Course information
The course serves as an introduction to Rabbinic literature with a special focus on Midrash and Aggada. The goal of the course is to provide the students with the basic tools for reading the various midrashim. We will examine texts from the period of the Tannaim and Amoraim that deal with the biblical story and its characters, as they were portrayed by the sages. We will encounter various literary genres such as: the exegetical narrative, the parable, the Proem, the exampla of the sages, and more.
About the Teacher
Dr. Gila Vachman is a lecturer in Midrash and Aggadah at the Schechter Institute and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Dr. Vachman received her BA in Talmud and Hebrew Literature, MA in Midrash and Aggadah, and her PhD from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem (2009). She is the author of ‘Midrash Hadash Al HaTorah’ – a critical edition with introduction, references and notes was published by The Midrash Project at Schechter Institute (2013) and ‘Ruth – A new Israeli commentary’ (ed. Avigdor Shinan) published in 2018.