Aggadah

Not to be confused withHaggadah.

Aggadah(Hebrew:אַגָּדָה‎ʾAggāḏāorהַגָּדָה‎Haggāḏā;Jewish Babylonian Aramaic:אַגָּדְתָאʾAggāḏəṯāʾ;"tales, fairytale, lore" ) is the non-legalisticexegesiswhich appears in the classicalrabbinic literatureofJudaism,particularly theTalmudandMidrash.In general, Aggadah is a compendium of rabbinic texts that incorporates folklore, historical anecdotes, moral exhortations, and practical advice in various spheres, from business to medicine.

Etymology

The artistic freedom spirit ofAggadah(left, represented bySolomon) and the legal divine judgment rulings ofHalakhah(right, represented byAaronand his sons) on theKnesset Menorah

The Hebrew wordhaggadah(הַגָּדָה) is derived from the Hebrew root נגד, meaning "declare, make known, expound", also known from the common Hebrew verb להגיד.

The majority scholarly opinion is that the Hebrew wordaggadah(אַגָּדָה) and corresponding Aramaicaggadta(אַגָּדְתָא) are variants ofhaggadahbased on a common linguistic shift fromhaphalahtoaphalahforms.However, a minority of scholars believe that these words derive from a separate Aramaic root נגדmeaning "draw, pull, spread, stretch" (corresponding to the Hebrew root משך or נטה).

According to the latter etymology,aggadahmay be seen as "the part of the Torah which draws man towards its teachings",or the teachings which strengthen one's religious experience and spiritual connections, in addition to explaining texts.(See similar reMasorah– in the sense of "tradition" – atMasoretic Text § Etymology.)

As part of the Oral Torah

In hisJüdische Szene 1,Carl Schleicherdepicts a rabbi offering his interpretation of anaggadah

The Aggadah is part ofJudaism'sOral Torah,the traditions providing the authoritative interpretation of theWritten Torah.In this context, the widely-held view inrabbinic literatureis that the Aggadah is in fact a medium for the transmission of fundamental teachings (Homiletic Sayings—מאמרים לימודיים‎) or for explanations of verses in theHebrew Bible(ExegeticSayings—מאמרים ביאוריים‎). Rabbinic thought, therefore, understands much of the Aggadah as containing a hidden,allegoricaldimension, in addition to its overt, literal sense. In general, where a literal interpretation contradicts rationality, the rabbis seek an allegorical explanation: "We are told to use our common sense to decide whether an aggada is to be taken literally or not" (Carmell, 2005).

Literal-allegorical teachings

RabbiMoshe Chaim Luzzatto(1707-1746), discusses this two-tiered, literal-allegorical mode of transmission of the Aggadah in his well-knownDiscourse on the Haggadot.He explains that the Oral Law, in fact, comprises two components: the legal component (חלק המצוות‎), discussing themitzvotandhalakha;and "the secret" component (חלק הסודות‎), discussing the deeper teachings. The Aggadah, along with theKabbalah,falls under the latter. The rabbis of theMishnahicera (c.10 toc. 220CE) believed that it would be dangerous to record the deeper teachings in explicit, mishnah-like, medium. Rather, they would be conveyed in a "concealed mode" and via "paradoxes". (Due to their value, these teachings should not become accessible to those "of bad character"; and due to their depth they should not be made available to those "not schooled in the ways of analysis".) This mode of transmission nevertheless depended on consistent rules and principles such that those "equipped with the keys" would be able to unlock their meaning; to others they would appear as non-rational or fantastic.

Interpretation of the Aggadah

In line with the above,Samuel ibn Naghrillah(993-1056), in his "Introduction to the Talmud", states that "Aggadah comprises any comment occurring in the Talmud on any topic which is not acommandment(i.e. which is nothalachic) and one should derive from it only that which is reasonable. "As regards this,Maimonides(1138-1204), in his preface to the tenth chapter ofTractateSanhedrin(Perek Chelek), describes three possible approaches to the interpretation of the Aggadah:

• The first approach (usually that of the uneducated) is to accept the Aggadah as literally true, without admission of any hidden, allegorical explanation—even where a literal interpretation runs counter to common sense. Maimonides treats this approach dismissively.
• The second approach (usually of "doctors and philosophers" ) assumes that anything said by the Sages was intended literally, and therefore rejects as impossible the non-rational or fantastic teachings (and consequently these regard the Sages as "simpletons and ignoramuses" ). Maimonides does not entirely reject rationalist interpretation, but he opposes anexegeticalapproach which denies the Aggadah a hidden rationality. "The sages presented theirdrashotin a style by which the mind of a fool will reject them because of his way of thinking; it is improper to assign any deficiency to thedrash—one may rather suspect that the deficiency is a result of his intellectual shortcomings "(Commentary on the Mishnah:Introduction).
• The third approach (taken by very few) involves recognising that many Aggadot are intended to teach profound truths, and that the teachings thus operate on two levels: "overt" and "hidden". Thus any impossible assertion was, in fact, intended as a parable; further, where aggadot can be understood literally, they may be taken on this level. This is, in general, the view of the Rabbis. "It is proper... to carefully analyse [the Aggadot]... when any of these seem far-fetched we must immerse ourselves in the various branches of knowledge until we understand the concepts." (Maimonides,op cit.)

