No sources other than the Torah. No citations needed. Just double spacing.
The following is the instructions sent by the professor:
Imagine that youre a rabbi, in one of the rabbinical schools in the late Roman period, and you are trying to write a midrash (interpretation) of a section of the Torah, in order to help the community preserve a sense of Jewish identity and of the good life while under the Roman occupation.
For the sake of this lab, please choose one of the following selections from the Hebrew Bible to examine:
Proverbs 11:16
A kind-hearted woman gains honour, but ruthless men gain only wealth.
Genesis 2:22-23
Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. The man said, This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called woman, for she was taken out of man.
Proverbs 16:20
Whoever gives heed to instruction prospers, and blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord.
Job 12:12
Is not wisdom found among the aged? Does not long life bring understanding?
Proverbs 1:7
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.
Psalm 91:4
He will cover you with His feathers, and under His wings, you will find refuge; His faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.
Isaiah 58: 6-7
Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
Leviticus 19:34
The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt; I am the Lord your God.
Exodus 20:10
But the seventh day is a sabbath of the Lord your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you.
Your midrash on one of these selections should be between 250 and 350 words. It should discuss what that verse means in a Jewish context. Ask yourself questions like, ‘Is this verse someone speaking to God? Is it God speaking to His people? Are important concepts or life-experiences being clarified? Are there any mitzvot (commandments) implied?’ Your midrash should also include a clear and correct reference to at least two of the concepts in Judaism discussed in class, such as:
the covenant,
the mitzvah (guidance, directions, commandments),
kosher (rules concerning purity and impurity),
events in the sacred story of the Jewish people (the exodus, the diaspora, the lives of the prophets, etc.)
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