This is an approach to midrashic literature that is responsive to the principles of contemporary literary theory. Midrash (the literature of classic Jewish Scriptural interpretation) has undergone a recent revival in the larger Jewsih community; David Stern examines this phenomenon from the perspective of the cultural relevance of midrash and its connection to its original historical and literary contexts. He also explores the impact of modern literary theory on midrashic studies, and the resultant changes on the focus, the methods and the intellectual assumptions of the field.