effectively demonstrates that both camps err: Milton did indeed use midrashic sources, but he did not read the difficult midrashic texts in the original languages. She shows, in a detailed analysis of the nonbiblical Judaic materials included in the prose works, that Milton's limited understanding of Midrash rules out any possibility of his having read the sources in the original. Yet her investigation revealed that Milton uses midrashim on almost every page of the epic, and that many of these midrashim come from the eighth-century Midrash Pirkei de-Rabbi Eliezer. Further research showed that this Midrash had been translated into Latin in 1644, just before Milton began Paradise Lost. At last the puzzle was solved--Milton's midrashic materials were taken from translations made by Christian Hebraists. Indeed, Milton had many Latin translations by Christian Hebraists of midrashic works available to him, and here Werman surveys the contemporary intellectual climate in which these translations flourished. These findings have revolutionized Milton scholarship, correcting much that has been written about the poet's Hebraism. All future source studies of the poem will make use of the book's appendix, which provides an invaluable line-by-line gloss of Paradise Lost that matches passages from the epic with their analogues in the midrashic literature. Golda S. Werman was educated in the United States and now lives in Jerusalem, Israel. Her other field of interest is Yiddish, and she has published several important English translations of Yiddish literature, including most recently S. Ansky's The Dybbuk and Other Writings.