370-121-MS: Judaism, Christianity & Islam (Sasson): Ancient to Modern Jewish Biblical Interpretations

The Mishnah or the Mishna is the first written collection of the Jewish oral traditions that are known as the Oral Torah. Having been collected in the 3rd century CE, it is the first work of rabbinic literature, written primarily in Mishnaic Hebrew but also partly in Jewish Palestinian Aramaic.

The Baraita de-Melekhet Ha_Mishkan (On the Building of the Tabernacle), is ancient collection containing 14 chapters, giving a description of the building of the Mishkan or Tabernacle. This was the portable sanctuary constructed by Moses and used by the Hebrew tribes from Exodus until the conquest of Canaan.

Midrash is the body of exegesis of Torah texts along with homiletic stories as taught by Chazal (Rabbinical Jewish sages of the post-Temple era) that provide an intrinsic analysis to passages in the Tanakh. It provides a method of interpreting biblical stories that goes beyond simple distillation of religious, legal, or moral teachings. It fills in gaps left in the biblical narrative regarding events and personalities that are only hinted at.

The purpose of midrash was to resolve problems in the interpretation of difficult passages of the text of the Hebrew Bible, using Rabbinic principles of hermeneutics and philology to align them with the religious and ethical values of religious teachers.

The Midrash Rabbah refers to part of or the collective whole of aggadic midrashim on the books of the Tanach, generally having the term "Rabbah" (meaning "great,“) as part of their name.

The Midrash does not give absolutes. It instead produces a conversation of different interpretation of the Hebrew Bible, with a goal of discover. Parts of the Midrash even include important recorded arguments among rabbi.

"Rashi" is an acronym for Rabbi Shlomo Itzhaki. A medieval French Rabbi who authored comprehensive commentaries on the Talmud and the Tanakh (Jewish Bible, including the Torah, the Nevi'm, and the K'tuvim). He was a prolific commentator and was known for being able to produce 5 pages of commentary on a single word in a single passage.

Abraham ben Meir Ibn Ezra, also known as Abenezra or simply ibn Ezra, is a major medieval Jewish Biblical commentator, and had a great reputation as both a poet and a scholar in Spain during his lifetime. His began publishing his commentaries on the Jewish Bible in 1140 with a commentary on Ecclesiates, and continued to publish commentaries on the  Ketuvim and Nevi'im thereafter. In 1145, he published a short commentary on the entire Torah, which he later expanded upon, starting with the publication of a commentary on Genesis in 1155. He also published several works on Islamic science, especially focusing on astrology and the use of the astrolabe.

Joseph Kimhi was a medieval Jewish Rabbi and biblical commentator. He was the father of Moses and David Kimhi. He was known to have written commentaries for all of the books of the Jewish Bible, but only fragments remain. His interpretations stressed literal interpretation of the text, in opposition to allegorical christological readings of the period In particular, his Book of the Covenant clearly outlines his opposition to contemporary Christian interpretation.

Moses ben Maimon is commonly known as "Maimonides," and also by the Hebrew acronym "Rambam." He was a Sephardic rabbi and philosopher, and was one of the most prolific and influential Torah scholars of the Middle Ages, as well as a preeminent astronomer and physician. He was born in Córdoba in al-Andalus (now Spain, but then part of the Almoravid Empire), where he lived until his family was expelled for refusing to convert to Islam. He later lived in Morocco and Egypt, and served as Saladin's personal physician. He wrote several works, including the Mishneh Torah, which was an extensive commentary on the Torah and a code of Jewish law that incorporated the widest possible scope and depth.

David Kimhi, also known by the Hebrew acronym RaDaK, was a medieval rabbi, Biblical commentator, philosopher, and grammarian. He was born in Narbonne, in what is now Southern France, and was the youngest son of Rabbi Joseph Kimhi and the brother of Moses Kimhi, although he went on to be the most well-know commentator of his family. He is best known for his commentaries on the works of the Prophets, although he also wrote commentaries on Genesis, Psalms, and Chronicles.

