Wayikra Rabbah

Leviticus Rabbah, Vayikrah Rabbah, or Wayiqra Rabbah is a homiletic midrash to the Biblical book of Leviticus (Vayikrah in Hebrew). It is referred to by Nathan ben Jehiel (c. 1035–1106) in his Aruk as well as by Rashi (1040–1105) in his commentaries on Genesis 46:26, Exodus 32:5, Leviticus 9:24, and elsewhere. According to Leopold Zunz, Hai Gaon (939-1038) and Nissim knew and made use of it. Zunz dates it to the middle of the 7th century, but The Encyclopaedia Judaica and Jacob Neusner date it to the 5th century. It originated in the Land of Israel, and is composed largely of older works. Its redactor made use of Genesis Rabbah, Pesikta de-Rav Kahana, and the Jerusalem Talmud, in addition to other ancient sources. The redactor appears to have referred also to the Babylonian Talmud, using several expressions in the sense in which only that work employs them.

Leviticus Rabbah is not a continuous, explanatory interpretation to Leviticus, but a collection of exclusive sermons or lectures on the themes or texts of that book. It consists altogether of 37 such homilies, each of which constitutes a separate chapter. Leviticus Rabbah often refers to Scriptural passages on which the homilies are based as "par'shiyot," and are further designated according to their contents. Of the 37 homilies, eight (1, 3, 8, 11, 13, 20, 26, 30) are introduced with the formula "Patach R." or "The teacher has commenced"; eight (2, 4-7, 9, 10, 19), with "Hada hu dich'tiv" or "As it is written"; and 21 (12, 14-18, 21-25, 27-29, 31-37), with "Zeh she-amar ha-katuv" or "This is what the Holy Scriptures say." Weiss explains that the redactor selected only these 37 texts for his exposition as indicating the prior existence of the Sifra, the legal interpretation of Leviticus: "The redactor of the Wayikra Rabbah had nothing to add to the [Sifra]; he collected therefore only those haggadic explanations which he found on various texts and passages." This surmise by Weiss is, however, refuted by the circumstance that nearly all the chapters of Leviticus Rabbah (with the exception of chapters 11, 24, 32, 35, and 36) refer to legal passages. Thus, the redactor of Leviticus Rabbah collected homiletic expositions also of such texts as were treated in the Sifra. The conjecture of Theodor that in the older cycle of weekly lessons the passages on which the homilies of Leviticus Rabbah were based consisted in certain paragraphs, or in lessons for certain festivals, seems therefore to be correct. (See Theodor, "Die Midraschim zum Pentateuch und der Dreijährige Palestinensische Cyclus," in "Monatsschrift," 1886, pp. 307–313, 406-415.)

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