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The Talmud (/ ˈ t ɑː l m ʊ d,-m ə d, ˈ t æ l-/; Hebrew: תַּלְמוּד , romanized: Talmūḏ, lit. 'teaching') is, after the Hebrew Bible, the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law and Jewish theology.
Rabbis debating the Talmud, 1870 A historic painting of Jews studying Torah. Torah study is the study of the Torah, Hebrew Bible, Talmud, responsa, rabbinic literature, and similar works, all of which are Judaism's religious texts. According to Rabbinic Judaism, the study is done for the purpose of the mitzvah ("commandment") of Torah study itself.
The Talmud itself gives no information concerning the origin of the middot, although the Geonim regarded them as Sinaitic (הלכה למשה מסיני, "Law given to Moses at Mount Sinai"; comp. Rabbi Samson of Chinon in his Sefer HaKeritot).
The inaccurate rendering of "Torah" as "Law" [14] may be an obstacle to understanding the ideal that is summed up in the term talmud torah (תלמוד תורה, "study of Torah"). [3] The term "Torah" is also used to designate the entire Hebrew Bible. [15] The earliest name for the first part of the Bible seems to have been "The Torah of Moses".
Another important function of Gemara is to identify the correct biblical basis for a given law presented in the Mishnah and the logical process connecting one with the other: this activity was known as talmud long before the existence of the Talmud as a text. [17]
The Talmud attaches great importance to the "Tinokot shel beth Rabban" (the children [who study] at the Rabbi's house), stating that the world continues to exist for their learning and that even for the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem, classes are not to be interrupted (Tractate Shabbat 119b). Jewish children of a "cheder" in Sana'a Yemen ...
The Talmud consists of the Mishnah (a legal code) and the Gemara (Aramaic for "learning"), an analysis and commentary to that code. [23] Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz writes that "If the Bible is the cornerstone of Judaism, then the Talmud is the central pillar
Both the Babylonian Talmud and the Jerusalem Talmud have been transmitted in written form to the present day, although the more extensive Babylonian Talmud is widely considered to be more authoritative. [8] The Talmud's discussions follow the order of the Mishnah, although not all tractates are discussed.