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The Book of Legends Sefer Ha-Aggadah: Legends from the Talmud and Midrash Hardcover

4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 206 ratings

Customer reviews

4.7 out of 5 stars
4.7 out of 5
206 global ratings
The folk lore of the folk belief in the Sacred Jewish tradition
5 Stars
The folk lore of the folk belief in the Sacred Jewish tradition
Where has "legend" gone? Do you study the Scriptures? Do you study the Hebrew Scriptures? Are you able to draw out all the meaning you can? Do you know about the "Foundation Stone?" When does it first appear in God's creation? Where does it reappear in the Scriptures? Do you know what is the "navel of the world? Do you know the story behind it? Do you realize that if you did you could understand Israel and Jerusalem better? These are "legends!" For centuries they provided a context in which the Torah and other Hebrew Scriptures could be taught orally. We know the story of Moses. At the "burning bush," Moses enters into a crucial moment in his life. He has undergone a purification. He no longer looks back at his mistakes and failures. He has gone through conversion. He has achieved a certain openness. He has a new understanding of God. Before, it was Moses who had things to do for God. Now, there is room for God to step in. Moses is now willing to let God take the initiative. Yet, he's fearful (a good sign-a God sign), but he is capable of letting God illuminate him and to use him as he wishes. In, The Book of Legends/Sefer Ha-Aggadah: Legends from the Talmud and Midrash, the Rabbis show us that Moses has undergone a transformation. Not only this. For Christians, in fact, I am sure there is seen in it: a foretelling of the Parable of the Good Shepherd. This is legend! This is what it's all about: "`Now Moses was tending the flock' (Ex. 3:1). The Holy One tested Moses by means of the flock, as our masters explained: When Moses our teacher was tending Jethro's flock in the wilderness, a lamb scampered off, and Moses followed it, until it approached a shelter under a rock. As the lamb reached the shelter, it came upon a pool of water and stopped to drink. When Moses caught up with it, he said, "I did not know that you ran away because you were thirsty. Now you must be tired." So he hoisted the lamb on his shoulder and started walking back with it. The Holy One then said: Because you showed such compassion in tending the flock of a mortal, as you live, you shall become shepherd of Israel, the flock that is Mine." It's a great collection of the wisdom of the Rabbis that touches various and multiple aspects of human life. It follows the format of the books of Scripture. It therefore doubles as a ready-made commentary, filled with riches in English that you may not find elsewhere. Once you begin, you may not want to study the Hebrew Scriptures any other way. The price may seem steep. But it is well-made with a beautiful dust jacket which will stand out on you book shelves. It will probably last a lifetime, and then some. FYI, on Wikipedia, I saw what they call "a modern folklorist's professional definition of legend" proposed by Timothy R. Tangherlini in 1990: Legend, typically, is a short (mono-) episodic, traditional, highly ecotypified historicized narrative performed in a conversational mode, reflecting on a psychological level a symbolic representation of folk belief and collective experiences and serving as a reaffirmation of commonly held values of the group to whose tradition it belongs."
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Reviewed in the United States on September 3, 2010
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5.0 out of 5 stars The folk lore of the folk belief in the Sacred Jewish tradition
Reviewed in the United States on September 3, 2010
Where has "legend" gone? Do you study the Scriptures? Do you study the Hebrew Scriptures? Are you able to draw out all the meaning you can? Do you know about the "Foundation Stone?" When does it first appear in God's creation? Where does it reappear in the Scriptures? Do you know what is the "navel of the world? Do you know the story behind it? Do you realize that if you did you could understand Israel and Jerusalem better?

These are "legends!" For centuries they provided a context in which the Torah and other Hebrew Scriptures could be taught orally. We know the story of Moses. At the "burning bush," Moses enters into a crucial moment in his life. He has undergone a purification. He no longer looks back at his mistakes and failures. He has gone through conversion. He has achieved a certain openness. He has a new understanding of God. Before, it was Moses who had things to do for God. Now, there is room for God to step in. Moses is now willing to let God take the initiative. Yet, he's fearful (a good sign-a God sign), but he is capable of letting God illuminate him and to use him as he wishes.

In, The Book of Legends/Sefer Ha-Aggadah: Legends from the Talmud and Midrash, the Rabbis show us that Moses has undergone a transformation. Not only this. For Christians, in fact, I am sure there is seen in it: a foretelling of the Parable of the Good Shepherd. This is legend! This is what it's all about: "`Now Moses was tending the flock' (Ex. 3:1). The Holy One tested Moses by means of the flock, as our masters explained: When Moses our teacher was tending Jethro's flock in the wilderness, a lamb scampered off, and Moses followed it, until it approached a shelter under a rock. As the lamb reached the shelter, it came upon a pool of water and stopped to drink. When Moses caught up with it, he said, "I did not know that you ran away because you were thirsty. Now you must be tired." So he hoisted the lamb on his shoulder and started walking back with it. The Holy One then said: Because you showed such compassion in tending the flock of a mortal, as you live, you shall become shepherd of Israel, the flock that is Mine."

It's a great collection of the wisdom of the Rabbis that touches various and multiple aspects of human life. It follows the format of the books of Scripture. It therefore doubles as a ready-made commentary, filled with riches in English that you may not find elsewhere. Once you begin, you may not want to study the Hebrew Scriptures any other way.

The price may seem steep. But it is well-made with a beautiful dust jacket which will stand out on you book shelves. It will probably last a lifetime, and then some.

FYI, on Wikipedia, I saw what they call "a modern folklorist's professional definition of legend" proposed by Timothy R. Tangherlini in 1990: Legend, typically, is a short (mono-) episodic, traditional, highly ecotypified historicized narrative performed in a conversational mode, reflecting on a psychological level a symbolic representation of folk belief and collective experiences and serving as a reaffirmation of commonly held values of the group to whose tradition it belongs."
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Gershom
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