Topics in Rabbinic Judaism: Midrash

Course Website Homepage | Schedule of Readings | Editions and Translations | On-line Resources Topics in Rabbinic Judaism: Midrash RS-744; McMaster University, Term I, 2004/2005 – Tuesdays, 12:30 to 2:30 pm, Room TBA Annette Y. Reed (Dept. of Religious Studies; UH 110; 905-525-9140 ext. 24597)
RS-744; McMaster University, Term I, 2004/2005 – Tuesdays, 12:30 to 2:30 pm, Room TBA Annette Y. Reed (Dept. of Religious Studies; UH 110; 905-525-9140 ext. 24597)
SCHEDULE OF READINGS
Sept. 14 - Organizational session
Sept. 21 - Biblical Interpretation in the Hebrew Bible and Second Temple Judaism
Primary Sources:: Gen 12:1-20; 15:1-6; Josh 24:2-3; Isa 51:2; Judith 5:6-9; Jubilees 12:1-13:10; Genesis Apocryphon (1Q20) 19-20; Josephus, Antiquities 1.154–168
Secondary Sources:: Michael Fishbane, Biblical Interpretation in Ancient Israel (Oxford: Oxford UP, 1985), 1-43.
James Kugel, Traditions of the Bible: A Guide to the Bible as it was at the Start of the Common Era (Cambridge: Harvard UP, 1998), 1-30, 244-74
James Kugel, In Potiphar’s House: The Interpretative Life of Biblical Texts (Cambridge: Harvard UP, 1994), 247-68.
*Paul Mandel, “Midrashic Exegesis and its Precedents in the Dead Sea Scrolls,” DSD 8 (2001) 149-168 {INGENTA}

Those are less familiar with post-biblical (i.e., Second Temple and Rabbinic) Judaism and/or its modern study should begin by reading carefully the following two sources, which others are encouraged to read as well – Shaye J. D. Cohen, “Ancient Judaism,” in The State of Jewish Studies (Detroit: Wayne State UP, 1990) 55-73; E. P. Sanders, Paul and Palestinian Judaism (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1977) 33-75.

Sept. 28 - Defining “Midrash”; or, Tradition and Innovation in Rabbinic Exegesis
Primary Sources:
GenR 38:13-41:2; 44:1-13
Hebrew: GenR 39:1, 40:5; 44:10, 44:12 (first paragraph), 44:13
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 233-38 [all]
B. Holtz, “Midrash,” in Back to the Sources: Reading the Classical Jewish Texts, ed. B. Holtz (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1984) 177–212. [all]
James L. Kugel, "Two Introductions to Midrash," in Midrash and Literature, ed. G. Hartman and S. Budick (New Haven: Yale UP, 1986) 77-103. [Shaun]
Gary G. Porton, “Defining Midrash,” in The Study of Ancient Judaism, vol. 1, ed. J. Neusner (New York: Ktav, 1981) 55-92. [Jonathan]
PRESENTATION - Susan Wendel on Daniel Boyarin, Intertextuality and the Reading of Midrash (Bloomington: Indiana UP, 1990).

Oct. 5 - Midrashic Subgenres and Methods
Primary Sources:
Mek Vay. 6:53-64; Mek Pis. 14:64-77; GenR 1:1, 4, 15; 8:1; 9:2, 4; 10:9
Hebrew: GenR 1:1, 4, 15; 9:4; 10:9
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 15-30, 243-46 [all]
Joseph Heinemann, "The Proem in the Aggadic Midrashim: A Form-Critical Study," Scripta Hiersolymitana XXII, ed. J. Heinemann and D. Noy, Studies in Aggadah and Folk-literature (Jerusalem: Magnes, 1971), 100-22.
W. Sibley Towner, The Rabbinic "Enumeration of Scriptural Examples": A study of a Rabbinic Pattern of Discourse with Special Reference to Mekhilta d'R. Ishmael (Leiden, Brill, 1973), 66-70, 77-79, 206-13.
PRESENTATION - Jonathan Bernier on David Stern, Midrash and Theory: Ancient Jewish Exegesis and Contemporary Literary Studies (Evanston, Ill.: Northwestern UP, 1996).

Oct. 12 - Rabbinic Midrash in Social and Historical Context
Primary Sources:
Sifre Deut 306; 351; GenR 1:11; 4:4, 6; 8:9; 9:5-6; 10:4, 8-9; 11:4-7; 13:7; 14:7; 28:3; 64:4; 95:3
Hebrew: GenR 8:9; 9:6; 13:7; 64:4; 95:3
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 8-14, 56-107, 233-43 [all]
Catherine Heszer, “Social Fragmentation, Plurality of Opinion, and Nonobservance of Halakhah: Rabbis and Community in Late Roman Palestine,” Jewish Studies Quarterly 1 (1993/94) 234-51. [all]
*Ronald Brown, "Midrashim as oral traditions," Hebrew Union College Annual 47 (1976) 181-189. {ATLAS}
Marc Hirshman, “The Preacher and his Public in Third Century Palestine,” Journal of Jewish Studies 42 (1991) 108-14.
Gary Porton, “Rabbinic Midrash: Public or Private,” Review of Rabbinic Judaism 5 (2002) 141-169.
PRESENTATION - Shaun House on Steven D. Fraade, From Tradition to Commentary: Torah and Its Interpretation in the Midrash Sifre to Deuteronomy (Albany: SUNY Press, 1991).

Oct. 19 - Tannaitic/Halakhic Midrashim – Mekhilta de R. Ishmael
Primary Sources:
Mek Pisha 16-17; Ba-Hodesh 5; Nezikin 8, 18; Shabbata 1-2
Hebrew: Mek Ba-Hodesh 5, lines 1-20, 48-101; Nezikin 18, lines 1-48 (ed. Lauterbach)
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 247-59
*Jacob Zallel Lauterbach, "The arrangement and the division of the Mekilta," Hebrew Union College Annual 1 (1924) 427-466. {ATLAS}
*Daniel Boyarin, "On the Status of the Tannaitic Midrashim," Journal of the American Oriental Society 112 (1992) 455-465. [Review article on Jacob Neusner, The Canonical History of Ideas, The Place of the So-Called Tannaite Midrashim: Mekhilta Attributed to R. Ishmael, Sifra, Sifre to Numbers, and Sifre to Deuteronomy] {JSTOR}
*Jack Lightstone, “Form as meaning in halakic midrash: A programmatic statement,” Semeia 27 (1983) 23-35. {ATLAS}
Robert Goldenberg, “Law and Spirit in Talmudic Religion,” in Jewish Spirituality, volume 1: From the Bible through the Middle Ages, ed. A. Green, New York, pp. 232-52.
PRESENTATION - Jeremy Penner on Azzan Yadin, Scripture as Logos: Rabbi Ishmael and the Origins of Midrash (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania,2004)..

Oct. 26 - Tannaitic/Halakhic Midrashim II – Sifra and Sifrei
Primary Sources:
Sifra Ahare Mot 1-2, 8 (Neusner 174-177, 186); Sifre Num 7, 99, 115 (ed. Neusner); Sifre Deut 13, 31, 38, 41, 312, 335, 343
Hebrew: QUIZ!
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 259-75 [all]
*Eugene Mihaly, “A Rabbinic Defence of the Election of Israel: An Analysis of Sifre Deuteronomy 32:9, Pisqa 312,” Hebrew Union College Annual 35 (1964) 103-143 {ATLAS}
Reuven Hammer, “Section 38 of Sifre Deuteronomy: An Example of the Use of Independent Sources to Create a Literary Unit,” Hebrew Union College Annual 50 (1979) 165-178.

Nov. 2 - Exegetical Midrashim I – Genesis Rabbah
Primary Sources:
GenR 8:9; 12:6-16; 14:1-6; 18:1-3; 19:7, 9; 20:12; 21:1, 5; 26:5, 7; 27:4; 52:5; 55:1-56:11
Hebrew: GenR 19:7, 9; 52:5; 55:4, 7; 56:7
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 276-83. [all]
Burton Visotzky, “Trinitarian Testimonies,” in Fathers of the World: Essays in Rabbinic and Patristic Literatures (Tübingen: Mohr, 1995), 61-74.
PRESENTATION - Jonathan Bernier on Marc Hirshman, A Rivalry of Genius: Jewish and Christian Biblical Interpretation in Late Antiquity (Albany: SUNY Press, 1996)

Nov. 9 - Exegetical Midrashim II – Lamentations Rabbah
Primary Sources:
LamR proems i, iv, vi, vii, xxii, xxii; 1:1 §§1-18; 1:2 §25; 1:3 §28; 1:5 §32; 1:8 §35; 1:12 §40; 1:14 §42; 1:16 §§ 45-51; 2:2 §4; 2:6 §10; 2:16 §20; 3:22-23 §7-8.
Hebrew: Lam R 1:3 §28, 1:5 §32; 1:8 §35; 1:12 §40; 2:16 §20
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 283-87 [all]
PRESENTATION - Shaun House on Galit Hasan-Rokem, Web of Life: Folklore and Midrash in Rabbinic Literature, trans. Batya Stein (Stanford: Stanford UP, 2000)

Nov. 16 - Homilectical Midrashim – Leviticus Rabbah
Primary Sources:
LevR 6:6; 19:2; 20:1, 4, 8-12; 21:1-6, 10; 22:1-4; 25:6; 27:8
Hebrew: LevR 19:2; 22:1, 3, 4; 25:6
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 288-91 [all]
*Joseph Heinemann, “Profile of a Midrash: The Art of Composition in Leviticus Rabbah,” JAAR 39 (1971) 141-150.
Burton Visotzky, “Anti-Christian Polemics in Leviticus Rabbah,” in Fathers of the World: Essays in Rabbinic and Patristic Literatures (Tübingen: Mohr, 1995), 93-105.

Nov. 23 - Homilectical Midrashim II – Pesikta de rav Kahana and Pesikta Rabbati
Primary Sources:
PRK 1-2, 7, 11-12, 14-15, 18; PesR 29-31; 34-37, 45-46, 49
Hebrew: QUIZ!
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 291-321 [all]

Nov. 30 - “Late” Midrashim – Pirke de Rabbi Eliezer
Primary Sources:
PRE 1-4, 11-15, 19-20, 26-31
Hebrew: PRE 1-2, 31
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 322-43 [all]
Jeffrey Rubenstein, “From Mythic Motifs to Sustained Myth: The Revision of Rabbinic Traditions in Medieval Midrashim,” Harvard Theological Review 89 (1996) 131-59.
PRESENTATION - Susan Haber on Jay M. Harris, "How Do We Know This”? Midrash and the Fragmentation of Modern Judaism (Albany: SUNY Press, 1994); James Kugel, Traditions of the Bible: A Guide to the Bible as it was at the Start of the Common Era (Cambridge: Harvard UP, 1998), 1-30, 244-74
James Kugel, In Potiphar’s House: The Interpretative Life of Biblical Texts (Cambridge: Harvard UP, 1994), 247-68.
*Paul Mandel, “Midrashic Exegesis and its Precedents in the Dead Sea Scrolls,” DSD 8 (2001) 149-168 {INGENTA}

Those are less familiar with post-biblical (i.e., Second Temple and Rabbinic) Judaism and/or its modern study should begin by reading carefully the following two sources, which others are encouraged to read as well – Shaye J. D. Cohen, “Ancient Judaism,” in The State of Jewish Studies (Detroit: Wayne State UP, 1990) 55-73; E. P. Sanders, Paul and Palestinian Judaism (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1977) 33-75.

Sept. 28 - Defining “Midrash”; or, Tradition and Innovation in Rabbinic Exegesis
Primary Sources:
GenR 38:13-41:2; 44:1-13
Hebrew: GenR 39:1, 40:5; 44:10, 44:12 (first paragraph), 44:13
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 233-38 [all]
B. Holtz, “Midrash,” in Back to the Sources: Reading the Classical Jewish Texts, ed. B. Holtz (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1984) 177–212. [all]
James L. Kugel, "Two Introductions to Midrash," in Midrash and Literature, ed. G. Hartman and S. Budick (New Haven: Yale UP, 1986) 77-103. [Shaun]
Gary G. Porton, “Defining Midrash,” in The Study of Ancient Judaism, vol. 1, ed. J. Neusner (New York: Ktav, 1981) 55-92. [Jonathan]
PRESENTATION - Susan Wendel on Daniel Boyarin, Intertextuality and the Reading of Midrash (Bloomington: Indiana UP, 1990).

Oct. 5 - Midrashic Subgenres and Methods
Primary Sources:
Mek Vay. 6:53-64; Mek Pis. 14:64-77; GenR 1:1, 4, 15; 8:1; 9:2, 4; 10:9
Hebrew: GenR 1:1, 4, 15; 9:4; 10:9
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 15-30, 243-46 [all]
Joseph Heinemann, "The Proem in the Aggadic Midrashim: A Form-Critical Study," Scripta Hiersolymitana XXII, ed. J. Heinemann and D. Noy, Studies in Aggadah and Folk-literature (Jerusalem: Magnes, 1971), 100-22.
W. Sibley Towner, The Rabbinic "Enumeration of Scriptural Examples": A study of a Rabbinic Pattern of Discourse with Special Reference to Mekhilta d'R. Ishmael (Leiden, Brill, 1973), 66-70, 77-79, 206-13.
PRESENTATION - Jonathan Bernier on David Stern, Midrash and Theory: Ancient Jewish Exegesis and Contemporary Literary Studies (Evanston, Ill.: Northwestern UP, 1996).

Oct. 12 - Rabbinic Midrash in Social and Historical Context
Primary Sources:
Sifre Deut 306; 351; GenR 1:11; 4:4, 6; 8:9; 9:5-6; 10:4, 8-9; 11:4-7; 13:7; 14:7; 28:3; 64:4; 95:3
Hebrew: GenR 8:9; 9:6; 13:7; 64:4; 95:3
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 8-14, 56-107, 233-43 [all]
Catherine Heszer, “Social Fragmentation, Plurality of Opinion, and Nonobservance of Halakhah: Rabbis and Community in Late Roman Palestine,” Jewish Studies Quarterly 1 (1993/94) 234-51. [all]
*Ronald Brown, "Midrashim as oral traditions," Hebrew Union College Annual 47 (1976) 181-189. {ATLAS}
Marc Hirshman, “The Preacher and his Public in Third Century Palestine,” Journal of Jewish Studies 42 (1991) 108-14.
Gary Porton, “Rabbinic Midrash: Public or Private,” Review of Rabbinic Judaism 5 (2002) 141-169.
PRESENTATION - Shaun House on Steven D. Fraade, From Tradition to Commentary: Torah and Its Interpretation in the Midrash Sifre to Deuteronomy (Albany: SUNY Press, 1991).

Oct. 19 - Tannaitic/Halakhic Midrashim – Mekhilta de R. Ishmael
Primary Sources:
Mek Pisha 16-17; Ba-Hodesh 5; Nezikin 8, 18; Shabbata 1-2
Hebrew: Mek Ba-Hodesh 5, lines 1-20, 48-101; Nezikin 18, lines 1-48 (ed. Lauterbach)
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 247-59
*Jacob Zallel Lauterbach, "The arrangement and the division of the Mekilta," Hebrew Union College Annual 1 (1924) 427-466. {ATLAS}
*Daniel Boyarin, "On the Status of the Tannaitic Midrashim," Journal of the American Oriental Society 112 (1992) 455-465. [Review article on Jacob Neusner, The Canonical History of Ideas, The Place of the So-Called Tannaite Midrashim: Mekhilta Attributed to R. Ishmael, Sifra, Sifre to Numbers, and Sifre to Deuteronomy] {JSTOR}
*Jack Lightstone, “Form as meaning in halakic midrash: A programmatic statement,” Semeia 27 (1983) 23-35. {ATLAS}
Robert Goldenberg, “Law and Spirit in Talmudic Religion,” in Jewish Spirituality, volume 1: From the Bible through the Middle Ages, ed. A. Green, New York, pp. 232-52.
PRESENTATION - Jeremy Penner on Azzan Yadin, Scripture as Logos: Rabbi Ishmael and the Origins of Midrash (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania,2004)..

Oct. 26 - Tannaitic/Halakhic Midrashim II – Sifra and Sifrei
Primary Sources:
Sifra Ahare Mot 1-2, 8 (Neusner 174-177, 186); Sifre Num 7, 99, 115 (ed. Neusner); Sifre Deut 13, 31, 38, 41, 312, 335, 343
Hebrew: QUIZ!
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 259-75 [all]
*Eugene Mihaly, “A Rabbinic Defence of the Election of Israel: An Analysis of Sifre Deuteronomy 32:9, Pisqa 312,” Hebrew Union College Annual 35 (1964) 103-143 {ATLAS}
Reuven Hammer, “Section 38 of Sifre Deuteronomy: An Example of the Use of Independent Sources to Create a Literary Unit,” Hebrew Union College Annual 50 (1979) 165-178.

Nov. 2 - Exegetical Midrashim I – Genesis Rabbah
Primary Sources:
GenR 8:9; 12:6-16; 14:1-6; 18:1-3; 19:7, 9; 20:12; 21:1, 5; 26:5, 7; 27:4; 52:5; 55:1-56:11
Hebrew: GenR 19:7, 9; 52:5; 55:4, 7; 56:7
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 276-83. [all]
Burton Visotzky, “Trinitarian Testimonies,” in Fathers of the World: Essays in Rabbinic and Patristic Literatures (Tübingen: Mohr, 1995), 61-74.
PRESENTATION - Jonathan Bernier on Marc Hirshman, A Rivalry of Genius: Jewish and Christian Biblical Interpretation in Late Antiquity (Albany: SUNY Press, 1996)

Nov. 9 - Exegetical Midrashim II – Lamentations Rabbah
Primary Sources:
LamR proems i, iv, vi, vii, xxii, xxii; 1:1 §§1-18; 1:2 §25; 1:3 §28; 1:5 §32; 1:8 §35; 1:12 §40; 1:14 §42; 1:16 §§ 45-51; 2:2 §4; 2:6 §10; 2:16 §20; 3:22-23 §7-8.
Hebrew: Lam R 1:3 §28, 1:5 §32; 1:8 §35; 1:12 §40; 2:16 §20
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 283-87 [all]
PRESENTATION - Shaun House on Galit Hasan-Rokem, Web of Life: Folklore and Midrash in Rabbinic Literature, trans. Batya Stein (Stanford: Stanford UP, 2000)

Nov. 16 - Homilectical Midrashim – Leviticus Rabbah
Primary Sources:
LevR 6:6; 19:2; 20:1, 4, 8-12; 21:1-6, 10; 22:1-4; 25:6; 27:8
Hebrew: LevR 19:2; 22:1, 3, 4; 25:6
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 288-91 [all]
*Joseph Heinemann, “Profile of a Midrash: The Art of Composition in Leviticus Rabbah,” JAAR 39 (1971) 141-150.
Burton Visotzky, “Anti-Christian Polemics in Leviticus Rabbah,” in Fathers of the World: Essays in Rabbinic and Patristic Literatures (Tübingen: Mohr, 1995), 93-105.

Nov. 23 - Homilectical Midrashim II – Pesikta de rav Kahana and Pesikta Rabbati
Primary Sources:
PRK 1-2, 7, 11-12, 14-15, 18; PesR 29-31; 34-37, 45-46, 49
Hebrew: QUIZ!
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 291-321 [all]

Nov. 30 - “Late” Midrashim – Pirke de Rabbi Eliezer
Primary Sources:
PRE 1-4, 11-15, 19-20, 26-31
Hebrew: PRE 1-2, 31
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 322-43 [all]
Jeffrey Rubenstein, “From Mythic Motifs to Sustained Myth: The Revision of Rabbinic Traditions in Medieval Midrashim,” Harvard Theological Review 89 (1996) 131-59.
PRESENTATION - Susan Haber on Jay M. Harris, "How Do We Know This”? Midrash and the Fragmentation of Modern Judaism (Albany: SUNY Press, 1994); James Kugel, In Potiphar’s House: The Interpretative Life of Biblical Texts (Cambridge: Harvard UP, 1994), 247-68.
*Paul Mandel, “Midrashic Exegesis and its Precedents in the Dead Sea Scrolls,” DSD 8 (2001) 149-168 {INGENTA}

Those are less familiar with post-biblical (i.e., Second Temple and Rabbinic) Judaism and/or its modern study should begin by reading carefully the following two sources, which others are encouraged to read as well – Shaye J. D. Cohen, “Ancient Judaism,” in The State of Jewish Studies (Detroit: Wayne State UP, 1990) 55-73; E. P. Sanders, Paul and Palestinian Judaism (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1977) 33-75.

Sept. 28 - Defining “Midrash”; or, Tradition and Innovation in Rabbinic Exegesis
Primary Sources:
GenR 38:13-41:2; 44:1-13
Hebrew: GenR 39:1, 40:5; 44:10, 44:12 (first paragraph), 44:13
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 233-38 [all]
B. Holtz, “Midrash,” in Back to the Sources: Reading the Classical Jewish Texts, ed. B. Holtz (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1984) 177–212. [all]
James L. Kugel, "Two Introductions to Midrash," in Midrash and Literature, ed. G. Hartman and S. Budick (New Haven: Yale UP, 1986) 77-103. [Shaun]
Gary G. Porton, “Defining Midrash,” in The Study of Ancient Judaism, vol. 1, ed. J. Neusner (New York: Ktav, 1981) 55-92. [Jonathan]
PRESENTATION - Susan Wendel on Daniel Boyarin, Intertextuality and the Reading of Midrash (Bloomington: Indiana UP, 1990).

