Most Messianic Jews and many Christians have heard that religious Jews read not just the Bible (Tanakh. Old Testament) but also the ‘Talmud’. Some Christians have criticised the Talmud as a “bunch of laws made up by the rabbis”, created for the purpose of maintaining control over the Jewish people. As you will discover in this article, such a viewpoint is only partially so. Se Lawrence Shiffman, From Text to Tradition, who does say that Rabbinic methods were for gaining control but there is much more to it.

Jews divide the Tanakh as consisting of three parts: Torah, Writings and the Prophets. The first of these, Torah, includes the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy.  The Torah contains ‘The Law’ – or the commandments and statutes that God gave to define and limit the lives of Jews, as evidence of their acceptance of their covenant with God in their lives, and as a testimony to the nations. This, the Torah is Scripture, of course, but what is the “Talmud” and what is it all about?

Read the full article here: November ’23 Issue 26