(Heb. ḥiddushim). Original interpretations of passages in the Talmud. Unlike the running commentaries on the Talmud by Rashi and others, the writers of novellae sought to expound the logic implicit in various talmudic passages, or else to explain and solve difficulties in the talmudic text or in the interpretations of the commentators (e.g., the Tosafot explain problems in Rashi's commentary). Novellae could also be occasioned by a difficulty arising from the novellae of a previous writer. To solve these problems, a writer would offer his original interpretation of the talmudic passage in question, resolving the question or questions that had been raised.
In effect, some novellae comprise a super-commentary on those of a previous author. Thus, for example, R. Yom Tov ben Abraham Ishbili (late 13th-early 14th cent.) frequently takes as his point of departure difficulties in a novella of Naḥmanides (1194-1270).
Often the writer of novellae approaches the talmudic text directly and explains why a passage is phrased in what appears to be a peculiar way; for example, a passage that puts a later Mishnah before one that preceeds it. A favorite method of R. Solomon ben Abraham Adret (1235-1310) in his novellae is to raise objections to a certain question and answer in the Talmud and proceed to demonstrate the reasoning behind the discussion. Sometimes he asks why the Talmud answers a question in the way it does when an apparently more convincing answer was available, one which he supplies. He then proceeds to explain why his proposed answer would not fully respond to the original question, and thus justifies the answer given by the Talmud.
A large collection of novellae on five talmudic tractates is to be found in the anthology compiled by R. Bezalel Ashkenazi (Egyptian talmudist, 16th cent.), entitled Shittah Mekubbetset ("Collated System"). Its compiler drew on manuscript material by various talmudists, much of which has never been published. Not the least valuable aspect of these novellae and those mentioned above is the variant readings of the talmudic text they offer. These are now being collated as the basis for a scientifically oriented edition of the Talmud.
