Scholarly Debates on Leviticus Rabbah

Yesterday, I started Burton Visotzky's Golden Bells and Pomegranates. I'm writing this post at school right now, since I'll probably be too tired to write it once I get home. It concerns scholarly debates concerning Leviticus Rabbah, which Visotzky dates to fifth century Palestine.

The first debate concerns what Leviticus Rabbah is. Is it an edited literary document, or a homily? One of my rabbinics professors calls it a "literary homily". I guess that's the best of both worlds. Essentially, Visotzsky argues that it's a mish-mash of different (often contradictory) rabbinic traditions---a compendium, if you will. I enjoyed Visotzky's discussion of the sacrificial system in Leviticus Rabbah, which includes traditions saying that the sacrifices will one day be re-instituted, that the temple system as we know it will be abolished, that the priests are authoritative, that they are screw-ups, etc. That's diversity!

I wonder if Leviticus Rabbah tries to make a point from the diverse traditions that it uses. One professor disliked my calling the one who put Leviticus Rabbah together a "compiler", for he viewed him as an artist shaping his traditions to communicate a message, not merely compiling them.

The second debate concerns what drew from what. Visotzky holds that Leviticus Rabbah drew from Genesis Rabbah, the Jerusalem Talmud, and Pesikta de-Rab Kahana. Because LR and PdRK share certain traditions, there is a view that one drew from the other, or that both drew from a common tradition. The debate is what drew from what.

Scholars also discuss the use of Aramaic in Leviticus Rabbah. Jews spoke Aramaic at this time, and yet rabbinic documents use plenty of Hebrew. Was Aramaic used to produce intimacy between the teller of the folk tale in LR and the hearer, who was more comfortable with Aramaic? That is one proposal.

There's also the issue of Hellenistic influence on Leviticus Rabbah. Visotzky, for example, attributes LR's division between the body and the soul to Hellenistic influence.

That's that for now! Tonight, I'll be watching Father Murphy while I read more of Visotzky.