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Midrash and Multiplicity: Pirke de-Rabbi Eliezer and the Renewal of Rabbinic Interpretive Culture. By STEVEN DANIEL SACKS. Studi Judaica, vol. 48. Berlin: WALTER DE GRUYTER, 2009. Pp. ix + 182. euro84.07.
Midrash and Multiplicity addresses itself to the perplexing nature of Pirkei de-Rabbi Eliezer (PRE). In particular, Sacks' work addresses the question: how is PRE both like and unlike classical rabbinic literature? Although tradition had long considered the work to be part of the rabbinic canon, the past two centuries of scholarship have drawn attention to its various unusual characteristics, including novel themes, forms of expression, and structure. Against this background, Sacks' work comes to give us an updated view of PRE' s role in the continuous Jewish legal and midrashic tradition.
Not that his estimation equivocates. Most of all, Sacks comes to argue just how much PRE is like other rabbinic midrash. Even where it fails to look similar in form or content, it is similar in purpose: to receive, transmit, and transform scriptural interpretation. This particular triad of activity is exceedingly important to Sacks' point. He terms this type of active engagement "tradition building," and it becomes the central lens for his assessment of PRE' s "belonging" in the rabbinic canon.
Sacks' "tradition-building" approach allows for an understanding of fluid literary engagement,...