Moses ben Nachman, also known as Nachmanides or the Hebrew acronum Ramban, Jewish scholar, Catalan rabbi, philosopher, physician, kabbalist, and biblical commentator. He is well known for his alternative critiques to Rashi’s commentaries, and was generally known for resisting the inflluence of Greek and Arab philosophy on Jewish commentary.

Jacob Ben Asher, also known as Ba'al ha-Turim ( as well as Yaakov ben haRosh was an influential medieval rabbinic authority. He was a rabbi of the Holy Roman Empire. He moved from Cologne to Toledo in Castile in 1303, due to increasing persecution of Jews in his native Germany. He is most well known for writing Arba'ah Turim, which is considered one of the most important halachic (Jewish religious law) books of all time. He also wrote commentaries on the Pentateuch.

Levi ben Gershon , also known by as Gersonides, or Magister Leo Hebraeus, or by the Hebrew abbreviation RaLBaG, was a medieval French Jewish philosopher, Talmudist, mathematician, physician and astronomer/astrologer. He was born at Bagnols in Languedoc, France.  He wrote commentaries on the Pentateuch, Joshua, Judges, I & II Samuel, I & II Kings, Proverbs, Job, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, Ruth, Esther, Daniel, Ezra-Nehemiah, and Chronicles. He may have also written a commentary on Isaiah, but no copy of the work is known to still exist. Much of his work is modeled after the plan of the work of Maimonides (see above), and may be regarded as a criticism of some elements of that work.

The Zohar is a foundational work of Kabbalistic literature. It was originally published by Moses de Leon (c.1240-1305), who claimed it was the rcording the teachings of Simeon ben Yochai (c.100 CE). This claim is generally rejected. Some scholars belive that Moses de Leon wrote the book himself between 1280 and 1286. Others content that it is the work of multiple medieval scholars with some work from antiquity. Later additions to the Zohar were composed by a 14th century imitator.

Isaac be Judah Abarbanel, also commonly known as Abarbanel or Abravanel, was a Portuguese Jewish statesman, philosopher, Bible commentator, and financier. Among other works, he published commentaries on the Torah and the Nevi'm, in which he quotes extensively from the Midrash.

Isaac ben Solomon Ashkenazi Luria was a leading rabbi and Jewish mystic in the community of Safed in the Galilee region of Ottoman Syria, now Israel. He is considered the father of contemporary Kabbalah.

Yaakov ben Yitzchak Ashkenazi was a Rabbi in Janow, near Lublin, Poland. He is most well-know for authoring the Tz'enah Ur'enah (alternatively called teh Tseno Ureno). It is a Yiddish-language prose work that is structured to parallel the weekly Torah portions used in Jewish prayer services. It mixes Biblical passages with interpretive works and lore, including Midrashic content.

Menasseh Be Israel was a Jewish scholar, rabbi, kabbalist, writer, diplomat, printer, publisher, and founder of the first Hebrew printing press (named Emeth Meerets Titsmah) in Amsterdam in 1626. He wrote many religious interpretive works, including the Nishmat Hayim and The Conciliator.

Rabbi Moedechai Yosef Leiner was a rabbinic Hasidic thinker, and the founder of Izhbitza-Radzyn dynasty of Hasidic Judaism. He is best known for his work Mei Hashiloach.

Menachem Mendel Schneerson was American Orthodox rabbi and the most recent Rebbe of the Lubavitch Hasidic dynasty. He is considered one of the most influential Jewish leaders of the 20th century. He was the leader of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement.

Joseph B. Soloveitchik was a major American Orthodox Rabbi, Talmudist, and modern Jewish philosopher. Know as the Rav, he ordained close to 2,000 Rabbis during his fifty year tenure as the Rosh Yeshiva at the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary at the Yeshiva University in New York City. He is a seminal figure in Modern Orthodox Judaism.

Aryeh Kaplan was an American Orthodox rabbi, author, and translator best known for his Living Torah edition of the Torah and extensive Kabbalistic commentaries.