Oct. 5 - Midrashic Subgenres and Methods
Primary Sources:
Mek Vay. 6:53-64; Mek Pis. 14:64-77; GenR 1:1, 4, 15; 8:1; 9:2, 4; 10:9
Hebrew: GenR 1:1, 4, 15; 9:4; 10:9
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 15-30, 243-46 [all]
Joseph Heinemann, "The Proem in the Aggadic Midrashim: A Form-Critical Study," Scripta Hiersolymitana XXII, ed. J. Heinemann and D. Noy, Studies in Aggadah and Folk-literature (Jerusalem: Magnes, 1971), 100-22.
W. Sibley Towner, The Rabbinic "Enumeration of Scriptural Examples": A study of a Rabbinic Pattern of Discourse with Special Reference to Mekhilta d'R. Ishmael (Leiden, Brill, 1973), 66-70, 77-79, 206-13.
PRESENTATION - Jonathan Bernier on David Stern, Midrash and Theory: Ancient Jewish Exegesis and Contemporary Literary Studies (Evanston, Ill.: Northwestern UP, 1996).

Oct. 12 - Rabbinic Midrash in Social and Historical Context
Primary Sources:
Sifre Deut 306; 351; GenR 1:11; 4:4, 6; 8:9; 9:5-6; 10:4, 8-9; 11:4-7; 13:7; 14:7; 28:3; 64:4; 95:3
Hebrew: GenR 8:9; 9:6; 13:7; 64:4; 95:3
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 8-14, 56-107, 233-43 [all]
Catherine Heszer, “Social Fragmentation, Plurality of Opinion, and Nonobservance of Halakhah: Rabbis and Community in Late Roman Palestine,” Jewish Studies Quarterly 1 (1993/94) 234-51. [all]
*Ronald Brown, "Midrashim as oral traditions," Hebrew Union College Annual 47 (1976) 181-189. {ATLAS}
Marc Hirshman, “The Preacher and his Public in Third Century Palestine,” Journal of Jewish Studies 42 (1991) 108-14.
Gary Porton, “Rabbinic Midrash: Public or Private,” Review of Rabbinic Judaism 5 (2002) 141-169.
PRESENTATION - Shaun House on Steven D. Fraade, From Tradition to Commentary: Torah and Its Interpretation in the Midrash Sifre to Deuteronomy (Albany: SUNY Press, 1991).

Oct. 19 - Tannaitic/Halakhic Midrashim – Mekhilta de R. Ishmael
Primary Sources:
Mek Pisha 16-17; Ba-Hodesh 5; Nezikin 8, 18; Shabbata 1-2
Hebrew: Mek Ba-Hodesh 5, lines 1-20, 48-101; Nezikin 18, lines 1-48 (ed. Lauterbach)
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 247-59
*Jacob Zallel Lauterbach, "The arrangement and the division of the Mekilta," Hebrew Union College Annual 1 (1924) 427-466. {ATLAS}
*Daniel Boyarin, "On the Status of the Tannaitic Midrashim," Journal of the American Oriental Society 112 (1992) 455-465. [Review article on Jacob Neusner, The Canonical History of Ideas, The Place of the So-Called Tannaite Midrashim: Mekhilta Attributed to R. Ishmael, Sifra, Sifre to Numbers, and Sifre to Deuteronomy] {JSTOR}
*Jack Lightstone, “Form as meaning in halakic midrash: A programmatic statement,” Semeia 27 (1983) 23-35. {ATLAS}
Robert Goldenberg, “Law and Spirit in Talmudic Religion,” in Jewish Spirituality, volume 1: From the Bible through the Middle Ages, ed. A. Green, New York, pp. 232-52.
PRESENTATION - Jeremy Penner on Azzan Yadin, Scripture as Logos: Rabbi Ishmael and the Origins of Midrash (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania,2004)..

Oct. 26 - Tannaitic/Halakhic Midrashim II – Sifra and Sifrei
Primary Sources:
Sifra Ahare Mot 1-2, 8 (Neusner 174-177, 186); Sifre Num 7, 99, 115 (ed. Neusner); Sifre Deut 13, 31, 38, 41, 312, 335, 343
Hebrew: QUIZ!
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 259-75 [all]
*Eugene Mihaly, “A Rabbinic Defence of the Election of Israel: An Analysis of Sifre Deuteronomy 32:9, Pisqa 312,” Hebrew Union College Annual 35 (1964) 103-143 {ATLAS}
Reuven Hammer, “Section 38 of Sifre Deuteronomy: An Example of the Use of Independent Sources to Create a Literary Unit,” Hebrew Union College Annual 50 (1979) 165-178.

Nov. 2 - Exegetical Midrashim I – Genesis Rabbah
Primary Sources:
GenR 8:9; 12:6-16; 14:1-6; 18:1-3; 19:7, 9; 20:12; 21:1, 5; 26:5, 7; 27:4; 52:5; 55:1-56:11
Hebrew: GenR 19:7, 9; 52:5; 55:4, 7; 56:7
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 276-83. [all]
Burton Visotzky, “Trinitarian Testimonies,” in Fathers of the World: Essays in Rabbinic and Patristic Literatures (Tübingen: Mohr, 1995), 61-74.
PRESENTATION - Jonathan Bernier on Marc Hirshman, A Rivalry of Genius: Jewish and Christian Biblical Interpretation in Late Antiquity (Albany: SUNY Press, 1996)

Nov. 9 - Exegetical Midrashim II – Lamentations Rabbah
Primary Sources:
LamR proems i, iv, vi, vii, xxii, xxii; 1:1 §§1-18; 1:2 §25; 1:3 §28; 1:5 §32; 1:8 §35; 1:12 §40; 1:14 §42; 1:16 §§ 45-51; 2:2 §4; 2:6 §10; 2:16 §20; 3:22-23 §7-8.
Hebrew: Lam R 1:3 §28, 1:5 §32; 1:8 §35; 1:12 §40; 2:16 §20
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 283-87 [all]
PRESENTATION - Shaun House on Galit Hasan-Rokem, Web of Life: Folklore and Midrash in Rabbinic Literature, trans. Batya Stein (Stanford: Stanford UP, 2000)

Nov. 16 - Homilectical Midrashim – Leviticus Rabbah
Primary Sources:
LevR 6:6; 19:2; 20:1, 4, 8-12; 21:1-6, 10; 22:1-4; 25:6; 27:8
Hebrew: LevR 19:2; 22:1, 3, 4; 25:6
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 288-91 [all]
*Joseph Heinemann, “Profile of a Midrash: The Art of Composition in Leviticus Rabbah,” JAAR 39 (1971) 141-150.
Burton Visotzky, “Anti-Christian Polemics in Leviticus Rabbah,” in Fathers of the World: Essays in Rabbinic and Patristic Literatures (Tübingen: Mohr, 1995), 93-105.

Nov. 23 - Homilectical Midrashim II – Pesikta de rav Kahana and Pesikta Rabbati
Primary Sources:
PRK 1-2, 7, 11-12, 14-15, 18; PesR 29-31; 34-37, 45-46, 49
Hebrew: QUIZ!
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 291-321 [all]

Nov. 30 - “Late” Midrashim – Pirke de Rabbi Eliezer
Primary Sources:
PRE 1-4, 11-15, 19-20, 26-31
Hebrew: PRE 1-2, 31
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 322-43 [all]
Jeffrey Rubenstein, “From Mythic Motifs to Sustained Myth: The Revision of Rabbinic Traditions in Medieval Midrashim,” Harvard Theological Review 89 (1996) 131-59.
PRESENTATION - Susan Haber on Jay M. Harris, "How Do We Know This”? Midrash and the Fragmentation of Modern Judaism (Albany: SUNY Press, 1994); *Paul Mandel, “Midrashic Exegesis and its Precedents in the Dead Sea Scrolls,” DSD 8 (2001) 149-168 {INGENTA}

Those are less familiar with post-biblical (i.e., Second Temple and Rabbinic) Judaism and/or its modern study should begin by reading carefully the following two sources, which others are encouraged to read as well – Shaye J. D. Cohen, “Ancient Judaism,” in The State of Jewish Studies (Detroit: Wayne State UP, 1990) 55-73; E. P. Sanders, Paul and Palestinian Judaism (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1977) 33-75.

Sept. 28 - Defining “Midrash”; or, Tradition and Innovation in Rabbinic Exegesis
Primary Sources:
GenR 38:13-41:2; 44:1-13
Hebrew: GenR 39:1, 40:5; 44:10, 44:12 (first paragraph), 44:13
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 233-38 [all]
B. Holtz, “Midrash,” in Back to the Sources: Reading the Classical Jewish Texts, ed. B. Holtz (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1984) 177–212. [all]
James L. Kugel, "Two Introductions to Midrash," in Midrash and Literature, ed. G. Hartman and S. Budick (New Haven: Yale UP, 1986) 77-103. [Shaun]
Gary G. Porton, “Defining Midrash,” in The Study of Ancient Judaism, vol. 1, ed. J. Neusner (New York: Ktav, 1981) 55-92. [Jonathan]
PRESENTATION - Susan Wendel on Daniel Boyarin, Intertextuality and the Reading of Midrash (Bloomington: Indiana UP, 1990).

Oct. 5 - Midrashic Subgenres and Methods
Primary Sources:
Mek Vay. 6:53-64; Mek Pis. 14:64-77; GenR 1:1, 4, 15; 8:1; 9:2, 4; 10:9
Hebrew: GenR 1:1, 4, 15; 9:4; 10:9
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 15-30, 243-46 [all]
Joseph Heinemann, "The Proem in the Aggadic Midrashim: A Form-Critical Study," Scripta Hiersolymitana XXII, ed. J. Heinemann and D. Noy, Studies in Aggadah and Folk-literature (Jerusalem: Magnes, 1971), 100-22.
W. Sibley Towner, The Rabbinic "Enumeration of Scriptural Examples": A study of a Rabbinic Pattern of Discourse with Special Reference to Mekhilta d'R. Ishmael (Leiden, Brill, 1973), 66-70, 77-79, 206-13.
PRESENTATION - Jonathan Bernier on David Stern, Midrash and Theory: Ancient Jewish Exegesis and Contemporary Literary Studies (Evanston, Ill.: Northwestern UP, 1996).

Oct. 12 - Rabbinic Midrash in Social and Historical Context
Primary Sources:
Sifre Deut 306; 351; GenR 1:11; 4:4, 6; 8:9; 9:5-6; 10:4, 8-9; 11:4-7; 13:7; 14:7; 28:3; 64:4; 95:3
Hebrew: GenR 8:9; 9:6; 13:7; 64:4; 95:3
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 8-14, 56-107, 233-43 [all]
Catherine Heszer, “Social Fragmentation, Plurality of Opinion, and Nonobservance of Halakhah: Rabbis and Community in Late Roman Palestine,” Jewish Studies Quarterly 1 (1993/94) 234-51. [all]
*Ronald Brown, "Midrashim as oral traditions," Hebrew Union College Annual 47 (1976) 181-189. {ATLAS}
Marc Hirshman, “The Preacher and his Public in Third Century Palestine,” Journal of Jewish Studies 42 (1991) 108-14.
Gary Porton, “Rabbinic Midrash: Public or Private,” Review of Rabbinic Judaism 5 (2002) 141-169.
PRESENTATION - Shaun House on Steven D. Fraade, From Tradition to Commentary: Torah and Its Interpretation in the Midrash Sifre to Deuteronomy (Albany: SUNY Press, 1991).

Oct. 19 - Tannaitic/Halakhic Midrashim – Mekhilta de R. Ishmael
Primary Sources:
Mek Pisha 16-17; Ba-Hodesh 5; Nezikin 8, 18; Shabbata 1-2
Hebrew: Mek Ba-Hodesh 5, lines 1-20, 48-101; Nezikin 18, lines 1-48 (ed. Lauterbach)
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 247-59
*Jacob Zallel Lauterbach, "The arrangement and the division of the Mekilta," Hebrew Union College Annual 1 (1924) 427-466. {ATLAS}
*Daniel Boyarin, "On the Status of the Tannaitic Midrashim," Journal of the American Oriental Society 112 (1992) 455-465. [Review article on Jacob Neusner, The Canonical History of Ideas, The Place of the So-Called Tannaite Midrashim: Mekhilta Attributed to R. Ishmael, Sifra, Sifre to Numbers, and Sifre to Deuteronomy] {JSTOR}
*Jack Lightstone, “Form as meaning in halakic midrash: A programmatic statement,” Semeia 27 (1983) 23-35. {ATLAS}
Robert Goldenberg, “Law and Spirit in Talmudic Religion,” in Jewish Spirituality, volume 1: From the Bible through the Middle Ages, ed. A. Green, New York, pp. 232-52.
PRESENTATION - Jeremy Penner on Azzan Yadin, Scripture as Logos: Rabbi Ishmael and the Origins of Midrash (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania,2004)..

Oct. 26 - Tannaitic/Halakhic Midrashim II – Sifra and Sifrei
Primary Sources:
Sifra Ahare Mot 1-2, 8 (Neusner 174-177, 186); Sifre Num 7, 99, 115 (ed. Neusner); Sifre Deut 13, 31, 38, 41, 312, 335, 343
Hebrew: QUIZ!
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 259-75 [all]
*Eugene Mihaly, “A Rabbinic Defence of the Election of Israel: An Analysis of Sifre Deuteronomy 32:9, Pisqa 312,” Hebrew Union College Annual 35 (1964) 103-143 {ATLAS}
Reuven Hammer, “Section 38 of Sifre Deuteronomy: An Example of the Use of Independent Sources to Create a Literary Unit,” Hebrew Union College Annual 50 (1979) 165-178.

Nov. 2 - Exegetical Midrashim I – Genesis Rabbah
Primary Sources:
GenR 8:9; 12:6-16; 14:1-6; 18:1-3; 19:7, 9; 20:12; 21:1, 5; 26:5, 7; 27:4; 52:5; 55:1-56:11
Hebrew: GenR 19:7, 9; 52:5; 55:4, 7; 56:7
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 276-83. [all]
Burton Visotzky, “Trinitarian Testimonies,” in Fathers of the World: Essays in Rabbinic and Patristic Literatures (Tübingen: Mohr, 1995), 61-74.
PRESENTATION - Jonathan Bernier on Marc Hirshman, A Rivalry of Genius: Jewish and Christian Biblical Interpretation in Late Antiquity (Albany: SUNY Press, 1996)

Nov. 9 - Exegetical Midrashim II – Lamentations Rabbah
Primary Sources:
LamR proems i, iv, vi, vii, xxii, xxii; 1:1 §§1-18; 1:2 §25; 1:3 §28; 1:5 §32; 1:8 §35; 1:12 §40; 1:14 §42; 1:16 §§ 45-51; 2:2 §4; 2:6 §10; 2:16 §20; 3:22-23 §7-8.
Hebrew: Lam R 1:3 §28, 1:5 §32; 1:8 §35; 1:12 §40; 2:16 §20
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 283-87 [all]
PRESENTATION - Shaun House on Galit Hasan-Rokem, Web of Life: Folklore and Midrash in Rabbinic Literature, trans. Batya Stein (Stanford: Stanford UP, 2000)

Nov. 16 - Homilectical Midrashim – Leviticus Rabbah
Primary Sources:
LevR 6:6; 19:2; 20:1, 4, 8-12; 21:1-6, 10; 22:1-4; 25:6; 27:8
Hebrew: LevR 19:2; 22:1, 3, 4; 25:6
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 288-91 [all]
*Joseph Heinemann, “Profile of a Midrash: The Art of Composition in Leviticus Rabbah,” JAAR 39 (1971) 141-150.
Burton Visotzky, “Anti-Christian Polemics in Leviticus Rabbah,” in Fathers of the World: Essays in Rabbinic and Patristic Literatures (Tübingen: Mohr, 1995), 93-105.

Nov. 23 - Homilectical Midrashim II – Pesikta de rav Kahana and Pesikta Rabbati
Primary Sources:
PRK 1-2, 7, 11-12, 14-15, 18; PesR 29-31; 34-37, 45-46, 49
Hebrew: QUIZ!
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 291-321 [all]

Nov. 30 - “Late” Midrashim – Pirke de Rabbi Eliezer
Primary Sources:
PRE 1-4, 11-15, 19-20, 26-31
Hebrew: PRE 1-2, 31
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 322-43 [all]
Jeffrey Rubenstein, “From Mythic Motifs to Sustained Myth: The Revision of Rabbinic Traditions in Medieval Midrashim,” Harvard Theological Review 89 (1996) 131-59.
PRESENTATION - Susan Haber on Jay M. Harris, "How Do We Know This”? Midrash and the Fragmentation of Modern Judaism (Albany: SUNY Press, 1994)
Sept. 28 - Defining “Midrash”; or, Tradition and Innovation in Rabbinic Exegesis
Primary Sources:: GenR 38:13-41:2; 44:1-13; Hebrew: GenR 39:1, 40:5; 44:10, 44:12 (first paragraph), 44:13
Secondary Sources:: Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 233-38 [all]
B. Holtz, “Midrash,” in Back to the Sources: Reading the Classical Jewish Texts, ed. B. Holtz (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1984) 177–212. [all]
James L. Kugel, "Two Introductions to Midrash," in Midrash and Literature, ed. G. Hartman and S. Budick (New Haven: Yale UP, 1986) 77-103. [Shaun]
Gary G. Porton, “Defining Midrash,” in The Study of Ancient Judaism, vol. 1, ed. J. Neusner (New York: Ktav, 1981) 55-92. [Jonathan]
PRESENTATION - Susan Wendel on Daniel Boyarin, Intertextuality and the Reading of Midrash (Bloomington: Indiana UP, 1990).

Oct. 5 - Midrashic Subgenres and Methods
Primary Sources:
Mek Vay. 6:53-64; Mek Pis. 14:64-77; GenR 1:1, 4, 15; 8:1; 9:2, 4; 10:9
Hebrew: GenR 1:1, 4, 15; 9:4; 10:9
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 15-30, 243-46 [all]
Joseph Heinemann, "The Proem in the Aggadic Midrashim: A Form-Critical Study," Scripta Hiersolymitana XXII, ed. J. Heinemann and D. Noy, Studies in Aggadah and Folk-literature (Jerusalem: Magnes, 1971), 100-22.
W. Sibley Towner, The Rabbinic "Enumeration of Scriptural Examples": A study of a Rabbinic Pattern of Discourse with Special Reference to Mekhilta d'R. Ishmael (Leiden, Brill, 1973), 66-70, 77-79, 206-13.
PRESENTATION - Jonathan Bernier on David Stern, Midrash and Theory: Ancient Jewish Exegesis and Contemporary Literary Studies (Evanston, Ill.: Northwestern UP, 1996).

Oct. 12 - Rabbinic Midrash in Social and Historical Context
Primary Sources:
Sifre Deut 306; 351; GenR 1:11; 4:4, 6; 8:9; 9:5-6; 10:4, 8-9; 11:4-7; 13:7; 14:7; 28:3; 64:4; 95:3
Hebrew: GenR 8:9; 9:6; 13:7; 64:4; 95:3
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 8-14, 56-107, 233-43 [all]
Catherine Heszer, “Social Fragmentation, Plurality of Opinion, and Nonobservance of Halakhah: Rabbis and Community in Late Roman Palestine,” Jewish Studies Quarterly 1 (1993/94) 234-51. [all]
*Ronald Brown, "Midrashim as oral traditions," Hebrew Union College Annual 47 (1976) 181-189. {ATLAS}
Marc Hirshman, “The Preacher and his Public in Third Century Palestine,” Journal of Jewish Studies 42 (1991) 108-14.
Gary Porton, “Rabbinic Midrash: Public or Private,” Review of Rabbinic Judaism 5 (2002) 141-169.
PRESENTATION - Shaun House on Steven D. Fraade, From Tradition to Commentary: Torah and Its Interpretation in the Midrash Sifre to Deuteronomy (Albany: SUNY Press, 1991).

Oct. 19 - Tannaitic/Halakhic Midrashim – Mekhilta de R. Ishmael
Primary Sources:
Mek Pisha 16-17; Ba-Hodesh 5; Nezikin 8, 18; Shabbata 1-2
Hebrew: Mek Ba-Hodesh 5, lines 1-20, 48-101; Nezikin 18, lines 1-48 (ed. Lauterbach)
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 247-59
*Jacob Zallel Lauterbach, "The arrangement and the division of the Mekilta," Hebrew Union College Annual 1 (1924) 427-466. {ATLAS}
*Daniel Boyarin, "On the Status of the Tannaitic Midrashim," Journal of the American Oriental Society 112 (1992) 455-465. [Review article on Jacob Neusner, The Canonical History of Ideas, The Place of the So-Called Tannaite Midrashim: Mekhilta Attributed to R. Ishmael, Sifra, Sifre to Numbers, and Sifre to Deuteronomy] {JSTOR}
*Jack Lightstone, “Form as meaning in halakic midrash: A programmatic statement,” Semeia 27 (1983) 23-35. {ATLAS}
Robert Goldenberg, “Law and Spirit in Talmudic Religion,” in Jewish Spirituality, volume 1: From the Bible through the Middle Ages, ed. A. Green, New York, pp. 232-52.
PRESENTATION - Jeremy Penner on Azzan Yadin, Scripture as Logos: Rabbi Ishmael and the Origins of Midrash (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania,2004)..

