Doc Yoder's Overview of Jewish Sacred Books

Torah: The five books of Moses (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy)
Documentary Hypothesis (18th-Century theory, but still in dispute):
               Based on discussion by W. Gunther Plaut in The Torah: A Modern Commentary

Writing and "redaction" ~950-450 B.C.E., canonized ~400 B.C.E.

Tanakh: Torah, plus Nevi'im (Prophets) and Kethuvim (Writings)
Roughly equivalent to the Christian Old Testament, but in a different order

Oral Law: The interpretation and commentary on the Torah
Rabbi Telushkin's 3 reasons the Oral Law is necessary (from Jewish Literacy):

  1. The frequent lack of detail in Torah legislation
  2. The incomprehensibility of some terms in the Torah
  3. The objections to following some Torah laws literally.

Mishna: Systematic written codification of Oral Law by Rabbi Judah the Prince, in about 200 C.E.
-- 6 "orders" with a total of 63 tractates, including the Pirkei Avot

The Orders:

Gemara: Written record of Rabbinic discussion of Mishna

Talmud: Combination of Mishna and Gemara

Rashi's commentary: Rabbi Shlomo ben Isaac ("Rashi") 1040-1105 C.E.
An essential guide to the Talmud, Rashi's gloss is almost always included in editions of the Talmud.

Doc Yoder's Home