Midrash HaGadol: Several manuscripts of this midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary) are found in well-known libraries, and one belonged to Dr. Alexander Kohut, who used it in the later volumes of Aruch HaShalem, which he published. The place of origin of the midrash is Yemen, but the name of its author is unknown. Its composition date is after the 12th century, as it includes, besides statements from other midrashim, several verses from Maimonides and statements from Rabbeinu Chananel, the author of the Aruch, Rashi, Ibn Ezra, and other prominent rabbis of their times. However, the author cleverly adapted these statements into the language of "Tannaim" or "Tanu Rabbanan," as if they were said by the Tannaim of the Mishnah (the earliest code of rabbinic law) and Tosefta (supplementary teachings to the Mishnah).... The author wrote an introduction to the midrash as a form of taking permission: "In the name of the Merciful, in the name of the great, mighty, and awesome God, I will begin to write the midrash on the five books of the Torah, which illuminates the eyes of its seekers, with permission from God, blessed be He and blessed be His name. I will gird my loins and strengthen myself with the word of His utterance, etc." There is also a "permission" in verse form for each section, such as for the section of Bereishit: "With the permission of the One who created His world in six days, by His will and His command, not by toil nor by effort, etc." It begins with "Zeh She'amar HaKatuv" (This is what the text says), "Thus said God, the Lord, Creator of the heavens and their expanse" (Isaiah 42:5). What does it mean by "the Lord, the God"? Rabbi Eliezer says: Before the world was created, there was only the Holy One, blessed be He, and His name alone, etc. In the section "These are the generations of Noah," it begins: "With the permission of our God, who dwells in the heavens and earth, holy and sanctified in heaven and on earth, etc." It starts with "Zeh She'amar HaKatuv" (This is what the text says): "Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked," this verse was said regarding Noah [the righteous], who did not follow the ways of the generation of the Flood, who are called wicked, sinners, and scorners, etc. Similarly, in every section and it concludes the book of Genesis: "May the Merciful One enlighten our eyes with the light of His Torah and lift our spirits, and gladden us with His salvation, and grant us to behold His pleasantness and visit His sanctuary, Amen, thus says the Merciful One." Before the portion of Bereishit, the well-known Baraita (a teaching from outside the Mishnah) of Rabbi Eliezer, the son of Rabbi Yossi HaGalili, on the principles of Torah in the ways of Aggadah (non-legal rabbinic narrative) is brought, but the author of this midrash brings the Baraita under the term "Tanu Rabbanan" and counts the principles as 33 instead of 32. He omitted the 27th principle "a word that falls upon a word" and added the principles "hint" and "interchange of letters." Dr. Schechter published the book of Genesis based on a 14th-century Yemenite manuscript, with an introduction and notes, in Cambridge, 1902. The entire book contains 772 pages (two pages on one side), and it includes a correction table based on another manuscript version and printing errors. This table is very extensive, spanning up to 106 pages. Rabbi David Zvi Hoffmann published the Mekhilta of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai on the Book of Exodus, compiled from Midrash HaGadol manuscripts in the Berlin Library, with notes and an introduction, in Pforzheim, 1905. He also published selections of Mekhilta for Exodus, Sifrei Zuta for Numbers, and Mekhilta for Deuteronomy in 1890 (in the book "Shi le-Moreh"), and further selections for Deuteronomy in 1897.