WJEC/Eduqas Religious Studies Judaism for A Level Y2 & A2

T1 Religious gures and sacred texts However, as Gershom Scholem, the great historian of Jewish mysticism, wryly observes, ‘Explication of the level of sod, of course, had limitless possibilities, a classic illustration of which is Nathan Spira’s Megillah Amukot (1637), in which Moses’ prayer to God in Deuteronomy (3:23ff.) is explained in 252 different ways.’ Study tip The Internet provides a multitude of opportunities for research into Jewish beliefs and practice, and the resources section of the specification provides a list of websites that are considered to be reliable. However, your research will almost certainly take you to other sites, and therefore it is advisable to cross- reference information in order to ensure that it is dependable and worthy of use in your examination answers. AO1 Activity Research and note down further examples that could be used to illustrate the four principal methods of midrashic interpretation. Present the examples to the other members of your class/study group and ask them to place each one in the correct category. Remember that you will need to be able to explain to the group why each one is to be found in a particular category should they be unable to do so correctly. Halakhah and Aggadah – background information The issues discussed by the sages fell into two categories, Halakhah and Aggadah. Halakhah is the legal rulings and the reasoning behind them that govern Jewish practice. Aggadah is anything found in rabbinic writings that isn’t about legal discussions and decisions, and comprises a wide-ranging collection of legends, parables, folklore and stories that add depth of understanding and meaning to the Jewish experience. Hayim Nathan Bialik, (a Jewish poet of the late 19th to the mid-20th century) who compiled one of the most comprehensive collections of Aggadic folklore, ‘Book of Tales’, wrote: ‘Halakhah wears an angry frown; Aggadah, a broad smile. The one is the embodiment of the Attribute of Justice, iron-handed, rigorous and severe; the other is the embodiment of the Quality of Mercy, essentially lenient and indulgent, mild as a dove. The one promulgates coercive decrees and knows no compromise; the other presumes only to suggest and is sympathetically cognizant of man’s shortcomings … A living Halakhah is the embodiment of an Aggadah of the past and the seed of the future, and so it is also conversely; for the beginning and end of these two are indissolubly joined and linked with each other.’ Robinson further underlines the link between the two by explaining that: ‘The ethical content of aggadah – and this material is always fundamentally didactic and moral in nature – informs the legal decisions of halakhah.’ Halakhah and the 613 mitzvot In order to discover the mitzvot, Jews refer to the Halakhah. Halakhah means Jewish law, although its literal meaning is ‘the path that one walks’. It is a term which refers to the complete body of rules and practices that Orthodox Jews are bound to follow: the rules and regulations by which a Jew ‘walks’ through life. Halakhah is a means of regulating the 613 mitzvot, and it has its source in the Torah, rabbinic thought and long-standing traditions. 1.7 What are the four principal methods of midrashic interpretation? Key quotes Halakhah represents the body, the actual deed; Aggadah represents the soul, the content, the fervent motive. (Bialik) Since the days of the Talmud, the answer to the question ‘How do we follow the mitzvot?’ has been ‘halakhah’. (Robinson) 1.8 What is the difference between Halakhah and Aggadah? Specification content The Halakhah and the 613 mitzvot. 25

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