Much of the non-halachic aggadah quoted in the gemara overlaps with aggadah from the midrash such as midrash tanchuma or midrash rabbah and others. Yet there are some aggadah that are only found in the gemara and some that are only found in works of the midrash. Does anyone have sources for why that is? Should we consider aggadah in the gemara more authoritative since the gemara text was more carefully edited, compiled, and preserved?
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There are also some aggadah only found in Tanchuma, etc. I'm not sure if there is an overarching reason behind it. As for authority, Rashi on Tanach seems to treat them more or less equally, from what I've seen.– N.T.Aug 13 at 21:04
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1Medrash Rabbah is aggadata of Eretz Yisrael, gemara is aggadata of Bavel.– The GRAPKEAug 14 at 5:58
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I'm not sure what you mean by "more authoritative", as we don't base laws or decisions on Aggadah.– YitzyAug 14 at 21:05
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"Medrash Rabbah is aggadata of Eretz Yisrael, gemara is aggadata of Bavel" - source please? Even if that were true, (which I don't think it is, because it is my understanding that "medrash rabbah" encompasses a vast compilation of midrashim from different time periods and locales) the essence of my question is why have a separate compilation of midrash aggadah if you are going to include aggadah in the talmud? Talmud yerushalmi has aggadah. The Bavli has lots of aggadah. Why is it there if there were separate compilations of midrash that often overlap with the aggadah in the talmud?– YosefAug 24 at 16:06
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"More authoritative," meaning, if there are variant texts or versions, we would view one over the other as more authentic or accurate.– YosefAug 24 at 16:08
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