Peshat and Derash: Plain and Applied Meaning in Rabbinic Exegesis / Edition 1

by David Weiss Halivni, David Weiss Halivi

Overview

From the days of Plato, the problem of the efficacy and adequacy of the written word as a vehicle of human communication has challenged mankind, yet the mystery of how best to achieve clarity and exactitude of written expression has never been solved. The most repercussive instance of this universal problem has been the exegesis of the law embodied in Hebrew scripture. Peshat and Derash is the first book to trace the Jewish interpretative enterprise from a historical perspective. Applying his vast knowledge of Rabbinic materials to the long history of Jewish exegesis of both Bible and Talmud, Halivni investigates the tension that has often existed between the plain sense of the divine text (peshat) and its creative, Rabbinic interpretations (derash). Halivni addresses the theological implications of the deviation of derash from peshat and explores the differences between the ideological extreme of the religious right, which denies that Judaism has a history, and the religious left, which claims that history is all that Judaism has. A comprehensive and critical narration of the history and repercussions of Rabbinic exegesis, this analysis will interest students of legal texts, hermeneutics, and scriptural traditions, as well as anyone involved in Jewish studies.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780195115710
Publisher:	Oxford University Press, USA
Publication date:	09/28/1998
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.20(h) x 0.80(d)

Table of Contents

I ON MATTERS OF EXEGESIS		3	(86)
1. Timebound Exegesis		3	(20)
Reading In and Allegorizing		3	(4)
Interpretive States of Mind		7	(6)
Asmakhta: Biblical Support for Rabbinic Law		13	(3)
Talmudic Attitudes Toward Reading In		16	(4)
Changing Mindsets: A Homeric Analogy		20	(3)
2. The Direction of Rabbinic Exegesis		23	(29)
Biblical Exegesis: Historical Survey		23	(12)
Talmudic Exegesis: Historical Survey		35	(9)
Critical Objections to the Traditional Methods		44	(2)
The Evolution of Talmudic and Biblical Exegesis: Summary		46	(3)
Fluctuation and Continuity		49	(1)
Logic and Textual Integrity		50	(2)
3. The Meaning and History of the Noun Peshat		52	(37)
The Talmudic Period		53	(26)
The Medieval Period		79	(10)
II ON MATTERS OF THEOLOGY		89	(66)
Introduction: A Comment on Methodology		89	(12)
4. Contradictory yet Complementary: The Dichotomy between Practice and Intellect		101	(25)
Two-Tiered Verity		101	(4)
Talmudic Examples		105	(3)
Logic versus Consensus		108	(3)
Practical Truth and Heavenly Truth in the Talmud		111	(8)
Divine Tzimtzum		119	(1)
The Limits of Majority Rule		120	(6)
5. "Chate'u Yisrael" ("Israel Sinned"): A Proposed Resolution to the Conflict of Peshat and Derash		126	(29)
The Nature of the Conflict		126	(2)
Mutual Exclusivity of Peshat and Derash		128	(4)
Proposed Solution: "Chate'u Yisrael"		132	(3)
The Neglect of the Scriptural Text during the First Temple Period		135	(1)
"Chate'u Yisrael" in Rabbinic Literature		136	(2)
The Ten Puncta Extraordinaria		138	(8)
Derash as a Remedy for the Insufficiency of Scribal Emendation		146	(2)
Further Elucidation of "Chate'u Yisrael,"		148	(1)
Further Elucidation of Ezra's Role		149	(4)
A Short Recapitulation		153	(2)
Appendix I: "Mikan Samkhu Chakhamim" and "Assmakhta Be-Alma"		155	(3)
Appendix II: Midrash and Modern Literary Theories		158	(5)
Appendix III: Minority Opinion and the Different Notions of the Revelation of the Oral Law		163	(5)
Appendix IV: The Impact of Halakha on Peshat		168	(7)
Notes		175	(56)
Index of Citations		231	(6)
Name Index		237	(6)
Subject Index		243

Editorial Reviews

"This reviewer is awed by Professor Weiss Halivni's learning and originality, and would rise in his presence as one stands before a Torah scholar....Only a great man and mind could write such a provocative work which stimulates thought and learning."—The National

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