THE INTERPRETIVE PRINCIPLES OF RABBI YISHMAEL This passage is included as an item of Talmud, defined in its broadest sense as “deducing conclusions from premises, developing implications of statements, comparing dicta, and studying the hermeneutical principles by which the Torah is interpreted” (Maimonides, Laws of Torah Study 1:11). It was chosen because it appears at the beginning of the Sifra, the halakhic commentary to Leviticus, which is the source of most of the laws of offerings. It also reminds us of the indissoluble connection between the Written Law (the Mosaic books) and the Oral Law (Mishna, Midrash and Talmud). Rabbi Yishmael’s principles show how the latter can be derived from the former.