Genesis Rabba

[~candice~]

Hi all

For those of you who are familiar with the Genesis Rabba(h), is it worth reading? Does it have any value to understand the meaning that the Hebrews would have gotten from the text?

Article on wiki here.

Genesis Rabba (Bereshit Rabba in Hebrew: בראשית רבה) is a religious text from Judaism's classical period. It is a midrash comprising a collection of ancient rabbinical homiletical interpretations of the Book of Genesis (Bereshit in Hebrew).

It is expository midrash to the first book of the Torah, assigned by tradition to the amora Hoshaiah (or Osha'yah) who flourished in the third century in the land of Israel. The midrash forms a haggadic commentary on Genesis, in keeping with the midrashic exegesis of that age. In a continuous sequence, broken only toward the end, the Biblical text is expounded, verse for verse, often word for word. Only genealogic passages and passages that furnish no material for exposition (as the reiterated account of Abraham's servant in Genesis 24:35-48) are omitted.

Cheers

Andy

[~candice~]

First few verses

http://www.sacred-texts.com/jud/mhl/mhl05.htm

GENESIS RABBA

It is forbidden to inquire what existed before creation, as Moses distinctly tells us (Deut. iv. 32): "Ask now of the days that are past which were before thee, since the day God created man upon earth." Thus the scope of inquiry is limited to the time since the Creation.

The unity of God is at once set before us in the history of creation, where we are told he, not they, created.

The Torah was to God, when he created the world, what the plan is to an architect when he erects a building.

The aleph, being the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet, demurred at her place being usurped by the letter beth, which is second to her, at the creation; the history of which commences with the latter, instead of with the former. She was, however, quite satisfied when told that, in the history of giving the Decalogue, she would be placed at the beginning, for the world has only been created on account of the Torah, which, indeed, existed anterior to creation; and had the Creator not foreseen that Israel would consent to receive and diffuse the Torah, creation would not have taken place.

Seems like the jewish version of the catholic catechism?

[~candice~]

Oh boy oh boy oh boy...

God knew beforehand that the world would contain both righteous and wicked men, and there is an allusion to this in the story of creation. "The earth without form," means the wicked, and the words, "and there was light," refers to the righteous.

Other worlds were created and destroyed ere this present one was decided on as a permanent one.

Rain is produced by the condensed effusion of the upper firmament.

Gap theory? Water canopy? Is this how the hebrews understood Gen 1? This is interesting, even if not entirely accurate.

[nebula]

I don't know about that particular book, but I have heard a couple rabbis speak about the Torah, and I've learned some interesting things and perspectives.

I guess you can try reading some of it and compare it with what you already believe and know and see what you discover.

But you might want to send a PM to Shiloh357 (he's not able to come on-line like he used to; this way he's see the request). There's a better chance he would know something about this, I think.

[EricH]

I t will certainly halep you understand Rabbinical interpretation

[~candice~]

I t will certainly halep you understand Rabbinical interpretation

OK, I read it, but I am not convinced that it is without error. Infact, I found glaring errors . Do you know of any similar style rabbinical commentaries of the Torah that are not without error?

It certainly was interesting though, and drew some conclusions that I have never seen before.

[~candice~]

Bump