[Avodah] besulos

[Shoshana L. Boublil]

> Date: Tue, 6 Mar 2007 12:53:21 GMT
> From: "kennethgmiller at juno.com" <kennethgmiller at juno.com>
> Subject: [Avodah] besulos
> Message-ID: <20070306.045410.19739.2374629 at webmail40.lax.untd.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain

> I have often wondered: in this context, and/or perhaps in other
> contexts, is it possible that we translate the word "besula" too
> literally? Could it be that in some cases it can refer to ANY
> unmarried girl, regardless of whether she has had sexual relations?
>
> Akiva Miller

There is a far simpler explanation. I think I've poste it in the past, but 
it apparently bears repeating.

At his Shi'urim on Midrash, Rav Hess taught that not every Midrash has the 
same reason for existance, or the same goals.

First there are Midreshei Agada and Midreshei Halachah. They have different 
purposes and content.

Some Midrashim, came to answer questions that the shortness of the text 
leaves open.  For example: what happened between Avraham and Yitzchak as 
they travelled towards mount moria.  The Tanach just says that they went 
there.  It doesn't say what happened during the journey.  Many midrashim 
attempt to fill in this gap.

Some Midrashim take advantage of a question to make a moral or behavioral 
point that the Rabbi feels he needs to make regarding the behavior of his 
community.  While I can't point out a specific one from memory, there are 
many such.  I would say that a midrash describing Esther as an older, uglier 
woman may have answered a community need to increase the level of respecting 
the elderly;  perhaps people were judging people by the cover instead of the 
content, and the specific rabbi needed to make the point.

Other Midrashim were part of the Shabbat Afternoon (or Shabbat Evening, a la 
Rabbi Meir) Shiur in the local shul.  This shiur was given to women and 
Ba'al Batim, and not just the students.  Many of these Shiurim were 
accompanied by Midrashim which could be understood simply by people with 
less Judaic knowledge, teaching whatever point the Rabbi wished to teach, 
but they also had higher levels of information for those who were 
sufficiently knowledgeable to decode the story. Many of the fantastic tales 
belong in this category.  They are attractive; they cause people to remain 
and listen to the Derasha -- but they were not intended literally.  They are 
far more complex, and teach new information on a variety of levels.

(enough for now).

Shoshana L. Boublil