"My Children, Read This Passage Every Year"

Pesikta de-Rav Kahana (below: Pesikta) is arguably the most structurally complex midrashic composition in the landscape of the classic midrashim. The Pesikta was probably composed in fifth century Palestine and consists of sermons on special Sabbath and festival Torah and Haftarah readings. The work was designed to influence the atmosphere of the synagogue during events of calendrical significance and is therefore of great importance for reconstructing the spiritual and cultural encounter that took place between the sages and their synagogue audience. The Pesikta, whose very discovery and reconstruction were beset by multiple obstacles, remains in some ways an unsolved mystery and many questions concerning the context in which it was created continue to occupy scholars to this day. Up until now, the scholarly world has produced only partial and incomplete studies of the Pesikta and its formation. This book, “My Children, Read this Passage Every Year”: Composition and Meaning in Pesikta De-Rav Kahana, is a comprehensive attempt to fill this gap and afford a glimpse into the workshop of the Pesikta's editor.