THE TALMUD
The Talmud is the core text of rabbinic Judaism. It’s a vast early-medieval compendium which I find totally fascinating. Here are just a few of the reasons why it’s worth getting to know.
Although we talk about the Talmud, there are actually two. There is one from Babylon, the Talmud Bavli, and one from the land of Israel, the Talmud Yerushalmi. But the Babylonian is the bigger and better known of the two. So when people speak of the Talmud, they generally mean the Bavli. Still, the cognoscenti claim that the Yerushalmi is deeper.
Both Talmuds are commentaries on an earlier rabbinic compendium, the Mishnah, which was compiled in Hebrew in the Holy Land between 180 and 200 AD. Over the following centuries, the comments and clarifications of many rabbis were added to the Mishnah. This vast commentary—the Gemara—is mostly in Hebraeo-Aramaic. In time, the Mishnah and Gemara were bound together to make the Talmud. The first Talmud to appear was the Yerushalmi, which was compiled in Galilee (not Jerusalem) in the fourth century. Then the bigger Talmud Bavli appeared a century later in Babylon.
Rabbinic Jews consider the Talmud a monument of wisdom. It’s certainly a monument. The Hebrew and Aramaic text runs to 2.5 million words and several dozen volumes. Indeed, so weighty is it that, if a bookcase of Talmud fell on you, it might do you some harm. This was the unfortunate fate of the French Jewish pianist and composer Charles Valentin Alkan, as related by his friend Isidor Philipp. But, of course, Hebrew and Aramaic are very concise languages, and the Talmud text is famously terse and abbreviated. (This wasn’t just to save vellum; it also serves to conceal its secrets from the uninitiated.) So English translations run to well over ten million words. The first edition of the Soncino translation comprised 35 fat volumes.
A GROWING GLOBAL APPEAL
For Christians, the Talmud is a tremendous mix. For, you must understand, it does not speak with one voice. It records the opinions of many rabbis over many centuries. Some of these opinions offer great insights into interpretation of the Bible. Others offer very practical wisdom and advice. Of course, a few passages slander Jesus and his mother. But these same passages also teach us that his mother descended from the highest strata of Israelite society. We learn too that one of the most prominent figures in the Talmud, Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrcanus, was a secret Christian. And another, Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish, says Jesus rose from the dead.
Strangely enough, the Talmud is hugely popular in largely-Christian South Korea. In 2011, the South Korean Ambassador to Israel, Young-Sam Ma, was interviewed on the Israeli public-television show “Culture Today.”
“I wanted to show you this,” he told the host. It was a white paperback book with “Talmud” written in Korean and English on the cover, along with a cartoon sketch of a Biblical character with a robe and staff. “Each Korean family has at least one copy of the Talmud. Korean mothers want to know how so many Jewish people became geniuses.” Looking up at the surprised host, he added, “Twenty-three per cent of Nobel Prize winners are Jewish people. Korean women want to know the secret. They found the secret in this book.”
A MIXED BOUQUET
Of course, any book dating from Babylon in the fifth century comes straight from the land of the Arabian Nights. So don’t be surprised if there is a lot of fantastical stuff in it. It is also pretty medieval when it speaks about the treatment of women. Now one must stress that many rabbis and many Jews do not subscribe to the worst of its views in this matter. Still, there are some who defend it. This video by some Israeli messianic Jewish women investigates the subject.
But, for all its shortcomings, the Talmud is an intriguing text. Even in English, it’s a deep pool. In the original languages, with all their codes, it’s deeper still, a huge source of secrets, of learning, of wisdom, and of Bible interpretation. Who knows, maybe it will help you win a Nobel Prize. So if you want to start getting to know it, you could maybe begin with the wisdom tract Pirqê Avot.
You’ll find chapters on Talmudic lore in Messiah ben Joseph and Jesus: The Incarnation of the Word.