Aggadah

The artistic freedom spirit of Aggadah (left, represented by Solomon) and the legal divine judgment rulings of Halakhah (right, represented by Aaron and his sons) on the Knesset Menorah

The Hebrew word haggadah (הַגָּדָה) is derived from the Hebrew root נגד, meaning "declare, make known, expound", also known from the common Hebrew verb להגיד.[1]

The majority scholarly opinion is that the Hebrew word aggadah (אַגָּדָה) and corresponding Aramaic aggadta (אַגָּדְתָא) are variants of haggadah based on a common linguistic shift from haphalah to aphalah forms.[1] However, a minority of scholars believe that these words derive from a separate Aramaic root נגד[1] meaning "draw, pull, spread, stretch" (corresponding to the Hebrew root משך or נטה). [2]

According to the latter etymology, aggadah may be seen as "the part of the Torah which draws man towards its teachings",[3][4] or the teachings which strengthen one's religious experience and spiritual connections, in addition to explaining texts.[5] (See similar re Masorah – in the sense of "tradition" – at Masoretic Text § Etymology.)

In his Jüdische Szene 1, Carl Schleicher depicts a rabbi offering his interpretation of an aggadah

The Aggadah is part of Judaism's Oral Torah, the traditions providing the authoritative interpretation of the Written Torah. In this context, the widely-held view in rabbinic literature is that the Aggadah is in fact a medium for the transmission of fundamental teachings (Homiletic Sayings—מאמרים לימודיים‎) or for explanations of verses in the Hebrew Bible (Exegetic Sayings—מאמרים ביאוריים‎). Rabbinic thought, therefore, understands much of the Aggadah as containing a hidden, allegorical dimension, in addition to its overt, literal sense. In general, where a literal interpretation contradicts rationality, the rabbis seek an allegorical explanation: "We are told to use our common sense to decide whether an aggada is to be taken literally or not" (Carmell, 2005).

The Aggadah has been preserved in a series of different works, which, like all works of traditional literature, have come to their present form through previous collections and revisions. Their original forms existed long before they were reduced to writing.

The first traces of the midrashic exegesis are found in the Bible itself; while in the time of the Soferim the development of the Midrash Aggadah received a mighty impetus, and the foundations were laid for public services which were soon to offer the chief medium for the cultivation of Bible exegesis.

Much Aggadah, often mixed with foreign elements, is found in the Apocrypha, the Pseudepigrapha, the works of Josephus and Philo, and the remaining Judæo-Hellenistic literature; but aggadic exegesis reached its highest development in the great epoch of the Mishnaic-Talmudic period, between 100 and 550 CE.

The Aggadah of the Amoraim (sages of the Talmud) is the continuation of that of the Tannaim (sages of the Mishna). The final edition of the Mishnah, which was of such signal importance for the Halakah, is of less significance for the Aggadah, which, in form as well as in content, shows the same characteristics in both periods.

Ein Yaakov is a compilation of the aggadic material in the Babylonian Talmud together with commentary. It was compiled by Jacob ibn Habib and (after his death) by his son Levi ibn Habib, and was first published in Saloniki (Greece) in 1515. It was intended as a text of aggadah, that could be studied with "the same degree of seriousness as the Talmud itself".[7]

Popularized anthologies did not appear until more recently—these often incorporate "aggadot" from outside of classical Rabbinic literature. The major works include:

