Editing Midrash halakha (section)

===Abstract and Midrash ''halakha''===
It is to a law stated in this form&mdash;i.e., together with the biblical passage it derives from&mdash;that the name ''midrash'' applies, whereas one that, though ultimately based on the Bible, is cited independently as an established statute is called a ''halakha''. Collections of halakhot of the second sort are the [[Mishnah]] and the [[Tosefta]]; compilations of the first sort are the ''halakhic midrashim''. This name they receive to distinguish them from the ''haggadic midrashim'', since they contain ''halakhot'' for the most part, although there are ''haggadic'' portions in them. In these collections the line between independent ''halakha'' and ''midrash halakha'' is not sharply drawn.

Many mishnayot (single paragraph units) in the Mishnah and in the Tosefta are ''midrashic'' halakhot.<ref>e.g., Berachot 1:3,5; Bekhorot 1:4,7; Hullin 2:3,8:4; [[Tosefta]] Zevachim 1:8, 12:20</ref> On the other hand, the ''halakhic midrashim'' contain independent halakhot without statements of their scriptural bases.<ref>e.g. [[Sifra]] Vayikra Hovah 1:9-13 (ed. Weiss, p. 16a, b).</ref> This confusion is explained by the fact that the redactors of the two forms of halakhot borrowed passages from one another.<ref>Hoffmann, "Zur Einleitung in die Halach. Midraschim," p. 3</ref>