Midrash Tadshe

R. Pinchas asked, "Why did God decree that grass and herbs and fruits should grow upon the third day, while light was not created until the fourth?

"The name of the author occurs twice,[1] and the midrash closes with the words "'ad kan me-divrei R. Pinchas ben Yair."

Especially noteworthy is section 8, on "the ages of the pious," the Patriarchs, the Matriarchs, and the twelve sons of Jacob, giving also the dates of their births.

The dates for Zebulun and Benjamin are lacking in the present text, but are given in a citation by Baḥya and in Yalkut Shimoni, where, however, the months are named and not numbered.

Epstein has drawn attention to other striking analogies between this midrash and the Book of Jubilees, especially to the theory of R' Pinchas ben Yair (p. 31) that Adam was created in the first week, and that Eve was formed in the second week, from his rib; this serving as the foundation for the rule of purification given in Lev.

On these grounds, Epstein advances the hypothesis that in this and many other passages the author of the Midrash Tadshe used the Book of Jubilees, which existed at that time in Hebrew and was much larger in scope than at present, and was ascribed, "on account of its Essenic tendency," to R' Pinchas, who was famous for his great piety.

However, it is unlikely that the present Book of Jubilees is incomplete, and a much more plausible view of Epstein's is that which regards the Midrash Tadshe as the work of Rabbi Moses ha-Darshan.