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The Tales of the Sages in Late Midrash
A Curtain Set with Jewels
Series: - The Brill Reference Library of Judaism, Volume: 79
Author:
How should we read tales about rabbinic sages unique to post-Talmudic works? What theological, poetic, and social changes do they hide? Who could have authored them? The Tales of the Sages in Late Midrash, reveals these narrativesâ hypertextuality. Their characters, phrasings, and themes only invert, expand, and mimic other tales. In their own words, they are mosaics of cherished stories set into new narrative tapestriesâ What Acher thought of R. Akivaâs death? How was Akiva buried? Who was Resh Laqish before he met R. Yochanan? Analyzing twenty little-known such stories from fourteen compositions and discussing many others, Sivan Nir shows how medieval scholars use their stories to explore tensions between rabbis and laypersons, men and women, God and history, medieval culture and the Talmudic past.
Sivan Nir, Ph.D. (2019), Tel Aviv University, is a research fellow there and at Haifa. He has published on the medieval, Midrash, and interreligious receptions of biblical figures and literary concepts, including Characterization in Midrash and Medieval Jewish Bible Commentaries (SBL, 2024).
Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction
â1âExisting Scholarship on Late Tales and Its Deficiencies
â2âMethod
â3âOverview
â4âThe Choice of Title
â5âA Note about the Translations
1 R. Zyinon and the Doctor (Devarim Rabbah [Lieberman] Eikev)
â1âConclusions: Devarim Rabbah as a New Narrative Rather Than a Version
2 The Chassid and the Spirit (Bereshit Rabbati Wayesalach, pp. 145â146)
â1âConclusions: Bereshit Rabbatiâs Job Parody vs the Bavliâs
3 The Disguised Wife (BemR 9:3)
â1âConclusions: Bemidbar Rabbah as an Opposed Digest of the Bavli
4 Anti-Dama Ben Netinah (Pesiqta Rabbati 14)
â1âConclusions: Anti-Dama vs Polemical Dama Recensions
5 The Disciple and the Prostitute (Pseudo-Eliyahu Zuta 4)
â1âConclusions: Opposed Prostitutes, Cooperating Classes
6 The Seven Good Years (Ruth Zuta 4:11)
â1âCharity and Failed Messiahs
â2âConclusions: the Voice of the Poor in Ruth Zuta
7 Rashbi on the Ship on Route to Caesar (Ekhah Zuti 43)
â1âConclusions: Ekhah Zuti and âThe Prayer of Rabbi Shimʾon bar Yochaiâ
8 Another Episode on the Ship on Route to Caesar (Bereshit Rabbati Wayegash)
â1âConclusion: between Bereshit Rabbati Rashbi and R. Shfatiah
9 Resh Laqish before He Met R. Yochanan (Pirqe de-Rabbi Eliʾezer 43)
â1âConclusions: the Unchallenged Benefit of the Torah to the Individual
10 R. Meir Redeems Acher (Midrash Mishle 6:22â29)
â1âConclusions: Disciples Are Better Than Sons
11 R. Akivaâs Illuminating Daughter-in-Law (Midrash Tehillim 59:3)
â1âConclusions: between Two Wives, between Bavli and Midrash Tehillim
12 R. Akivaâs Burial (Midrash Mishle 9 and Yalqut 944)
â1âAkivaâs Burial Answering Bavli Menachot 29b
â2âConclusions: Adding Akivaâs Missing Reward to the Bavli
13 Abnimos and the Builder (Shemot Rabbah 13:1)
â1âDivine Censure
â2âConclusions: Builder and God as Heroes
14 Two Sages Lamenting at the Western Wall (Seder Eliyahu Rabbah 28:11)
â1âShades of Akivaâs Fox in Seder Eliyahu
â2âThe Two Late Imitations
â3âConclusions: a Dispersion of Mystic Comfort
15 What Acher Thought of R. Akivaâs Death (Pitron Torah, Wayiqra, p. 15)
â1âConclusions: Elisha as the Intended Audience
16 Akiva, Turnus Rufus, and the Father (Bereshit Rabbati Lech Lecha, pp. 72â73)
â1âConclusions: Martyrdom for All Not Just for Akiva
17 Antoninus and Rabbiâs Circumcision (Bereshit Rabbati Wayera, pp. 86â87)
â1âAntoninus and Not Rabbi Is the Second Moses
â2âConclusions: a Missionary Fantasy That Denies the Rabbis Center Stage
18 R. Joshua and Hadrian at the Carnival of Beasts (Esther Rabbah 10:11)
