Midrash Vayosha () is an 11th-century CE midrash,[ Journal of Jewish art - Volume 10 - Page 8 Universiṭah ha-ʻIvrit bi-Yerushalayim. Merkaz le-omanut Yehudit - 1984 "According to the eleventh-century Midrash Vayosha', 19 Pharaoh was taken down by the Archangel Gabriel to the ..."] one of the smaller midrashim. It is based on Exodus 14:30-15:18. It is an exposition in the style of the later aggadah, and seems to have been intended for Shabbat Shirah or for the seventh day of Passover.
Sources
Entire sections of
Midrash Vayosha are taken verbatim from the
Tanhuma, such as the passage on Exodus 15:3
[From Tanhuma, Bo] and on 15:5.
[From Tanhuma, Hukkat, beginning] The story in the exposition of Exodus 14:30, concerning
Satan, who appeared before
Abraham and
Isaac as they went to the sacrifice, may be compared with similar stories in several other works of midrash.
[See Tanhuma, Vayera, ed. Stettin, No. 24; Yalkut Shimoni, Exodus §§ 98-99, end; and Sefer ha-Yashar, end of pericope "Vayera."] The midrash on Exodus 15:2,7 also contains extracts from the
Chronicle of Moses; the passage on Usa, the genius of Egypt, agreeing word for word with the excerpt in
Yalkut Shimoni § 241. Here the first edition has merely "Midrash," while other editions give the
Midrash Abkir as the source, although it is doubtful whether this aggadah ever occurred in that work.
Contents
The sections begin for the most part with the words
ameru hachamim, although Joshua ben Levi and Samuel ben Nahman are occasionally given as the authors.
In the exposition of Exodus 15:18 on the sorrows and the redemption in the Messianic time, the terrible figure of Armilus is described. It is said that he will slay the Messiah son of Joseph, but will himself be slain by the Jewish Messiah;[Compare Sukkah 52a] God will then gather together the scattered remnant of Israel and hold the final judgment. The wonderful beauty of a new world full of joy and happiness is revealed.
Editions
The midrash was first published at Constantinople in 1519,
[Metz, 1849, and elsewhere] and has been reprinted by A. Jellinek.
[ Bet. Ha.Midrash i. 35-57, Jerusalem 1967, 3rd Ed.]
Jewish Encyclopedia bibliography
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Leopold Zunz, G. V. p. 282
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Rab Pe'alim, p. 55
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A. Jellinek, Bet. Ha.Midrasch Band I., IV, Einl. p. xvii. p. 35-57; German Transl. A. Wünsche, I, S.93
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Benjacob, Oẓar ha-Sefarim, p. 299
