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Azzan Yadin-Israel is Associate Professor of Jewish Studies and Classics at Rutgers University and author of Scripture as Logos: Rabbi Israel and the Origins of Midrash, also available from the University of Pennsylvania Press.
List of contents
Introduction
PART I. A HERMENEUTIC OF CAMOUFLAGE
Chapter 1. The Sifra as Midrash: Hermeneutic Markedness
Chapter 2. The Sifra as Midrash: Vacuity and Semantic Discontinuity
Chapter 3. Terminological Identity and the Hermeneutics of Camouflage
Chapter 4. "On the Basis of This, They Said" (Mikan ¿Amru) and the Role of Scripture
PART II. THE CURIOUS CAREER OF BARRI AKIVA
Chapter 5. Rabbi Akiva the Interpreter: From the Mishnah to the Talmud
Chapter 6. Rabbi Akiva, the Anonymous Sifra, and the Hermeneutics of Camouflage
Chapter 7. Rabbi Akiva's Biographical Transformation
PART III. MIDRASH AND HALAKHOT: A REEVALUATION
Chapter 8. The Anomaly of Tannaitic Literature: Interpretation, Revelation, and Mysteries
Excursus. Oral Tradition as the Site of Esotericism
Chapter 9. Midrash and Extra-Scriptural Tradition: A Synchronic Model
Conclusion: Rabbi Akiva and the Ironic Triumph of Midrash
Appendix: Hebrew Sources
List of Abbreviations
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Acknowledgments
About the author
Azzan Yadin-Israel is Associate Professor of Jewish Studies and Classics at Rutgers University and author of Scripture as Logos: Rabbi Israel and the Origins of Midrash, also available from the University of Pennsylvania Press.
Summary
Analyzing the layers of interpretation in the Sifra and the transformation of Rabbi Akiva's portrayal in rabbinic literature more broadly, Azzan Yadin-Israel traces an ideological shift toward scriptural authority and away from received traditions.
