Shalom everyone!
One may ask, what is the Aggadah and what is its significance to the Jewish culture?
The Aggadah means rabbinic teaching[s}. It is an amplification of the biblical narrative, ethics, history, and prophecy, and can be discovered in the midrashic literature and scattered throughout the Babylonian and Palestinian Talmuds.
Unlike the Halakhah, the Aggadah is not authoritative in Judaism. Instead, it contains prayers, parables, theology, stories, laments, allegories, ethics, and letter symbolism among other Jewish writings.
Examples include:
- The Aggadat Bereshis. This is the Midrash concerning the book of Genesis, based on other midrashim, particularly the Tanhuma, which dates back to the 12 century.
- The Aggadat Ester. The Midrash concerning the book of Ester. It is based on midrashic and talmidic sources, so it is suspected that its origins are in Yemenite. The Aggadat Ester originated in the 13th century.
- The Aggadat Mashiah. This is a collection of homilies describing the messianic era. Compose of early legends, it was edited by Tobiah ben Eliezer himself.
—Shalom
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