The Talmud is a collection of writings concerning
Jewish religious and civil law. It contains scriptural
interpretations of the Five Books of Moses (Genesis,
Exodus, Leviticus, Deuteronomy, and Numbers)
as well as complete guidelines according to
the rabbinic authorities for human conduct in
daily life. Known as the Oral Torah because it was
handed down and built upon by teachers through
the ages, the Talmud is studied together with the
Written Torah (the Five Books of Moses, the
Prophets, and the Scrolls) and forms the core of
Jewish learning. The Talmud is considered the next
most important text in the Jewish religion after the
BIBLE itself.
The Talmud was born in the wake of the catastrophic
destruction of the Second Temple in
Jerusalem by the Romans in 586 B.C. The Temple
had been the core of the Jewish people who were
forced to leave Israel and became scattered
throughout Babylon. In an effort to keep the Jewish
people unified, exiled leaders who possessed
the ancient Jewish teachings in the form of oral
and written doctrine from the Temple established
study houses. In these houses, which came to be
known as synagogues, sacred learning was available
to the Jewish masses. This development in Judaism,
though spawned by dire necessity, was
revolutionary. Until the destruction of the Temple,
only the priests had been allowed to read the
doctrines. The result of mass learning and prayer
in the synagogues instilled in the exiles a love of
Jewish scripture, creating the need for a new class
of teachers.
The foremost of these teachers was a religious
scholar named Ezra, who adapted the ancient doctrines
to make them appropriate for a group of
people living in exile. He then founded what was
called the Great Assembly, a core group of teachers
to whom he gave the amended doctrine.He saw
this doctrine as a way of instructing people to live
a moral and ethical life that would unify them with
one another and with God, thus preserving the existence
and integrity of the Jewish people. The
members of the Great Assembly, in turn, gave this
doctrine to the teachers in the synagogues.
The passage of time and the political and social
changes that occurred demonstrated the need for
the Torah to be a living document that could be
adapted to the Jews’ changing lives. Thus the
teachers, or rabbis, developed the Talmudic
method of scriptural interpretation, a systematic
way of questioning scripture, finding answers
through the use of intellect and reason, to understand
what God wants for and from his people.
The result of this method of religious study resulted
in the development of an exhaustive code
of conduct that applied to every aspect of human
life, including marriage and bodily hygiene. The
rabbis taught this code to the masses in the synagogues,
both in Palestine and throughout Babylon.
As the Talmud’s founding teacher Ezra had held,
the rabbis of generations following also believed
that the devoted study of the Talmud and practice
of its teachings would promote the individual’s
compassionate treatment of his fellow people and
bring the Jews closer to God.
Critical Analysis
Two versions of the Talmud exist. The first is the
Palestinian Talmud (also called the Jerusalem Talmud),
which was written by Palestinian scholars
from the third century to the early fifth century
(ca. 408). The second is the Babylonian Talmud,
which was written by scholars from the third century
to the early sixth century (ca. 500).
There are numerous historical translations of
and commentaries on the Talmud. The British
rabbi Isidore Epstein was the first scholar to translate
the Babylonian Talmud into English, a task
that lasted from 1935 to 1952. The Palestinian Talmud
was translated into Latin by the Italian historian
Blasio Ugolino, who titled the work Thesaurus
Antiquitatum Sacrarum (1744–69). Before this,
Moses MAIMONIDES, a Spanish philosopher and
physician, wrote Mishnah Tora (Repetition of the
Torah, ca. 1180), and French and German rabbis
wrote numerous commentaries on the Talmud
from the 12th to 14th centuries.
The Talmud is composed of three main parts:
the Mishnah, the Gemara, and the Midrash. The
Mishnah, completed around 352, contains six sections
called Orders, which are each broken down
into chapters. The Orders deal with laws concerning
agriculture, observance of the Sabbath and
other Festivals and Holy Days, women, legal matters,
rituals concerning daily life and dietary laws,
and cleanliness of body and home. The following
example from Dr.Abraham Cohen’s English translation of the Talmud concerns medical treatment
and gives an excellent example of the way in which
Talmudic rabbis interpreted scripture to promote
ethical treatment of human beings:
If the patient says he wants something and the
physician says he may not have it, the former
is listened to. For what reason? “The heart
knoweth its own bitterness.”
(Proverbs 14:10)
The Gemara, as it has been recorded, is actually
a series of lively debates between scholars and students
who disagreed on the interpretations found
in the Mishnah. This form of scholarly debate provides
the system of Jewish learning and continues
to this day.
The third portion of the Talmud is the Midrash
(derived from the Hebrew word darash, meaning
“to reason or search out”), which was developed
during the same period as the Mishnah.A Midrash
can best be described as a story the rabbis invented
to answer questions that arise from passages in the
Bible that seem unclear. The story is then used as a
tool for understanding God’s will for mankind. For
example, in Genesis 1:27, the Bible says: “So God
created man in his own image, in the image of God
created he him; male and female created he them.”
The story of God’s creation of woman from
Adam’s rib does not occur until Chapter 2 in Genesis.
The rabbis used midrash to explain this gap by
creating the legendary story of Lilith, the first
woman, who would not act as a helpmate to Adam.
In the midrash, Lilith treats Adam as an enemy
rather than as a husband; therefore, she is banished
from the Garden of Eden to wander as a demon.
The Rabbis used this story to show the importance
of a man and woman’s cooperation in life.
The Talmud has proven to be the unifying force
its originators intended it to be, and history attests
to this cohesive force.With the rise and passing of
numerous cultures throughout the centuries, Judaism
as a religion and culture has survived and
continues to thrive.
English Versions of the Talmud
Talmud. Translated by H. Polano.Whitefish, Mont.:
Kessinger, 2003.
The Jerusalem Talmud. Edited by Heinrich W.
Guggenheimer. Berlin:Walter de Gruyter, 2000.
Wit and Wisdom of the Talmud: Proverbs, Sayings, and
Parables for the Ages. Edited by George J. Lankevich.
Garden City Park, N.Y.: Square One Publishers,
2001.
Works about the Talmud
Bokser, Ben Zion. The Wisdom of the Talmud. New
York: Kensington, 2001.
Cohen, Norman J. The Way into Torah. Woodstock,
Vt.: Jewish Lights Publishing, 2004.
Grishaver, Joel Lurie. Talmud with Training Wheels:
Courtyards and Classrooms. Los Angeles: Torah
Aura Productions, 2004.
Kolatch, Alfred J. Masters of the Talmud: Their Lives
and Views. Middle Village, N.Y.: Jonathan David
Publishers, 2001.
Rubenstein, Jeffrey L. The Culture of the Babylonian
Talmud. Baltimore, Md.: Johns Hopkins University
Press, 2003.