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midrash

[ Sephardic Hebrew mee-drahsh; Ashkenazic Hebrew mi-drahsh ]

noun

, plural mid·ra·shim [mee-d, r, ah-, sheem, mi-, draw, -shim], mid·ra·shoth, mid·ra·shot, mid·ra·shos [mee-d, r, ah-, shawt, mi-, draw, -shohs].
  1. an early Jewish interpretation of or commentary on a Biblical text, clarifying or expounding a point of law or developing or illustrating a moral principle.
  2. (initial capital letter) a collection of such interpretations or commentaries, especially those written in the first ten centuries a.d.


midrash

/ miˈdraʃ; mɪdˈræʃɪk; ˈmɪdræʃ /

noun

  1. a homily on a scriptural passage derived by traditional Jewish exegetical methods and consisting usually of embellishment of the scriptural narrative
  2. one of a number of collections of such homilies composed between 400 and 1200 ad
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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Derived Forms

  • midrashic, adjective
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Other Words From

  • mid·rash·ic [mid-, rash, -ik], adjective
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Word History and Origins

Origin of midrash1

First recorded in 1605–15, midrash is from the Hebrew word midrāsh literally, exposition
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Word History and Origins

Origin of midrash1

C17: from Hebrew: commentary, from darash to search
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Example Sentences

Each book uses a traditional storytelling structure — lyrics, midrash, folk tales — while pushing at the edges of what a form can contain, cramming it with modern human concerns, triumphs and tragedies.

The commissions will begin later this year with a beit midrash, or study period, for the writers, spearheaded by Sabrina Sojourner — herself a Jew of color who serves as a Rockville, Md.-based community chaplain promoting diversity and inclusion among Jewish people.

Rather, he did what great exponents of Midrash have done for centuries: He used the Bible as a canvas on which to paint new images, ideas and interpretations; metaphors for the age in which he lived.

Herzfeld spoke during a recent a tour through the 1,300-square-foot Northwest Washington house being renovated to be the yeshiva, where there are bedrooms for students to live, a massive basement of books and an open backyard being transformed into Reb Elimelech’s core Torah study room, in Hebrew called a beit midrash.

Take Rabbi Buechler, who in 2011 started Midrash Manicures, which makes nail decals customized for Jewish holidays — plagues for Passover, tiny shofars for Rosh Hashana, scales of justice for Yom Kippur.

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