• Sefer Ha-Aggadah (The Book of Legends) is a classic compilation of aggadah from the Mishnah, the two Talmuds and the Midrash literature. It was edited by Hayim Nahman Bialik and Yehoshua Hana Rawnitzki. Bialik and Ravnitzky worked for three years to compile a comprehensive and representative overview of aggadah. When they found the same aggadah in multiple versions, from multiple sources, they usually selected the later form, the one found in the Babylonian Talmud. However, they also presented some aggadot sequentially, giving the early form from the Jerusalem Talmud, and later versions from the Babylonian Talmud, and from a classic midrash compilation. In each case every aggadah is given with its original source. In their original edition, they translated the Aramaic aggadot into modern Hebrew. Sefer Ha-Aggadah was first published in 1908–1911 in Odessa, Russia, then reprinted numerous times in Israel. In 1992 it was translated into English as The Book of Legends, by William G. Braude.
• Legends of the Jews, by Rabbi Louis Ginzberg, is an original synthesis of a vast amount of aggadah from the Mishnah, the two Talmuds and Midrash. Ginzberg had an encyclopedic knowledge of all rabbinic literature, and his masterwork included a massive array of aggadot. However he did not create an anthology which showed these aggadot distinctly. Rather, he paraphrased them and rewrote them into one continuous narrative that covered five volumes, followed by two volumes of footnotes that give specific sources.
• Mimekor Yisrael, by Micha Josef Berdyczewski. Berdichevsky was interested in compiling the folklore and legends of the Jewish people, from the earliest times up until the dawn of the modern era. His collection included a large array of aggadot, although they were limited to those he considered within the domain of folklore.
• The collected works of Dov Noy.[8] In 1954, Noy established the Israel Folktale Archives and Ethnological Museum at the University of Haifa, an archive containing over 23,000 folktales collected from all the various ethnic communities who live in Israel.

• Aggadic Midrashim (category)
• Moses in rabbinic literature
• Pardes (Jewish exegesis)

Notes

Bibliography

• Traditional orientation
  • Introduction to the commentary on the Mishnah, Maimonides, transl. Zvi Lampel (Judaica Press, 1998). ISBN 1-880582-28-7
  • Discourse on the Haggadot, Moshe Chaim Luzzatto, transl. in "The Juggler and the King" below.
  • The Infinite Chain: Torah, Masorah, and Man, Nathan Lopes Cardozo, (Philipp Feldheim, 1989). ISBN 0-944070-15-9
  • The Juggler and the King, Aharon Feldman, (Philipp Feldheim, 1991). ISBN 0-87306-557-3
  • The Talmud: A Reference Guide, Adin Steinsaltz, (Random House, 1996). ISBN 0-679-77367-3
• Modern
  • Mimekor Yisrael: Classical Jewish Folktales, Micha Joseph bin Gorion, translated by I. M. Lask, Trans. Three volumes. Bloomington, Indiana University Press, 1976
  • Mimekor Yisrael: Classical Jewish Folktales Abridged and Annotated Edition Micha Joseph bin Gorion. This is a one volume abridged and annotated version, with an introduction and headnotes, by Dan Ben-Amos. Indiana University Press. 560 pages. ISBN 0-253-31158-6.
  • Four Master Folklorists And Their Major Contributions Peninnah Schram, from Opening Worlds of Words, Peninnah Schram and Cherie Karo Schwartz

Discussion

• "Halakha/Aggadata/Midrash". jewishvirtuallibrary.org. Archived from the original on 2017-01-12. Retrieved 2005-01-27.
•  Singer, Isidore; Theodor, J. (1904). "Midrash Haggadah". The Jewish Encyclopedia. Vol. 8. pp. 550–569.
• "Haggada" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 12 (11th ed.). 1911. p. 814.
• The Key to Understanding Aggadah, CB"N Library
• Freedom to Interpret, Rabbi Aryeh Carmell
• Understanding Aggadah, Rabbi Gil Student
• The Midrash: Introduction, Samuel Rapaport

Source material

• Introduction to Perek Chelek, Maimonides
• Discussion on Aggadah in the Introduction to the Commentary on the Mishna, Maimonides
• Discourse on the Haggadot (in Hebrew), Moshe Chaim Luzzatto
• Discourse on the Sayings of the Rabbis (in Hebrew), Avraham son of Rambam—translation

Textual resources

• Links to full-text resources
  • Ben Gurion University
  • Halacha Brura Institute
• Excerpted translations
  • The Legends of the Jews by Louis Ginzberg
  • Tales and Maxims from the Midrash by Samuel Rapaport