Oct. 26 - Tannaitic/Halakhic Midrashim II – Sifra and Sifrei
Primary Sources:
Sifra Ahare Mot 1-2, 8 (Neusner 174-177, 186); Sifre Num 7, 99, 115 (ed. Neusner); Sifre Deut 13, 31, 38, 41, 312, 335, 343
Hebrew: QUIZ!
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 259-75 [all]
*Eugene Mihaly, “A Rabbinic Defence of the Election of Israel: An Analysis of Sifre Deuteronomy 32:9, Pisqa 312,” Hebrew Union College Annual 35 (1964) 103-143 {ATLAS}
Reuven Hammer, “Section 38 of Sifre Deuteronomy: An Example of the Use of Independent Sources to Create a Literary Unit,” Hebrew Union College Annual 50 (1979) 165-178.

Nov. 2 - Exegetical Midrashim I – Genesis Rabbah
Primary Sources:
GenR 8:9; 12:6-16; 14:1-6; 18:1-3; 19:7, 9; 20:12; 21:1, 5; 26:5, 7; 27:4; 52:5; 55:1-56:11
Hebrew: GenR 19:7, 9; 52:5; 55:4, 7; 56:7
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 276-83. [all]
Burton Visotzky, “Trinitarian Testimonies,” in Fathers of the World: Essays in Rabbinic and Patristic Literatures (Tübingen: Mohr, 1995), 61-74.
PRESENTATION - Jonathan Bernier on Marc Hirshman, A Rivalry of Genius: Jewish and Christian Biblical Interpretation in Late Antiquity (Albany: SUNY Press, 1996)

Nov. 9 - Exegetical Midrashim II – Lamentations Rabbah
Primary Sources:
LamR proems i, iv, vi, vii, xxii, xxii; 1:1 §§1-18; 1:2 §25; 1:3 §28; 1:5 §32; 1:8 §35; 1:12 §40; 1:14 §42; 1:16 §§ 45-51; 2:2 §4; 2:6 §10; 2:16 §20; 3:22-23 §7-8.
Hebrew: Lam R 1:3 §28, 1:5 §32; 1:8 §35; 1:12 §40; 2:16 §20
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 283-87 [all]
PRESENTATION - Shaun House on Galit Hasan-Rokem, Web of Life: Folklore and Midrash in Rabbinic Literature, trans. Batya Stein (Stanford: Stanford UP, 2000)

Nov. 16 - Homilectical Midrashim – Leviticus Rabbah
Primary Sources:
LevR 6:6; 19:2; 20:1, 4, 8-12; 21:1-6, 10; 22:1-4; 25:6; 27:8
Hebrew: LevR 19:2; 22:1, 3, 4; 25:6
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 288-91 [all]
*Joseph Heinemann, “Profile of a Midrash: The Art of Composition in Leviticus Rabbah,” JAAR 39 (1971) 141-150.
Burton Visotzky, “Anti-Christian Polemics in Leviticus Rabbah,” in Fathers of the World: Essays in Rabbinic and Patristic Literatures (Tübingen: Mohr, 1995), 93-105.

Nov. 23 - Homilectical Midrashim II – Pesikta de rav Kahana and Pesikta Rabbati
Primary Sources:
PRK 1-2, 7, 11-12, 14-15, 18; PesR 29-31; 34-37, 45-46, 49
Hebrew: QUIZ!
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 291-321 [all]

Nov. 30 - “Late” Midrashim – Pirke de Rabbi Eliezer
Primary Sources:
PRE 1-4, 11-15, 19-20, 26-31
Hebrew: PRE 1-2, 31
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 322-43 [all]
Jeffrey Rubenstein, “From Mythic Motifs to Sustained Myth: The Revision of Rabbinic Traditions in Medieval Midrashim,” Harvard Theological Review 89 (1996) 131-59.
PRESENTATION - Susan Haber on Jay M. Harris, "How Do We Know This”? Midrash and the Fragmentation of Modern Judaism (Albany: SUNY Press, 1994); B. Holtz, “Midrash,” in Back to the Sources: Reading the Classical Jewish Texts, ed. B. Holtz (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1984) 177–212. [all]
James L. Kugel, "Two Introductions to Midrash," in Midrash and Literature, ed. G. Hartman and S. Budick (New Haven: Yale UP, 1986) 77-103. [Shaun]
Gary G. Porton, “Defining Midrash,” in The Study of Ancient Judaism, vol. 1, ed. J. Neusner (New York: Ktav, 1981) 55-92. [Jonathan]
PRESENTATION - Susan Wendel on Daniel Boyarin, Intertextuality and the Reading of Midrash (Bloomington: Indiana UP, 1990).

Oct. 5 - Midrashic Subgenres and Methods
Primary Sources:
Mek Vay. 6:53-64; Mek Pis. 14:64-77; GenR 1:1, 4, 15; 8:1; 9:2, 4; 10:9
Hebrew: GenR 1:1, 4, 15; 9:4; 10:9
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 15-30, 243-46 [all]
Joseph Heinemann, "The Proem in the Aggadic Midrashim: A Form-Critical Study," Scripta Hiersolymitana XXII, ed. J. Heinemann and D. Noy, Studies in Aggadah and Folk-literature (Jerusalem: Magnes, 1971), 100-22.
W. Sibley Towner, The Rabbinic "Enumeration of Scriptural Examples": A study of a Rabbinic Pattern of Discourse with Special Reference to Mekhilta d'R. Ishmael (Leiden, Brill, 1973), 66-70, 77-79, 206-13.
PRESENTATION - Jonathan Bernier on David Stern, Midrash and Theory: Ancient Jewish Exegesis and Contemporary Literary Studies (Evanston, Ill.: Northwestern UP, 1996).

Oct. 12 - Rabbinic Midrash in Social and Historical Context
Primary Sources:
Sifre Deut 306; 351; GenR 1:11; 4:4, 6; 8:9; 9:5-6; 10:4, 8-9; 11:4-7; 13:7; 14:7; 28:3; 64:4; 95:3
Hebrew: GenR 8:9; 9:6; 13:7; 64:4; 95:3
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 8-14, 56-107, 233-43 [all]
Catherine Heszer, “Social Fragmentation, Plurality of Opinion, and Nonobservance of Halakhah: Rabbis and Community in Late Roman Palestine,” Jewish Studies Quarterly 1 (1993/94) 234-51. [all]
*Ronald Brown, "Midrashim as oral traditions," Hebrew Union College Annual 47 (1976) 181-189. {ATLAS}
Marc Hirshman, “The Preacher and his Public in Third Century Palestine,” Journal of Jewish Studies 42 (1991) 108-14.
Gary Porton, “Rabbinic Midrash: Public or Private,” Review of Rabbinic Judaism 5 (2002) 141-169.
PRESENTATION - Shaun House on Steven D. Fraade, From Tradition to Commentary: Torah and Its Interpretation in the Midrash Sifre to Deuteronomy (Albany: SUNY Press, 1991).

Oct. 19 - Tannaitic/Halakhic Midrashim – Mekhilta de R. Ishmael
Primary Sources:
Mek Pisha 16-17; Ba-Hodesh 5; Nezikin 8, 18; Shabbata 1-2
Hebrew: Mek Ba-Hodesh 5, lines 1-20, 48-101; Nezikin 18, lines 1-48 (ed. Lauterbach)
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 247-59
*Jacob Zallel Lauterbach, "The arrangement and the division of the Mekilta," Hebrew Union College Annual 1 (1924) 427-466. {ATLAS}
*Daniel Boyarin, "On the Status of the Tannaitic Midrashim," Journal of the American Oriental Society 112 (1992) 455-465. [Review article on Jacob Neusner, The Canonical History of Ideas, The Place of the So-Called Tannaite Midrashim: Mekhilta Attributed to R. Ishmael, Sifra, Sifre to Numbers, and Sifre to Deuteronomy] {JSTOR}
*Jack Lightstone, “Form as meaning in halakic midrash: A programmatic statement,” Semeia 27 (1983) 23-35. {ATLAS}
Robert Goldenberg, “Law and Spirit in Talmudic Religion,” in Jewish Spirituality, volume 1: From the Bible through the Middle Ages, ed. A. Green, New York, pp. 232-52.
PRESENTATION - Jeremy Penner on Azzan Yadin, Scripture as Logos: Rabbi Ishmael and the Origins of Midrash (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania,2004)..

Oct. 26 - Tannaitic/Halakhic Midrashim II – Sifra and Sifrei
Primary Sources:
Sifra Ahare Mot 1-2, 8 (Neusner 174-177, 186); Sifre Num 7, 99, 115 (ed. Neusner); Sifre Deut 13, 31, 38, 41, 312, 335, 343
Hebrew: QUIZ!
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 259-75 [all]
*Eugene Mihaly, “A Rabbinic Defence of the Election of Israel: An Analysis of Sifre Deuteronomy 32:9, Pisqa 312,” Hebrew Union College Annual 35 (1964) 103-143 {ATLAS}
Reuven Hammer, “Section 38 of Sifre Deuteronomy: An Example of the Use of Independent Sources to Create a Literary Unit,” Hebrew Union College Annual 50 (1979) 165-178.

Nov. 2 - Exegetical Midrashim I – Genesis Rabbah
Primary Sources:
GenR 8:9; 12:6-16; 14:1-6; 18:1-3; 19:7, 9; 20:12; 21:1, 5; 26:5, 7; 27:4; 52:5; 55:1-56:11
Hebrew: GenR 19:7, 9; 52:5; 55:4, 7; 56:7
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 276-83. [all]
Burton Visotzky, “Trinitarian Testimonies,” in Fathers of the World: Essays in Rabbinic and Patristic Literatures (Tübingen: Mohr, 1995), 61-74.
PRESENTATION - Jonathan Bernier on Marc Hirshman, A Rivalry of Genius: Jewish and Christian Biblical Interpretation in Late Antiquity (Albany: SUNY Press, 1996)

Nov. 9 - Exegetical Midrashim II – Lamentations Rabbah
Primary Sources:
LamR proems i, iv, vi, vii, xxii, xxii; 1:1 §§1-18; 1:2 §25; 1:3 §28; 1:5 §32; 1:8 §35; 1:12 §40; 1:14 §42; 1:16 §§ 45-51; 2:2 §4; 2:6 §10; 2:16 §20; 3:22-23 §7-8.
Hebrew: Lam R 1:3 §28, 1:5 §32; 1:8 §35; 1:12 §40; 2:16 §20
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 283-87 [all]
PRESENTATION - Shaun House on Galit Hasan-Rokem, Web of Life: Folklore and Midrash in Rabbinic Literature, trans. Batya Stein (Stanford: Stanford UP, 2000)

Nov. 16 - Homilectical Midrashim – Leviticus Rabbah
Primary Sources:
LevR 6:6; 19:2; 20:1, 4, 8-12; 21:1-6, 10; 22:1-4; 25:6; 27:8
Hebrew: LevR 19:2; 22:1, 3, 4; 25:6
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 288-91 [all]
*Joseph Heinemann, “Profile of a Midrash: The Art of Composition in Leviticus Rabbah,” JAAR 39 (1971) 141-150.
Burton Visotzky, “Anti-Christian Polemics in Leviticus Rabbah,” in Fathers of the World: Essays in Rabbinic and Patristic Literatures (Tübingen: Mohr, 1995), 93-105.

Nov. 23 - Homilectical Midrashim II – Pesikta de rav Kahana and Pesikta Rabbati
Primary Sources:
PRK 1-2, 7, 11-12, 14-15, 18; PesR 29-31; 34-37, 45-46, 49
Hebrew: QUIZ!
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 291-321 [all]

Nov. 30 - “Late” Midrashim – Pirke de Rabbi Eliezer
Primary Sources:
PRE 1-4, 11-15, 19-20, 26-31
Hebrew: PRE 1-2, 31
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 322-43 [all]
Jeffrey Rubenstein, “From Mythic Motifs to Sustained Myth: The Revision of Rabbinic Traditions in Medieval Midrashim,” Harvard Theological Review 89 (1996) 131-59.
PRESENTATION - Susan Haber on Jay M. Harris, "How Do We Know This”? Midrash and the Fragmentation of Modern Judaism (Albany: SUNY Press, 1994); James L. Kugel, "Two Introductions to Midrash," in Midrash and Literature, ed. G. Hartman and S. Budick (New Haven: Yale UP, 1986) 77-103. [Shaun]
Gary G. Porton, “Defining Midrash,” in The Study of Ancient Judaism, vol. 1, ed. J. Neusner (New York: Ktav, 1981) 55-92. [Jonathan]
PRESENTATION - Susan Wendel on Daniel Boyarin, Intertextuality and the Reading of Midrash (Bloomington: Indiana UP, 1990).

Oct. 5 - Midrashic Subgenres and Methods
Primary Sources:
Mek Vay. 6:53-64; Mek Pis. 14:64-77; GenR 1:1, 4, 15; 8:1; 9:2, 4; 10:9
Hebrew: GenR 1:1, 4, 15; 9:4; 10:9
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 15-30, 243-46 [all]
Joseph Heinemann, "The Proem in the Aggadic Midrashim: A Form-Critical Study," Scripta Hiersolymitana XXII, ed. J. Heinemann and D. Noy, Studies in Aggadah and Folk-literature (Jerusalem: Magnes, 1971), 100-22.
W. Sibley Towner, The Rabbinic "Enumeration of Scriptural Examples": A study of a Rabbinic Pattern of Discourse with Special Reference to Mekhilta d'R. Ishmael (Leiden, Brill, 1973), 66-70, 77-79, 206-13.
PRESENTATION - Jonathan Bernier on David Stern, Midrash and Theory: Ancient Jewish Exegesis and Contemporary Literary Studies (Evanston, Ill.: Northwestern UP, 1996).

Oct. 12 - Rabbinic Midrash in Social and Historical Context
Primary Sources:
Sifre Deut 306; 351; GenR 1:11; 4:4, 6; 8:9; 9:5-6; 10:4, 8-9; 11:4-7; 13:7; 14:7; 28:3; 64:4; 95:3
Hebrew: GenR 8:9; 9:6; 13:7; 64:4; 95:3
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 8-14, 56-107, 233-43 [all]
Catherine Heszer, “Social Fragmentation, Plurality of Opinion, and Nonobservance of Halakhah: Rabbis and Community in Late Roman Palestine,” Jewish Studies Quarterly 1 (1993/94) 234-51. [all]
*Ronald Brown, "Midrashim as oral traditions," Hebrew Union College Annual 47 (1976) 181-189. {ATLAS}
Marc Hirshman, “The Preacher and his Public in Third Century Palestine,” Journal of Jewish Studies 42 (1991) 108-14.
Gary Porton, “Rabbinic Midrash: Public or Private,” Review of Rabbinic Judaism 5 (2002) 141-169.
PRESENTATION - Shaun House on Steven D. Fraade, From Tradition to Commentary: Torah and Its Interpretation in the Midrash Sifre to Deuteronomy (Albany: SUNY Press, 1991).

Oct. 19 - Tannaitic/Halakhic Midrashim – Mekhilta de R. Ishmael
Primary Sources:
Mek Pisha 16-17; Ba-Hodesh 5; Nezikin 8, 18; Shabbata 1-2
Hebrew: Mek Ba-Hodesh 5, lines 1-20, 48-101; Nezikin 18, lines 1-48 (ed. Lauterbach)
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 247-59
*Jacob Zallel Lauterbach, "The arrangement and the division of the Mekilta," Hebrew Union College Annual 1 (1924) 427-466. {ATLAS}
*Daniel Boyarin, "On the Status of the Tannaitic Midrashim," Journal of the American Oriental Society 112 (1992) 455-465. [Review article on Jacob Neusner, The Canonical History of Ideas, The Place of the So-Called Tannaite Midrashim: Mekhilta Attributed to R. Ishmael, Sifra, Sifre to Numbers, and Sifre to Deuteronomy] {JSTOR}
*Jack Lightstone, “Form as meaning in halakic midrash: A programmatic statement,” Semeia 27 (1983) 23-35. {ATLAS}
Robert Goldenberg, “Law and Spirit in Talmudic Religion,” in Jewish Spirituality, volume 1: From the Bible through the Middle Ages, ed. A. Green, New York, pp. 232-52.
PRESENTATION - Jeremy Penner on Azzan Yadin, Scripture as Logos: Rabbi Ishmael and the Origins of Midrash (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania,2004)..

Oct. 26 - Tannaitic/Halakhic Midrashim II – Sifra and Sifrei
Primary Sources:
Sifra Ahare Mot 1-2, 8 (Neusner 174-177, 186); Sifre Num 7, 99, 115 (ed. Neusner); Sifre Deut 13, 31, 38, 41, 312, 335, 343
Hebrew: QUIZ!
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 259-75 [all]
*Eugene Mihaly, “A Rabbinic Defence of the Election of Israel: An Analysis of Sifre Deuteronomy 32:9, Pisqa 312,” Hebrew Union College Annual 35 (1964) 103-143 {ATLAS}
Reuven Hammer, “Section 38 of Sifre Deuteronomy: An Example of the Use of Independent Sources to Create a Literary Unit,” Hebrew Union College Annual 50 (1979) 165-178.

Nov. 2 - Exegetical Midrashim I – Genesis Rabbah
Primary Sources:
GenR 8:9; 12:6-16; 14:1-6; 18:1-3; 19:7, 9; 20:12; 21:1, 5; 26:5, 7; 27:4; 52:5; 55:1-56:11
Hebrew: GenR 19:7, 9; 52:5; 55:4, 7; 56:7
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 276-83. [all]
Burton Visotzky, “Trinitarian Testimonies,” in Fathers of the World: Essays in Rabbinic and Patristic Literatures (Tübingen: Mohr, 1995), 61-74.
PRESENTATION - Jonathan Bernier on Marc Hirshman, A Rivalry of Genius: Jewish and Christian Biblical Interpretation in Late Antiquity (Albany: SUNY Press, 1996)

Nov. 9 - Exegetical Midrashim II – Lamentations Rabbah
Primary Sources:
LamR proems i, iv, vi, vii, xxii, xxii; 1:1 §§1-18; 1:2 §25; 1:3 §28; 1:5 §32; 1:8 §35; 1:12 §40; 1:14 §42; 1:16 §§ 45-51; 2:2 §4; 2:6 §10; 2:16 §20; 3:22-23 §7-8.
Hebrew: Lam R 1:3 §28, 1:5 §32; 1:8 §35; 1:12 §40; 2:16 §20
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 283-87 [all]
PRESENTATION - Shaun House on Galit Hasan-Rokem, Web of Life: Folklore and Midrash in Rabbinic Literature, trans. Batya Stein (Stanford: Stanford UP, 2000)

Nov. 16 - Homilectical Midrashim – Leviticus Rabbah
Primary Sources:
LevR 6:6; 19:2; 20:1, 4, 8-12; 21:1-6, 10; 22:1-4; 25:6; 27:8
Hebrew: LevR 19:2; 22:1, 3, 4; 25:6
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 288-91 [all]
*Joseph Heinemann, “Profile of a Midrash: The Art of Composition in Leviticus Rabbah,” JAAR 39 (1971) 141-150.
Burton Visotzky, “Anti-Christian Polemics in Leviticus Rabbah,” in Fathers of the World: Essays in Rabbinic and Patristic Literatures (Tübingen: Mohr, 1995), 93-105.

Nov. 23 - Homilectical Midrashim II – Pesikta de rav Kahana and Pesikta Rabbati
Primary Sources:
PRK 1-2, 7, 11-12, 14-15, 18; PesR 29-31; 34-37, 45-46, 49
Hebrew: QUIZ!
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 291-321 [all]

Nov. 30 - “Late” Midrashim – Pirke de Rabbi Eliezer
Primary Sources:
PRE 1-4, 11-15, 19-20, 26-31
Hebrew: PRE 1-2, 31
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 322-43 [all]
Jeffrey Rubenstein, “From Mythic Motifs to Sustained Myth: The Revision of Rabbinic Traditions in Medieval Midrashim,” Harvard Theological Review 89 (1996) 131-59.
PRESENTATION - Susan Haber on Jay M. Harris, "How Do We Know This”? Midrash and the Fragmentation of Modern Judaism (Albany: SUNY Press, 1994); Gary G. Porton, “Defining Midrash,” in The Study of Ancient Judaism, vol. 1, ed. J. Neusner (New York: Ktav, 1981) 55-92. [Jonathan]
PRESENTATION - Susan Wendel on Daniel Boyarin, Intertextuality and the Reading of Midrash (Bloomington: Indiana UP, 1990).

Oct. 5 - Midrashic Subgenres and Methods
Primary Sources:
Mek Vay. 6:53-64; Mek Pis. 14:64-77; GenR 1:1, 4, 15; 8:1; 9:2, 4; 10:9
Hebrew: GenR 1:1, 4, 15; 9:4; 10:9
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 15-30, 243-46 [all]
Joseph Heinemann, "The Proem in the Aggadic Midrashim: A Form-Critical Study," Scripta Hiersolymitana XXII, ed. J. Heinemann and D. Noy, Studies in Aggadah and Folk-literature (Jerusalem: Magnes, 1971), 100-22.
W. Sibley Towner, The Rabbinic "Enumeration of Scriptural Examples": A study of a Rabbinic Pattern of Discourse with Special Reference to Mekhilta d'R. Ishmael (Leiden, Brill, 1973), 66-70, 77-79, 206-13.
PRESENTATION - Jonathan Bernier on David Stern, Midrash and Theory: Ancient Jewish Exegesis and Contemporary Literary Studies (Evanston, Ill.: Northwestern UP, 1996).

