Talmud

The Talmud is a rabbinic work consisting of the Mishnah, the earliest formulation of rabbinic instruction (ca. 200 c.e.); and the Gemara, an extended commentary and elaboration of the Mishnah composed in the mid-sixth century. The Gemara is built on rabbinic teachings, from Palestine and Babylonia, of the third through the fifth centuries. But its received form, combining approximately equal amounts of attributed teachings and unattributed analysis and argumentation, is the work of Babylonian rabbis. A related work, also called a Talmud, was written by Palestinian rabbis. Still, the Talmud has always been the Babylonian (the Bavli).

Since the early Middle Ages, the Talmud has served rabbis as the authoritative source for halakhic decision-making (halakha = Jewish law). To this day in the traditional Jewish community, no question in Jewish law can be answered without reference to talmudic precedents. For this reason the Talmud is the primary focus of study in traditional yeshivot.

Jewish reformers in the nineteenth century turned their back on the Talmud, and Talmud study continues to demand relatively little time in liberal Jewish schools. Consequently, the majority of contemporary Jews are ignorant of the Talmud. However, in recent years, as many Jews have sought to rediscover the roots of their tradition, the Talmud has regained a measure of popularity. The most outstanding product of this phenomenon is the English talmudic translation and commentary by Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz. The growing popularity of the Talmud is also a product of its nature: Rather than offering single definitive opinions, the Talmud more often analyzes and supports multiple opinions, hesitating to declare only one correct. The Talmud thus serves as a model of respectful pluralistic dialogue both for communities of Jewish lay-people and for academics who seek historical and theoretical precedents for "postmodern" discourse.

See alsoJewish Identity; Judaism.

Bibliography

Kraemer, David. The Mind of the Talmud. 1990.

Steinsaltz, Adin. The Essential Talmud. 1976.

David Kraemer