Statement

Midrash can seem fanciful to the modern reader: it turns Adam, Jacob and David into rabbinic sages and sometimes reverses the plain sense. The verse used in the Eliezer story to justify majority rule (Exodus 23:2) actually says: 'You shall not follow a majority in wrongdoing.' Even so, midrash had rules that gave freedom but also set limits.

References

1. p. 148

   supports · main text · ch. 5

   Efron, Lehmann and Weitzman. The Jews: A History. 3rd edition. New York and Abingdon: Routledge, 2019.

   Section: The Impact of the Rabbis on Jewish Culture

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