Dr Ezra Kahalani
Midrash Agdat Bereshit is a midrash on the book of Genesis, with a unique structure that is unparalleled in the midrashic literature we have. It includes twenty-eight units, each of which consists of three chapters: Parik Torah – dealing with a verse from the book of Genesis; Parik Nevi’im – dealing with a verse from the prophets; and Parik Ketubim – dealing with the first verse of one of the Psalms. This division reflects the reading of the Torah in the synagogue on Shabbat morning, the reading of the Haftarah that follows, and the reading of Parik Ketubim at the Shabbat mincha. This midrash belongs to one of the branches of the Tanhuma literature, and was probably created in the ninth century in southern Italy. In addition to the usual content found in midrashic literature, it contains content that reflects various struggles of the Jews in the face of the long and difficult experience of exile under the Byzantine-Christian rule of that period.
This critical edition consists of two parts: the first part includes a comprehensive introduction about the textual witnesses of the midrash and their branches, its sources, its unique structure, its rich literary devices, and the overt and covert anti-Christian polemic embedded in it. The second part includes the internal text of the midrash in its two hundred and five paragraphs with the mechanism of textual exchange. Each paragraph is preceded by a separate introduction that refers to its structure, sources, and contents, followed by notes that systematically explain the paragraph
