Book excerpt: Tanhuma is one of the jewels of midrash literature. As one of the Yelammedenu midrashim, it is less diffuse than Genesis Rabbah, and its units are shorter than those of the Pesikta. It thus strikes a balance between the jumble of the one and the long sermons of the other. Just over a century ago, Solomon Buber published a new version of the Tanhuma based on an Oxford manuscript which is substantially different from the more common printed versions. It is this version or one very close to it which Rashi had before him and whose interpretations be often commends and recommends. Despite its importance and appeal, no version of Midrash Tanhuma has ever been translated into English. This volume is the first in a series which will bring the riches of the Buber edition to the English reader.