Sifra, Dibbura De Sinai: Rhetorical Formulae, Literary Structures, And Legal Traditions (monographs Of The Hebrew Union College)

Sifra is the earliest extant rabbinic commentary on the book of Leviticus. On a basic level, Sifra presents and validates rabbinic law, but this was done by creating a link between a proposition, halakhic or not, and a scriptural passage. Scholars in the last few decades―including Neusner and Stemberger―have debated Sifra’s relationship to Mishnah-Tosefta. Howard Apothaker demonstrates that the set of rules in Dibbura deSinai on topics shared with Mishnah-Tosefta can be understood as an independent body of law. They share a common ancestor but represent different expressions of a similar worldview and with variant purposes. The framers of Sifra sought as their main objective to validate the essentiality, or non-superfluity, of every word of Scripture. Apothaker’s analysis of the exegetical and rhetorical characteristics of Sifra in Sifra, Dibbura deSinai: Rhetorical Formulae, Literary Structures, and Legal Traditions builds on his translation of and commentary on the section of Dibbura deSinai which covers Leviticus 25–27. Analysis of Sifra’s highly formalized rhetoric yields insight concerning the general purpose(s) for which the framers created the work. Pt. I. Translation And Analysis -- Behar -- 1. Parashah One -- 2. Pereq One -- 3. Parashah Two -- 4. Pereq Two -- 5. Pereq Three -- 6. Parashah Three -- 7. Pereq Four -- 8. Pereq Five -- 9. Parashah Four -- 10. Pereq Six -- 11. Parashah Five -- 12. Pereq Seven -- 13. Parashah Six -- 14. Pereq Eight -- 15. Pereq Nine -- Behuqotai -- 16. Parashah One -- 17. Pereq One -- 18. Pereq Two -- 19. Pereq Three -- 20. Parashah Two -- 21. Pereq Four -- 22. Pereq Five -- 23. Pereq Six -- 24. Pereq Seven -- 25. Pereq Eight -- 26. Parashah Three -- 27. Pereq Nine -- 28. Parashah Four -- 29. Pereq Ten -- 30. Pereq Eleven -- 31. Parashah Five -- 32. Pereq Twelve -- 33. Pereq Thirteen -- Pt. Ii. Synthetic Analyses -- 34. Rhetorical Formulae -- 35. Literary Structures -- 36. Legal Traditions -- 37. Thoughts On Mishnah And Sifra's Parting Of The Ways -- App. A. A Listing Of The Rhetorical Formulae -- App. B. An Outline Of The Rules -- App. C. Deriving Affirmative Propositions From Preclusions. Howard L. Apothaker. Includes A Full Translation Of And Commentary On Sinai, The Last Dibbur Of Sifra. Revision Of Author's Thesis (ph. D.)--hebrew Union College, Cincinnati, Ohio, 1995. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 436-448) And Indexes. Contents Acknowledgments Transliterations Abbreviations Introduction Part I Translation and Analysis Part II Synthetic Analyses Appendix Bibliography Index of Sources Index of Persons General Index