Chazal = sages (of the Mishna, Tosefta and Talmud eras)
Tanakh = acronym of the first Hebrew letter of each of the Masoretic Text's three traditional subdivisions: Torah ("Teaching", also known as the Five Books of Moses), Nevi'im ("Prophets") and Ketuvim ("Writings")
Midrash is the process and the complete work
Midrashim are the discrete units
Notes on Jewish practice that may become relevant:
Different parts of the Torah are read at different points in the year. When “the weekly Torah reading” is referenced, they mean the specific verses for that week. All five books (the whole old testament) will be read over the course of the year
Summary of Reading Midrash Online Crash Course:
Unlike the modern view that text contains meaning that we must decode, the Chazal’s believed that the text contains the potential for meaning and therefore any verse could produce infinite meaning but that isn’t to say it could mean anything. By reading the bible, we produce meaning, however, only Rabbis trained in Midrash are able to properly develop this meaning without abusing the text.
Textual Concerns
Chazal’s method of interpretation were founded on:
Omnisignificance:
the idea that every word in the Biblical text contains meaning. This leads to intense exegesis
Gap Filling:
the stories are somewhat skeletal; the Rabbis “aggressively” fill the gaps to create the richest possible stories
Dialogue between distant verses: they do this in order to
Resolving contradictory verses: The bible appears contradictory but Chazal belief that it is a unified text that cannot contradict itself so the apparent conflicts must be reconciled.
By reading the conflicting verses together they interpret one in light of the other or reinterpret both to synthesize an all new meaning]
Creating thematic or linguistic connections: By juxtaposing verses they are able to find richer meaning in the text perhaps by following a common theme or specific use of language
Ideological Concerns
Chazal used their reading to draw out broader significance from the text. They mixed their reading of the text with teachings received through the oral tradition with their own logic and reason to develop theological ideas concerning all things which they would then share with their community.
Aesthetic-Artistic Concerns
Midrashim are beautiful to read for several reasons
To make it more interesting and accessible for the reader
To honor god through beauty
The value of literary beauty for its own sake
Unfortunately we will lose a lot of this in translation
Vocabulary:
Notes on Jewish practice that may become relevant:
Summary of Reading Midrash Online Crash Course: Unlike the modern view that text contains meaning that we must decode, the Chazal’s believed that the text contains the potential for meaning and therefore any verse could produce infinite meaning but that isn’t to say it could mean anything. By reading the bible, we produce meaning, however, only Rabbis trained in Midrash are able to properly develop this meaning without abusing the text.
Citations: Intro to Midrash: https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/midrash-101/ What is Midrash?: https://mizrachi.org/midrash/