With the Beur HaRadal, Par Echad, and Chassidic Commentary
The Ratner Family Edition
Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer — attributed to Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrkanos, one of the foremost Tannaim of the Mishnaic era — is one of the earliest and most influential works of classical Aggadic Midrash. Across its fifty-four chapters, the work expounds the foundational narratives of Torah: the work of Creation, the early generations of mankind, the lives of the Avos, the descent to Egypt and the Exodus, the giving of the Torah at Sinai, and the formation of the Jewish calendar.
This new English edition presents the complete vocalized Hebrew text alongside an original English translation and elucidation, illuminated by the classical commentaries and the Chassidic literature that has built upon them over the centuries.
Features of this edition
- Vocalized Hebrew text, reproduced as printed.
- Original English translation following each Hebrew phrase, set in semi-bold for easy parsing.
- Elucidation that reads as flowing scholarly prose — written for the serious-but-accessible reader.
- Beur HaRadal — the comprehensive commentary of Rabbi David Luria (1798–1855), the foremost Midrash scholar of his century, whose textual emendations have been confirmed time and again by manuscripts discovered after his death.
- Par Echad — the classical supplement that fills out the human and historical texture of the Midrashic account where the Radal's focus is more textual.
- Chassidic illumination drawn from Derech Mitzvosecha of the Tzemach Tzedek, the Likkutei Sichos and Toras Menachem of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Igros Kodesh, Sefer HaMaamarim, and other classical Chabad sources where they illuminate the Midrash in ways the classical commentaries do not.
- Consolidated footnote apparatus: section references, textual variants, alluded verses, parallel passages, and multi-source citations.
- Two complete indexes: Subject Index and Index of Sources — making the work navigable for study, shiur preparation, and citation.
About the work
Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer is, by many accounts, among the very first compositions printed after the sealing of the Holy Scriptures, and the Rishonim made extensive use of it throughout the medieval period. The Radal himself captured its standing: "From its mouth we live, in our recollection of many deeds that were not recorded explicitly in the Torah, but were transmitted through the Oral Torah."
The text has reached us through centuries of variant editions and manuscripts. This edition follows the standard printed text as understood through the Radal's masterly commentary — preserving the reading that all the classical commentators worked from, while drawing the reader's attention to textual issues where they bear on understanding.
Specifications
- 7 × 10 hardcover, cream interior
- Approximately 525 pages
- Vocalized Hebrew text
- English translation and elucidation original to this edition
- Includes a substantial Introduction covering the author, the work, the history of its text, and editorial conventions
- Beur HaRadal and Par Echad commentaries throughout
- Frequent citations to Chassidic and Kabbalistic sources
- Comprehensive Subject Index and Index of Sources
Published by Kesser Shem Tov Publishing.
