In Rabbinic Judaism, the Midrash is the body of homiletic stories told by Jewish rabbinic sages to explain passages in the Tanakh. Midrash is a method of interpreting biblical stories that goes beyond simple distillation of religious, legal, or moral…
The Shulkhan Arukh, also known as the Code of Jewish Law, is the most authoritative legal code of Rabbinic Judaism. It was authored in Tzfat, Ottoman Eyalet of Damascus, by Yosef Karo in 1563 and published in Venice two years…
The Mishneh Torah (“Repetition of the Torah”) subtitled Sefer Yad HaHazaka (“Book of the Strong Hand,”) is a code of Rabbinic halakhah (Jewish religious law) authored by Maimonides (Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon, also known as RaMBaM or “Rambam”), one of…
The Mishnah is a compilation of legal opinions and debates. Statements in the Mishnah are typically terse, recording brief opinions of the rabbis debating a subject; or recording only an unattributed ruling, apparently representing a consensus view. The rabbis recorded…
The Talmud (“instruction, learning”) is a central text of Rabbinic Judaism. It is also traditionally referred to as Shas, a Hebrew abbreviation of shisha sedarim, the “six orders”. The Talmud has two components. The first part is the Mishnah, the…
Rabbinic Judaism – Yahadut Rabanit – grew out of Pharisaic Judaism and has been considered the mainstream form of Judaism since the codification of the Talmud Bavli. With the redaction of the “Oral Law” and the Talmud Bavli becoming the…
Rav Eliyahu ben Moshe Bashyatzi wrote Adderet Eliyahu in late 15th – early 16th century Turkey and is known as the most renowned compendium of Karaite Law. Even though it was never completed it nevertheless covers a wide range of…
According to the followers of Karaite Judaism, it is the original form of Judaism as shown throughout the Tanakh from the time of the Revelation beginning at Har Sinai. Karaites are a sect of Judaism that believes only in the…
What is Judaism? Sources: 1Alieza Salzberg. “Judaism after the Temple: Coping with destruction and building for the future.” MyJewishLearning, n.d. [] 2I. Epstein. “Tractate Gittin.” [] 3American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise. “Tradition.” Jewish Virtual Library, 2008. [] 4I. Epstein. “Tractate Berachot.” []…
The term “Jew” – Yehudi in Hebrew – can mean various things depending upon the context and the time period the term is used. Originally a Yehudi would have been a member of the Tribe of Yehuda. The original Yehudim…
