There is a misconception about Judaism common among Christians and Muslims.  This is the misleading idea that Judaism is a ‘biblical religion’; that the Old Testament has in Judaism the same central place and legal authority which the Bible has for Protestant or even Catholic Christianity.  The legal interpretation of sacred texts is rigidly fixed in Judaism - but by the Talmud, rather than by the Bible itself (Shahak 1994).  The supremacy of the Talmud over the Bible may be seen in the case of the black Ethiopian Jews.  Ethiopians are very knowledgeable of the Old Testament.  However, their religion is so ancient that it pre-dates the Talmud, of which the Ethiopians have no knowledge.  The New York Times wrote, “The problem is that Ethiopian Jewish tradition goes no further than the Bible or Torah; the later Talmud and other commentaries that form the basis of modern traditions never came their way.”[1]  Because they are not versed in Talmudic tradition, the black Ethiopian Jews are discriminated against and have been forbidden to perform marriages, funerals and other services in the Israeli state.  It is the natural consequence of Jewish belief of considering the Talmud superior to the Torah.  The Talmud states,

Erubin 21b (Soncino edition): “My son, be more careful in the observance of the words of the Scribes than in the words of the Torah.”

Rabbi Adin Even Israel Steinsaltz is the founder of the Israel Institute for Talmudic Publications, and has enjoyed the backing of Israeli presidents and prime ministers; he is a recipient of Israel’s highest civilian honor, the Israel Prize.  He is currently translating the Talmud into English, French, and Russian.  He writes,

“If the Bible is the cornerstone of Judaism, then the Talmud is the central pillar, soaring up from the foundations and supporting the entire spiritual and intellectual edifice.  In many ways the Talmud is the most important book in Jewish culture, the backbone of creativity and of national life.  No other work has had a comparable influence on the theory and practice of Jewish life, shaping spiritual content and serving as a guide to conduct.”[2]

“Historically speaking, the Talmud is the central pillar of Jewish culture.  This culture is many faceted, but each of its numerous aspects is connected in some way with the Talmud.  This is true not only of the literature that deals directly with the interpretation or continuation of the Talmud, but also of all other types of Jewish creativity.”[3]

The importance of the Talmud and its authority can be understood by what the Universal Jewish Encyclopedia states,

“The Talmud is undoubtedly one of the most remarkable literary productions of all times.  It is an encyclopedia covering the whole scene of human life.  It is almost impossible to convey to one who has not spent years in the study of this complex work an idea of its true nature, as even the most exact translations cannot catch the inner spirit of the Talmud … As a repository of the Oral Law, the Talmud’s authority is regarded as divine by Orthodox Jews, and hence it is held to be binding and immutable.  Conservative and Reform Jews, however, do not recognize the absolute binding power of the Talmud, although they acknowledge the great part it has played in determining Jewish religious ideas and observances.”[4]

Herman Wouk is a Pulitzer Prize-winning author of eleven novels, three plays, and two works of nonfiction.  In his book, This is My God; the Jewish Way of Life, serialized in the New York Herald-Tribune in 1959, he wrote:

“The Talmud is to this day the circulating heart’s blood of the Jewish religion.  Whatever laws, customs or ceremonies we observe — whether we are Orthodox, Conservative, Reform or merely spasmodic sentimentalists — we follow the Talmud.  It is our common law.”[5]

Role of Talmud in Contemporary Judaism

The Talmud is not an ancient document with no relevance to modern Judaism.  On the contrary, Encyclopedia Britannica tells us that with the rebirth of a Jewish national state since 1948 and the revival of Jewish culture, the Talmud has achieved renewed importance.  Orthodox Judaism has always focused upon its study and has believed it to be the absolute religious authority.  It has become one of the aims of religious (Orthodox) Jews there to establish the law of Talmud as the general law of the state.  Aside from Israel, the legal system described above has continued to function down to the present day in Jewish communities all over the world.  The jurisdiction of rabbinic courts is voluntarily accepted by Orthodox Jews.  These courts continue to exert authority, especially in the areas of family and dietary law, the synagogue, and the organization of charity and social activity.  Furthermore, Conservative Judaism, too, has always been committed to the Talmud.  Thus, a network of day schools and higher institutions of learning in which the Talmud occupies a major role in the curriculum has been established.  Scores of young Conservative Jews now search in the Talmud for answers to their crucial problems

What Is The Talmud?

