Midrash halakha

Halakha

Halakha — also transliterated Halocho , or Halacha — is the collective body of Jewish law, including biblical law and later talmudic and rabbinic law, as well as customs and traditions.Judaism classically draws no distinction in its laws between religious and ostensibly non-religious life; Jewish...

was the ancient Judaic

Judaism

Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...

 rabbinic

Rabbinic literature

Rabbinic literature, in its broadest sense, can mean 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...

 method of Torah study

Torah study

Torah study is the study by Jewish people of the Torah, Hebrew Bible, Talmud, responsa, rabbinic literature and similar works, all of which are Judaism's religious texts...

 that expounded upon the traditionally received 613 Mitzvot

613 mitzvot

The 613 commandments is a numbering of the statements and principles of law, ethics, and spiritual practice contained in the Torah or Five Books of Moses...

 ("laws") by identifying their sources in the Tanakh

Tanakh

The Tanakh is a name used in Judaism for the canon of the Hebrew Bible. The Tanakh is also known as the Masoretic Text or the Miqra. The name is an acronym formed from the initial Hebrew letters of the Masoretic Text's three traditional subdivisions: The Torah , Nevi'im and Ketuvim —hence...

 (Hebrew Bible), and by interpreting these passages as proofs of the laws' authenticity. Midrash

Midrash

The Hebrew term Midrash is a homiletic method of biblical exegesis. The term also refers to the whole compilation of homiletic teachings on the Bible....

 more generally also refers to the "non-legal" interpretation of the Tanakh (aggadic

Aggadah

Aggadah refers to the homiletic and non-legalistic exegetical texts in the classical rabbinic literature of Judaism, particularly as recorded in the Talmud and Midrash...

 midrash

Midrash

The Hebrew term Midrash is a homiletic method of biblical exegesis. The term also refers to the whole compilation of homiletic teachings on the Bible....

). The term is applied also 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.

Terminology

The phrase "Midrash halakha" was employed by Nachman Krochmal

Nachman Krochmal

Nachman Kohen Krochmal was a Jewish Galician philosopher, theologian, and historian.-Biography:...

 (in his "Moreh Nebuke ha-Zeman," p. 163), the Talmudic expression being "Midrash Torah" = "investigation of the Torah

Torah

Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five books of the bible—Genesis , Exodus , Leviticus , Numbers and Deuteronomy Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five...

". These interpretations were often regarded as corresponding to the real meaning of the Scriptural texts; thus it was held that a correct elucidation of the Torah carried with it the proof of the halakha and the reason for its existence.

In the Midrash halakha three divisions may be distinguished:

• The midrash of the older halakha, that is, the midrash of the Soferim
  Sofer (scribe)
  A Sofer, Sopher Sofer SeTaM, or Sofer ST"M is a Jewish scribe who can transcribe Torah scrolls and other religious writings such as those used in Tefillin and Mezuzot.By simple definition, a sofer is a copyist, but in their religious role in Judaism they...
  
   and the Tannaim
  Tannaim
  The Tannaim were the Rabbinic sages whose views are recorded in the Mishnah, from approximately 70-200 CE. The period of the Tannaim, also referred to as the Mishnaic period, lasted about 130 years...
  
   of the first two generations;
• The midrash of the earlier halakha, or the midrash of the Tannaim of the three following generations;
• The midrash of several younger tannaim and of a large number of amora
  Amora
  Amoraim , were renowned Jewish scholars who "said" or "told over" the teachings of the Oral law, from about 200 to 500 CE in Babylonia and the Land of Israel. Their legal discussions and debates were eventually codified in the Gemara...
  
  im who did not interpret a Biblical passage as an actual proof of the halakha, but merely as a suggestion or a support for it ("zekher le-davar"; "asmakhta").

The early halakha sought only to define the compass and scope of individual laws, asking under what circumstances of practical life a given rule was to be applied and what would be its consequences. The earlier Midrash, therefore, aims at an exact definition of the laws contained in the Scriptures by an accurate interpretation of the text and a correct determination of the meaning of the various words. The form of exegesis

Exegesis

Exegesis is a critical explanation or interpretation of a text, especially a religious text. Traditionally the term was used primarily for exegesis of the Bible; however, in contemporary usage it has broadened to mean a critical explanation of any text, and the term "Biblical exegesis" is used...

 adopted is frequently one of simple lexicography

Lexicography

Lexicography is divided into two related disciplines:*Practical lexicography is the art or craft of compiling, writing and editing dictionaries....

, and is remarkably brief.

A few examples will serve to illustrate the style of the older Midrash halakha. It translates the word "ra'ah" (Ex. xxi. 8) "displease" (Mek

Mekhilta

This article refers to the Mekhilta de-Rabbi Ishmael. There is a separate article on the Mekhilta de-Rabbi ShimonMekhilta or Mekilta is a halakic midrash to the Book of Exodus...

