Maimonides’ Introduction to the Talmud Translator: Zvi Lampel Publisher: The Judaica Press, Inc. Year: 1998 Pages: 183 plus addendums Maimonides’ Introduction to the Talmud is the attempt by Rambam to give a precise introduction to the Talmud for the non-scholar.…
V. If we reject the first argument for a divine Oral Law that was given to Moses from God we are left with the definition of an Oral Law that came from the rabbis of old. The rabbis who contributed…
When I began my journey into Judaism many years ago I was skeptical of the so-called “Oral Law” or “Oral Torah.” However, as I plunged head first into my life as a soon-to-be Jew I began to take on the…
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…
Legal System When any legal matter is too extraordinary [פָּלָא] for you, in justice, between blood and blood, between judgment and judgment, between stroke and stroke, in matters of quarreling within your gates, you are to arise and go up…
Calendar Rabbi HaLevi asks what month is being referenced in Shemot 12:24: “Let this new moon be for you the beginning of new moons, the beginning-one let it be for you of the new moons of the year.”1 We clearly…
Blessed are You, LORD, our God, King of the universe, who has sanctified us with His commandments and commanded us to light Shabbat candle[s]. Many of us have heard these words spoken on Friday nights in honor of Shabbat (Sabbath).…
Returning to Egypt Still another argument for the “Oral Law” is that Uriyyahu returned to Mitzrayim.2 Now there was another man who prophesied in the Name of the Eternal One – Uriyyahu son of Shema’yahu of Qiryat-hayye’arim, He prophesied concerning…
