Smaller midrashim

A number ofmidrashimexist which are smaller in size, and generally later in date, than those dealt with in the articlesMidrash HaggadahandMidrash Halakah. Despite their late date, some of these works preserve material from theApocryphaand Philo of Alexandria. These small works, were in turn used by later larger works, such asSefer haYashar (midrash).Important editors and researchers of this material includeAbraham ben Elijah of Vilna,Adolf Jellinek,andSolomon Aaron Wertheimer.

Principal works

The chief of these works are:

• Midrash Abba Gorion,a late midrash to theBook of Esther
• Midrash Abkir,on the first two books of the Torah. Only fragments survive.
• Midrash Al Yithallel,stories aboutDavid,Solomon,and the richKorah
• Midrash Aseret ha-Dibrot,a haggadah forShavuot
• Chronicle of Moses(orDivrei ha-Yamim shel Mosheh)
• Midrash Eleh Ezkerah,on the execution of the ten sages by the Roman emperorHadrian.
• Midrash Eser Galiyyot,the ten exiles of the Jews up to the time of Hadrian.
• Midrash Esfah,on verses from the books ofNumbersandDeuteronomy.Only fragments survive.
• Midrash Hallel.SeeMidrash Tehillim
• Midrash Leku Nerannena,a collection forHanukkah.Only fragments survive.
• Midrash Ma'aseh Torah,a compilation of doctrines and rules.
• Midrash Petirat Aharon,a telling of the death ofAaron.
• Midrash Petirat Mosheh,a telling of the death ofMoses.
• Midrash Taame Haserot ve-Yeterot,inferences from the presence or not ofmatres lectionis,and aboutqereandketiv.
• Midrash Tadshe(also calledBaraita de-Rabbi Pinchas ben Yair), on the symbolism of theTabernacle,and various symbolic numbers.
• Midrash Temurah(called byMe'iriMidrash Temurot), on duality in the natural world.
• Midrash Veyechulu,on several books of the Torah. Only citations survive.
• Midrash Vayisau,a story of the sons ofJacob,warring against their enemies.
• Midrash Vayosha,an aggadah for the seventh day ofPassover.

Survey of Collections

The more recent (circa 1900) collections of small midrashim referred to above and inMidrash Haggadahare the following:

• A. Jellinek,B. H.parts i.-iv., Leipsic, 1853–57; parts v.-vi., Vienna, 1873–78;
• Ḥayyim M. Horowitz,Agadat Agadot,etc., Berlin, 1881;
• idem,Bet 'Eḳed ha-Agadot: Bibliotheca Haggadica,2 parts, Frankfort-on-the-Main, 1881;
• idem,Kebod Ḥuppah,ib. 1888;
• idem,Tosefta Attiḳta: Uralte Tosefta's,i.-v., ib. 1889-90;
• S. A. Wertheimer,Batte Midrashot,i.-iv., Jerusalem, 1893–97;
• idem,Leḳeṭ Midrashim,ib. 1903;
• L. Grünhut,Sefer ha-Liḳḳuṭim, Sammlung Aelterer Midraschim.etc., i-vi., ib. 1898-1903; comp. alsoAbraham Wilna,Rab Pe'alim,ed.S. Chones,pp. 133 et seq.,H. L. Strack,in Herzog-Hauck,Real-Encyc.s.v. "Midrasch."

Other small midrashim and mystical literature

In these collections, especially inA. Jellinek'sBet ha-Midrash,there are many small midrashim, either edited there for the first time or reprinted, as well as a number of works under other names, a discussion of which belongs rather to an article on mystic literature. The following treatises, however, may be mentioned here, the titles being given for the most part according to Jellinek:

• Agadat Mashiaḥ(Haggadah of the Messiah; ib. iii. 141 et seq.).
• Baraita Ma'ase Bereshit(inS. Chones' addenda toAbraham Wilna'sRab Pe'alim,pp. 47 et seq.); alsoSeder Rabbah de-Bereshit(in Wertheimer, l.c. i. 1-31).
• Gan 'Eden we-Gehinnom(Paradise and Hell; ib. v. 42 et seq.).
• Ma'aseh R. Yehoshua' b. Levi(History of R. Joshua b. Levi; ib. ii. 48 et seq.).
• Midrash Konen(inB. H.ii. 23-39);
• Be-Ḥokmah Yasad(Divine Wisdom; ib. v. 63-69)
• Masseket Gehinnom(Tractate of Gehenna; ib. i. 147-149)
• Milḥamot ha-Mashiaḥ(War of the Messiah; ib. vi. 117 et seq.)
• Misterot R. Shim'on b. Yoḥai(Mysteries of R. Simeon b. Yoḥai; ib. iii. 78 et seq.).
• Otiyot de-Rabbi Aḳiba(Alphabetical Midrash of R. Akiba; first and second recensions inB. H.iii. 12-64; comp. ib. v. 31-33; vi., p. xl.; Wertheimer, l.c. ii. 23 et seq.)
• Hekalot Rabbati(Great Hekalot; inB. H.iii. 83-108);
• Masseket Hekalot(Tractate Hekalot; ib. ii. 40-47; comp. also ib. i. 58 et seq., iii. 161 et seq., vi. 109 et seq.);
• Baraita Ma'ase Merkabah(in Wertheimer, l.c. ii. 15-25).
• Otiyot Mashiaḥ(Signs of the Messiah; ib. ii. 58-63).
• Pirḳe Eliyahu(Sections Concerning the Messiah; ib. iii. 68 et seq.).
• Seder Gan 'Eden(Description of Paradise; ib. ii. 52 et seq.; second recension, ib. iii. 131-140; additions, ib. 194-198).
• Sefer Eliyahu(Apocalypse of Elijah; ib. iii. 65 et seq.).
• Sefer Zerubbabel(Book of Zerubbabel; ib. ii. 54-57; comp. also Wertheimer, l.c. ii. 25 et seq., 29 et seq.).

Bibliography

• Jacob Elbaum.The Hebrew Narrative Anthology in the Middle AgesProoftexts (2004) pp. 176ff.

References

This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain:Singer, Isidore;et al., eds. (1901–1906)."Smaller Midrashim".The Jewish Encyclopedia.New York: Funk & Wagnalls.