The Mekhilta le-Sefer Devarim (

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

: מכילתא לספר דברים) is a

halakhic midrash ''Midrash halakha'' ( he, הֲלָכָה) was the ancient Judaic rabbinic method of Torah study that expounded upon the traditionally received 613 Mitzvot (commandments) by identifying their sources in the Hebrew Bible, and by interpreting thes ...

to Deuteronomy from the school of

Rabbi Ishmael Rabbi Yishmael ben Elisha Nachmani (Hebrew: רבי ישמעאל בן אלישע), often known as Rabbi Yishmael and sometimes given the title "Ba'al HaBaraita" (Hebrew: בעל הברייתא), was a rabbi of the 1st and 2nd centuries (third gener ...

which is no longer extant. No midrash by this name is mentioned in

Talmudic The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law ('' halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the ce ...

literature, nor do the medieval authors refer to such a work. Although

Maimonides Musa ibn Maimon (1138–1204), commonly known as Maimonides (); la, Moses Maimonides and also referred to by the acronym Rambam ( he, רמב״ם), was a Sephardic Jewish philosopher who became one of the most prolific and influential Tora ...

says, "R. Ishmael explained from 've-eleh shemot' to the conclusion of the

Torah The Torah (; hbo, ''Tōrā'', "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. In that sense, Torah means the ...

, that is, the Mekhilta," he did not see this midrash, which also includes Deuteronomy, since he does not quote any Mekhilta passages to that book of the

Pentateuch The Torah (; hbo, ''Tōrā'', "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. In that sense, Torah means the ...

in his ''Sefer ha-Mitzvot,'' although he draws upon the

halakhic midrashim ''Midrash halakha'' ( he, הֲלָכָה) was the ancient Judaic rabbinic method of Torah study that expounded upon the traditionally received 613 Mitzvot (commandments) by identifying their sources in the Hebrew Bible, and by interpreting these ...

in discussing most of the commandments. Maimonides probably knew, therefore, merely through an old tradition which he had heard that such a midrash by R. Ishmael existed.

Evidence in favor of its existence

But there are other circumstances which prove that there was once such a work. Many midrashic

baraitot ''Baraita'' (Aramaic: "external" or "outside"; pl. ''Barayata'' or ''Baraitot''; also Baraitha, Beraita; Ashkenazi: Beraisa) designates a tradition in the Jewish oral law not incorporated in the Mishnah. ''Baraita'' thus refers to teachings "o ...

to Deuteronomy are introduced in the

Talmud The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law ('' halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the ce ...

with the words "Tena debei R. Yishmael," and may be recognized in form and substance as R' Ishmael's midrashim.

Bava Batra Bava Batra (also Baba Batra; Talmudic Aramaic: בָּבָא בַּתְרָא "The Last Gate") is the third of the three Talmudic tractates in the Talmud in the order Nezikin; it deals with a person's responsibilities and rights as the owner of pr ...

124b quotes a passage to a verse in Deuteronomy from the "She'ar Sifre devei Rav," a term by which the Mekhilta de-Rabbi Yishmael is designated. This clearly indicates that there was a midrash to Deuteronomy by

R. Ishmael R. or r. may refer to: * ''Reign'', the period of time during which an Emperor, king, queen, etc., is ruler. * '' Rex'', abbreviated as R., the Latin word meaning King * ''Regina'', abbreviated as R., the Latin word meaning Queen * or , abbreviat ...

at the period of the Amoraim. This work, which was called also "Mekhilta," disappeared at an early date, and was therefore unknown to the medieval authors. The editor of the Midrash ha-Gadol, however, knew it and included many passages from it in his collection. The citations from R. Ishmael's Mekhilta to Deuteronomy which are contained in the Midrash ha-Gadol have been collected by

David Zvi Hoffmann David Zvi Hoffmann (November 24, 1843, Verbó, Austrian Empire – November 20, 1921, Berlin) (Hebrew: דוד צבי הופמן), was an Orthodox Rabbi and Torah Scholar. He headed the Yeshiva in Berlin, and published research on the Pent ...

and printed under the title ''Liḳḳuṭe Mekilta: Collectaneen aus einer Mechilta'' and separately under the title ''Liḳḳuṭe Batar Liḳḳuṭe: Neue Collectaneen aus einer Mechilta zu Deuteronomium''. It appears from these passages that this midrash contained much valuable material from the earlier halakic exegetes. Especially noteworthy is the statement that R. Simon Gamaliel, together with R. Johanan b. Zakkai, addressed a circular letter to the Galileans and other communities, a statement which certainly antedates the parallel passage in

Tosefta The Tosefta ( Jewish Babylonian Aramaic: תוספתא "supplement, addition") is a compilation of the Jewish oral law from the late 2nd century, the period of the Mishnah. Overview In many ways, the Tosefta acts as a supplement to the Mishnah ( ...

, Sanh. 2:6. Hoffmann's collection of extracts from the Mekhilta includes also many quotations from

' ''Yad''.Compare D. Hoffmann, ''Ueber eine Mechilta,'' p. 85, and his preface to the ''Liḳḳuṭe Mekilta,'' p. 4 Aside from the passages included in the Midrash ha-Gadol, some fragments of the Mekhilta have been preserved in the

Cairo Genizah The Cairo Geniza, alternatively spelled Genizah, is a collection of some 400,000 Jewish manuscript fragments and Fatimid administrative documents that were kept in the '' genizah'' or storeroom of the Ben Ezra Synagogue in Fustat or Old Cairo, ...

; these were discovered by

S. Schechter Solomon Schechter ( he, שניאור זלמן הכהן שכטר‎; 7 December 1847 – 19 November 1915) was a Moldavian-born British-American rabbi, academic scholar and educator, most famous for his roles as founder and President of the ...

and published by him in the '' J. Q. R.''

Jewish Encyclopedia bibliography

* D. Hoffmann, ''Zur Einleitung in die Halachischen Midraschim'', p. 77, Berlin, 1887; *idem, ''Ueber eine Mechilta zu Deuteronomium'', in ''Jubelschrift zum Siebzigsten Geburtstag des Dr. Isr. Hildesheimer'', German part, pp. 83–98, Berlin, 1890.

References

External links

{{JewishEncyclopedia, article= Mekilta le-Sefer Devarim, url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=377&letter=M, author=

Isidore Singer Isidore Singer (10 November 1859 – 20 February 1939) was an American encyclopedist and editor of ''The Jewish Encyclopedia'' and founder of the American League for the Rights of Man. Biography Singer was born in 1859 in Weisskirchen, M ...

and Jacob Zallel Lauterbach Halakhic Midrashim Book of Deuteronomy