Oct. 12 - Rabbinic Midrash in Social and Historical Context
Primary Sources:
Sifre Deut 306; 351; GenR 1:11; 4:4, 6; 8:9; 9:5-6; 10:4, 8-9; 11:4-7; 13:7; 14:7; 28:3; 64:4; 95:3
Hebrew: GenR 8:9; 9:6; 13:7; 64:4; 95:3
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 8-14, 56-107, 233-43 [all]
Catherine Heszer, “Social Fragmentation, Plurality of Opinion, and Nonobservance of Halakhah: Rabbis and Community in Late Roman Palestine,” Jewish Studies Quarterly 1 (1993/94) 234-51. [all]
*Ronald Brown, "Midrashim as oral traditions," Hebrew Union College Annual 47 (1976) 181-189. {ATLAS}
Marc Hirshman, “The Preacher and his Public in Third Century Palestine,” Journal of Jewish Studies 42 (1991) 108-14.
Gary Porton, “Rabbinic Midrash: Public or Private,” Review of Rabbinic Judaism 5 (2002) 141-169.
PRESENTATION - Shaun House on Steven D. Fraade, From Tradition to Commentary: Torah and Its Interpretation in the Midrash Sifre to Deuteronomy (Albany: SUNY Press, 1991).

Oct. 19 - Tannaitic/Halakhic Midrashim – Mekhilta de R. Ishmael
Primary Sources:
Mek Pisha 16-17; Ba-Hodesh 5; Nezikin 8, 18; Shabbata 1-2
Hebrew: Mek Ba-Hodesh 5, lines 1-20, 48-101; Nezikin 18, lines 1-48 (ed. Lauterbach)
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 247-59
*Jacob Zallel Lauterbach, "The arrangement and the division of the Mekilta," Hebrew Union College Annual 1 (1924) 427-466. {ATLAS}
*Daniel Boyarin, "On the Status of the Tannaitic Midrashim," Journal of the American Oriental Society 112 (1992) 455-465. [Review article on Jacob Neusner, The Canonical History of Ideas, The Place of the So-Called Tannaite Midrashim: Mekhilta Attributed to R. Ishmael, Sifra, Sifre to Numbers, and Sifre to Deuteronomy] {JSTOR}
*Jack Lightstone, “Form as meaning in halakic midrash: A programmatic statement,” Semeia 27 (1983) 23-35. {ATLAS}
Robert Goldenberg, “Law and Spirit in Talmudic Religion,” in Jewish Spirituality, volume 1: From the Bible through the Middle Ages, ed. A. Green, New York, pp. 232-52.
PRESENTATION - Jeremy Penner on Azzan Yadin, Scripture as Logos: Rabbi Ishmael and the Origins of Midrash (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania,2004)..

Oct. 26 - Tannaitic/Halakhic Midrashim II – Sifra and Sifrei
Primary Sources:
Sifra Ahare Mot 1-2, 8 (Neusner 174-177, 186); Sifre Num 7, 99, 115 (ed. Neusner); Sifre Deut 13, 31, 38, 41, 312, 335, 343
Hebrew: QUIZ!
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 259-75 [all]
*Eugene Mihaly, “A Rabbinic Defence of the Election of Israel: An Analysis of Sifre Deuteronomy 32:9, Pisqa 312,” Hebrew Union College Annual 35 (1964) 103-143 {ATLAS}
Reuven Hammer, “Section 38 of Sifre Deuteronomy: An Example of the Use of Independent Sources to Create a Literary Unit,” Hebrew Union College Annual 50 (1979) 165-178.

Nov. 2 - Exegetical Midrashim I – Genesis Rabbah
Primary Sources:
GenR 8:9; 12:6-16; 14:1-6; 18:1-3; 19:7, 9; 20:12; 21:1, 5; 26:5, 7; 27:4; 52:5; 55:1-56:11
Hebrew: GenR 19:7, 9; 52:5; 55:4, 7; 56:7
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 276-83. [all]
Burton Visotzky, “Trinitarian Testimonies,” in Fathers of the World: Essays in Rabbinic and Patristic Literatures (Tübingen: Mohr, 1995), 61-74.
PRESENTATION - Jonathan Bernier on Marc Hirshman, A Rivalry of Genius: Jewish and Christian Biblical Interpretation in Late Antiquity (Albany: SUNY Press, 1996)

Nov. 9 - Exegetical Midrashim II – Lamentations Rabbah
Primary Sources:
LamR proems i, iv, vi, vii, xxii, xxii; 1:1 §§1-18; 1:2 §25; 1:3 §28; 1:5 §32; 1:8 §35; 1:12 §40; 1:14 §42; 1:16 §§ 45-51; 2:2 §4; 2:6 §10; 2:16 §20; 3:22-23 §7-8.
Hebrew: Lam R 1:3 §28, 1:5 §32; 1:8 §35; 1:12 §40; 2:16 §20
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 283-87 [all]
PRESENTATION - Shaun House on Galit Hasan-Rokem, Web of Life: Folklore and Midrash in Rabbinic Literature, trans. Batya Stein (Stanford: Stanford UP, 2000)

Nov. 16 - Homilectical Midrashim – Leviticus Rabbah
Primary Sources:
LevR 6:6; 19:2; 20:1, 4, 8-12; 21:1-6, 10; 22:1-4; 25:6; 27:8
Hebrew: LevR 19:2; 22:1, 3, 4; 25:6
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 288-91 [all]
*Joseph Heinemann, “Profile of a Midrash: The Art of Composition in Leviticus Rabbah,” JAAR 39 (1971) 141-150.
Burton Visotzky, “Anti-Christian Polemics in Leviticus Rabbah,” in Fathers of the World: Essays in Rabbinic and Patristic Literatures (Tübingen: Mohr, 1995), 93-105.

Nov. 23 - Homilectical Midrashim II – Pesikta de rav Kahana and Pesikta Rabbati
Primary Sources:
PRK 1-2, 7, 11-12, 14-15, 18; PesR 29-31; 34-37, 45-46, 49
Hebrew: QUIZ!
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 291-321 [all]

Nov. 30 - “Late” Midrashim – Pirke de Rabbi Eliezer
Primary Sources:
PRE 1-4, 11-15, 19-20, 26-31
Hebrew: PRE 1-2, 31
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 322-43 [all]
Jeffrey Rubenstein, “From Mythic Motifs to Sustained Myth: The Revision of Rabbinic Traditions in Medieval Midrashim,” Harvard Theological Review 89 (1996) 131-59.
PRESENTATION - Susan Haber on Jay M. Harris, "How Do We Know This”? Midrash and the Fragmentation of Modern Judaism (Albany: SUNY Press, 1994); PRESENTATION - Susan Wendel on Daniel Boyarin, Intertextuality and the Reading of Midrash (Bloomington: Indiana UP, 1990).
Oct. 5 - Midrashic Subgenres and Methods
Primary Sources:: Mek Vay. 6:53-64; Mek Pis. 14:64-77; GenR 1:1, 4, 15; 8:1; 9:2, 4; 10:9; Hebrew: GenR 1:1, 4, 15; 9:4; 10:9
Secondary Sources:: Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 15-30, 243-46 [all]
Joseph Heinemann, "The Proem in the Aggadic Midrashim: A Form-Critical Study," Scripta Hiersolymitana XXII, ed. J. Heinemann and D. Noy, Studies in Aggadah and Folk-literature (Jerusalem: Magnes, 1971), 100-22.
W. Sibley Towner, The Rabbinic "Enumeration of Scriptural Examples": A study of a Rabbinic Pattern of Discourse with Special Reference to Mekhilta d'R. Ishmael (Leiden, Brill, 1973), 66-70, 77-79, 206-13.
PRESENTATION - Jonathan Bernier on David Stern, Midrash and Theory: Ancient Jewish Exegesis and Contemporary Literary Studies (Evanston, Ill.: Northwestern UP, 1996).

Oct. 12 - Rabbinic Midrash in Social and Historical Context
Primary Sources:
Sifre Deut 306; 351; GenR 1:11; 4:4, 6; 8:9; 9:5-6; 10:4, 8-9; 11:4-7; 13:7; 14:7; 28:3; 64:4; 95:3
Hebrew: GenR 8:9; 9:6; 13:7; 64:4; 95:3
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 8-14, 56-107, 233-43 [all]
Catherine Heszer, “Social Fragmentation, Plurality of Opinion, and Nonobservance of Halakhah: Rabbis and Community in Late Roman Palestine,” Jewish Studies Quarterly 1 (1993/94) 234-51. [all]
*Ronald Brown, "Midrashim as oral traditions," Hebrew Union College Annual 47 (1976) 181-189. {ATLAS}
Marc Hirshman, “The Preacher and his Public in Third Century Palestine,” Journal of Jewish Studies 42 (1991) 108-14.
Gary Porton, “Rabbinic Midrash: Public or Private,” Review of Rabbinic Judaism 5 (2002) 141-169.
PRESENTATION - Shaun House on Steven D. Fraade, From Tradition to Commentary: Torah and Its Interpretation in the Midrash Sifre to Deuteronomy (Albany: SUNY Press, 1991).

Oct. 19 - Tannaitic/Halakhic Midrashim – Mekhilta de R. Ishmael
Primary Sources:
Mek Pisha 16-17; Ba-Hodesh 5; Nezikin 8, 18; Shabbata 1-2
Hebrew: Mek Ba-Hodesh 5, lines 1-20, 48-101; Nezikin 18, lines 1-48 (ed. Lauterbach)
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 247-59
*Jacob Zallel Lauterbach, "The arrangement and the division of the Mekilta," Hebrew Union College Annual 1 (1924) 427-466. {ATLAS}
*Daniel Boyarin, "On the Status of the Tannaitic Midrashim," Journal of the American Oriental Society 112 (1992) 455-465. [Review article on Jacob Neusner, The Canonical History of Ideas, The Place of the So-Called Tannaite Midrashim: Mekhilta Attributed to R. Ishmael, Sifra, Sifre to Numbers, and Sifre to Deuteronomy] {JSTOR}
*Jack Lightstone, “Form as meaning in halakic midrash: A programmatic statement,” Semeia 27 (1983) 23-35. {ATLAS}
Robert Goldenberg, “Law and Spirit in Talmudic Religion,” in Jewish Spirituality, volume 1: From the Bible through the Middle Ages, ed. A. Green, New York, pp. 232-52.
PRESENTATION - Jeremy Penner on Azzan Yadin, Scripture as Logos: Rabbi Ishmael and the Origins of Midrash (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania,2004)..

Oct. 26 - Tannaitic/Halakhic Midrashim II – Sifra and Sifrei
Primary Sources:
Sifra Ahare Mot 1-2, 8 (Neusner 174-177, 186); Sifre Num 7, 99, 115 (ed. Neusner); Sifre Deut 13, 31, 38, 41, 312, 335, 343
Hebrew: QUIZ!
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 259-75 [all]
*Eugene Mihaly, “A Rabbinic Defence of the Election of Israel: An Analysis of Sifre Deuteronomy 32:9, Pisqa 312,” Hebrew Union College Annual 35 (1964) 103-143 {ATLAS}
Reuven Hammer, “Section 38 of Sifre Deuteronomy: An Example of the Use of Independent Sources to Create a Literary Unit,” Hebrew Union College Annual 50 (1979) 165-178.

Nov. 2 - Exegetical Midrashim I – Genesis Rabbah
Primary Sources:
GenR 8:9; 12:6-16; 14:1-6; 18:1-3; 19:7, 9; 20:12; 21:1, 5; 26:5, 7; 27:4; 52:5; 55:1-56:11
Hebrew: GenR 19:7, 9; 52:5; 55:4, 7; 56:7
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 276-83. [all]
Burton Visotzky, “Trinitarian Testimonies,” in Fathers of the World: Essays in Rabbinic and Patristic Literatures (Tübingen: Mohr, 1995), 61-74.
PRESENTATION - Jonathan Bernier on Marc Hirshman, A Rivalry of Genius: Jewish and Christian Biblical Interpretation in Late Antiquity (Albany: SUNY Press, 1996)

Nov. 9 - Exegetical Midrashim II – Lamentations Rabbah
Primary Sources:
LamR proems i, iv, vi, vii, xxii, xxii; 1:1 §§1-18; 1:2 §25; 1:3 §28; 1:5 §32; 1:8 §35; 1:12 §40; 1:14 §42; 1:16 §§ 45-51; 2:2 §4; 2:6 §10; 2:16 §20; 3:22-23 §7-8.
Hebrew: Lam R 1:3 §28, 1:5 §32; 1:8 §35; 1:12 §40; 2:16 §20
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 283-87 [all]
PRESENTATION - Shaun House on Galit Hasan-Rokem, Web of Life: Folklore and Midrash in Rabbinic Literature, trans. Batya Stein (Stanford: Stanford UP, 2000)

Nov. 16 - Homilectical Midrashim – Leviticus Rabbah
Primary Sources:
LevR 6:6; 19:2; 20:1, 4, 8-12; 21:1-6, 10; 22:1-4; 25:6; 27:8
Hebrew: LevR 19:2; 22:1, 3, 4; 25:6
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 288-91 [all]
*Joseph Heinemann, “Profile of a Midrash: The Art of Composition in Leviticus Rabbah,” JAAR 39 (1971) 141-150.
Burton Visotzky, “Anti-Christian Polemics in Leviticus Rabbah,” in Fathers of the World: Essays in Rabbinic and Patristic Literatures (Tübingen: Mohr, 1995), 93-105.

Nov. 23 - Homilectical Midrashim II – Pesikta de rav Kahana and Pesikta Rabbati
Primary Sources:
PRK 1-2, 7, 11-12, 14-15, 18; PesR 29-31; 34-37, 45-46, 49
Hebrew: QUIZ!
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 291-321 [all]

Nov. 30 - “Late” Midrashim – Pirke de Rabbi Eliezer
Primary Sources:
PRE 1-4, 11-15, 19-20, 26-31
Hebrew: PRE 1-2, 31
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 322-43 [all]
Jeffrey Rubenstein, “From Mythic Motifs to Sustained Myth: The Revision of Rabbinic Traditions in Medieval Midrashim,” Harvard Theological Review 89 (1996) 131-59.
PRESENTATION - Susan Haber on Jay M. Harris, "How Do We Know This”? Midrash and the Fragmentation of Modern Judaism (Albany: SUNY Press, 1994); Joseph Heinemann, "The Proem in the Aggadic Midrashim: A Form-Critical Study," Scripta Hiersolymitana XXII, ed. J. Heinemann and D. Noy, Studies in Aggadah and Folk-literature (Jerusalem: Magnes, 1971), 100-22.
W. Sibley Towner, The Rabbinic "Enumeration of Scriptural Examples": A study of a Rabbinic Pattern of Discourse with Special Reference to Mekhilta d'R. Ishmael (Leiden, Brill, 1973), 66-70, 77-79, 206-13.
PRESENTATION - Jonathan Bernier on David Stern, Midrash and Theory: Ancient Jewish Exegesis and Contemporary Literary Studies (Evanston, Ill.: Northwestern UP, 1996).

Oct. 12 - Rabbinic Midrash in Social and Historical Context
Primary Sources:
Sifre Deut 306; 351; GenR 1:11; 4:4, 6; 8:9; 9:5-6; 10:4, 8-9; 11:4-7; 13:7; 14:7; 28:3; 64:4; 95:3
Hebrew: GenR 8:9; 9:6; 13:7; 64:4; 95:3
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 8-14, 56-107, 233-43 [all]
Catherine Heszer, “Social Fragmentation, Plurality of Opinion, and Nonobservance of Halakhah: Rabbis and Community in Late Roman Palestine,” Jewish Studies Quarterly 1 (1993/94) 234-51. [all]
*Ronald Brown, "Midrashim as oral traditions," Hebrew Union College Annual 47 (1976) 181-189. {ATLAS}
Marc Hirshman, “The Preacher and his Public in Third Century Palestine,” Journal of Jewish Studies 42 (1991) 108-14.
Gary Porton, “Rabbinic Midrash: Public or Private,” Review of Rabbinic Judaism 5 (2002) 141-169.
PRESENTATION - Shaun House on Steven D. Fraade, From Tradition to Commentary: Torah and Its Interpretation in the Midrash Sifre to Deuteronomy (Albany: SUNY Press, 1991).

Oct. 19 - Tannaitic/Halakhic Midrashim – Mekhilta de R. Ishmael
Primary Sources:
Mek Pisha 16-17; Ba-Hodesh 5; Nezikin 8, 18; Shabbata 1-2
Hebrew: Mek Ba-Hodesh 5, lines 1-20, 48-101; Nezikin 18, lines 1-48 (ed. Lauterbach)
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 247-59
*Jacob Zallel Lauterbach, "The arrangement and the division of the Mekilta," Hebrew Union College Annual 1 (1924) 427-466. {ATLAS}
*Daniel Boyarin, "On the Status of the Tannaitic Midrashim," Journal of the American Oriental Society 112 (1992) 455-465. [Review article on Jacob Neusner, The Canonical History of Ideas, The Place of the So-Called Tannaite Midrashim: Mekhilta Attributed to R. Ishmael, Sifra, Sifre to Numbers, and Sifre to Deuteronomy] {JSTOR}
*Jack Lightstone, “Form as meaning in halakic midrash: A programmatic statement,” Semeia 27 (1983) 23-35. {ATLAS}
Robert Goldenberg, “Law and Spirit in Talmudic Religion,” in Jewish Spirituality, volume 1: From the Bible through the Middle Ages, ed. A. Green, New York, pp. 232-52.
PRESENTATION - Jeremy Penner on Azzan Yadin, Scripture as Logos: Rabbi Ishmael and the Origins of Midrash (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania,2004)..

Oct. 26 - Tannaitic/Halakhic Midrashim II – Sifra and Sifrei
Primary Sources:
Sifra Ahare Mot 1-2, 8 (Neusner 174-177, 186); Sifre Num 7, 99, 115 (ed. Neusner); Sifre Deut 13, 31, 38, 41, 312, 335, 343
Hebrew: QUIZ!
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 259-75 [all]
*Eugene Mihaly, “A Rabbinic Defence of the Election of Israel: An Analysis of Sifre Deuteronomy 32:9, Pisqa 312,” Hebrew Union College Annual 35 (1964) 103-143 {ATLAS}
Reuven Hammer, “Section 38 of Sifre Deuteronomy: An Example of the Use of Independent Sources to Create a Literary Unit,” Hebrew Union College Annual 50 (1979) 165-178.

Nov. 2 - Exegetical Midrashim I – Genesis Rabbah
Primary Sources:
GenR 8:9; 12:6-16; 14:1-6; 18:1-3; 19:7, 9; 20:12; 21:1, 5; 26:5, 7; 27:4; 52:5; 55:1-56:11
Hebrew: GenR 19:7, 9; 52:5; 55:4, 7; 56:7
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 276-83. [all]
Burton Visotzky, “Trinitarian Testimonies,” in Fathers of the World: Essays in Rabbinic and Patristic Literatures (Tübingen: Mohr, 1995), 61-74.
PRESENTATION - Jonathan Bernier on Marc Hirshman, A Rivalry of Genius: Jewish and Christian Biblical Interpretation in Late Antiquity (Albany: SUNY Press, 1996)

Nov. 9 - Exegetical Midrashim II – Lamentations Rabbah
Primary Sources:
LamR proems i, iv, vi, vii, xxii, xxii; 1:1 §§1-18; 1:2 §25; 1:3 §28; 1:5 §32; 1:8 §35; 1:12 §40; 1:14 §42; 1:16 §§ 45-51; 2:2 §4; 2:6 §10; 2:16 §20; 3:22-23 §7-8.
Hebrew: Lam R 1:3 §28, 1:5 §32; 1:8 §35; 1:12 §40; 2:16 §20
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 283-87 [all]
PRESENTATION - Shaun House on Galit Hasan-Rokem, Web of Life: Folklore and Midrash in Rabbinic Literature, trans. Batya Stein (Stanford: Stanford UP, 2000)

Nov. 16 - Homilectical Midrashim – Leviticus Rabbah
Primary Sources:
LevR 6:6; 19:2; 20:1, 4, 8-12; 21:1-6, 10; 22:1-4; 25:6; 27:8
Hebrew: LevR 19:2; 22:1, 3, 4; 25:6
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 288-91 [all]
*Joseph Heinemann, “Profile of a Midrash: The Art of Composition in Leviticus Rabbah,” JAAR 39 (1971) 141-150.
Burton Visotzky, “Anti-Christian Polemics in Leviticus Rabbah,” in Fathers of the World: Essays in Rabbinic and Patristic Literatures (Tübingen: Mohr, 1995), 93-105.

Nov. 23 - Homilectical Midrashim II – Pesikta de rav Kahana and Pesikta Rabbati
Primary Sources:
PRK 1-2, 7, 11-12, 14-15, 18; PesR 29-31; 34-37, 45-46, 49
Hebrew: QUIZ!
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 291-321 [all]

Nov. 30 - “Late” Midrashim – Pirke de Rabbi Eliezer
Primary Sources:
PRE 1-4, 11-15, 19-20, 26-31
Hebrew: PRE 1-2, 31
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 322-43 [all]
Jeffrey Rubenstein, “From Mythic Motifs to Sustained Myth: The Revision of Rabbinic Traditions in Medieval Midrashim,” Harvard Theological Review 89 (1996) 131-59.
PRESENTATION - Susan Haber on Jay M. Harris, "How Do We Know This”? Midrash and the Fragmentation of Modern Judaism (Albany: SUNY Press, 1994); W. Sibley Towner, The Rabbinic "Enumeration of Scriptural Examples": A study of a Rabbinic Pattern of Discourse with Special Reference to Mekhilta d'R. Ishmael (Leiden, Brill, 1973), 66-70, 77-79, 206-13.
PRESENTATION - Jonathan Bernier on David Stern, Midrash and Theory: Ancient Jewish Exegesis and Contemporary Literary Studies (Evanston, Ill.: Northwestern UP, 1996).

