Page:Chapters on Jewish literature (IA chaptersonjewish00abra).pdf/62

58 onomy); the Pesikta (to various Sections of the Bible, whence its name); the Tanchuma (to the Pentateuch); the Midrash Rabbah (“the Great Midrash,” to the Pentateuch and the Five Serolls of Esther, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Songs): and the Midrash Ilaggadol (identical in name, and in contents similar to. but not identical with, the Midrash Rabbah); together with a large number of collected Midrashim, such as the Yalkul, and a host of smaller works, several of which are no longer extant.

Regarding the Midrash in its purely literary aspects, we find its style to be far more lucid than that of the Talmud, though portions of the Halachic Midrash are identical in character with the Talmud. The Midrash has many passages in which the simple graces of form match the beauty of idea. But for the most part the style is simple and prosaic, rather than ornate or poetical. It produces its effects by the