Maimonides' approach is also widely held amongst the non-rationalistic,mysticalstreams of Judaism—thus, for example, RabbiIsaiah Horowitz,theShlah HaKodosh(c. 1555-1630) holds that "none of these sometimes mind-boggling 'stories' are devoid of profound meaning; if anyone is devoid of understanding, it is the reader" (Shnei Luchos HaBris,introduction). See alsothe Maharal's approach.

In the Talmud and Midrash

The Aggadah is today recorded in theMidrashand theTalmud.

In the Midrash, the aggadic and halakhic material are compiled as two distinct collections:

1. The Aggadic Midrashim, generally, are explanatory aggadah, deriving the "sermonic implications" from the biblical text.
2. TheHalakhic Midrashimderive the laws from the text.

Many of theTorah commentaries,as well as theTargumim,interpret the Torah text in the light of Aggadic statements, particularly those in the Midrash, and hence contain much material on Aggadah interpretation.

Throughout the Talmud, aggadic and halakhic material are interwoven—legal material comprises around 90%. (TractateAvoth,which has nogemara,deals exclusively with non-halakhic material, though it is not regarded as aggadic in that it focuses largely on character development.) The Talmudic Aggadah, generally, convey the "deeper teachings" —though in concealed mode, as discussed. The aggadic material in theBabylonian Talmudis also presented separately inEin Yaakov,a compilation of the Aggadah together with commentaries.

Well-known works interpreting the Aggadot in the Talmud include:

• Chiddushei Aggados(Novellæon the Aggadot) bySamuel Edels"the Maharsha" (1555-1631).
• Chiddushei Aggados(Novellae on the Aggadot) byJudah Loew"the Maharal" (as well as many other works by Loew, especiallyBe'er ha-Golah).
• YehoyadaandMeKabtziel(names based on2 Samuel23:20) byYosef Hayyim"the Ben Ish Chai".
• Beur Aggados(Clarification of the Aggadot) andPerush al Kamma Aggadot(Commentary on several Aggadot) by theVilna Gaon.
• Ein Yaakov(En Jacob) Agada of the Babylonian Talmud by RabbiJacob ibn Habib(Translated into English, 1916, by Rabbi Zvi Hirsch Glick).
• Etz Yosef,Anaf YosefandYad Yosef- as well as others - byZundel ben Joseph
• Ein Ayahfour volume commentary onEin YaakovbyRav Kook(1865-1935)

Development

The Aggadah has been preserved in a series of different works, which, like all works of traditional literature, have come to their present form through previous collections and revisions. Their original forms existed long before they were reduced to writing.

The first traces of the midrashic exegesis are found in the Bible itself; while in the time of theSoferimthe development of the Midrash Aggadah received a mighty impetus, and the foundations were laid for public services which were soon to offer the chief medium for the cultivation of Bible exegesis.

AbtalionandShemaiahare the first to bear the titledarshan,and it was probably by no mere chance that their pupil Hillel was the first to lay downhermeneuticrules for the interpretation of theMidrash;he may have been indebted to his teachers for the tendency towardaggadicinterpretation. These two scholars are the first whose sayings are recorded in theaggadah.The new method ofderush(Biblical interpretation) introduced by Abtalion and Shemaiah seems to have evoked opposition among the Pharisees.

Much Aggadah, often mixed with foreign elements, is found in theApocrypha,thePseudepigrapha,the works ofJosephusandPhilo,and the remaining Judæo-Hellenistic literature; but aggadic exegesis reached its highest development in the great epoch of the Mishnaic-Talmudic period, between 100 and 550 CE.

The Aggadah of the Amoraim (sages of the Talmud) is the continuation of that of the Tannaim (sages of the Mishna). The final edition of the Mishnah, which was of such signal importance for the Halakah, is of less significance for the Aggadah, which, in form as well as in content, shows the same characteristics in both periods.

Exegetic and homiletic Aggadah

It is important to emphasize the fundamental difference in plan between the midrashim forming a running commentary (מאמרים ביאוריים) to the Scripture text, and the homiletic midrashim (מאמרים לימודיים). When the scholars undertook to edit, revise, and collect into individual midrashim the immense array of haggadot, they followed the method employed in the collections and revisions of the halakhot and the halakhic discussions.The form which suggested itself was to arrange in textual sequence the exegetical interpretations of the Biblical text as taught in the schools, or the occasional interpretations introduced into public discourses, etc., and which were in any way connected with Scripture. Since the work of the editor was often merely that of compilation, the existing midrashim show in many passages the character of the sources from which they were taken. This was the genesis of the midrashim which are in the nature of running haggadic commentaries to single books of the Bible, as Bereshit Rabbah, Eikah Rabbati, the midrashim to the other Megillot, etc. SeeMidrashfor more details.

