The Yalkut Schimoni compiles Rabbinical interpretations of the Hebrew Bible. The criteria used to select them are still unclear, nor do we know if the volume was conceptualized to act as a comprehensive reference work for exegetical issues, to connect biblical interpretations in the Talmud and Midrash, or to reform the rabbinical interpretative tradition. The translation of this volume is a first step toward answering these questions.

Dagmar Börner-Klein, University of Düsseldorf, Germany , and Beat Zuber, Neudorf, Switzerland.