What Were the Initial Origins of the Talmud?

[Vik]

What were the earliest origins of the Talmud?

[Harry]

Hi Vik, thanks for kicking off the discussion.

There are 2 Talmuds but my book is about the better known one, which is a record of debates and discussions in schools in the area around Baghdad, between the 3rd and 6th centuries. (The other Talmud was composed around the same time in Israel).

The discussions in the Talmud are based on an earlier book, the Mishnah which was composed round about the year 220 in Israel. The Mishnah in turn is an elaboration of the Bible, explaining all the details about law and religious practice that the Bible fails to provide. Still with me?

The Talmud itself contains 400 years of material, and probably took another hundred years or so to edit. It is composed in such a way that you find people who lived hundreds of years and miles apart having conversations with each other, not because the editors were trying to be funny or smart but because the subject matter is so timeless that it really didn't matter to them when things were said or done.

I deal with the origins of the Talmud in my book, and what happened to it when it left Baghdad and traveled across the world with Jewish communities. You can read the first chapters on Issuu- it should give you more of a flavour of the Talmud's origins. I've also created a resource website to go with the book, www.talmudbiography.com.

Hope that gives you some sort of a perspective.

[Vik]

You're very welcome, Harry. This is very interesting and tells me a great deal.

There's a minor typo that is keeping me from following what this important sentence in your reply meant:

>>The Mishnah in turn is an elaboration of the Bible, explaining all the details that Bible about law and religious practice fails to provide.

Could you edit it?

[Harry]

Sorry Vik. Have edited it

[Vik]

Thanks! So if these important legal and religious practices do not come from the Bible, where do they come from? I ask as an admirer of the Bible and the Talmud. Are they implied by the things in the Bible, or were they developed as necessary corollaries to things in the Bible?

[Harry]

Most are implied by statements in the Bible. e.g 'You shall not work on the Sabbath day'. But the Bible doesn't define which acts do and don't constitute work, and Judaism is very exercised over details. So traditions develop (or, according to religious view, are given to Moses) about the definition of work. These are transmitted orally for centuries until they are eventually collated in the Mishnah. They are further elaborated upon in the Talmud. Some religious practices, e.g. Barmitzvah, however have no Biblical precedent and are simply the result of tradition.