14 - Midrash Halachah

Summary

THE MEANING OF THE TERM MIDRASH HALACHAH

The term midrash halachah was apparently coined in the nineteenth century, although the phenomenon to which it applies certainly goes back to the earliest Christian centuries, if not before. Midrash halachah, or legal interpretation, refers to specifically rabbinic forms of biblical exegesis whose ostensible purpose involves deriving broader and fuller legal conclusions from the text of the Torah than is evident from the context; some argue that it creates the illusion of deriving such conclusions. The term comprehends forms of exegesis that claim that implicit within the words of the Torah lay important legal information not immediately evident to the untrained reader. For example, the Torah identifies the animal that must be used for the Passover sacrifice as a sheep (Exod. 12.3). An early midrash states that the term “sheep” includes goats, based on Deuteronomy 14.4. Therefore, one might have thought that only sheep fulfill the biblical commandment, but the midrash explains that the word in question allows a broader range of choices (Mekh., Bo 3, p. 11). Over time, the term has assumed two meanings: (1) it has come to refer to a series of texts replete with such legal interpretations (despite the fact that many of them contain significant amounts – in some cases perhaps more than 50 percent – of non-legal interpretation as well) while (2) retaining its use as an umbrella term for all these forms of exegesis, wherever they may be found.