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Tanna de-Vei Eliyahu or Seder Eliyahu a midrashic work. Unlike all the other Midrashim it does not consist of a compilation or collection of individual homilies but is a uniform work stamped with a character of its own. The work, which is characterized by original expressions and rhetorical constructions couched in poetic and even flowery language, is distinguished by its didactic moral aim: the author deals with the divine precepts and the reasons for them, and the importance of knowledge of Torah, prayer, and repentance. He is especially concerned with the ethical and religious values which are enshrined in the Bible and in the trials and lives of the patriarchs. The problem of the date and place of composition of Seder Eliyahu has not yet been resolved. It has been variously dated almost anywhere between the third and tenth centuries.
Eliyahu is the speaker in the work but there is no suggestion of a pseudepigrapha, nor should it be inferred that its author is a certain Abba Eliyahu. The name is mentioned only in chapter 15 of Seder Eliyahu Zuta and this chapter is a later addition by a copyist. The author relates that he came from Jabneh, that he resided in Jerusalem, and that he wandered in Babylon. He disputes with a fire worshiper and with those who accept the Bible but not the Mishnah (whether he was referring to Christians or to Karaites is a disputed point). His halakhic conclusions, which contain interesting deviations from accepted halakhah, constitute a problem on their own, but in general his halakhah approximates to that of Erez Israel.
The work is in two sections: Seder Eliyahu Rabbah and Seder Eliyahu Zuta, and the original parts of the second appear to be by the same author as the first. There are a number of editions: Venice, 1598; Prague, 1676–77 with Samuel Heida's commentaries Zikkukin de-Nura and Bi'urin de-Esha, according to which there were many other editions; Vienna, 1901 with introduction and notes by M. Friedmann, from a Rome manuscript of 1073; Tanna de-Vei Eliyahu Zuta (19 chapters) edited by H.M. Horowitz from a Parma manuscript and published in part 2 of Beit Eked ha-Aggadot; appendixes to Seder Eliyahu Zuta, being three chapters of Derekh Erez and seven of Pirkei de-R. Eliezer (Vienna, 1904) by M. Friedmann; and Likkutei Seder Eliyahu Zuta from a Genizah manuscript, published by L. Ginsberg in Ginzei Schechter part 1, 238–45. |
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(רבא וזוטא) והם דברים עתיקין ... ומשלים נאים המושכים את לבו של אדם ואגבן מונעים אותו מעשות כל רע ומישרים אותו אל עשות הטוב (המגיה ... יעקב בכמר יוזיפא שורזינ' כה"ץ ז"ל איש קשטילאץ). [חלק א- ב].
בראשי העמודים: סדר אליהו רבא; סדר אליהו זוטא.
מעבר לשער: אמר המדפיס ... זה ... הוציא ... ר' יעקב יצ"ו בכמ"ר גרשון ב"ק ז"ל (מספ' ישן נושן נכתב ... שנת ד' אלפים תתקמ"ו)...
דף נב-סט: סדר אליהו זוטא.
על הספר ועל מחברו, עי': מרדכי מרגליות, לבעיית קדמותו של ספר סדר אליהו - ספר אסף, ירושלים תשי"ג, עמ' 390-370. |
