Understanding the Talmud

the long version

As far back as the time of the Byzantine emperor Justinian, the place of the Oral Torah, even more than the Bible, in maintaining Jewish cohesion has been recognized. In his revolutionary guide to Talmud study, Prof. Jacob Neusner defines the unique quality of Talmud study and the secret of its attraction to many generations of Jews, and, in our time, to not a few non-Jews. As Neusner himself explains, "The genera of the Talmud of Babylonia conducts a searching analysis of the laws and their principles. It is intellectually ambitious but linguistically economical. A few questions teach throughout. The result is that the Talmud finds it possible to say the same thing about many things and so to demonstrate the coherence of its truth." Neusner illustrates this characteristic of the Talmud with a wealth of interesting examples, dealing with questions of responsibility, intentionality, belief, actions, and philosophy.