midrash

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Pronunciations

midrash (MIH-drahsh) listen

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Definitions

  • n. Ancient stories or explanations that interpret or elaborate on the Torah's text.

Example Sentences

  • "We read the midrash to get a deeper understanding of the Torah text."

  • "The trouble with Cecil B. de Mille's The Ten Commandments is that he didn't check the Medresh first." (Glinert)

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Languages of Origin

  • Textual Hebrew

Etymology

  • מדרש

      • Who Uses This

      • Religious: Jews who are engaged in religious observance and have some Jewish education

      Regions

      • North America
      • Australia / New Zealand
      • Great Britain
      • South Africa

      Dictionaries

      • The New Joys of Yiddish, by Leo Rosten and Lawrence Bush (New York, 2003[1968]).
      • The JPS Dictionary of Jewish Words, by Joyce Eisenberg and Ellen Scolnic, (Philadelphia, 2001).
      • The Joys of Hebrew, by Lewis Glinert (New York, 1992).
      • Dictionary of Jewish Usage: A Popular Guide to the Use of Jewish Terms, by Sol Steinmetz (Lanham, MD, 2005).
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      Alternative Spellings

      meedrash, medrash

Notes

  • 'Midrash' can refer to an individual interpretation or to one of several collections of midrashim that have been published on books of the Bible.

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