In such a short space as this, it is almost impossible to present the main features of the Talmud, even in a summarized form. The Talmud is difficult to describe because there is no work to which it can be compared. Rooted in the Bible, it is filled with biblical verses and repeatedly cites the Bible as the basic source for making its decisions.

But it is neither a biblical commentary nor a legal code. It is encyclopedic in nature but it is not an encyclopedia. It is the product of many individuals and editors, but it is not the work of a single individual or a single group. The Talmud contains many legal cases, but it is more than a legal treatise. It contains the give and take of discussions with their arguments and also the marginal comments that have nothing to do with the specific cases that initiated the discussion. It includes ethical issues and religious and liturgical practices, laws regulating personal, commercial and agricultural life, community organization and social assistance.

Talmudic discussions are not concise. They may include many things that the rabbis and their disciples mentioned as a result of quoting a mishnah: their reactions, explanations, discussions, deliberations, stories that came to their minds, references to other opinions or other sources. For this reason, the Talmud is not a work that can simply be read. It must be studied.

Studying the Talmud is not easy, but it is an extraordinarily stimulating and challenging experience from an intellectual and emotional point of view. The Talmud is a work that challenges us and must be explored and investigated with energy, tenacity and commitment. Rabbi Adin Steinzaltz says: “The Talmud is framed in questions and answers. Expressing our doubts is not only legitimate but essential to its study. The Talmud is perhaps the only sacred work in the world that not only allows but encourages the student to question it. True knowledge can only be achieved through spiritual communion, where the student must participate intellectually and emotionally in the Talmudic debate.” It is, without a doubt, the best exercise for the brain and the mind.

By Marcos Gojman

Bibliography: Embracing Judaism, by Rabbi Simcha Kling and revised by Carl M. Perkins.