., Mishpatim

Mishpatim

Mishpatim is the eighteenth weekly Torah portion in the annual Jewish cycle of Torah reading and the sixth in the book of Exodus...

), which is contrary to the interpretation of Rabbi Eliezer

Eliezer

For the mathematician and Tamil activist see C.J. Eliezer; for the AI researcher and writer on rationality see Eliezer Yudkowsky; for the Levite priest of the Hebrew Bible, see Eleazar...

. From the expression "be-miksat" (Ex. xii. 4), which, according to it, can mean only "number," the older halakha deduces the rule that when killing the Passover

Passover

Passover is a Jewish holiday and festival. It commemorates the story of the Exodus, in which the ancient Israelites were freed from slavery in Egypt...

 lamb the slaughterer must be aware of the number of persons who are about to partake of it (Mek., Bo, 3 [ed. I.H. Weiss, p. 5a]).

The statement that the determination of the calendar of feasts depends wholly on the decision of the nasi

Nasi

Nāśī’ is a Hebrew title meaning prince in Biblical Hebrew, Prince in Mishnaic Hebrew, or president in Modern Hebrew.-Genesis and Ancient Israel:...

 and his council is derived from Lev. xxiii. 37, the defectively written "otam" (them) being read as "attem" (ye) and the interpretation, "which ye shall proclaim," being regarded as conforming to the original meaning of the phrase (R. H. 25a). When two different forms of the same word in a given passage have been transmitted, one written in the text ("ketib

Kethib

Qere and Ketiv, from the Aramaic qere or q're, and ketiv, or ketib, kethib, kethibh, kethiv, , also known as "keri uchesiv" or "keri uchetiv," , refer to a small number of differences between what is written in the consonantal text of the Hebrew Bible, as preserved by scribal tradition, and what...

"), and the other being the traditional reading ("qere"), the halakha, not wishing to designate either as wrong, interprets the word in such a way that both forms may be regarded as correct. Thus it explains Lev. xxv. 30-where according to the qere the meaning is "in the walled city," but according to the ketib, "in the city that is not walled"-as referring to a city that once had walls, but no longer has them ('Ar. 32b). In a similar way it explains Lev. xi. 29 (Ḥul. 65a). According to Krochmal (l.c. pp. 151 et seq.), the ketib was due to the Soferim themselves, who desired that the interpretation given by the halakha might be contained in the text; for example, in the case of "otam" and "attem" noted above, they intentionally omitted the ו.

The Midrash of the earlier halakha

The earlier halakha did not confine itself to the mere literal meaning of single passages, but sought to draw conclusions from the wording of the texts in question by logical deductions, by combinations with other passages, etc. Hence its midrash differs from the simple exegesis of the older halakha. It treats the Bible according to certain general principles, which in the course of time became more and more amplified and developed (see Talmud

Talmud

The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....

); and its interpretations depart further and further from the simple meaning of the words.

A few examples will illustrate this difference in the method of interpretation between the older and the younger Halakah. It was a generally accepted opinion that the first Passover

Passover

Passover is a Jewish holiday and festival. It commemorates the story of the Exodus, in which the ancient Israelites were freed from slavery in Egypt...

 celebrated in Egypt, that of the Exodus

The Exodus

The Exodus is the story of the departure of the Israelites from ancient Egypt described in the Hebrew Bible.Narrowly defined, the term refers only to the departure from Egypt described in the Book of Exodus; more widely, it takes in the subsequent law-givings and wanderings in the wilderness...

, differed from those that followed it, in that at the first one the prohibition of leavened bread was for a single day only, whereas at subsequent Passovers this restriction extended to seven days. The older halakha (in Mek., Bo, 16 [ed. Weiss, 24a]), represented by R. Jose the Galilean, bases its interpretation on a different division of the sentences in Ex. xiii. than the one generally received; connecting the word "ha-yom" (= "this day"), which is the first word of verse 4, with verse 3 and so making the passage read: "There shall no leavened bread be eaten this day." The younger halakha reads "ha-yom" with verse 4, and finds its support for the traditional halakha by means of the principle of "semukot" (collocation); that is to say, the two sentences, "There shall no leavened bread be eaten," and "This day came ye out," though they are separated grammatically, are immediately contiguous in the text, and exert an influence over each other (Pes. 28b, 96b). What the older halakha regarded as the obvious meaning of the words of the text, the younger infers from the collocation of the sentences.

Contrast with earlier halakha

The wide divergence between the simple exegesis of the older halakha and the artificiality of the younger is illustrated also by the difference in the method of explaining the Law, cited above, in regard to uncleanness. Both halakot regard it as self-evident that if a man is unclean, whether it be from contact with a corpse or from any other cause, he may not share in the Passover (Pes. 93a). The younger halakha, despite the dot over the ה, reads "reḥoḳah" and makes it refer to "derek" (English "road" or "way") even determining how far away one must be to be excluded from participation in the feast. However, to find a ground for the halakha that those who are unclean through contact with other objects than a corpse may have no share in the Passover, it explains the repetition of the word "ish" in this passage (Lev. ix. 10) as intending to include all other cases of defilement.

