Description
Book SynopsisThe earliest rabbinic commentary to the Book of Leviticus, the Sifra, is generally considered an exemplum of Rabbi Akiva''s intensely scriptural school of interpretation. But, Azzan Yadin-Israel contends, the Sifra commentary exhibits two distinct layers of interpretation that bring dramatically different assumptions to bear on the biblical text: earlier interpretations accord with the hermeneutic principles associated with Rabbi Ishmael, the other major school of early rabbinic midrash, while later additions subtly alter hermeneutic terminology and formulas, resulting in an engagement with Scripture that is not interpretive at all. Rather, the midrashic terminology in the Sifra''s anonymous passages is part of what Yadin-Israel calls a hermeneutic of camouflage, aimed at presenting oral traditions as though they were Scripture-based injunctions.
Scripture and Tradition offers a radical rereading of the Sifra and its authorship, with far-reaching ramifications for our un
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"Conceptually sophisticated and wonderfully erudite, Scripture and Tradition touches on the most fundamental questions of the Midrashic project." * Moshe Halbertal, New York University *
Table of Contents
Introduction
PART I. A HERMENEUTIC OF CAMOUFLAGE
Chapter 1. The Sifra as Midrash: Hermeneutic Markedness
Chapter 2. The Sifra as Midrash: Vacuity and Semantic Discontinuity
Chapter 3. Terminological Identity and the Hermeneutics of Camouflage
Chapter 4. "On the Basis of This, They Said" (Mikan ʾAmru) and the Role of Scripture
PART II. THE CURIOUS CAREER OF BARRI AKIVA
Chapter 5. Rabbi Akiva the Interpreter: From the Mishnah to the Talmud
Chapter 6. Rabbi Akiva, the Anonymous Sifra, and the Hermeneutics of Camouflage
Chapter 7. Rabbi Akiva's Biographical Transformation
PART III. MIDRASH AND HALAKHOT: A REEVALUATION
Chapter 8. The Anomaly of Tannaitic Literature: Interpretation, Revelation, and Mysteries
Excursus. Oral Tradition as the Site of Esotericism
Chapter 9. Midrash and Extra-Scriptural Tradition: A Synchronic Model
Conclusion: Rabbi Akiva and the Ironic Triumph of Midrash
Appendix: Hebrew Sources
List of Abbreviations
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Acknowledgments
