[2] Professor Frankel's main contribution to research was the innovative approach he introduced to the study of the Aggadot of the Talmud.

Frankel established a new school of thought, treating the Talmudic Aggadah through the methods of literary criticism, independent of the historical or cultural context in which they were written.

He focused on the idea and message behind each Aggadah, conducting a scholarly comparison of different versions of Aggadic texts found in various sources.

His influence has been immense, and to this day, Talmudic Aggadot are studied in literature departments at universities.

[1] He was also a scholar of piyyut, and he continued the project of the Goldschmidt-Fraenkel Machzor, started by his father-in-law, Professor Daniel Goldschmidt [he].