Carol Bakhos

Recent Trends in the Study of Midrash and Rabbinic Narrative

The present article surveys some significant developments in scholarship on rabbinic midrash and narrative (aggadic) sources. The contemporary trends in the study of midrash can be traced back to the work of Jacob Neusner in the early 1970s. This article traces developments from that time, and does so by isolating trends in (1) literary analysis, (2) cultural studies, and (3) new historicism. A final section (4) looks at equally important developments concerning still unfinished business of producing critical editions of rabbinic texts.

Abraham Visits Ishmael: A Revisit

Previous studies of the story of Abrahams visit to Ishmael in Pirqe de Rabbi Eliezer (PRE) focus on its relationship to Islamic versions and read it either as polemical or apologetic. It is also assumed that either the author of PRE reworked an Islamic version of the story, or that the story is of Jewish origin. Such readings, however, are based largely on notions of Ishmaels character in the story that overlook other references to Ishmael and the Ishmaelites in PRE. This article thus examines the story in light of all references to Ishmael and the Ishmaelites in PRE.