The Talmud is the basic book of Judaism.  Encyclopedia Britannica states that the Hebrew term “Talmud” refers to a compilation of ancient teachings regarded as sacred by Jews from the time it was compiled until modern times and still regarded so by religious Jews.[1]  In the words of Rabbi Dr. Jacob Neusner, it is “the foundation-document of Judaism”[2]

Babylonian and Palestinian Talmuds

There are two versions of the Talmud.  The Anti-Defamation League states,

“There are two editions of the Talmud; one was composed by Babylonian Jews and one by Jews who lived in ancient Jerusalem.  Generally a citation from the Talmud refers to the Babylonian version, which is considered authoritative.  The Jerusalem Talmud is not generally taught in even the most Orthodox Jewish schools today, though advanced Talmud scholars sometimes study it.”[3]

Professor Shanak explains it further:

“Basically, the Talmud consists of two parts.  First, the Mishnah - a terse legal code consisting of six volumes, each subdivided into several tractates, written in Hebrew, redacted in Palestine around AD 200 out of the much more extensive (and largely oral) legal material composed during the preceding two centuries.  The second and by far predominant part is the Gemarah - a voluminous record of discussions on and around the Mishnah.  There are two, roughly parallel, sets of Gemarah, one composed in Mesopotamia (‘Babylon’) between about AD 200 and 500, the other in Palestine between about AD 200 and some unknown date long before 500.  The Babylonian Talmud (that is, the Mishnah plus the Mesopotamian Gemarah) is much more extensive and better arranged than the Palestinian, and it alone is regarded as definitive and authoritative.  The Jerusalem (Palestinian) Talmud is accorded a decidedly lower status as a legal authority, along with a number of compilations, known collectively as the ‘talmudic literature’, containing material which the editors of the two Talmuds had left out.”[4]

Another author confirms that the Babylonian Talmud is regarded as the authoritative version as well,

“The authority of the Babylonian Talmud is also greater than that of the Jerusalem Talmud.  In cases of doubt the former is decisive.”[5]

Authors of Talmud

According to Talmud scholars, the Talmud is the written form of the teachings of the Pharisees.  So who were the “Pharisees”?  The Universal Jewish Encyclopedia states under the subject of “Pharisees,”

“The Jewish religion as it is today traces its descent, without a break, through all the centuries, from the Pharisees.  Their leading ideas and methods found expression in a literature of enormous extent, of which a very great deal is still in existence.  The Talmud is the largest and most important single piece of that literature … and the study of it is essential for any real understanding of Pharisaism.”

Concerning the Pharisees, the 1905 edition of the Jewish Encyclopedia says under the subject of “Pharisees”:

“With the destruction of the Temple (70 A.D.) the Sadducees disappeared altogether, leaving the regulation of all Jewish affairs in the hands of the Pharisees.  Henceforth, Jewish life was regulated by the Pharisees; the whole history of Judaism was reconstructed from the Pharisaic point of view, and a new aspect was given to the Sanhedrin of the past.  A new chain of tradition supplanted the older priestly tradition (Abot 1:1).  Pharisaism shaped the character of Judaism and the life and thought of the Jew for all the future.”

Rabbi Michael Rodkinson states,

“Is the literature that Jesus was familiar with in his early years yet in existence in the world?  Is it possible for us to get at it?  Can we ourselves review the ideas, the statements, the modes of reasoning and thinking, on moral and religious subjects, which were current in his time, and must have been [resolved] by him during those silent thirty years when he was pondering his future mission?  To such inquiries, the learned class of Jewish rabbis answers - by holding up the Talmud.  Here, say they, is the source from whence Jesus of Nazareth drew the teaching which enabled him to revolutionize the world; and the question becomes, therefore, an interesting one to every Christian, What is the Talmud? …The Talmud, then, is the written form of that which, in the time of Jesus, was called the Traditions of the Elders, and to which he makes frequent allusions.”[6]

Rabbi Dr. Louis Finkelstein, Instructor of Talmud, and later president of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, writes:

“Pharisaism became Talmudism, Talmudism became Medieval Rabbinism, and Medieval Rabbinism became Modern Rabbinism.  But throughout these changes of name, inevitable adaptation of custom, and adjustment of Law, the spirit of the ancient Pharisee survives unaltered.  When the Jew reads his prayers, he is reciting formulae prepared by pre-Maccabean scholars; when he dons the cloak prescribed for the Day of Atonement and Passover Eve, he is wearing the festival garment of ancient Jerusalem; when he studies the Talmud, he is actually repeating the arguments used in the Palestinian academies.”[7]

Jesus is reported to have strongly denounced this very sect of Jewish priests known as the Pharisees:

John 8:44 “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do.  He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him.  When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.”

In addition, Jesus is reported to have said that they nullified all the Commandments of God by their Tradition, “teaching for doctrines the commandments of men” (Mark 7:13; Matt. 15:6-9, etc.).  His invective, in truth, cannot be equaled.  All of Matthew 23 is like a whiplash.  He likened Pharisaism to a white sepulcher, indeed beautiful outwardly, but “inside full of dead men’s bones and of all uncleanness.”  Christ climaxed one condemnation after another with the expletive, “Hypocrites!” He called the Pharisees children of them that killed the Prophets.  He foretold they would go on killing, crucifying and persecuting until the guilt for all the righteous blood shed from Abel on down would be upon them.  “Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?”  Christ asked.