Great Voice that Did Not Cease (Monographs of the Hebrew Union College): The Growth of the Rabbinic Canon and Its Interpretation: 35

The growth of the rabbinic canon may be best described as a hermeneutical endeavor. Michael Chernick demonstrates how hermeneutical methods helped the Rabbis confront the difficulties that arose when logical and interpretative problems appeared in scriptural and, later, rabbinic texts. Given the Rabbis' theological, literary, and rhetorical attitudes, these reading strategies were adopted to obviate the problem the texts presented. After all, the Rabbis of different generations viewed these texts as revealed communications produced by a perfect Author. Chernick analyzes and illustrates six midrashic hermeneutics in great detail: outright midrashic resolutions of contradictions in Scripture, distinguishing between what constitutes true scriptural proof and what is merely a support text, a midrashic hermeneutic that transfers the rules of one rubric to another, two hermeneutics that limit interpretive extensions of halakhot, and the claim that two redundant pentateuchal rubrics are needed to ward off incorrect analogies. He highlights the significant changes that occurred in rabbinic legal hermeneutics from the tannaitic through post-amoraic strata of rabbinic literature-some 500 years at least-and shows how these changes attest to the persistence, continuity, and centrality of hermenutic method to the rabbinic interpretive process. Of particular significance is the connection Chernick makes between changes in hermeneutical practice and the changing revelatory status of the non-Pentateuchal parts of the Hebrew Bible and rabbinic legal discourse. His study draws its title from the traditional view of Sinaitic revelation, when God spoke to the assembled people with "a great voice that did not cease" (kol gadol velo yasaf, Deut 5:19). This view, Chernick believes, is at the core of rabbinic Judaism, the Judaism that claims to hear that great voice through the medium of interpretation. The work shows the growth of various rabbinic methods of interpreting the Torah in order to draw legal conclusions from it. The use style, and format of these methods changed from their earliest beginnings during the Tannaitic period (c. 90-220 CE) until the end of the talmudic period (late 6th-early 7th century). Chernick sees these changes as due to successive generations viewing the work of their predecessors as a form of divine revelation. This meant that later rabbinic generations treated the results of former generations interpretations and legal conclusions as if it were Scripture itself. This allowed later rabbinic sages to apply methods of interpretation once reserved for Scripture to earlier rabbinic works and interpretations. Chernick focuses on six midrashic hermeneutics: outright midrashic resolutions of contradictions in scripture; distinguishing between what constitutes true scriptural proof and what is merely a support text; a midrashic hermeneutic that transfers the rules of one rubric to another; two hermeneutics that limit interpretive extensions of halakhot; and, the claim that two redundant pentateuchal rubrics are needed to ward off incorrect analogies. Chernick not only analyzes and illustrates these hermeneutical methods in great detail. He highlights the significant changes that occurred in rabbinic legal hermeneutics from the tannaitic through post-amoraic strata of rabbinic literature - some 500 years at least - as well as the persistence and continuity of rabbinic hermeneutical interests evidenced through such changes. Cover A Great Voice that Did Not Cease: The Growth of the Rabbinic Canon and Its Interpretation Contents Acknowledgments General and Methodological Introduction 1 Pentateuchal Narratives and Non-Pentateuchal Sources as Prooftexts for Halakhic Legislation 2 Scriptural Discrepancies and Their Resolution in Midrashic Interpretations 3 The Transfer of Pentateuchal Rules from One Rubric to Another 4 “Two Scriptural Passages that Teach a Single Principle” and “Two Restrictions” Conclusions Selected Bibliography Index of Passages Cited Index of Authorities Cited Subject Index Pentateuchal narratives and non-Pentateuchal sources as supports for halakhic legislation Scriptural discrepancies and their resolution in Midrashic interpretations The transfer of Pentateuchal rules from one rubric to another "Two scriptural passages that teach a single principle" and "two restrictions".