Modern compilations

Ein Yaakovis a compilation of the aggadic material in theBabylonian Talmudtogether with commentary. It was compiled byJacob ibn Habiband (after his death) by his sonLevi ibn Habib,and was first published inSaloniki(Greece) in 1515. It was intended as a text of aggadah, that could be studied with "the same degree of seriousness as the Talmud itself".

Popularizedanthologiesdid not appear until more recently—these often incorporate "aggadot" from outside of classicalRabbinic literature.The major works include:

• Sefer Ha-Aggadah(The Book of Legends) is a classic compilation of aggadah from theMishnah,the two Talmuds and theMidrashliterature. It was edited byHayim Nahman BialikandYehoshua Hana Rawnitzki.Bialik and Ravnitzky worked for three years to compile a comprehensive and representative overview of aggadah. When they found the same aggadah in multiple versions, from multiple sources, they usually selected the later form, the one found in the Babylonian Talmud. However, they also presented some aggadot sequentially, giving the early form from theJerusalem Talmud,and later versions from the Babylonian Talmud, and from a classic midrash compilation. In each case every aggadah is given with its original source. In their original edition, they translated theAramaicaggadot into modernHebrew.Sefer Ha-Aggadah was first published in 1908–1911 inOdessa,Russia, then reprinted numerous times inIsrael.In 1992 it was translated into English asThe Book of Legends,by William G. Braude.
• Legends of the Jews,by RabbiLouis Ginzberg,is an original synthesis of a vast amount of aggadah from the Mishnah, the two Talmuds and Midrash. Ginzberg had an encyclopedic knowledge of all rabbinic literature, and his masterwork included a massive array of aggadot. However he did not create an anthology which showed these aggadot distinctly. Rather, he paraphrased them and rewrote them into one continuous narrative that covered five volumes, followed by two volumes of footnotes that give specific sources.
• Mimekor Yisrael,byMicha Josef Berdyczewski.Berdichevsky was interested in compiling the folklore and legends of theJewishpeople, from the earliest times up until the dawn of the modern era. His collection included a large array of aggadot, although they were limited to those he considered within the domain of folklore.
• The collected works ofDov Noy.In 1954, Noy established theIsrael Folktale Archives and Ethnological Museumat theUniversity of Haifa,an archive containing over 23,000 folktales collected from all thevarious ethnic communitieswho live inIsrael.

See also

• Aggadic Midrashim (category)
• Moses in rabbinic literature
• Pardes (Jewish exegesis)

References

Notes

Bibliography

• Traditional orientation
  • Introduction to the commentary on the Mishnah,Maimonides,transl. Zvi Lampel (Judaica Press, 1998).ISBN1-880582-28-7
  • Discourse on the Haggadot,Moshe Chaim Luzzatto,transl. in "The Juggler and the King" below.
  • The Infinite Chain: Torah, Masorah, and Man,Nathan Lopes Cardozo,(Philipp Feldheim, 1989).ISBN0-944070-15-9
  • The Juggler and the King,Aharon Feldman, (Philipp Feldheim, 1991).ISBN0-87306-557-3
  • The Talmud: A Reference Guide,Adin Steinsaltz,(Random House, 1996).ISBN0-679-77367-3
• Modern
  • Mimekor Yisrael: Classical Jewish Folktales,Micha Joseph bin Gorion, translated by I. M. Lask, Trans. Three volumes. Bloomington, Indiana University Press, 1976
  • Mimekor Yisrael: Classical Jewish Folktales Abridged and Annotated EditionMicha Joseph bin Gorion. This is a one volume abridged and annotated version, with an introduction and headnotes, by Dan Ben-Amos. Indiana University Press. 560 pages.ISBN0-253-31158-6.
  • Four Master Folklorists And Their Major ContributionsPeninnah Schram, fromOpening Worlds of Words,Peninnah Schram and Cherie Karo Schwartz

External links

Discussion

• "Halakha/Aggadata/Midrash".jewishvirtuallibrary.org.Archived fromthe originalon 2017-01-12.Retrieved2005-01-27.
• Singer, Isidore; Theodor, J. (1904)."Midrash Haggadah".The Jewish Encyclopedia.Vol. 8. pp. 550–569.
• "Haggada".Encyclopædia Britannica.Vol. 12 (11th ed.). 1911. p. 814.
• The Key to Understanding Aggadah,CB "N Library
• Freedom to Interpret,Rabbi Aryeh Carmell
• Understanding Aggadah,Rabbi Gil Student
• The Midrash: Introduction,Samuel Rapaport

Source material

• Introduction toPerek Chelek,Maimonides
• Discussion on Aggadah in the Introduction to the Commentary on the Mishna,Maimonides
• Discourse on the Haggadot(in Hebrew),Moshe Chaim Luzzatto
• Discourse on the Sayings of the Rabbis(in Hebrew),Avraham son of Rambam—translation

Textual resources

• Links to full-text resources
  • Ben Gurion University
  • Halacha Brura Institute
• Excerpted translations
  • The Legends of the Jews by Louis Ginzberg
  • Tales and Maxims from the Midrash by Samuel Rapaport