When you learn Torah, do you consider yourself to be in dialogue with Chazal?  According to Scott's guest, Simi Peters, a key element of learning midrash aggadah is being able to become participants in a conversation that began thousands of years ago and continues today. But in order to do so, we need to become students of midrash: learning how to approach it, understanding both the methodologies Chazal used and why they conveyed their messages in that way, and adopting effective methods in order to interpret midrashim in a manner that enables us to truly engage with the text, so that we accurately interpret the messages that our Sages are trying to transmit. Scott and Simi talked about the definition of midrash and the importance of studying midrashim, why Chazal composed midrashim in the manner that they did, whether Chazal intended for midrashim to be taken literally and to be representative of, so to speak, “what actually happened,” the difference between pshat and drash and parshanut and darshanut, how our Sages understood Biblical language, the different methods Chazal use in midrashim, and more. Additionally, Simi offered methodologies that we can use in order to understand midrashim, and she gave some examples of midrashim and what to look for in order to interpret them properly. Check out the Orthodox Conundrum Commentary on Substack and get your free subscription by going to https://scottkahn.substack.com/. For Zev Brenner's interview with Scott on Talkline Radio go to https://www.youtube.com/live/M0l_0XA68bQ?feature=shared. Please listen to and share this podcast, and let us know what you think on the Orthodox Conundrum Discussion Group on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/groups/432020081498108). Thanks to all of our Patreon subscribers, who have access to bonus JCH podcasts, merch, and more - we appreciate your help, and hope you really enjoy the extras! Visit the JCH Patreon site at https://www.patreon.com/jewishcoffeehouse. Check out https://jewishcoffeehouse.com/ for the Orthodox Conundrum and other great podcasts, and remember to subscribe to them on your favorite podcast provider. Also visit https://www.jchpodcasts.com/ to learn all about creating your own podcast. Music: "Happy Rock" by bensound.com