Oct. 12 - Rabbinic Midrash in Social and Historical Context
Primary Sources:
Sifre Deut 306; 351; GenR 1:11; 4:4, 6; 8:9; 9:5-6; 10:4, 8-9; 11:4-7; 13:7; 14:7; 28:3; 64:4; 95:3
Hebrew: GenR 8:9; 9:6; 13:7; 64:4; 95:3
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 8-14, 56-107, 233-43 [all]
Catherine Heszer, “Social Fragmentation, Plurality of Opinion, and Nonobservance of Halakhah: Rabbis and Community in Late Roman Palestine,” Jewish Studies Quarterly 1 (1993/94) 234-51. [all]
*Ronald Brown, "Midrashim as oral traditions," Hebrew Union College Annual 47 (1976) 181-189. {ATLAS}
Marc Hirshman, “The Preacher and his Public in Third Century Palestine,” Journal of Jewish Studies 42 (1991) 108-14.
Gary Porton, “Rabbinic Midrash: Public or Private,” Review of Rabbinic Judaism 5 (2002) 141-169.
PRESENTATION - Shaun House on Steven D. Fraade, From Tradition to Commentary: Torah and Its Interpretation in the Midrash Sifre to Deuteronomy (Albany: SUNY Press, 1991).

Oct. 19 - Tannaitic/Halakhic Midrashim – Mekhilta de R. Ishmael
Primary Sources:
Mek Pisha 16-17; Ba-Hodesh 5; Nezikin 8, 18; Shabbata 1-2
Hebrew: Mek Ba-Hodesh 5, lines 1-20, 48-101; Nezikin 18, lines 1-48 (ed. Lauterbach)
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 247-59
*Jacob Zallel Lauterbach, "The arrangement and the division of the Mekilta," Hebrew Union College Annual 1 (1924) 427-466. {ATLAS}
*Daniel Boyarin, "On the Status of the Tannaitic Midrashim," Journal of the American Oriental Society 112 (1992) 455-465. [Review article on Jacob Neusner, The Canonical History of Ideas, The Place of the So-Called Tannaite Midrashim: Mekhilta Attributed to R. Ishmael, Sifra, Sifre to Numbers, and Sifre to Deuteronomy] {JSTOR}
*Jack Lightstone, “Form as meaning in halakic midrash: A programmatic statement,” Semeia 27 (1983) 23-35. {ATLAS}
Robert Goldenberg, “Law and Spirit in Talmudic Religion,” in Jewish Spirituality, volume 1: From the Bible through the Middle Ages, ed. A. Green, New York, pp. 232-52.
PRESENTATION - Jeremy Penner on Azzan Yadin, Scripture as Logos: Rabbi Ishmael and the Origins of Midrash (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania,2004)..

Oct. 26 - Tannaitic/Halakhic Midrashim II – Sifra and Sifrei
Primary Sources:
Sifra Ahare Mot 1-2, 8 (Neusner 174-177, 186); Sifre Num 7, 99, 115 (ed. Neusner); Sifre Deut 13, 31, 38, 41, 312, 335, 343
Hebrew: QUIZ!
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 259-75 [all]
*Eugene Mihaly, “A Rabbinic Defence of the Election of Israel: An Analysis of Sifre Deuteronomy 32:9, Pisqa 312,” Hebrew Union College Annual 35 (1964) 103-143 {ATLAS}
Reuven Hammer, “Section 38 of Sifre Deuteronomy: An Example of the Use of Independent Sources to Create a Literary Unit,” Hebrew Union College Annual 50 (1979) 165-178.

Nov. 2 - Exegetical Midrashim I – Genesis Rabbah
Primary Sources:
GenR 8:9; 12:6-16; 14:1-6; 18:1-3; 19:7, 9; 20:12; 21:1, 5; 26:5, 7; 27:4; 52:5; 55:1-56:11
Hebrew: GenR 19:7, 9; 52:5; 55:4, 7; 56:7
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 276-83. [all]
Burton Visotzky, “Trinitarian Testimonies,” in Fathers of the World: Essays in Rabbinic and Patristic Literatures (Tübingen: Mohr, 1995), 61-74.
PRESENTATION - Jonathan Bernier on Marc Hirshman, A Rivalry of Genius: Jewish and Christian Biblical Interpretation in Late Antiquity (Albany: SUNY Press, 1996)

Nov. 9 - Exegetical Midrashim II – Lamentations Rabbah
Primary Sources:
LamR proems i, iv, vi, vii, xxii, xxii; 1:1 §§1-18; 1:2 §25; 1:3 §28; 1:5 §32; 1:8 §35; 1:12 §40; 1:14 §42; 1:16 §§ 45-51; 2:2 §4; 2:6 §10; 2:16 §20; 3:22-23 §7-8.
Hebrew: Lam R 1:3 §28, 1:5 §32; 1:8 §35; 1:12 §40; 2:16 §20
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 283-87 [all]
PRESENTATION - Shaun House on Galit Hasan-Rokem, Web of Life: Folklore and Midrash in Rabbinic Literature, trans. Batya Stein (Stanford: Stanford UP, 2000)

Nov. 16 - Homilectical Midrashim – Leviticus Rabbah
Primary Sources:
LevR 6:6; 19:2; 20:1, 4, 8-12; 21:1-6, 10; 22:1-4; 25:6; 27:8
Hebrew: LevR 19:2; 22:1, 3, 4; 25:6
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 288-91 [all]
*Joseph Heinemann, “Profile of a Midrash: The Art of Composition in Leviticus Rabbah,” JAAR 39 (1971) 141-150.
Burton Visotzky, “Anti-Christian Polemics in Leviticus Rabbah,” in Fathers of the World: Essays in Rabbinic and Patristic Literatures (Tübingen: Mohr, 1995), 93-105.

Nov. 23 - Homilectical Midrashim II – Pesikta de rav Kahana and Pesikta Rabbati
Primary Sources:
PRK 1-2, 7, 11-12, 14-15, 18; PesR 29-31; 34-37, 45-46, 49
Hebrew: QUIZ!
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 291-321 [all]

Nov. 30 - “Late” Midrashim – Pirke de Rabbi Eliezer
Primary Sources:
PRE 1-4, 11-15, 19-20, 26-31
Hebrew: PRE 1-2, 31
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 322-43 [all]
Jeffrey Rubenstein, “From Mythic Motifs to Sustained Myth: The Revision of Rabbinic Traditions in Medieval Midrashim,” Harvard Theological Review 89 (1996) 131-59.
PRESENTATION - Susan Haber on Jay M. Harris, "How Do We Know This”? Midrash and the Fragmentation of Modern Judaism (Albany: SUNY Press, 1994)
PRESENTATION - Jonathan Bernier on David Stern, Midrash and Theory: Ancient Jewish Exegesis and Contemporary Literary Studies (Evanston, Ill.: Northwestern UP, 1996).
Oct. 12 - Rabbinic Midrash in Social and Historical Context
Primary Sources:: Sifre Deut 306; 351; GenR 1:11; 4:4, 6; 8:9; 9:5-6; 10:4, 8-9; 11:4-7; 13:7; 14:7; 28:3; 64:4; 95:3; Hebrew: GenR 8:9; 9:6; 13:7; 64:4; 95:3
Secondary Sources:: Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 8-14, 56-107, 233-43 [all]
Catherine Heszer, “Social Fragmentation, Plurality of Opinion, and Nonobservance of Halakhah: Rabbis and Community in Late Roman Palestine,” Jewish Studies Quarterly 1 (1993/94) 234-51. [all]
*Ronald Brown, "Midrashim as oral traditions," Hebrew Union College Annual 47 (1976) 181-189. {ATLAS}
Marc Hirshman, “The Preacher and his Public in Third Century Palestine,” Journal of Jewish Studies 42 (1991) 108-14.
Gary Porton, “Rabbinic Midrash: Public or Private,” Review of Rabbinic Judaism 5 (2002) 141-169.
PRESENTATION - Shaun House on Steven D. Fraade, From Tradition to Commentary: Torah and Its Interpretation in the Midrash Sifre to Deuteronomy (Albany: SUNY Press, 1991).

Oct. 19 - Tannaitic/Halakhic Midrashim – Mekhilta de R. Ishmael
Primary Sources:
Mek Pisha 16-17; Ba-Hodesh 5; Nezikin 8, 18; Shabbata 1-2
Hebrew: Mek Ba-Hodesh 5, lines 1-20, 48-101; Nezikin 18, lines 1-48 (ed. Lauterbach)
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 247-59
*Jacob Zallel Lauterbach, "The arrangement and the division of the Mekilta," Hebrew Union College Annual 1 (1924) 427-466. {ATLAS}
*Daniel Boyarin, "On the Status of the Tannaitic Midrashim," Journal of the American Oriental Society 112 (1992) 455-465. [Review article on Jacob Neusner, The Canonical History of Ideas, The Place of the So-Called Tannaite Midrashim: Mekhilta Attributed to R. Ishmael, Sifra, Sifre to Numbers, and Sifre to Deuteronomy] {JSTOR}
*Jack Lightstone, “Form as meaning in halakic midrash: A programmatic statement,” Semeia 27 (1983) 23-35. {ATLAS}
Robert Goldenberg, “Law and Spirit in Talmudic Religion,” in Jewish Spirituality, volume 1: From the Bible through the Middle Ages, ed. A. Green, New York, pp. 232-52.
PRESENTATION - Jeremy Penner on Azzan Yadin, Scripture as Logos: Rabbi Ishmael and the Origins of Midrash (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania,2004)..

Oct. 26 - Tannaitic/Halakhic Midrashim II – Sifra and Sifrei
Primary Sources:
Sifra Ahare Mot 1-2, 8 (Neusner 174-177, 186); Sifre Num 7, 99, 115 (ed. Neusner); Sifre Deut 13, 31, 38, 41, 312, 335, 343
Hebrew: QUIZ!
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 259-75 [all]
*Eugene Mihaly, “A Rabbinic Defence of the Election of Israel: An Analysis of Sifre Deuteronomy 32:9, Pisqa 312,” Hebrew Union College Annual 35 (1964) 103-143 {ATLAS}
Reuven Hammer, “Section 38 of Sifre Deuteronomy: An Example of the Use of Independent Sources to Create a Literary Unit,” Hebrew Union College Annual 50 (1979) 165-178.

Nov. 2 - Exegetical Midrashim I – Genesis Rabbah
Primary Sources:
GenR 8:9; 12:6-16; 14:1-6; 18:1-3; 19:7, 9; 20:12; 21:1, 5; 26:5, 7; 27:4; 52:5; 55:1-56:11
Hebrew: GenR 19:7, 9; 52:5; 55:4, 7; 56:7
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 276-83. [all]
Burton Visotzky, “Trinitarian Testimonies,” in Fathers of the World: Essays in Rabbinic and Patristic Literatures (Tübingen: Mohr, 1995), 61-74.
PRESENTATION - Jonathan Bernier on Marc Hirshman, A Rivalry of Genius: Jewish and Christian Biblical Interpretation in Late Antiquity (Albany: SUNY Press, 1996)

Nov. 9 - Exegetical Midrashim II – Lamentations Rabbah
Primary Sources:
LamR proems i, iv, vi, vii, xxii, xxii; 1:1 §§1-18; 1:2 §25; 1:3 §28; 1:5 §32; 1:8 §35; 1:12 §40; 1:14 §42; 1:16 §§ 45-51; 2:2 §4; 2:6 §10; 2:16 §20; 3:22-23 §7-8.
Hebrew: Lam R 1:3 §28, 1:5 §32; 1:8 §35; 1:12 §40; 2:16 §20
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 283-87 [all]
PRESENTATION - Shaun House on Galit Hasan-Rokem, Web of Life: Folklore and Midrash in Rabbinic Literature, trans. Batya Stein (Stanford: Stanford UP, 2000)

Nov. 16 - Homilectical Midrashim – Leviticus Rabbah
Primary Sources:
LevR 6:6; 19:2; 20:1, 4, 8-12; 21:1-6, 10; 22:1-4; 25:6; 27:8
Hebrew: LevR 19:2; 22:1, 3, 4; 25:6
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 288-91 [all]
*Joseph Heinemann, “Profile of a Midrash: The Art of Composition in Leviticus Rabbah,” JAAR 39 (1971) 141-150.
Burton Visotzky, “Anti-Christian Polemics in Leviticus Rabbah,” in Fathers of the World: Essays in Rabbinic and Patristic Literatures (Tübingen: Mohr, 1995), 93-105.

Nov. 23 - Homilectical Midrashim II – Pesikta de rav Kahana and Pesikta Rabbati
Primary Sources:
PRK 1-2, 7, 11-12, 14-15, 18; PesR 29-31; 34-37, 45-46, 49
Hebrew: QUIZ!
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 291-321 [all]

Nov. 30 - “Late” Midrashim – Pirke de Rabbi Eliezer
Primary Sources:
PRE 1-4, 11-15, 19-20, 26-31
Hebrew: PRE 1-2, 31
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 322-43 [all]
Jeffrey Rubenstein, “From Mythic Motifs to Sustained Myth: The Revision of Rabbinic Traditions in Medieval Midrashim,” Harvard Theological Review 89 (1996) 131-59.
PRESENTATION - Susan Haber on Jay M. Harris, "How Do We Know This”? Midrash and the Fragmentation of Modern Judaism (Albany: SUNY Press, 1994); Catherine Heszer, “Social Fragmentation, Plurality of Opinion, and Nonobservance of Halakhah: Rabbis and Community in Late Roman Palestine,” Jewish Studies Quarterly 1 (1993/94) 234-51. [all]
*Ronald Brown, "Midrashim as oral traditions," Hebrew Union College Annual 47 (1976) 181-189. {ATLAS}
Marc Hirshman, “The Preacher and his Public in Third Century Palestine,” Journal of Jewish Studies 42 (1991) 108-14.
Gary Porton, “Rabbinic Midrash: Public or Private,” Review of Rabbinic Judaism 5 (2002) 141-169.
PRESENTATION - Shaun House on Steven D. Fraade, From Tradition to Commentary: Torah and Its Interpretation in the Midrash Sifre to Deuteronomy (Albany: SUNY Press, 1991).

Oct. 19 - Tannaitic/Halakhic Midrashim – Mekhilta de R. Ishmael
Primary Sources:
Mek Pisha 16-17; Ba-Hodesh 5; Nezikin 8, 18; Shabbata 1-2
Hebrew: Mek Ba-Hodesh 5, lines 1-20, 48-101; Nezikin 18, lines 1-48 (ed. Lauterbach)
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 247-59
*Jacob Zallel Lauterbach, "The arrangement and the division of the Mekilta," Hebrew Union College Annual 1 (1924) 427-466. {ATLAS}
*Daniel Boyarin, "On the Status of the Tannaitic Midrashim," Journal of the American Oriental Society 112 (1992) 455-465. [Review article on Jacob Neusner, The Canonical History of Ideas, The Place of the So-Called Tannaite Midrashim: Mekhilta Attributed to R. Ishmael, Sifra, Sifre to Numbers, and Sifre to Deuteronomy] {JSTOR}
*Jack Lightstone, “Form as meaning in halakic midrash: A programmatic statement,” Semeia 27 (1983) 23-35. {ATLAS}
Robert Goldenberg, “Law and Spirit in Talmudic Religion,” in Jewish Spirituality, volume 1: From the Bible through the Middle Ages, ed. A. Green, New York, pp. 232-52.
PRESENTATION - Jeremy Penner on Azzan Yadin, Scripture as Logos: Rabbi Ishmael and the Origins of Midrash (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania,2004)..

Oct. 26 - Tannaitic/Halakhic Midrashim II – Sifra and Sifrei
Primary Sources:
Sifra Ahare Mot 1-2, 8 (Neusner 174-177, 186); Sifre Num 7, 99, 115 (ed. Neusner); Sifre Deut 13, 31, 38, 41, 312, 335, 343
Hebrew: QUIZ!
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 259-75 [all]
*Eugene Mihaly, “A Rabbinic Defence of the Election of Israel: An Analysis of Sifre Deuteronomy 32:9, Pisqa 312,” Hebrew Union College Annual 35 (1964) 103-143 {ATLAS}
Reuven Hammer, “Section 38 of Sifre Deuteronomy: An Example of the Use of Independent Sources to Create a Literary Unit,” Hebrew Union College Annual 50 (1979) 165-178.

Nov. 2 - Exegetical Midrashim I – Genesis Rabbah
Primary Sources:
GenR 8:9; 12:6-16; 14:1-6; 18:1-3; 19:7, 9; 20:12; 21:1, 5; 26:5, 7; 27:4; 52:5; 55:1-56:11
Hebrew: GenR 19:7, 9; 52:5; 55:4, 7; 56:7
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 276-83. [all]
Burton Visotzky, “Trinitarian Testimonies,” in Fathers of the World: Essays in Rabbinic and Patristic Literatures (Tübingen: Mohr, 1995), 61-74.
PRESENTATION - Jonathan Bernier on Marc Hirshman, A Rivalry of Genius: Jewish and Christian Biblical Interpretation in Late Antiquity (Albany: SUNY Press, 1996)

Nov. 9 - Exegetical Midrashim II – Lamentations Rabbah
Primary Sources:
LamR proems i, iv, vi, vii, xxii, xxii; 1:1 §§1-18; 1:2 §25; 1:3 §28; 1:5 §32; 1:8 §35; 1:12 §40; 1:14 §42; 1:16 §§ 45-51; 2:2 §4; 2:6 §10; 2:16 §20; 3:22-23 §7-8.
Hebrew: Lam R 1:3 §28, 1:5 §32; 1:8 §35; 1:12 §40; 2:16 §20
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 283-87 [all]
PRESENTATION - Shaun House on Galit Hasan-Rokem, Web of Life: Folklore and Midrash in Rabbinic Literature, trans. Batya Stein (Stanford: Stanford UP, 2000)

Nov. 16 - Homilectical Midrashim – Leviticus Rabbah
Primary Sources:
LevR 6:6; 19:2; 20:1, 4, 8-12; 21:1-6, 10; 22:1-4; 25:6; 27:8
Hebrew: LevR 19:2; 22:1, 3, 4; 25:6
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 288-91 [all]
*Joseph Heinemann, “Profile of a Midrash: The Art of Composition in Leviticus Rabbah,” JAAR 39 (1971) 141-150.
Burton Visotzky, “Anti-Christian Polemics in Leviticus Rabbah,” in Fathers of the World: Essays in Rabbinic and Patristic Literatures (Tübingen: Mohr, 1995), 93-105.

Nov. 23 - Homilectical Midrashim II – Pesikta de rav Kahana and Pesikta Rabbati
Primary Sources:
PRK 1-2, 7, 11-12, 14-15, 18; PesR 29-31; 34-37, 45-46, 49
Hebrew: QUIZ!
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 291-321 [all]

Nov. 30 - “Late” Midrashim – Pirke de Rabbi Eliezer
Primary Sources:
PRE 1-4, 11-15, 19-20, 26-31
Hebrew: PRE 1-2, 31
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 322-43 [all]
Jeffrey Rubenstein, “From Mythic Motifs to Sustained Myth: The Revision of Rabbinic Traditions in Medieval Midrashim,” Harvard Theological Review 89 (1996) 131-59.
PRESENTATION - Susan Haber on Jay M. Harris, "How Do We Know This”? Midrash and the Fragmentation of Modern Judaism (Albany: SUNY Press, 1994); *Ronald Brown, "Midrashim as oral traditions," Hebrew Union College Annual 47 (1976) 181-189. {ATLAS}
Marc Hirshman, “The Preacher and his Public in Third Century Palestine,” Journal of Jewish Studies 42 (1991) 108-14.
Gary Porton, “Rabbinic Midrash: Public or Private,” Review of Rabbinic Judaism 5 (2002) 141-169.
PRESENTATION - Shaun House on Steven D. Fraade, From Tradition to Commentary: Torah and Its Interpretation in the Midrash Sifre to Deuteronomy (Albany: SUNY Press, 1991).

Oct. 19 - Tannaitic/Halakhic Midrashim – Mekhilta de R. Ishmael
Primary Sources:
Mek Pisha 16-17; Ba-Hodesh 5; Nezikin 8, 18; Shabbata 1-2
Hebrew: Mek Ba-Hodesh 5, lines 1-20, 48-101; Nezikin 18, lines 1-48 (ed. Lauterbach)
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 247-59
*Jacob Zallel Lauterbach, "The arrangement and the division of the Mekilta," Hebrew Union College Annual 1 (1924) 427-466. {ATLAS}
*Daniel Boyarin, "On the Status of the Tannaitic Midrashim," Journal of the American Oriental Society 112 (1992) 455-465. [Review article on Jacob Neusner, The Canonical History of Ideas, The Place of the So-Called Tannaite Midrashim: Mekhilta Attributed to R. Ishmael, Sifra, Sifre to Numbers, and Sifre to Deuteronomy] {JSTOR}
*Jack Lightstone, “Form as meaning in halakic midrash: A programmatic statement,” Semeia 27 (1983) 23-35. {ATLAS}
Robert Goldenberg, “Law and Spirit in Talmudic Religion,” in Jewish Spirituality, volume 1: From the Bible through the Middle Ages, ed. A. Green, New York, pp. 232-52.
PRESENTATION - Jeremy Penner on Azzan Yadin, Scripture as Logos: Rabbi Ishmael and the Origins of Midrash (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania,2004)..

