Source: Dr. Moshe Simon-Shoshan
The Petichta
The literary form that perhaps most defines midrash aggada of the amoraic period (200-500 CE), and Vayikra Rabba in particular, is known as the petichta. No study of Vayikra Rabba can be done without at least a basic understanding of its workings.
The petichta grows out of the rabbinic strategy of bringing together two verses that come from different parts of the Bible and creating a dialogue between them. Every petichta is built within a framework of two biblical verses. The "parasha verse" is a verse from the Torah, generally the first verse of the week's Torah reading. The "petichta verse" can come from anywhere else in the Bible, but it most frequently is chosen from poetic and "philosophical" works such as Proverbs, Job, and Psalms. The petichtas open with the petichta verse (hence the name petichta, from the verb "patach," to open). This is followed by a series of interpretations and discussions that emerge from this verse. Generally speaking, other biblical verses are cited and discussed along the way. Eventually, the author of the petichta finds a way of segueing into a context where the "parasha verse" is relevant. The petichta ends with a citation of the parasha verse.
Note that in most editions of the various midrashim, the petichta is preceded by a citation of the parasha verse. This is not an integral part of the petichta; these citations were added by later editors. We have eliminated them in our quotations of the midrash to avoid confusion.
The great 20th Century midrash scholar, Joseph Heinemann, argued that the petichta originated as a way of introducing the Torah reading in the synagogue. When time for Torah reading came in the service, a rabbi would get up and begin a midrashic explication of a verse of his choosing. Eventually, he would find occasion to cite the first verse of the day's reading. At this point, the Torah reading would begin.
In light of this explanation, the art of the petichta relies on a sort of narrative suspense. The reader or listener knows that the petichta must end with first verse of the day’s reading. However, he or she does not immediately understand the connection between the verse chosen by the rabbi to begin the petichta and the petichta's ultimate destination. This is only revealed as the petichta moves towards its conclusion.
As an interpretive form, the petichta is particularly effective at using two distant verses to shed light on one another. Verses from the Torah tend to deal with the concrete; if they come from stories, they portray the actions or speech of a particular individual at a particular time, and if they are legal in nature, they are often technical, dealing with a specific instance or situation. Verses from the books such as Job, Proverbs, and Psalms, on the other hand, tend to deal with more abstract and general themes. By juxtaposing a verse from the Torah with a verse from the later Biblical works, the petichta encourages us to think of both verses in a different light. On the one hand, the petichta verse will often help us identify a broader message in the parasha verse, which ostensibly deals only with a past event or technical ruling. Conversely, the parasha verse directs us to find a concrete manifestation of more general lesson of the petichta verse.
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