Pirkei De-Rabbi Eliezer

Pirkei de-Rabbi Eliezer (Jewish Babylonian Aramaic: פִּרְקֵי דְּרַבִּי אֱלִיעֶזֶר, romanized: pirqe də-rabbi ʾeliʿezer, 'Chapters of Rabbi Eliezer'; abbreviated פדר״א, 'PRE') is an aggadic-midrashic work of Torah exegesis and retellings of biblical stories. Traditionally, the work is attributed to the tanna Eliezer ben Hurcanus and his school. Modern research suggests that the text is pseudepigraphic from the Geonic period of the eighth century, written in or near the Land of Israel.

Medieval scholarly texts also referred to Pirkei De-Rabbi Eliezer as Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer HaGadol and as Baraita DeRabbi Eliezer. Whereas medieval scholars attributed the work to the Tanna Eliezer ben Hyrcanus, Abraham Zacuto wrote, "it is well known that although it is attributed to Rabbi Eliezer, it was written by later generations". Subsequently, research by Leopold Zunz claims that Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer is an pseudepigraphic work. The first two chapters of the work are dedicated to the story of Eliezer ben Hyrcanus's approach to Torah, serving as an introduction to the work and providing background about the author. These chapters are derived from Avot de-Rabbi Natan, Version B, Chapter 13, and their originality in Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer is a matter of scholarly debate. Many researchers speculate that these chapters are a later addition and not original to the Midrash.This hypothesis is based on evidence from the Cairo Geniza, where a list of books includes a manuscript in which the midrash begins at Chapter 3. Additionally, in one manuscript, the title of the midrash appears only in Chapter 3. According to this hypothesis, there is no internal evidence in the midrash itself to attribute it specifically to Eliezer, and the name Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer was given because he is the first sage mentioned at the beginning of Chapter 3, "Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrcanus opened...", as it was customary to name works after the first sage mentioned in them. Eliezer Treitl disagrees with this view and believes that the chapters should not be excluded from the canon for two reasons: These chapters appear in all the complete manuscripts of the work that exist; the language of the chapters slightly differs from their source in Avot DeRabbi Natan in a way that suits the unique language and stylistic nuances of Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer.

The first scholar to establish the dating of the midrash was Leopold Zunz. Following his work, the widely accepted opinion in research is that the midrash was written around the eighth century. Zunz dates the book from the beginning to the middle of the eighth century. The evidence Zunz brings for this dating is that the author frequently refers in sermons to Ishmael and the kingdom of the children of Ishmael, and condemns their rule. Ishmael's name is interpreted at the beginning of Chapter 32 as: "And why is his name called Ishmael? Because in the future, the Holy One, blessed be He, will hear the cry of the people from what the children of Ishmael are destined to do in the land at the end of days." At the end of Chapter 30, the following apocalyptic vision appears,

Rabbi Ishmael says, Fifteen things the children of Ishmael are destined to do in the land at the end of days, and these are they: They will measure the land with ropes, make cemeteries for the resting place of sheep dung, measure in them and from them on the tops of mountains, increase lies, conceal the truth, distance law from Israel, increase sins in Israel, the worm will be as wool, the paper and pen will wither, the kingdom's rock will be rejected, they will rebuild ruined cities, clear roads, plant gardens and orchards, repair breaches in the walls of the Temple, build a structure in the sanctuary, and two brothers will stand over them as leaders in the end, and in their days the sprout of David (the Messiah) will stand.

According to Zunz, the "structure in the sanctuary" refers to the Dome of the Rock, which was built on the Temple Mount at the end of the seventh century. The rejection of the "kingdom's rock" refers to the minting of Muslim coins, which also occurred at the end of that century. Furthermore, the text bears a distinct similarity to the Geonic literature, a remarkable resemblance to the Targum Pseudo-Jonathan, and messianic sayings that set the expected year of redemption as 729.

Thus, the work was not written before the end of the seventh century. The opening passage of Chapter 3 appears in the letter of Pirqoi ben Baboi, who operated at the end of the eighth century or the beginning of the ninth century, indicating that the work was not written after the ninth century.

Regarding where the midrash was composed, extensive references to the rule of Ishmael indicate that the work was most likely composed in the Muslim-ruled Bilad al-Sham or its surroundings. Furthermore, in chapter 8, the work emphasizes the exclusive right of the "sages of the Land of Israel" to establish the calendar, stating that even shepherds and laypeople there are preferable to the righteous and prophets in the Diaspora, only the inhabitants of the Land of Israel have the right to establish the calendar. In addition, the text cites various customs of the Land of Israel. For example, the custom of defloration with a finger (mentioned in Chapter 16) is explicitly noted in the Book of Differences, as discussed by Mordecai Margalioth in 'Differences between Easterners and Residents of the Land of Israel'.

In contrast to other earlier midrashic and classical rabbinic works, which considered collective creations, Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer is considered the work of a single author. The work includes fifty-four chapters (or fifty-two chapters according to a slightly different division of the chapters, such as in the edition of Michael Higger and other manuscripts), in which the author expounds on the Torah portions from the days of creation to the history of Israel in the desert. The author also incorporates sermons and entire chapters on various portions from the books of the Nevi'im and the Ketuvim.