Oct. 26 - Tannaitic/Halakhic Midrashim II – Sifra and Sifrei
Primary Sources:
Sifra Ahare Mot 1-2, 8 (Neusner 174-177, 186); Sifre Num 7, 99, 115 (ed. Neusner); Sifre Deut 13, 31, 38, 41, 312, 335, 343
Hebrew: QUIZ!
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 259-75 [all]
*Eugene Mihaly, “A Rabbinic Defence of the Election of Israel: An Analysis of Sifre Deuteronomy 32:9, Pisqa 312,” Hebrew Union College Annual 35 (1964) 103-143 {ATLAS}
Reuven Hammer, “Section 38 of Sifre Deuteronomy: An Example of the Use of Independent Sources to Create a Literary Unit,” Hebrew Union College Annual 50 (1979) 165-178.

Nov. 2 - Exegetical Midrashim I – Genesis Rabbah
Primary Sources:
GenR 8:9; 12:6-16; 14:1-6; 18:1-3; 19:7, 9; 20:12; 21:1, 5; 26:5, 7; 27:4; 52:5; 55:1-56:11
Hebrew: GenR 19:7, 9; 52:5; 55:4, 7; 56:7
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 276-83. [all]
Burton Visotzky, “Trinitarian Testimonies,” in Fathers of the World: Essays in Rabbinic and Patristic Literatures (Tübingen: Mohr, 1995), 61-74.
PRESENTATION - Jonathan Bernier on Marc Hirshman, A Rivalry of Genius: Jewish and Christian Biblical Interpretation in Late Antiquity (Albany: SUNY Press, 1996)

Nov. 9 - Exegetical Midrashim II – Lamentations Rabbah
Primary Sources:
LamR proems i, iv, vi, vii, xxii, xxii; 1:1 §§1-18; 1:2 §25; 1:3 §28; 1:5 §32; 1:8 §35; 1:12 §40; 1:14 §42; 1:16 §§ 45-51; 2:2 §4; 2:6 §10; 2:16 §20; 3:22-23 §7-8.
Hebrew: Lam R 1:3 §28, 1:5 §32; 1:8 §35; 1:12 §40; 2:16 §20
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 283-87 [all]
PRESENTATION - Shaun House on Galit Hasan-Rokem, Web of Life: Folklore and Midrash in Rabbinic Literature, trans. Batya Stein (Stanford: Stanford UP, 2000)

Nov. 16 - Homilectical Midrashim – Leviticus Rabbah
Primary Sources:
LevR 6:6; 19:2; 20:1, 4, 8-12; 21:1-6, 10; 22:1-4; 25:6; 27:8
Hebrew: LevR 19:2; 22:1, 3, 4; 25:6
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 288-91 [all]
*Joseph Heinemann, “Profile of a Midrash: The Art of Composition in Leviticus Rabbah,” JAAR 39 (1971) 141-150.
Burton Visotzky, “Anti-Christian Polemics in Leviticus Rabbah,” in Fathers of the World: Essays in Rabbinic and Patristic Literatures (Tübingen: Mohr, 1995), 93-105.

Nov. 23 - Homilectical Midrashim II – Pesikta de rav Kahana and Pesikta Rabbati
Primary Sources:
PRK 1-2, 7, 11-12, 14-15, 18; PesR 29-31; 34-37, 45-46, 49
Hebrew: QUIZ!
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 291-321 [all]

Nov. 30 - “Late” Midrashim – Pirke de Rabbi Eliezer
Primary Sources:
PRE 1-4, 11-15, 19-20, 26-31
Hebrew: PRE 1-2, 31
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 322-43 [all]
Jeffrey Rubenstein, “From Mythic Motifs to Sustained Myth: The Revision of Rabbinic Traditions in Medieval Midrashim,” Harvard Theological Review 89 (1996) 131-59.
PRESENTATION - Susan Haber on Jay M. Harris, "How Do We Know This”? Midrash and the Fragmentation of Modern Judaism (Albany: SUNY Press, 1994); Marc Hirshman, “The Preacher and his Public in Third Century Palestine,” Journal of Jewish Studies 42 (1991) 108-14.
Gary Porton, “Rabbinic Midrash: Public or Private,” Review of Rabbinic Judaism 5 (2002) 141-169.
PRESENTATION - Shaun House on Steven D. Fraade, From Tradition to Commentary: Torah and Its Interpretation in the Midrash Sifre to Deuteronomy (Albany: SUNY Press, 1991).

Oct. 19 - Tannaitic/Halakhic Midrashim – Mekhilta de R. Ishmael
Primary Sources:
Mek Pisha 16-17; Ba-Hodesh 5; Nezikin 8, 18; Shabbata 1-2
Hebrew: Mek Ba-Hodesh 5, lines 1-20, 48-101; Nezikin 18, lines 1-48 (ed. Lauterbach)
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 247-59
*Jacob Zallel Lauterbach, "The arrangement and the division of the Mekilta," Hebrew Union College Annual 1 (1924) 427-466. {ATLAS}
*Daniel Boyarin, "On the Status of the Tannaitic Midrashim," Journal of the American Oriental Society 112 (1992) 455-465. [Review article on Jacob Neusner, The Canonical History of Ideas, The Place of the So-Called Tannaite Midrashim: Mekhilta Attributed to R. Ishmael, Sifra, Sifre to Numbers, and Sifre to Deuteronomy] {JSTOR}
*Jack Lightstone, “Form as meaning in halakic midrash: A programmatic statement,” Semeia 27 (1983) 23-35. {ATLAS}
Robert Goldenberg, “Law and Spirit in Talmudic Religion,” in Jewish Spirituality, volume 1: From the Bible through the Middle Ages, ed. A. Green, New York, pp. 232-52.
PRESENTATION - Jeremy Penner on Azzan Yadin, Scripture as Logos: Rabbi Ishmael and the Origins of Midrash (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania,2004)..

Oct. 26 - Tannaitic/Halakhic Midrashim II – Sifra and Sifrei
Primary Sources:
Sifra Ahare Mot 1-2, 8 (Neusner 174-177, 186); Sifre Num 7, 99, 115 (ed. Neusner); Sifre Deut 13, 31, 38, 41, 312, 335, 343
Hebrew: QUIZ!
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 259-75 [all]
*Eugene Mihaly, “A Rabbinic Defence of the Election of Israel: An Analysis of Sifre Deuteronomy 32:9, Pisqa 312,” Hebrew Union College Annual 35 (1964) 103-143 {ATLAS}
Reuven Hammer, “Section 38 of Sifre Deuteronomy: An Example of the Use of Independent Sources to Create a Literary Unit,” Hebrew Union College Annual 50 (1979) 165-178.

Nov. 2 - Exegetical Midrashim I – Genesis Rabbah
Primary Sources:
GenR 8:9; 12:6-16; 14:1-6; 18:1-3; 19:7, 9; 20:12; 21:1, 5; 26:5, 7; 27:4; 52:5; 55:1-56:11
Hebrew: GenR 19:7, 9; 52:5; 55:4, 7; 56:7
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 276-83. [all]
Burton Visotzky, “Trinitarian Testimonies,” in Fathers of the World: Essays in Rabbinic and Patristic Literatures (Tübingen: Mohr, 1995), 61-74.
PRESENTATION - Jonathan Bernier on Marc Hirshman, A Rivalry of Genius: Jewish and Christian Biblical Interpretation in Late Antiquity (Albany: SUNY Press, 1996)

Nov. 9 - Exegetical Midrashim II – Lamentations Rabbah
Primary Sources:
LamR proems i, iv, vi, vii, xxii, xxii; 1:1 §§1-18; 1:2 §25; 1:3 §28; 1:5 §32; 1:8 §35; 1:12 §40; 1:14 §42; 1:16 §§ 45-51; 2:2 §4; 2:6 §10; 2:16 §20; 3:22-23 §7-8.
Hebrew: Lam R 1:3 §28, 1:5 §32; 1:8 §35; 1:12 §40; 2:16 §20
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 283-87 [all]
PRESENTATION - Shaun House on Galit Hasan-Rokem, Web of Life: Folklore and Midrash in Rabbinic Literature, trans. Batya Stein (Stanford: Stanford UP, 2000)

Nov. 16 - Homilectical Midrashim – Leviticus Rabbah
Primary Sources:
LevR 6:6; 19:2; 20:1, 4, 8-12; 21:1-6, 10; 22:1-4; 25:6; 27:8
Hebrew: LevR 19:2; 22:1, 3, 4; 25:6
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 288-91 [all]
*Joseph Heinemann, “Profile of a Midrash: The Art of Composition in Leviticus Rabbah,” JAAR 39 (1971) 141-150.
Burton Visotzky, “Anti-Christian Polemics in Leviticus Rabbah,” in Fathers of the World: Essays in Rabbinic and Patristic Literatures (Tübingen: Mohr, 1995), 93-105.

Nov. 23 - Homilectical Midrashim II – Pesikta de rav Kahana and Pesikta Rabbati
Primary Sources:
PRK 1-2, 7, 11-12, 14-15, 18; PesR 29-31; 34-37, 45-46, 49
Hebrew: QUIZ!
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 291-321 [all]

Nov. 30 - “Late” Midrashim – Pirke de Rabbi Eliezer
Primary Sources:
PRE 1-4, 11-15, 19-20, 26-31
Hebrew: PRE 1-2, 31
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 322-43 [all]
Jeffrey Rubenstein, “From Mythic Motifs to Sustained Myth: The Revision of Rabbinic Traditions in Medieval Midrashim,” Harvard Theological Review 89 (1996) 131-59.
PRESENTATION - Susan Haber on Jay M. Harris, "How Do We Know This”? Midrash and the Fragmentation of Modern Judaism (Albany: SUNY Press, 1994); Gary Porton, “Rabbinic Midrash: Public or Private,” Review of Rabbinic Judaism 5 (2002) 141-169.
PRESENTATION - Shaun House on Steven D. Fraade, From Tradition to Commentary: Torah and Its Interpretation in the Midrash Sifre to Deuteronomy (Albany: SUNY Press, 1991).

Oct. 19 - Tannaitic/Halakhic Midrashim – Mekhilta de R. Ishmael
Primary Sources:
Mek Pisha 16-17; Ba-Hodesh 5; Nezikin 8, 18; Shabbata 1-2
Hebrew: Mek Ba-Hodesh 5, lines 1-20, 48-101; Nezikin 18, lines 1-48 (ed. Lauterbach)
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 247-59
*Jacob Zallel Lauterbach, "The arrangement and the division of the Mekilta," Hebrew Union College Annual 1 (1924) 427-466. {ATLAS}
*Daniel Boyarin, "On the Status of the Tannaitic Midrashim," Journal of the American Oriental Society 112 (1992) 455-465. [Review article on Jacob Neusner, The Canonical History of Ideas, The Place of the So-Called Tannaite Midrashim: Mekhilta Attributed to R. Ishmael, Sifra, Sifre to Numbers, and Sifre to Deuteronomy] {JSTOR}
*Jack Lightstone, “Form as meaning in halakic midrash: A programmatic statement,” Semeia 27 (1983) 23-35. {ATLAS}
Robert Goldenberg, “Law and Spirit in Talmudic Religion,” in Jewish Spirituality, volume 1: From the Bible through the Middle Ages, ed. A. Green, New York, pp. 232-52.
PRESENTATION - Jeremy Penner on Azzan Yadin, Scripture as Logos: Rabbi Ishmael and the Origins of Midrash (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania,2004)..

Oct. 26 - Tannaitic/Halakhic Midrashim II – Sifra and Sifrei
Primary Sources:
Sifra Ahare Mot 1-2, 8 (Neusner 174-177, 186); Sifre Num 7, 99, 115 (ed. Neusner); Sifre Deut 13, 31, 38, 41, 312, 335, 343
Hebrew: QUIZ!
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 259-75 [all]
*Eugene Mihaly, “A Rabbinic Defence of the Election of Israel: An Analysis of Sifre Deuteronomy 32:9, Pisqa 312,” Hebrew Union College Annual 35 (1964) 103-143 {ATLAS}
Reuven Hammer, “Section 38 of Sifre Deuteronomy: An Example of the Use of Independent Sources to Create a Literary Unit,” Hebrew Union College Annual 50 (1979) 165-178.

Nov. 2 - Exegetical Midrashim I – Genesis Rabbah
Primary Sources:
GenR 8:9; 12:6-16; 14:1-6; 18:1-3; 19:7, 9; 20:12; 21:1, 5; 26:5, 7; 27:4; 52:5; 55:1-56:11
Hebrew: GenR 19:7, 9; 52:5; 55:4, 7; 56:7
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 276-83. [all]
Burton Visotzky, “Trinitarian Testimonies,” in Fathers of the World: Essays in Rabbinic and Patristic Literatures (Tübingen: Mohr, 1995), 61-74.
PRESENTATION - Jonathan Bernier on Marc Hirshman, A Rivalry of Genius: Jewish and Christian Biblical Interpretation in Late Antiquity (Albany: SUNY Press, 1996)

Nov. 9 - Exegetical Midrashim II – Lamentations Rabbah
Primary Sources:
LamR proems i, iv, vi, vii, xxii, xxii; 1:1 §§1-18; 1:2 §25; 1:3 §28; 1:5 §32; 1:8 §35; 1:12 §40; 1:14 §42; 1:16 §§ 45-51; 2:2 §4; 2:6 §10; 2:16 §20; 3:22-23 §7-8.
Hebrew: Lam R 1:3 §28, 1:5 §32; 1:8 §35; 1:12 §40; 2:16 §20
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 283-87 [all]
PRESENTATION - Shaun House on Galit Hasan-Rokem, Web of Life: Folklore and Midrash in Rabbinic Literature, trans. Batya Stein (Stanford: Stanford UP, 2000)

Nov. 16 - Homilectical Midrashim – Leviticus Rabbah
Primary Sources:
LevR 6:6; 19:2; 20:1, 4, 8-12; 21:1-6, 10; 22:1-4; 25:6; 27:8
Hebrew: LevR 19:2; 22:1, 3, 4; 25:6
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 288-91 [all]
*Joseph Heinemann, “Profile of a Midrash: The Art of Composition in Leviticus Rabbah,” JAAR 39 (1971) 141-150.
Burton Visotzky, “Anti-Christian Polemics in Leviticus Rabbah,” in Fathers of the World: Essays in Rabbinic and Patristic Literatures (Tübingen: Mohr, 1995), 93-105.

Nov. 23 - Homilectical Midrashim II – Pesikta de rav Kahana and Pesikta Rabbati
Primary Sources:
PRK 1-2, 7, 11-12, 14-15, 18; PesR 29-31; 34-37, 45-46, 49
Hebrew: QUIZ!
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 291-321 [all]

Nov. 30 - “Late” Midrashim – Pirke de Rabbi Eliezer
Primary Sources:
PRE 1-4, 11-15, 19-20, 26-31
Hebrew: PRE 1-2, 31
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 322-43 [all]
Jeffrey Rubenstein, “From Mythic Motifs to Sustained Myth: The Revision of Rabbinic Traditions in Medieval Midrashim,” Harvard Theological Review 89 (1996) 131-59.
PRESENTATION - Susan Haber on Jay M. Harris, "How Do We Know This”? Midrash and the Fragmentation of Modern Judaism (Albany: SUNY Press, 1994)
PRESENTATION - Shaun House on Steven D. Fraade, From Tradition to Commentary: Torah and Its Interpretation in the Midrash Sifre to Deuteronomy (Albany: SUNY Press, 1991).
Oct. 19 - Tannaitic/Halakhic Midrashim – Mekhilta de R. Ishmael
Primary Sources:: Mek Pisha 16-17; Ba-Hodesh 5; Nezikin 8, 18; Shabbata 1-2; Hebrew: Mek Ba-Hodesh 5, lines 1-20, 48-101; Nezikin 18, lines 1-48 (ed. Lauterbach)
Secondary Sources:: Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 247-59
*Jacob Zallel Lauterbach, "The arrangement and the division of the Mekilta," Hebrew Union College Annual 1 (1924) 427-466. {ATLAS}
*Daniel Boyarin, "On the Status of the Tannaitic Midrashim," Journal of the American Oriental Society 112 (1992) 455-465. [Review article on Jacob Neusner, The Canonical History of Ideas, The Place of the So-Called Tannaite Midrashim: Mekhilta Attributed to R. Ishmael, Sifra, Sifre to Numbers, and Sifre to Deuteronomy] {JSTOR}
*Jack Lightstone, “Form as meaning in halakic midrash: A programmatic statement,” Semeia 27 (1983) 23-35. {ATLAS}
Robert Goldenberg, “Law and Spirit in Talmudic Religion,” in Jewish Spirituality, volume 1: From the Bible through the Middle Ages, ed. A. Green, New York, pp. 232-52.
PRESENTATION - Jeremy Penner on Azzan Yadin, Scripture as Logos: Rabbi Ishmael and the Origins of Midrash (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania,2004)..

Oct. 26 - Tannaitic/Halakhic Midrashim II – Sifra and Sifrei
Primary Sources:
Sifra Ahare Mot 1-2, 8 (Neusner 174-177, 186); Sifre Num 7, 99, 115 (ed. Neusner); Sifre Deut 13, 31, 38, 41, 312, 335, 343
Hebrew: QUIZ!
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 259-75 [all]
*Eugene Mihaly, “A Rabbinic Defence of the Election of Israel: An Analysis of Sifre Deuteronomy 32:9, Pisqa 312,” Hebrew Union College Annual 35 (1964) 103-143 {ATLAS}
Reuven Hammer, “Section 38 of Sifre Deuteronomy: An Example of the Use of Independent Sources to Create a Literary Unit,” Hebrew Union College Annual 50 (1979) 165-178.

Nov. 2 - Exegetical Midrashim I – Genesis Rabbah
Primary Sources:
GenR 8:9; 12:6-16; 14:1-6; 18:1-3; 19:7, 9; 20:12; 21:1, 5; 26:5, 7; 27:4; 52:5; 55:1-56:11
Hebrew: GenR 19:7, 9; 52:5; 55:4, 7; 56:7
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 276-83. [all]
Burton Visotzky, “Trinitarian Testimonies,” in Fathers of the World: Essays in Rabbinic and Patristic Literatures (Tübingen: Mohr, 1995), 61-74.
PRESENTATION - Jonathan Bernier on Marc Hirshman, A Rivalry of Genius: Jewish and Christian Biblical Interpretation in Late Antiquity (Albany: SUNY Press, 1996)

Nov. 9 - Exegetical Midrashim II – Lamentations Rabbah
Primary Sources:
LamR proems i, iv, vi, vii, xxii, xxii; 1:1 §§1-18; 1:2 §25; 1:3 §28; 1:5 §32; 1:8 §35; 1:12 §40; 1:14 §42; 1:16 §§ 45-51; 2:2 §4; 2:6 §10; 2:16 §20; 3:22-23 §7-8.
Hebrew: Lam R 1:3 §28, 1:5 §32; 1:8 §35; 1:12 §40; 2:16 §20
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 283-87 [all]
PRESENTATION - Shaun House on Galit Hasan-Rokem, Web of Life: Folklore and Midrash in Rabbinic Literature, trans. Batya Stein (Stanford: Stanford UP, 2000)

Nov. 16 - Homilectical Midrashim – Leviticus Rabbah
Primary Sources:
LevR 6:6; 19:2; 20:1, 4, 8-12; 21:1-6, 10; 22:1-4; 25:6; 27:8
Hebrew: LevR 19:2; 22:1, 3, 4; 25:6
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 288-91 [all]
*Joseph Heinemann, “Profile of a Midrash: The Art of Composition in Leviticus Rabbah,” JAAR 39 (1971) 141-150.
Burton Visotzky, “Anti-Christian Polemics in Leviticus Rabbah,” in Fathers of the World: Essays in Rabbinic and Patristic Literatures (Tübingen: Mohr, 1995), 93-105.

Nov. 23 - Homilectical Midrashim II – Pesikta de rav Kahana and Pesikta Rabbati
Primary Sources:
PRK 1-2, 7, 11-12, 14-15, 18; PesR 29-31; 34-37, 45-46, 49
Hebrew: QUIZ!
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 291-321 [all]

Nov. 30 - “Late” Midrashim – Pirke de Rabbi Eliezer
Primary Sources:
PRE 1-4, 11-15, 19-20, 26-31
Hebrew: PRE 1-2, 31
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 322-43 [all]
Jeffrey Rubenstein, “From Mythic Motifs to Sustained Myth: The Revision of Rabbinic Traditions in Medieval Midrashim,” Harvard Theological Review 89 (1996) 131-59.
PRESENTATION - Susan Haber on Jay M. Harris, "How Do We Know This”? Midrash and the Fragmentation of Modern Judaism (Albany: SUNY Press, 1994); *Jacob Zallel Lauterbach, "The arrangement and the division of the Mekilta," Hebrew Union College Annual 1 (1924) 427-466. {ATLAS}
*Daniel Boyarin, "On the Status of the Tannaitic Midrashim," Journal of the American Oriental Society 112 (1992) 455-465. [Review article on Jacob Neusner, The Canonical History of Ideas, The Place of the So-Called Tannaite Midrashim: Mekhilta Attributed to R. Ishmael, Sifra, Sifre to Numbers, and Sifre to Deuteronomy] {JSTOR}
*Jack Lightstone, “Form as meaning in halakic midrash: A programmatic statement,” Semeia 27 (1983) 23-35. {ATLAS}
Robert Goldenberg, “Law and Spirit in Talmudic Religion,” in Jewish Spirituality, volume 1: From the Bible through the Middle Ages, ed. A. Green, New York, pp. 232-52.
PRESENTATION - Jeremy Penner on Azzan Yadin, Scripture as Logos: Rabbi Ishmael and the Origins of Midrash (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania,2004)..

