The Pesikta Rabbati, a collection of the discourses spoken in Palestinian synagogues and schools during the first half of the first millennium of the Common Era, is rich in tales of ancient Rabbinic and Jewish Biblical history. Based on the lessons in Scripture prescribed for the feasts, fasts, and special Sabbaths in the Jewish Calendar, the Pesikta provides authentic guidance to the beliefs which charge each of the days with distinctive meaning. The discourses infuse tradition with a new dimension by presenting the texture of the day through description of contemporary details and vivid accounts of special events. The Pesikta also documents the earliest instance of Jewish moral attitudes toward such matters as polygamy and Christianity. "Every thoughtful student of religious literature will once again be indebted to William G. Braude for making available in unusually readable English a gem of Rabbinic literature."—Eugene B. Borowitz, Professor of Education and Jewish Religious Though at Hebrew-Union College, New York. Yale Judaica Series, 18.
William G. Braude is Rabbi of the Congregation Sons of Israel and David, Providence, Rhode Island.
