Aggadah

or Ag·ga·da, A·ga·da, Hag·ga·dah

[ Sephardic Hebrew ah-gah-dah; Ashkenazic Hebrew uh-gah-duh ]

noun
  1. the nonlegal or narrative material, as parables, maxims, or anecdotes, in the Talmud and other rabbinical literature, serving either to illustrate the meaning or purpose of the law, custom, or Biblical passage being discussed or to introduce a different, unrelated topic.

Origin of Aggadah

1
<Hebrew haggādhāh, derivative of higgīdh to narrate; see Haggadah

Other words from Aggadah

  • Ag·gad·ic, ag·gad·ic [uh-gad-ik, uh-gah-dik], /əˈgæd ɪk, əˈgɑ dɪk/, adjective

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How to use Aggadah in a sentence

  • The ascetic literature bears unmistakable traces of having been influenced by the Halaka and the Agada.

  • He was also well versed in philosophy, and composed a work to reconcile the Agada with the philosophical ideas of the time.

  • The reader is often thrown into amazement by the depth of thought and the loftiness of feeling manifested in the Agada.

    Jewish History | S. M. Dubnow
  • The first is called Halacha or legal decisions, and the second Agada or moral maxims and legends.

  • Equally interesting, and much more entertaining, is the second portion of the Talmudthe Agada.

British Dictionary definitions for Aggadah

Aggadah

/ (əɡəˈda) /


nounplural Aggadoth (-ˈdɔːt, -ˈdəʊt) Judaism
    • a homiletic passage of the Talmud

    • collectively, the homiletic part of traditional Jewish literature, as contrasted with Halacha, consisting of elaborations on the biblical narratives or tales from the lives of the ancient Rabbis

  1. any traditional homiletic interpretation of scripture

Origin of Aggadah

1
from Hebrew
  • Also called: Aggadatah (əˈɡadəta), Haggadah

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