Questions
Messianic Judaism 101 -
Talmud
Talmud
In addition to the written scriptures, in Judaism,
there is the "Oral Torah," a tradition explaining what
the scriptures mean and how to interpret and apply them.. Orthodox Jews
believe G-d taught the Oral Torah to Moses, and it was passed down to
the present day. The Talmud was maintained in oral form only until about
the 2d century C.E., when the oral law was compiled and written down in
a document called the Mishnah.
Over the next few centuries, additional
commentaries elaborating on the Mishnah were written down in Jerusalem
and Babylon. These additional commentaries are known as the Gemara. The
Gemara and the Mishnah together are known as the Talmud. This was
completed in the 5th century C.E.
There are two Talmuds: the Jerusalem Talmud
and the Babylonian Talmud. The Babylonian is more comprehensive, and is
the one most people mean when they refer to The Talmud. There have been
additional commentaries on the Talmud by such noted Jewish scholars as
Rashi and Rambam.
The Mishnah is divided into six sections
called orders (sedarim). Each order contains one or more divisions
called tractates (masekhtot). There are 63 tractates in the Mishnah.
Approximately half of these have been addressed in the Talmud. Although
these divisions seem to indicate subject matter widely diverse
subjects may be discussed in a order or tractates. Below is the division
of the Mishnah into orders:
- Zera'im (Seeds), dealing with
agricultural laws
- Mo'ed (Festival), dealing with shabbat
and festivals
- Nashim (Women), dealing with marriage,
divorce and contracts
- Nezikin (Damages), dealing with tort laws
and other financial laws
- Kodashim (Holy Things), dealing with
sacrifices and the Temple
- Toharot (Purities), dealing with laws of
ritual purity and impurity
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