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Zusatztext “I know of no other book that presents the enormous subtleties and complexities of rabbinic biblical interpretation with such skill! intelligence! literary flair! and sheer elegance of style. Quite simply! a masterpiece.” —The Washington Post Book World “What is exciting about Zornberg’s work is not solely her use of varied sources! but her objective in their use . . . So great is her love of! reverence for! and belief in Torah! it is contagious.” —The Catholic Worker “All students of the Bible will be grateful for the opportunity to study with a teacher of such dazzling intelligence.” —Kirkus Reviews “Zornberg is one of Jerusalem’s most exciting teachers of Torah! not only because of the subtlety of her thinking but also because of the beauty of her language and the sophistication of her presentation . . . Engaging and brilliant.” —Tikkun Informationen zum Autor Avivah Gottlieb Zornberg Klappentext Originally published: New York: Doubleday! c2001. Introduction Some books cannot be taken by direct assault; they must be taken like Jericho. —Ortega Since these essays on Exodus are largely concerned with the interpretation of the narrative as it is found in midrashic sources, I would like to introduce them by offering a working de?nition of “midrash” and—perhaps more to the point—a personal meditation on the midrashic model for reading texts. My working de?nition—with all due caveats, acknowledging the essentially unde?ned nature of the term—would be this: Midrash, derived from the root darash , “to seek out” or “to inquire,” is a term used in rabbinic literature for the interpretive study of the Bible. The word is used in two related senses: ?rst, to refer to the results of that interpretive exegesis; and, second, to describe the literary compilations in which the original interpretations, many of them ?rst delivered and transmitted orally, were eventually collected. These essays on Exodus make extensive use of some of these midrashic collections, notably Midrash Rabbah and Midrash Tanchuma. In addition, Rashi, the great French eleventh-century commentator on the Torah, includes in his text a signi?cant selection of midrashic interpretations; often, I refer to Rashi’s versions, where they offer interesting nuances on the original sources. Since Rashi’s commentary has been absorbed into the bloodstream of Jewish culture, his midrashic material has become a kind of “second nature” in the traditional reading of the biblical text. Before turning to a more personal view of the nature of midrashic reading, some technical observations are in order. These essays are based on the literary and liturgical device of “Parshat ha-Shavua,” or “the Parsha”: the Bible is read in Synagogue in weekly sections, so as to be completed in yearly cycles. Each Parsha is titled after a signi?cant opening word. This device constitutes a way of living Jewish time; each week is saturated, as it were, with the material of that particular biblical section. One thinks, one studies, one lives the Parsha. If one is a teacher, this process is intensi?ed. It is as a result of years of teaching the Bible in this form that I have come to articulate the ideas in this book. Since on one level, then, this book began life as oral presentations, delivered to a wide range of students, of all ages, backgrounds, and intellectual habits, these essays remain separate attempts to engage with a particular literary unit, the Parsha of the particular week. They address themes that arise compellingly from the Torah text, often from the midrashic or other interpretations of the text. On another level, however, they ?ow into one another, engaging with the narrative of the Exodus as a whole, and addressing the themes of the grand narrative: redemption, ...
