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Western Religions: Judaism |
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The Talmud, which may be rendered from the Hebrew as "Research," is one of the world's ten great works of divinely inspired literature. Like the Koran and other post-Judean books of holy nature, it is impossible to conceive of the Talmud without the Torah, the ancient Books of Moses. In fact, the Talmud is the Torah perpetuated. As long as the great Solomonic Temple towered over the lands along the Jordan, the rituals, ceremonies and observances, sacrifices, commands and prohibitions made the Torah a living spirit in Israel. It was both state law and religious fountainhead, the guide to daily conduct and the basis of family and social structure for all the adherents of the Covenant. But with the sudden advent of the overbearing and hostile Caesarian Empire, the sacred walls of the Temple crumbled under the Roman ram and the people of Palestine were scattered to the four corners of the world, to become the most remarkable wandering people of all time. Thrust into strange lands with alien customs to which they were forced to adjust their own deeply felt faith, the dispersed Hebrews were often and in many places bewildered as to how to abide by the laws of the Torah, the Covenant they had made with their Lord. A thousand practical problems arose before the Jews of the first century of the common era: problems concerning marriage and divorce and other aspects of family life; concerning personal hygiene and ritual purity; concerning civil and ceremonial law, dietary obligations and sacrificial cults; concerning the observance of holidays and festivals, the keeping of the Sabbath, the treatment of illness, the care of the poor, and so on. For a hundred years and more, distinguished scholars labored to formulate a new set of laws which would reinterpret the ancient Mosaic concepts to the sons of Israel living in a pagan world. Finally, in third-century Palestine, under the editorship of Rabbi Judah, called "The Prince," all the new writings of Biblical interpretation were correlated into a volume of six books known as the Mishnah, or "Repetition." This became the core of the Talmud. During the next three hundred year the Mishnah was supplemented by many recorded discussions or commentaries, contributed by Babylonian as well as Palestinian rabbis. Some of these were legalistic, some philosophic, some folklorist, some allegorical. These later writings, known as the Gemara, or "Learning," were intended to expound the Mishnah and to facilitate the understanding of its difficult passages. Thus for almost five hundred years the great hakhamim, or sages, of Babylon, Jerusalem and other academic centers worked in setting down first the Mishnah and then the Gemara, which together constitute the Talmud. By the fifth century the compilation of the Talmud had come to an end, but the commentaries and addenda have never ceased, even up to our own days. In the Middle Ages, the philosopher Maimonides, the commentator Rashi, and the codifier Caro were among those who brought about a renaissance of Talmudic study in Western Europe. Many sayings and parables from such Talmudic scribes as Hillel and others became proverbial in the non-Jewish world also. The books of the Talmud are uneven. They range from severe theological legalism to unsurpassed beauty of legendary literature. To borrow a phrase from one of our masters, "Who would forego a walk through the forest because some of the trees are dry and barren?"
If you came here from the Jewish Philosophy section of Adventures in Philosophy, you can return to that Index by clicking HERE. |
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