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HAGGADAH

(Heb. haggaḏâ)

A noun usually understood to come from the Hebrew root ngd, “to tell,” “correspond to,” or “be in front of.” Haggadah (in the Palestinian Talmud “Aggadah”) is used for a number of different phenomena. As a type of midrash it is to be distinguished from Halakhah, which is primarily concerned with issues of ritual, ethical, and civil law. In contrast, midrashic Haggadah comprises almost all other types of biblical exegesis. The term Haggadah is also used to refer to almost any nonlegal text in the rabbinic corpus of literature and, as a result, it can connote biblical exegesis, stories about famous rabbis, and other rather imaginative literature that does not of necessity include biblical interpretation. With all this in mind, caution must be exercised in employing the term.

Generally, Haggadah is understood to be further contrasted with Halakhah in that the former is not binding and authoritative in the same way as is Halakhah. To whatever degree this is true, it would be a mistake to underestimate the religious nature of Haggadah. In particular, as imaginative interpretation, Haggadah is driven by the search for God in practically every word and syllable. Moreover, the playful nature of Haggadah has a religious quality missed by those with too narrow a definition of what comprises theological reflection. In many ways, Haggadah can be understood as a celebration of the religious significance of the slightest detail in Scripture and in Jewish tradition in general.

Larry L. Lyke

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

HAGGADAH

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)