â1âConclusions: Scribal Testimony of Esther Rabbahâs Animalistic Exile
19 The Death of R. Meirâs Two Sons (Midrash Mishle 31:10)
â1âConclusions: between a Legendary Happy Ending and a Rabbinic Discussion
Conclusions
â1âCharacters: Idolized Super Stars and the Marginal, the Female, and the Anonymous
â2âThemes of Theodicy, Charity, and Tempered Eschatology
â3âA Rhetoric of the Marvelous Rather Than Dialectics
â4âAuthors of Late Tales Are Closer to Tosafists than to Copyists
â5âClosing Words
Bibliography
Acknowledgments
Introduction
â1âExisting Scholarship on Late Tales and Its Deficiencies
â2âMethod
â3âOverview
â4âThe Choice of Title
â5âA Note about the Translations
Part 1: Reaction Tales and Counter Narratives
1 R. Zyinon and the Doctor (Devarim Rabbah [Lieberman] Eikev)
â1âConclusions: Devarim Rabbah as a New Narrative Rather Than a Version
2 The Chassid and the Spirit (Bereshit Rabbati Wayesalach, pp. 145â146)
â1âConclusions: Bereshit Rabbatiâs Job Parody vs the Bavliâs
3 The Disguised Wife (BemR 9:3)
â1âConclusions: Bemidbar Rabbah as an Opposed Digest of the Bavli
4 Anti-Dama Ben Netinah (Pesiqta Rabbati 14)
â1âConclusions: Anti-Dama vs Polemical Dama Recensions
5 The Disciple and the Prostitute (Pseudo-Eliyahu Zuta 4)
â1âConclusions: Opposed Prostitutes, Cooperating Classes
6 The Seven Good Years (Ruth Zuta 4:11)
â1âCharity and Failed Messiahs
â2âConclusions: the Voice of the Poor in Ruth Zuta
Part 2: Temporal Continuations
7 Rashbi on the Ship on Route to Caesar (Ekhah Zuti 43)
â1âConclusions: Ekhah Zuti and âThe Prayer of Rabbi Shimʾon bar Yochaiâ
8 Another Episode on the Ship on Route to Caesar (Bereshit Rabbati Wayegash)
â1âConclusion: between Bereshit Rabbati Rashbi and R. Shfatiah
9 Resh Laqish before He Met R. Yochanan (Pirqe de-Rabbi Eliʾezer 43)
â1âConclusions: the Unchallenged Benefit of the Torah to the Individual
10 R. Meir Redeems Acher (Midrash Mishle 6:22â29)
â1âConclusions: Disciples Are Better Than Sons
11 R. Akivaâs Illuminating Daughter-in-Law (Midrash Tehillim 59:3)
â1âConclusions: between Two Wives, between Bavli and Midrash Tehillim
12 R. Akivaâs Burial (Midrash Mishle 9 and Yalqut 944)
â1âAkivaâs Burial Answering Bavli Menachot 29b
â2âConclusions: Adding Akivaâs Missing Reward to the Bavli
Part 3: Typical Imitations
13 Abnimos and the Builder (Shemot Rabbah 13:1)
â1âDivine Censure
â2âConclusions: Builder and God as Heroes
14 Two Sages Lamenting at the Western Wall (Seder Eliyahu Rabbah 28:11)
â1âShades of Akivaâs Fox in Seder Eliyahu
â2âThe Two Late Imitations
â3âConclusions: a Dispersion of Mystic Comfort
15 What Acher Thought of R. Akivaâs Death (Pitron Torah, Wayiqra, p. 15)
â1âConclusions: Elisha as the Intended Audience
16 Akiva, Turnus Rufus, and the Father (Bereshit Rabbati Lech Lecha, pp. 72â73)
â1âConclusions: Martyrdom for All Not Just for Akiva
17 Antoninus and Rabbiâs Circumcision (Bereshit Rabbati Wayera, pp. 86â87)
â1âAntoninus and Not Rabbi Is the Second Moses
â2âConclusions: a Missionary Fantasy That Denies the Rabbis Center Stage
18 R. Joshua and Hadrian at the Carnival of Beasts (Esther Rabbah 10:11)
â1âConclusions: Scribal Testimony of Esther Rabbahâs Animalistic Exile
19 The Death of R. Meirâs Two Sons (Midrash Mishle 31:10)
â1âConclusions: between a Legendary Happy Ending and a Rabbinic Discussion
Conclusions
â1âCharacters: Idolized Super Stars and the Marginal, the Female, and the Anonymous
â2âThemes of Theodicy, Charity, and Tempered Eschatology
â3âA Rhetoric of the Marvelous Rather Than Dialectics
â4âAuthors of Late Tales Are Closer to Tosafists than to Copyists
â5âClosing Words
Bibliography
Students of Rabbinics, literature, religion, and history (and institutions). Any modern reader familiar with rabbinic tales and interested in unknown ones now accessible in English. Midrash specialists, medievalists, and rabbis.