Despite this difference in method, the midrashim of the older and of the younger halakha alike believed that they had sought only the true meaning of the Scriptures. Their interpretations and deductions appeared to them to be really contained in the text; and they wished them to be considered correct Biblical expositions. Hence they both have the form of Scriptural exegesis, in that each mentions the Biblical passage and the halakha that explains it, or, more correctly, derives from it.

Abstract and Midrash halakha

It is to a law stated in this form—i.e., together with the Biblical passage it derives from—that the name midrash

Midrash

The Hebrew term Midrash is a homiletic method of biblical exegesis. The term also refers to the whole compilation of homiletic teachings on the Bible....

 applies, whereas one that, though ultimately based on the Bible, is cited independently as an established statute is called a halakha. Collections of halakot of the second sort are the Mishnah

Mishnah

The Mishnah or Mishna is the first major written redaction of the Jewish oral traditions called the "Oral Torah". It is also the first major work of Rabbinic Judaism. It was redacted c...

 and the Tosefta

Tosefta

The Tosefta is a compilation of the Jewish oral law from the period of the Mishnah.-Overview:...

; compilations of the first sort are the halakhic midrashim. This name they receive to distinguish them from the haggadic midrashim, since they contain halakot for the most part, although there are haggadic portions in them. In these collections the line between independent halakha and Midrash halakha is not sharply drawn.

Many mishnayot (single paragraph units) in the Mishnah and in the Tosefta are midrashic halakot. On the other hand, the halakhic midrashim contain independent halakot without statements of their Scriptural bases. This confusion is explained by the fact that the redactors of the two forms of halakot borrowed passages from one another.

The two schools

Since the halakhic Midrashim had for their secondary purpose the exegesis of the Bible, they were arranged according to the text of the Pentateuch. As Genesis contains very little matter of a legal character, there was probably no halakhic midrash to this book. On the other hand, to each of the other four books of the Pentateuch there was a midrash from the school of R. Akiba

Rabbi Akiva

Akiva ben Joseph simply known as Rabbi Akiva , was a tanna of the latter part of the 1st century and the beginning of the 2nd century . He was a great authority in the matter of Jewish tradition, and one of the most central and essential contributors to the Mishnah and Midrash Halakha...

 and one from the school of R. Ishmael

Ishmael ben Elisha

Rabbi Ishmael or Ishmael ben Elisha was a Tanna of the 1st and 2nd centuries . A Tanna is a rabbinic sage whose views are recorded in the Mishnah.-Disposition:...

, and these midrashim are still in great part extant. The halakhic midrash to Exodus from the school of R. Ishmael is the Mekilta, while that of the school of R. Akiba is the Mekilta of R. Shimon bar Yochai, most of which is contained in the Midrash ha-Gadol.

A halakhic midrash to Leviticus from the school of R. Akiba exists under the name "Sifra" or "Torat Kohanim." There was one to Leviticus from the school of R. Ishmael also, of which only fragments have been preserved. The halakhic midrash to Numbers from the school of R. Ishmael is the "Sifre"; while of that of the school of R. Akiba, the Sifre Zuṭa, only extracts have survived in the Yalkut Shim'oni and in the Midrash ha-Gadol. The middle portion of the Sifre to Deuteronomy forms a halakhic midrash on that book from the school of R. Akiba, while another from the school of R. Ishmael has been shown by Hoffmann to have existed.

Midrashic halakhot found also scattered through the two Talmuds; for many halakhic baraitot

Baraita

Baraita designates a tradition in the Jewish oral law not incorporated in the Mishnah. "Baraita" thus refers to teachings "outside" of the six orders of the Mishnah...

 (traditions in oral law) that occur in the Talmuds are really midrashic, recognizable by the fact that they mention the Scriptural bases for the respective halakot, often citing the text at the very beginning. In the Jerusalem Talmud

Jerusalem Talmud

The Jerusalem Talmud, talmud meaning "instruction", "learning", , is a collection of Rabbinic notes on the 2nd-century Mishnah which was compiled in the Land of Israel during the 4th-5th century. The voluminous text is also known as the Palestinian Talmud or Talmud de-Eretz Yisrael...

 the midrashic baraitot frequently begin with "Ketib" (= "It is written"), followed by the Scriptural passage. From the instances of midrashic baraitot in the Talmud that are not found in the extant midrashim, the loss of many of the latter class of works must be inferred.

The Talmud

Talmud

The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....

often says of the interpretations of a baraita: "The Biblical passage should be merely a support." Of this class are many of the explanations in the Sifra and in the Sifre. The tanna also often says frankly that he does not cite the Biblical word as proof, but as a mere suggestion of the halakha, or as an allusion to it.