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Jews have long been called the people of the Book

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the book that is usually presumed to give Jews this title is the Bible

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for a thousand years, another book has been slowly displacing the Bible as this book, the Talmud

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Jews continue to venerate the Torah, the Hebrew term for the first section of the Bible

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the Torah is crucial to the Synagogue service where the Talmud is nowhere to be seen

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there are five ways that the Talmud has succeeded the Bible partially or in full

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1. participates in a process of Biblical interpretation which replaces the surface meanings of the Bible with the Talmud's own interpretations

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sometimes departs significantly from the Bible's literal meaning

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expands the meaning of the Biblical text

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2. has become the foundation for Jewish ideology whether or not these topics are covered in the Hebrew Bible

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3. has been replacing the Bible as the primary study text

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in a religion that places high value on studying texts

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the Talmud's format lends itself to more rigorous study

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elite scholars are partial to the Talmud over the Bible

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with today's widespread access, it is always becoming a primary text for non-elite scholars, e.g. day schools, adult education settings, and self study

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4. since the 19th century, the study of the Talmud has focused as a source of identity for a certain sub-population of Jews

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5. with its rhythm, logic, and language, the Talmud has long nourished traditional Jewish society

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What is the Talmud?

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a central text of Rabbinic Judaism

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a work of literature unlike any other you may have studied

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collects and organizes the ideas of Rabbis who lived between 70 CE, when the Romans destroyed the Second Temple of Jerusalem, and 750 CE, a rough date of the conquest of the Ancient Near East

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the Talmud is structured as a commentary to the Mishna, a law code that was orally published around the year 200 CE

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the Mishna is highly organized and is composed of six thematic orders

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1. Agricultural Law

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2. Holidays

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3. Family Law

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4. Sacrifice

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5. Criminal and Civil Law

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6. Purity Law

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the Talmud is also divided into orders and tractates, but the Talmud resists rigid ordering and prefers free-flowing conversation

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the feature of the Talmud can make the Talmud feel somewhat inaccessible to beginners

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the term "Talmud" normally refers to the collection of writings named specifically the Babylonian Talmud

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there is also an earlier collection known as the Jerusalem Talmud or Palestinian Talmud

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two components

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Mishnah

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c. 200 CE

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a written compendium of Rabbinic Judaism's Oral Torah

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Gemara

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(c. 500 CE), an elucidation of the Mishnah and related Tannaitic writings (from the Rabbinic sages) that often ventures onto other subjects and expounds broadly on the Hebrew Bible

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the Talmud may refer to either the Gemara alone, or the Mishnah and Gemara together