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T H E JE W I S H Q UA R T E R LY R E V I E W, Vol. 94, No. 1 (Winter 2004) 167–171 JACOB ELBAUM. Le-Havin Divre H . akhamim: Mivhar Divre Mavo’ La-Aggadah Vela-Midrash, mi-shel H . akhme Yeme Ha-Benayim (Medieval Perspectives on Aggadah and Midrash). Jerusalem: Bialik Institute, 2000. Pp. 422. In an article on the thirteenth century Provençal exegete and writer R. Joseph ibn Kaspi, the late Isadore Twersky notes that in order to assess ibn Kaspi’s contribution to Jewish culture, what is necessary is a reconstruction and appraisal of his attitude toward central, abiding issues in Jewish cultural life and intellectual history, issues concerning which there was room for considerable latitude, variation or selective identification with proto-typical patterns. Among the dozen examples he presents of these issues is: approach to aggadah, that is, continuation of the quest for an exegetical methodology, which, by disciplined allegorical interpretation, would present aggadah as a treasure trove of philosophic ideas and, at the very least, eliminate difficulties or embarrassments.1 Aggadah has been of central importance for much of Jewish culture since gaonic times. Biblical exegetes drew on midreshe aggadah for their scriptural commentary; aggadic passages were used to shore up ideological positions by philosophers and kabbalists; they were used by preachers and ethicists as a resource to support their ethical and moral exhortations; halakhic scholars as well resorted to aggadic material in many different contexts particularly when justifying minhag;2 and finally aggadah became a battlefield upon which Jews defended rabbinic tradition against Gen1 . Isadore Twersky, ‘‘Joseph ibn Kaspi: Portrait of a Medieval Jewish Intellectual ,’’ in idem, ed., Studies in Medieval Jewish History and Literature (Cambridge, Mass., 1979), 234. 2. Elbaum correctly points out that the lines that differentiate between aggadah and halakhah were not always clear. On the medieval perception of the distinctions between halakhah and aggadah, see Avraham Grossman, ‘‘Shorshav shel Kiddush Hashem be-Ashkenaz ha-Kedumah,’’ Kedushat ha-Hayyim ve-H . eruf ha-Nefesh, ed. Isaiah Gafni and Aviezer Ravitzky (Jerusalem, 1992), 107–108. The question of the halakhic implications of aggadic statements was not within the purview of Elbaum’s book; it is an issue, however, that cannot be ignored in the context of attitudes toward aggadah. 168 JQR 94:1 (2004) tiles and skeptics of all types. These functions of aggadah were often simultaneous and contemporaneous and have continued to be matters of concern, discussion, debate, and study even in modern times. Thus Jacob Elbaum’s volume is not only one of pure historical interest. Anyone with an interest in the rabbinic sources of Judaism and the manner of their interpretation will be fascinated by the collection of sources that Elbaum has amassed. Le-havin Divre H . akhamim provides a comprehensive collection of medieval rules for the interpretation of aggadah. It is explicitly not a collection of medieval aggadic commentary, nor is it a comprehensive analysis of aggadah and its functioning in medieval times, although within the course of offering these rules, a considerable amount of aggadic exegesis comes into play. Elbaum opens the volume with an introductory essay that surveys the major issues in medieval writings on aggadah. He identifies four factors that motivated writers to write commentaries on and develop rules for the interpretation of aggadah. First, there was the fundamental textual issue, which arose out of the distance between the original text, now canonical , and the reader of another time and another place. Second, new historical circumstances gave rise to situations that caused aggadah to be problematic, for instance, the rise of philosophy which rendered the literal reading of many aggadot untenable, and the attacks of Christians and Karaites on aggadic sources. Third, new ideological positions sought substantiation in classical Jewish sources. Aggadah was sought out and used as a source for philosophical and kabbalistic doctrines. The natural desire to understand contemporary conceptions in light of classic texts brought commentators to read newly acquired insights back into classic texts. Fourth, a substantial amount of aggadah is midrash, that is, explication of the biblical text. All medieval biblical commentators had to deal with the question of the extent to which...

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