Oct. 26 - Tannaitic/Halakhic Midrashim II – Sifra and Sifrei
Primary Sources:
Sifra Ahare Mot 1-2, 8 (Neusner 174-177, 186); Sifre Num 7, 99, 115 (ed. Neusner); Sifre Deut 13, 31, 38, 41, 312, 335, 343
Hebrew: QUIZ!
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 259-75 [all]
*Eugene Mihaly, “A Rabbinic Defence of the Election of Israel: An Analysis of Sifre Deuteronomy 32:9, Pisqa 312,” Hebrew Union College Annual 35 (1964) 103-143 {ATLAS}
Reuven Hammer, “Section 38 of Sifre Deuteronomy: An Example of the Use of Independent Sources to Create a Literary Unit,” Hebrew Union College Annual 50 (1979) 165-178.

Nov. 2 - Exegetical Midrashim I – Genesis Rabbah
Primary Sources:
GenR 8:9; 12:6-16; 14:1-6; 18:1-3; 19:7, 9; 20:12; 21:1, 5; 26:5, 7; 27:4; 52:5; 55:1-56:11
Hebrew: GenR 19:7, 9; 52:5; 55:4, 7; 56:7
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 276-83. [all]
Burton Visotzky, “Trinitarian Testimonies,” in Fathers of the World: Essays in Rabbinic and Patristic Literatures (Tübingen: Mohr, 1995), 61-74.
PRESENTATION - Jonathan Bernier on Marc Hirshman, A Rivalry of Genius: Jewish and Christian Biblical Interpretation in Late Antiquity (Albany: SUNY Press, 1996)

Nov. 9 - Exegetical Midrashim II – Lamentations Rabbah
Primary Sources:
LamR proems i, iv, vi, vii, xxii, xxii; 1:1 §§1-18; 1:2 §25; 1:3 §28; 1:5 §32; 1:8 §35; 1:12 §40; 1:14 §42; 1:16 §§ 45-51; 2:2 §4; 2:6 §10; 2:16 §20; 3:22-23 §7-8.
Hebrew: Lam R 1:3 §28, 1:5 §32; 1:8 §35; 1:12 §40; 2:16 §20
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 283-87 [all]
PRESENTATION - Shaun House on Galit Hasan-Rokem, Web of Life: Folklore and Midrash in Rabbinic Literature, trans. Batya Stein (Stanford: Stanford UP, 2000)

Nov. 16 - Homilectical Midrashim – Leviticus Rabbah
Primary Sources:
LevR 6:6; 19:2; 20:1, 4, 8-12; 21:1-6, 10; 22:1-4; 25:6; 27:8
Hebrew: LevR 19:2; 22:1, 3, 4; 25:6
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 288-91 [all]
*Joseph Heinemann, “Profile of a Midrash: The Art of Composition in Leviticus Rabbah,” JAAR 39 (1971) 141-150.
Burton Visotzky, “Anti-Christian Polemics in Leviticus Rabbah,” in Fathers of the World: Essays in Rabbinic and Patristic Literatures (Tübingen: Mohr, 1995), 93-105.

Nov. 23 - Homilectical Midrashim II – Pesikta de rav Kahana and Pesikta Rabbati
Primary Sources:
PRK 1-2, 7, 11-12, 14-15, 18; PesR 29-31; 34-37, 45-46, 49
Hebrew: QUIZ!
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 291-321 [all]

Nov. 30 - “Late” Midrashim – Pirke de Rabbi Eliezer
Primary Sources:
PRE 1-4, 11-15, 19-20, 26-31
Hebrew: PRE 1-2, 31
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 322-43 [all]
Jeffrey Rubenstein, “From Mythic Motifs to Sustained Myth: The Revision of Rabbinic Traditions in Medieval Midrashim,” Harvard Theological Review 89 (1996) 131-59.
PRESENTATION - Susan Haber on Jay M. Harris, "How Do We Know This”? Midrash and the Fragmentation of Modern Judaism (Albany: SUNY Press, 1994); *Daniel Boyarin, "On the Status of the Tannaitic Midrashim," Journal of the American Oriental Society 112 (1992) 455-465. [Review article on Jacob Neusner, The Canonical History of Ideas, The Place of the So-Called Tannaite Midrashim: Mekhilta Attributed to R. Ishmael, Sifra, Sifre to Numbers, and Sifre to Deuteronomy] {JSTOR}
*Jack Lightstone, “Form as meaning in halakic midrash: A programmatic statement,” Semeia 27 (1983) 23-35. {ATLAS}
Robert Goldenberg, “Law and Spirit in Talmudic Religion,” in Jewish Spirituality, volume 1: From the Bible through the Middle Ages, ed. A. Green, New York, pp. 232-52.
PRESENTATION - Jeremy Penner on Azzan Yadin, Scripture as Logos: Rabbi Ishmael and the Origins of Midrash (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania,2004)..

Oct. 26 - Tannaitic/Halakhic Midrashim II – Sifra and Sifrei
Primary Sources:
Sifra Ahare Mot 1-2, 8 (Neusner 174-177, 186); Sifre Num 7, 99, 115 (ed. Neusner); Sifre Deut 13, 31, 38, 41, 312, 335, 343
Hebrew: QUIZ!
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 259-75 [all]
*Eugene Mihaly, “A Rabbinic Defence of the Election of Israel: An Analysis of Sifre Deuteronomy 32:9, Pisqa 312,” Hebrew Union College Annual 35 (1964) 103-143 {ATLAS}
Reuven Hammer, “Section 38 of Sifre Deuteronomy: An Example of the Use of Independent Sources to Create a Literary Unit,” Hebrew Union College Annual 50 (1979) 165-178.

Nov. 2 - Exegetical Midrashim I – Genesis Rabbah
Primary Sources:
GenR 8:9; 12:6-16; 14:1-6; 18:1-3; 19:7, 9; 20:12; 21:1, 5; 26:5, 7; 27:4; 52:5; 55:1-56:11
Hebrew: GenR 19:7, 9; 52:5; 55:4, 7; 56:7
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 276-83. [all]
Burton Visotzky, “Trinitarian Testimonies,” in Fathers of the World: Essays in Rabbinic and Patristic Literatures (Tübingen: Mohr, 1995), 61-74.
PRESENTATION - Jonathan Bernier on Marc Hirshman, A Rivalry of Genius: Jewish and Christian Biblical Interpretation in Late Antiquity (Albany: SUNY Press, 1996)

Nov. 9 - Exegetical Midrashim II – Lamentations Rabbah
Primary Sources:
LamR proems i, iv, vi, vii, xxii, xxii; 1:1 §§1-18; 1:2 §25; 1:3 §28; 1:5 §32; 1:8 §35; 1:12 §40; 1:14 §42; 1:16 §§ 45-51; 2:2 §4; 2:6 §10; 2:16 §20; 3:22-23 §7-8.
Hebrew: Lam R 1:3 §28, 1:5 §32; 1:8 §35; 1:12 §40; 2:16 §20
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 283-87 [all]
PRESENTATION - Shaun House on Galit Hasan-Rokem, Web of Life: Folklore and Midrash in Rabbinic Literature, trans. Batya Stein (Stanford: Stanford UP, 2000)

Nov. 16 - Homilectical Midrashim – Leviticus Rabbah
Primary Sources:
LevR 6:6; 19:2; 20:1, 4, 8-12; 21:1-6, 10; 22:1-4; 25:6; 27:8
Hebrew: LevR 19:2; 22:1, 3, 4; 25:6
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 288-91 [all]
*Joseph Heinemann, “Profile of a Midrash: The Art of Composition in Leviticus Rabbah,” JAAR 39 (1971) 141-150.
Burton Visotzky, “Anti-Christian Polemics in Leviticus Rabbah,” in Fathers of the World: Essays in Rabbinic and Patristic Literatures (Tübingen: Mohr, 1995), 93-105.

Nov. 23 - Homilectical Midrashim II – Pesikta de rav Kahana and Pesikta Rabbati
Primary Sources:
PRK 1-2, 7, 11-12, 14-15, 18; PesR 29-31; 34-37, 45-46, 49
Hebrew: QUIZ!
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 291-321 [all]

Nov. 30 - “Late” Midrashim – Pirke de Rabbi Eliezer
Primary Sources:
PRE 1-4, 11-15, 19-20, 26-31
Hebrew: PRE 1-2, 31
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 322-43 [all]
Jeffrey Rubenstein, “From Mythic Motifs to Sustained Myth: The Revision of Rabbinic Traditions in Medieval Midrashim,” Harvard Theological Review 89 (1996) 131-59.
PRESENTATION - Susan Haber on Jay M. Harris, "How Do We Know This”? Midrash and the Fragmentation of Modern Judaism (Albany: SUNY Press, 1994); *Jack Lightstone, “Form as meaning in halakic midrash: A programmatic statement,” Semeia 27 (1983) 23-35. {ATLAS}
Robert Goldenberg, “Law and Spirit in Talmudic Religion,” in Jewish Spirituality, volume 1: From the Bible through the Middle Ages, ed. A. Green, New York, pp. 232-52.
PRESENTATION - Jeremy Penner on Azzan Yadin, Scripture as Logos: Rabbi Ishmael and the Origins of Midrash (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania,2004)..

Oct. 26 - Tannaitic/Halakhic Midrashim II – Sifra and Sifrei
Primary Sources:
Sifra Ahare Mot 1-2, 8 (Neusner 174-177, 186); Sifre Num 7, 99, 115 (ed. Neusner); Sifre Deut 13, 31, 38, 41, 312, 335, 343
Hebrew: QUIZ!
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 259-75 [all]
*Eugene Mihaly, “A Rabbinic Defence of the Election of Israel: An Analysis of Sifre Deuteronomy 32:9, Pisqa 312,” Hebrew Union College Annual 35 (1964) 103-143 {ATLAS}
Reuven Hammer, “Section 38 of Sifre Deuteronomy: An Example of the Use of Independent Sources to Create a Literary Unit,” Hebrew Union College Annual 50 (1979) 165-178.

Nov. 2 - Exegetical Midrashim I – Genesis Rabbah
Primary Sources:
GenR 8:9; 12:6-16; 14:1-6; 18:1-3; 19:7, 9; 20:12; 21:1, 5; 26:5, 7; 27:4; 52:5; 55:1-56:11
Hebrew: GenR 19:7, 9; 52:5; 55:4, 7; 56:7
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 276-83. [all]
Burton Visotzky, “Trinitarian Testimonies,” in Fathers of the World: Essays in Rabbinic and Patristic Literatures (Tübingen: Mohr, 1995), 61-74.
PRESENTATION - Jonathan Bernier on Marc Hirshman, A Rivalry of Genius: Jewish and Christian Biblical Interpretation in Late Antiquity (Albany: SUNY Press, 1996)

Nov. 9 - Exegetical Midrashim II – Lamentations Rabbah
Primary Sources:
LamR proems i, iv, vi, vii, xxii, xxii; 1:1 §§1-18; 1:2 §25; 1:3 §28; 1:5 §32; 1:8 §35; 1:12 §40; 1:14 §42; 1:16 §§ 45-51; 2:2 §4; 2:6 §10; 2:16 §20; 3:22-23 §7-8.
Hebrew: Lam R 1:3 §28, 1:5 §32; 1:8 §35; 1:12 §40; 2:16 §20
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 283-87 [all]
PRESENTATION - Shaun House on Galit Hasan-Rokem, Web of Life: Folklore and Midrash in Rabbinic Literature, trans. Batya Stein (Stanford: Stanford UP, 2000)

Nov. 16 - Homilectical Midrashim – Leviticus Rabbah
Primary Sources:
LevR 6:6; 19:2; 20:1, 4, 8-12; 21:1-6, 10; 22:1-4; 25:6; 27:8
Hebrew: LevR 19:2; 22:1, 3, 4; 25:6
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 288-91 [all]
*Joseph Heinemann, “Profile of a Midrash: The Art of Composition in Leviticus Rabbah,” JAAR 39 (1971) 141-150.
Burton Visotzky, “Anti-Christian Polemics in Leviticus Rabbah,” in Fathers of the World: Essays in Rabbinic and Patristic Literatures (Tübingen: Mohr, 1995), 93-105.

Nov. 23 - Homilectical Midrashim II – Pesikta de rav Kahana and Pesikta Rabbati
Primary Sources:
PRK 1-2, 7, 11-12, 14-15, 18; PesR 29-31; 34-37, 45-46, 49
Hebrew: QUIZ!
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 291-321 [all]

Nov. 30 - “Late” Midrashim – Pirke de Rabbi Eliezer
Primary Sources:
PRE 1-4, 11-15, 19-20, 26-31
Hebrew: PRE 1-2, 31
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 322-43 [all]
Jeffrey Rubenstein, “From Mythic Motifs to Sustained Myth: The Revision of Rabbinic Traditions in Medieval Midrashim,” Harvard Theological Review 89 (1996) 131-59.
PRESENTATION - Susan Haber on Jay M. Harris, "How Do We Know This”? Midrash and the Fragmentation of Modern Judaism (Albany: SUNY Press, 1994); Robert Goldenberg, “Law and Spirit in Talmudic Religion,” in Jewish Spirituality, volume 1: From the Bible through the Middle Ages, ed. A. Green, New York, pp. 232-52.
PRESENTATION - Jeremy Penner on Azzan Yadin, Scripture as Logos: Rabbi Ishmael and the Origins of Midrash (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania,2004)..

Oct. 26 - Tannaitic/Halakhic Midrashim II – Sifra and Sifrei
Primary Sources:
Sifra Ahare Mot 1-2, 8 (Neusner 174-177, 186); Sifre Num 7, 99, 115 (ed. Neusner); Sifre Deut 13, 31, 38, 41, 312, 335, 343
Hebrew: QUIZ!
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 259-75 [all]
*Eugene Mihaly, “A Rabbinic Defence of the Election of Israel: An Analysis of Sifre Deuteronomy 32:9, Pisqa 312,” Hebrew Union College Annual 35 (1964) 103-143 {ATLAS}
Reuven Hammer, “Section 38 of Sifre Deuteronomy: An Example of the Use of Independent Sources to Create a Literary Unit,” Hebrew Union College Annual 50 (1979) 165-178.

Nov. 2 - Exegetical Midrashim I – Genesis Rabbah
Primary Sources:
GenR 8:9; 12:6-16; 14:1-6; 18:1-3; 19:7, 9; 20:12; 21:1, 5; 26:5, 7; 27:4; 52:5; 55:1-56:11
Hebrew: GenR 19:7, 9; 52:5; 55:4, 7; 56:7
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 276-83. [all]
Burton Visotzky, “Trinitarian Testimonies,” in Fathers of the World: Essays in Rabbinic and Patristic Literatures (Tübingen: Mohr, 1995), 61-74.
PRESENTATION - Jonathan Bernier on Marc Hirshman, A Rivalry of Genius: Jewish and Christian Biblical Interpretation in Late Antiquity (Albany: SUNY Press, 1996)

Nov. 9 - Exegetical Midrashim II – Lamentations Rabbah
Primary Sources:
LamR proems i, iv, vi, vii, xxii, xxii; 1:1 §§1-18; 1:2 §25; 1:3 §28; 1:5 §32; 1:8 §35; 1:12 §40; 1:14 §42; 1:16 §§ 45-51; 2:2 §4; 2:6 §10; 2:16 §20; 3:22-23 §7-8.
Hebrew: Lam R 1:3 §28, 1:5 §32; 1:8 §35; 1:12 §40; 2:16 §20
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 283-87 [all]
PRESENTATION - Shaun House on Galit Hasan-Rokem, Web of Life: Folklore and Midrash in Rabbinic Literature, trans. Batya Stein (Stanford: Stanford UP, 2000)

Nov. 16 - Homilectical Midrashim – Leviticus Rabbah
Primary Sources:
LevR 6:6; 19:2; 20:1, 4, 8-12; 21:1-6, 10; 22:1-4; 25:6; 27:8
Hebrew: LevR 19:2; 22:1, 3, 4; 25:6
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 288-91 [all]
*Joseph Heinemann, “Profile of a Midrash: The Art of Composition in Leviticus Rabbah,” JAAR 39 (1971) 141-150.
Burton Visotzky, “Anti-Christian Polemics in Leviticus Rabbah,” in Fathers of the World: Essays in Rabbinic and Patristic Literatures (Tübingen: Mohr, 1995), 93-105.

Nov. 23 - Homilectical Midrashim II – Pesikta de rav Kahana and Pesikta Rabbati
Primary Sources:
PRK 1-2, 7, 11-12, 14-15, 18; PesR 29-31; 34-37, 45-46, 49
Hebrew: QUIZ!
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 291-321 [all]

Nov. 30 - “Late” Midrashim – Pirke de Rabbi Eliezer
Primary Sources:
PRE 1-4, 11-15, 19-20, 26-31
Hebrew: PRE 1-2, 31
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 322-43 [all]
Jeffrey Rubenstein, “From Mythic Motifs to Sustained Myth: The Revision of Rabbinic Traditions in Medieval Midrashim,” Harvard Theological Review 89 (1996) 131-59.
PRESENTATION - Susan Haber on Jay M. Harris, "How Do We Know This”? Midrash and the Fragmentation of Modern Judaism (Albany: SUNY Press, 1994)
PRESENTATION - Jeremy Penner on Azzan Yadin, Scripture as Logos: Rabbi Ishmael and the Origins of Midrash (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania,2004)..
Oct. 26 - Tannaitic/Halakhic Midrashim II – Sifra and Sifrei
Primary Sources:: Sifra Ahare Mot 1-2, 8 (Neusner 174-177, 186); Sifre Num 7, 99, 115 (ed. Neusner); Sifre Deut 13, 31, 38, 41, 312, 335, 343; Hebrew: QUIZ!
Secondary Sources:: Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 259-75 [all]
*Eugene Mihaly, “A Rabbinic Defence of the Election of Israel: An Analysis of Sifre Deuteronomy 32:9, Pisqa 312,” Hebrew Union College Annual 35 (1964) 103-143 {ATLAS}
Reuven Hammer, “Section 38 of Sifre Deuteronomy: An Example of the Use of Independent Sources to Create a Literary Unit,” Hebrew Union College Annual 50 (1979) 165-178.

Nov. 2 - Exegetical Midrashim I – Genesis Rabbah
Primary Sources:
GenR 8:9; 12:6-16; 14:1-6; 18:1-3; 19:7, 9; 20:12; 21:1, 5; 26:5, 7; 27:4; 52:5; 55:1-56:11
Hebrew: GenR 19:7, 9; 52:5; 55:4, 7; 56:7
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 276-83. [all]
Burton Visotzky, “Trinitarian Testimonies,” in Fathers of the World: Essays in Rabbinic and Patristic Literatures (Tübingen: Mohr, 1995), 61-74.
PRESENTATION - Jonathan Bernier on Marc Hirshman, A Rivalry of Genius: Jewish and Christian Biblical Interpretation in Late Antiquity (Albany: SUNY Press, 1996)

Nov. 9 - Exegetical Midrashim II – Lamentations Rabbah
Primary Sources:
LamR proems i, iv, vi, vii, xxii, xxii; 1:1 §§1-18; 1:2 §25; 1:3 §28; 1:5 §32; 1:8 §35; 1:12 §40; 1:14 §42; 1:16 §§ 45-51; 2:2 §4; 2:6 §10; 2:16 §20; 3:22-23 §7-8.
Hebrew: Lam R 1:3 §28, 1:5 §32; 1:8 §35; 1:12 §40; 2:16 §20
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 283-87 [all]
PRESENTATION - Shaun House on Galit Hasan-Rokem, Web of Life: Folklore and Midrash in Rabbinic Literature, trans. Batya Stein (Stanford: Stanford UP, 2000)

Nov. 16 - Homilectical Midrashim – Leviticus Rabbah
Primary Sources:
LevR 6:6; 19:2; 20:1, 4, 8-12; 21:1-6, 10; 22:1-4; 25:6; 27:8
Hebrew: LevR 19:2; 22:1, 3, 4; 25:6
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 288-91 [all]
*Joseph Heinemann, “Profile of a Midrash: The Art of Composition in Leviticus Rabbah,” JAAR 39 (1971) 141-150.
Burton Visotzky, “Anti-Christian Polemics in Leviticus Rabbah,” in Fathers of the World: Essays in Rabbinic and Patristic Literatures (Tübingen: Mohr, 1995), 93-105.

Nov. 23 - Homilectical Midrashim II – Pesikta de rav Kahana and Pesikta Rabbati
Primary Sources:
PRK 1-2, 7, 11-12, 14-15, 18; PesR 29-31; 34-37, 45-46, 49
Hebrew: QUIZ!
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 291-321 [all]

Nov. 30 - “Late” Midrashim – Pirke de Rabbi Eliezer
Primary Sources:
PRE 1-4, 11-15, 19-20, 26-31
Hebrew: PRE 1-2, 31
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 322-43 [all]
Jeffrey Rubenstein, “From Mythic Motifs to Sustained Myth: The Revision of Rabbinic Traditions in Medieval Midrashim,” Harvard Theological Review 89 (1996) 131-59.
PRESENTATION - Susan Haber on Jay M. Harris, "How Do We Know This”? Midrash and the Fragmentation of Modern Judaism (Albany: SUNY Press, 1994); *Eugene Mihaly, “A Rabbinic Defence of the Election of Israel: An Analysis of Sifre Deuteronomy 32:9, Pisqa 312,” Hebrew Union College Annual 35 (1964) 103-143 {ATLAS}
Reuven Hammer, “Section 38 of Sifre Deuteronomy: An Example of the Use of Independent Sources to Create a Literary Unit,” Hebrew Union College Annual 50 (1979) 165-178.

