Lore of the School of Elijah

"Tanna Debe Eliyyahu" is a midrashic work thought to have been composed between the third and the tenth centuries. Unlike all the other midrashim, it does not consist of a compilation of individual homilies but is a unified work shaped with a character of its own.

This Midrash is distinguished by its didactic and moral aims. The author deals with the divine precepts and the reasons for them, and the importance and knowledge of Torah, prayer, and repentence. He is especially concerned with the ethical and religious values that are enshrined in the lives of the patriarchs. In the eye of many students and scholars, it is unique, a masterpiece of Jewish thought.