The Midrash: An Introduction

by Jacob Neusner

Book Overview

The Midrash: An Introduction sets forth the way in which Judaism reads the Hebrew Bible. In this masterful presentation, the reader is introduced to the classics of Jewish Bible interpretation, with special attention to the way in which the ribbis of Talmudic times read the Pentateuch, the Book of Ruth, and Song of Songs. The seven Midrash compilations are introduced with a lucid account of their main points, accompanied by selections that give...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1568213573
• ISBN13: 9781568213576
• Release Date: October 1994
• Publisher: Jason Aronson
• Length: 229 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.0" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Scholarly Introduction

This book is not a "Dummies" guide to the Mishnah. The discussion reviews the Mishnah as literature, as theology, as sociology and as history. It is written at a collegiate level, and I think requires quite a bit of background in Torah study to really be beneficial. As a non-Jew, it was some tough sledding to grasp the understanding and the context of some of the texts, though someone more familiar with Rabbinic literature may find it overly simplistic. Neusner is an accomplished scholar, and his work reads like a scholarly text. Not a light read, but an informative one.