Nov. 2 - Exegetical Midrashim I – Genesis Rabbah
Primary Sources:
GenR 8:9; 12:6-16; 14:1-6; 18:1-3; 19:7, 9; 20:12; 21:1, 5; 26:5, 7; 27:4; 52:5; 55:1-56:11
Hebrew: GenR 19:7, 9; 52:5; 55:4, 7; 56:7
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 276-83. [all]
Burton Visotzky, “Trinitarian Testimonies,” in Fathers of the World: Essays in Rabbinic and Patristic Literatures (Tübingen: Mohr, 1995), 61-74.
PRESENTATION - Jonathan Bernier on Marc Hirshman, A Rivalry of Genius: Jewish and Christian Biblical Interpretation in Late Antiquity (Albany: SUNY Press, 1996)

Nov. 9 - Exegetical Midrashim II – Lamentations Rabbah
Primary Sources:
LamR proems i, iv, vi, vii, xxii, xxii; 1:1 §§1-18; 1:2 §25; 1:3 §28; 1:5 §32; 1:8 §35; 1:12 §40; 1:14 §42; 1:16 §§ 45-51; 2:2 §4; 2:6 §10; 2:16 §20; 3:22-23 §7-8.
Hebrew: Lam R 1:3 §28, 1:5 §32; 1:8 §35; 1:12 §40; 2:16 §20
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 283-87 [all]
PRESENTATION - Shaun House on Galit Hasan-Rokem, Web of Life: Folklore and Midrash in Rabbinic Literature, trans. Batya Stein (Stanford: Stanford UP, 2000)

Nov. 16 - Homilectical Midrashim – Leviticus Rabbah
Primary Sources:
LevR 6:6; 19:2; 20:1, 4, 8-12; 21:1-6, 10; 22:1-4; 25:6; 27:8
Hebrew: LevR 19:2; 22:1, 3, 4; 25:6
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 288-91 [all]
*Joseph Heinemann, “Profile of a Midrash: The Art of Composition in Leviticus Rabbah,” JAAR 39 (1971) 141-150.
Burton Visotzky, “Anti-Christian Polemics in Leviticus Rabbah,” in Fathers of the World: Essays in Rabbinic and Patristic Literatures (Tübingen: Mohr, 1995), 93-105.

Nov. 23 - Homilectical Midrashim II – Pesikta de rav Kahana and Pesikta Rabbati
Primary Sources:
PRK 1-2, 7, 11-12, 14-15, 18; PesR 29-31; 34-37, 45-46, 49
Hebrew: QUIZ!
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 291-321 [all]

Nov. 30 - “Late” Midrashim – Pirke de Rabbi Eliezer
Primary Sources:
PRE 1-4, 11-15, 19-20, 26-31
Hebrew: PRE 1-2, 31
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 322-43 [all]
Jeffrey Rubenstein, “From Mythic Motifs to Sustained Myth: The Revision of Rabbinic Traditions in Medieval Midrashim,” Harvard Theological Review 89 (1996) 131-59.
PRESENTATION - Susan Haber on Jay M. Harris, "How Do We Know This”? Midrash and the Fragmentation of Modern Judaism (Albany: SUNY Press, 1994); Reuven Hammer, “Section 38 of Sifre Deuteronomy: An Example of the Use of Independent Sources to Create a Literary Unit,” Hebrew Union College Annual 50 (1979) 165-178.

Nov. 2 - Exegetical Midrashim I – Genesis Rabbah
Primary Sources:
GenR 8:9; 12:6-16; 14:1-6; 18:1-3; 19:7, 9; 20:12; 21:1, 5; 26:5, 7; 27:4; 52:5; 55:1-56:11
Hebrew: GenR 19:7, 9; 52:5; 55:4, 7; 56:7
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 276-83. [all]
Burton Visotzky, “Trinitarian Testimonies,” in Fathers of the World: Essays in Rabbinic and Patristic Literatures (Tübingen: Mohr, 1995), 61-74.
PRESENTATION - Jonathan Bernier on Marc Hirshman, A Rivalry of Genius: Jewish and Christian Biblical Interpretation in Late Antiquity (Albany: SUNY Press, 1996)

Nov. 9 - Exegetical Midrashim II – Lamentations Rabbah
Primary Sources:
LamR proems i, iv, vi, vii, xxii, xxii; 1:1 §§1-18; 1:2 §25; 1:3 §28; 1:5 §32; 1:8 §35; 1:12 §40; 1:14 §42; 1:16 §§ 45-51; 2:2 §4; 2:6 §10; 2:16 §20; 3:22-23 §7-8.
Hebrew: Lam R 1:3 §28, 1:5 §32; 1:8 §35; 1:12 §40; 2:16 §20
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 283-87 [all]
PRESENTATION - Shaun House on Galit Hasan-Rokem, Web of Life: Folklore and Midrash in Rabbinic Literature, trans. Batya Stein (Stanford: Stanford UP, 2000)

Nov. 16 - Homilectical Midrashim – Leviticus Rabbah
Primary Sources:
LevR 6:6; 19:2; 20:1, 4, 8-12; 21:1-6, 10; 22:1-4; 25:6; 27:8
Hebrew: LevR 19:2; 22:1, 3, 4; 25:6
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 288-91 [all]
*Joseph Heinemann, “Profile of a Midrash: The Art of Composition in Leviticus Rabbah,” JAAR 39 (1971) 141-150.
Burton Visotzky, “Anti-Christian Polemics in Leviticus Rabbah,” in Fathers of the World: Essays in Rabbinic and Patristic Literatures (Tübingen: Mohr, 1995), 93-105.

Nov. 23 - Homilectical Midrashim II – Pesikta de rav Kahana and Pesikta Rabbati
Primary Sources:
PRK 1-2, 7, 11-12, 14-15, 18; PesR 29-31; 34-37, 45-46, 49
Hebrew: QUIZ!
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 291-321 [all]

Nov. 30 - “Late” Midrashim – Pirke de Rabbi Eliezer
Primary Sources:
PRE 1-4, 11-15, 19-20, 26-31
Hebrew: PRE 1-2, 31
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 322-43 [all]
Jeffrey Rubenstein, “From Mythic Motifs to Sustained Myth: The Revision of Rabbinic Traditions in Medieval Midrashim,” Harvard Theological Review 89 (1996) 131-59.
PRESENTATION - Susan Haber on Jay M. Harris, "How Do We Know This”? Midrash and the Fragmentation of Modern Judaism (Albany: SUNY Press, 1994)
Nov. 2 - Exegetical Midrashim I – Genesis Rabbah
Primary Sources:: GenR 8:9; 12:6-16; 14:1-6; 18:1-3; 19:7, 9; 20:12; 21:1, 5; 26:5, 7; 27:4; 52:5; 55:1-56:11; Hebrew: GenR 19:7, 9; 52:5; 55:4, 7; 56:7
Secondary Sources:: Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 276-83. [all]
Burton Visotzky, “Trinitarian Testimonies,” in Fathers of the World: Essays in Rabbinic and Patristic Literatures (Tübingen: Mohr, 1995), 61-74.
PRESENTATION - Jonathan Bernier on Marc Hirshman, A Rivalry of Genius: Jewish and Christian Biblical Interpretation in Late Antiquity (Albany: SUNY Press, 1996)

Nov. 9 - Exegetical Midrashim II – Lamentations Rabbah
Primary Sources:
LamR proems i, iv, vi, vii, xxii, xxii; 1:1 §§1-18; 1:2 §25; 1:3 §28; 1:5 §32; 1:8 §35; 1:12 §40; 1:14 §42; 1:16 §§ 45-51; 2:2 §4; 2:6 §10; 2:16 §20; 3:22-23 §7-8.
Hebrew: Lam R 1:3 §28, 1:5 §32; 1:8 §35; 1:12 §40; 2:16 §20
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 283-87 [all]
PRESENTATION - Shaun House on Galit Hasan-Rokem, Web of Life: Folklore and Midrash in Rabbinic Literature, trans. Batya Stein (Stanford: Stanford UP, 2000)

Nov. 16 - Homilectical Midrashim – Leviticus Rabbah
Primary Sources:
LevR 6:6; 19:2; 20:1, 4, 8-12; 21:1-6, 10; 22:1-4; 25:6; 27:8
Hebrew: LevR 19:2; 22:1, 3, 4; 25:6
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 288-91 [all]
*Joseph Heinemann, “Profile of a Midrash: The Art of Composition in Leviticus Rabbah,” JAAR 39 (1971) 141-150.
Burton Visotzky, “Anti-Christian Polemics in Leviticus Rabbah,” in Fathers of the World: Essays in Rabbinic and Patristic Literatures (Tübingen: Mohr, 1995), 93-105.

Nov. 23 - Homilectical Midrashim II – Pesikta de rav Kahana and Pesikta Rabbati
Primary Sources:
PRK 1-2, 7, 11-12, 14-15, 18; PesR 29-31; 34-37, 45-46, 49
Hebrew: QUIZ!
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 291-321 [all]

Nov. 30 - “Late” Midrashim – Pirke de Rabbi Eliezer
Primary Sources:
PRE 1-4, 11-15, 19-20, 26-31
Hebrew: PRE 1-2, 31
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 322-43 [all]
Jeffrey Rubenstein, “From Mythic Motifs to Sustained Myth: The Revision of Rabbinic Traditions in Medieval Midrashim,” Harvard Theological Review 89 (1996) 131-59.
PRESENTATION - Susan Haber on Jay M. Harris, "How Do We Know This”? Midrash and the Fragmentation of Modern Judaism (Albany: SUNY Press, 1994); Burton Visotzky, “Trinitarian Testimonies,” in Fathers of the World: Essays in Rabbinic and Patristic Literatures (Tübingen: Mohr, 1995), 61-74.
PRESENTATION - Jonathan Bernier on Marc Hirshman, A Rivalry of Genius: Jewish and Christian Biblical Interpretation in Late Antiquity (Albany: SUNY Press, 1996)

Nov. 9 - Exegetical Midrashim II – Lamentations Rabbah
Primary Sources:
LamR proems i, iv, vi, vii, xxii, xxii; 1:1 §§1-18; 1:2 §25; 1:3 §28; 1:5 §32; 1:8 §35; 1:12 §40; 1:14 §42; 1:16 §§ 45-51; 2:2 §4; 2:6 §10; 2:16 §20; 3:22-23 §7-8.
Hebrew: Lam R 1:3 §28, 1:5 §32; 1:8 §35; 1:12 §40; 2:16 §20
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 283-87 [all]
PRESENTATION - Shaun House on Galit Hasan-Rokem, Web of Life: Folklore and Midrash in Rabbinic Literature, trans. Batya Stein (Stanford: Stanford UP, 2000)

Nov. 16 - Homilectical Midrashim – Leviticus Rabbah
Primary Sources:
LevR 6:6; 19:2; 20:1, 4, 8-12; 21:1-6, 10; 22:1-4; 25:6; 27:8
Hebrew: LevR 19:2; 22:1, 3, 4; 25:6
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 288-91 [all]
*Joseph Heinemann, “Profile of a Midrash: The Art of Composition in Leviticus Rabbah,” JAAR 39 (1971) 141-150.
Burton Visotzky, “Anti-Christian Polemics in Leviticus Rabbah,” in Fathers of the World: Essays in Rabbinic and Patristic Literatures (Tübingen: Mohr, 1995), 93-105.

Nov. 23 - Homilectical Midrashim II – Pesikta de rav Kahana and Pesikta Rabbati
Primary Sources:
PRK 1-2, 7, 11-12, 14-15, 18; PesR 29-31; 34-37, 45-46, 49
Hebrew: QUIZ!
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 291-321 [all]

Nov. 30 - “Late” Midrashim – Pirke de Rabbi Eliezer
Primary Sources:
PRE 1-4, 11-15, 19-20, 26-31
Hebrew: PRE 1-2, 31
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 322-43 [all]
Jeffrey Rubenstein, “From Mythic Motifs to Sustained Myth: The Revision of Rabbinic Traditions in Medieval Midrashim,” Harvard Theological Review 89 (1996) 131-59.
PRESENTATION - Susan Haber on Jay M. Harris, "How Do We Know This”? Midrash and the Fragmentation of Modern Judaism (Albany: SUNY Press, 1994)
PRESENTATION - Jonathan Bernier on Marc Hirshman, A Rivalry of Genius: Jewish and Christian Biblical Interpretation in Late Antiquity (Albany: SUNY Press, 1996)
Nov. 9 - Exegetical Midrashim II – Lamentations Rabbah
Primary Sources:: LamR proems i, iv, vi, vii, xxii, xxii; 1:1 §§1-18; 1:2 §25; 1:3 §28; 1:5 §32; 1:8 §35; 1:12 §40; 1:14 §42; 1:16 §§ 45-51; 2:2 §4; 2:6 §10; 2:16 §20; 3:22-23 §7-8.; Hebrew: Lam R 1:3 §28, 1:5 §32; 1:8 §35; 1:12 §40; 2:16 §20
Secondary Sources:: Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 283-87 [all]
PRESENTATION - Shaun House on Galit Hasan-Rokem, Web of Life: Folklore and Midrash in Rabbinic Literature, trans. Batya Stein (Stanford: Stanford UP, 2000)

Nov. 16 - Homilectical Midrashim – Leviticus Rabbah
Primary Sources:
LevR 6:6; 19:2; 20:1, 4, 8-12; 21:1-6, 10; 22:1-4; 25:6; 27:8
Hebrew: LevR 19:2; 22:1, 3, 4; 25:6
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 288-91 [all]
*Joseph Heinemann, “Profile of a Midrash: The Art of Composition in Leviticus Rabbah,” JAAR 39 (1971) 141-150.
Burton Visotzky, “Anti-Christian Polemics in Leviticus Rabbah,” in Fathers of the World: Essays in Rabbinic and Patristic Literatures (Tübingen: Mohr, 1995), 93-105.

Nov. 23 - Homilectical Midrashim II – Pesikta de rav Kahana and Pesikta Rabbati
Primary Sources:
PRK 1-2, 7, 11-12, 14-15, 18; PesR 29-31; 34-37, 45-46, 49
Hebrew: QUIZ!
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 291-321 [all]

Nov. 30 - “Late” Midrashim – Pirke de Rabbi Eliezer
Primary Sources:
PRE 1-4, 11-15, 19-20, 26-31
Hebrew: PRE 1-2, 31
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 322-43 [all]
Jeffrey Rubenstein, “From Mythic Motifs to Sustained Myth: The Revision of Rabbinic Traditions in Medieval Midrashim,” Harvard Theological Review 89 (1996) 131-59.
PRESENTATION - Susan Haber on Jay M. Harris, "How Do We Know This”? Midrash and the Fragmentation of Modern Judaism (Albany: SUNY Press, 1994)
PRESENTATION - Shaun House on Galit Hasan-Rokem, Web of Life: Folklore and Midrash in Rabbinic Literature, trans. Batya Stein (Stanford: Stanford UP, 2000)
Nov. 16 - Homilectical Midrashim – Leviticus Rabbah
Primary Sources:: LevR 6:6; 19:2; 20:1, 4, 8-12; 21:1-6, 10; 22:1-4; 25:6; 27:8; Hebrew: LevR 19:2; 22:1, 3, 4; 25:6
Secondary Sources:: Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 288-91 [all]
*Joseph Heinemann, “Profile of a Midrash: The Art of Composition in Leviticus Rabbah,” JAAR 39 (1971) 141-150.
Burton Visotzky, “Anti-Christian Polemics in Leviticus Rabbah,” in Fathers of the World: Essays in Rabbinic and Patristic Literatures (Tübingen: Mohr, 1995), 93-105.

Nov. 23 - Homilectical Midrashim II – Pesikta de rav Kahana and Pesikta Rabbati
Primary Sources:
PRK 1-2, 7, 11-12, 14-15, 18; PesR 29-31; 34-37, 45-46, 49
Hebrew: QUIZ!
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 291-321 [all]

Nov. 30 - “Late” Midrashim – Pirke de Rabbi Eliezer
Primary Sources:
PRE 1-4, 11-15, 19-20, 26-31
Hebrew: PRE 1-2, 31
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 322-43 [all]
Jeffrey Rubenstein, “From Mythic Motifs to Sustained Myth: The Revision of Rabbinic Traditions in Medieval Midrashim,” Harvard Theological Review 89 (1996) 131-59.
PRESENTATION - Susan Haber on Jay M. Harris, "How Do We Know This”? Midrash and the Fragmentation of Modern Judaism (Albany: SUNY Press, 1994); *Joseph Heinemann, “Profile of a Midrash: The Art of Composition in Leviticus Rabbah,” JAAR 39 (1971) 141-150.
Burton Visotzky, “Anti-Christian Polemics in Leviticus Rabbah,” in Fathers of the World: Essays in Rabbinic and Patristic Literatures (Tübingen: Mohr, 1995), 93-105.

Nov. 23 - Homilectical Midrashim II – Pesikta de rav Kahana and Pesikta Rabbati
Primary Sources:
PRK 1-2, 7, 11-12, 14-15, 18; PesR 29-31; 34-37, 45-46, 49
Hebrew: QUIZ!
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 291-321 [all]

Nov. 30 - “Late” Midrashim – Pirke de Rabbi Eliezer
Primary Sources:
PRE 1-4, 11-15, 19-20, 26-31
Hebrew: PRE 1-2, 31
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 322-43 [all]
Jeffrey Rubenstein, “From Mythic Motifs to Sustained Myth: The Revision of Rabbinic Traditions in Medieval Midrashim,” Harvard Theological Review 89 (1996) 131-59.
PRESENTATION - Susan Haber on Jay M. Harris, "How Do We Know This”? Midrash and the Fragmentation of Modern Judaism (Albany: SUNY Press, 1994); Burton Visotzky, “Anti-Christian Polemics in Leviticus Rabbah,” in Fathers of the World: Essays in Rabbinic and Patristic Literatures (Tübingen: Mohr, 1995), 93-105.

Nov. 23 - Homilectical Midrashim II – Pesikta de rav Kahana and Pesikta Rabbati
Primary Sources:
PRK 1-2, 7, 11-12, 14-15, 18; PesR 29-31; 34-37, 45-46, 49
Hebrew: QUIZ!
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 291-321 [all]

Nov. 30 - “Late” Midrashim – Pirke de Rabbi Eliezer
Primary Sources:
PRE 1-4, 11-15, 19-20, 26-31
Hebrew: PRE 1-2, 31
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 322-43 [all]
Jeffrey Rubenstein, “From Mythic Motifs to Sustained Myth: The Revision of Rabbinic Traditions in Medieval Midrashim,” Harvard Theological Review 89 (1996) 131-59.
PRESENTATION - Susan Haber on Jay M. Harris, "How Do We Know This”? Midrash and the Fragmentation of Modern Judaism (Albany: SUNY Press, 1994)
Nov. 23 - Homilectical Midrashim II – Pesikta de rav Kahana and Pesikta Rabbati
Primary Sources:: PRK 1-2, 7, 11-12, 14-15, 18; PesR 29-31; 34-37, 45-46, 49; Hebrew: QUIZ!
Secondary Sources:: Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 291-321 [all]

Nov. 30 - “Late” Midrashim – Pirke de Rabbi Eliezer
Primary Sources:
PRE 1-4, 11-15, 19-20, 26-31
Hebrew: PRE 1-2, 31
Secondary Sources:
Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 322-43 [all]
Jeffrey Rubenstein, “From Mythic Motifs to Sustained Myth: The Revision of Rabbinic Traditions in Medieval Midrashim,” Harvard Theological Review 89 (1996) 131-59.
PRESENTATION - Susan Haber on Jay M. Harris, "How Do We Know This”? Midrash and the Fragmentation of Modern Judaism (Albany: SUNY Press, 1994)
Nov. 30 - “Late” Midrashim – Pirke de Rabbi Eliezer
Primary Sources:: PRE 1-4, 11-15, 19-20, 26-31; Hebrew: PRE 1-2, 31
Secondary Sources:: Strack and Stemberger, Introduction, pp. 322-43 [all]
Jeffrey Rubenstein, “From Mythic Motifs to Sustained Myth: The Revision of Rabbinic Traditions in Medieval Midrashim,” Harvard Theological Review 89 (1996) 131-59.
PRESENTATION - Susan Haber on Jay M. Harris, "How Do We Know This”? Midrash and the Fragmentation of Modern Judaism (Albany: SUNY Press, 1994); Jeffrey Rubenstein, “From Mythic Motifs to Sustained Myth: The Revision of Rabbinic Traditions in Medieval Midrashim,” Harvard Theological Review 89 (1996) 131-59.
PRESENTATION - Susan Haber on Jay M. Harris, "How Do We Know This”? Midrash and the Fragmentation of Modern Judaism (Albany: SUNY Press, 1994)
PRESENTATION - Susan Haber on Jay M. Harris, "How Do We Know This”? Midrash and the Fragmentation of Modern Judaism (Albany: SUNY Press, 1994)

Course Website Homepage | Schedule of Readings | Editions and Translations | On-line Resources

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Topics in Rabbinic Judaism: Midrash | Schedule of Readings | Editions and Translations | On-line Resources Annette Yoshiko Reed - Email | Homepage

Topics in Rabbinic Judaism: Midrash | Schedule of Readings | Editions and Translations | On-line Resources
Annette Yoshiko Reed - Email | Homepage