Talmud Facts for Kids

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A man studying the Talmud

The Talmud is a collection of texts which are important in Judaism. These texts are about discussions Rabbis had about Jewish law, ethics, customs and history. The Talmud has two parts, the Mishnah and the Gemara. The Mishnah was written down about 200 C.E. The Mishna is about the oral laws of Judaism. The Gemara was written down around the year 500. It discusses the Mishnah, writings of the Tannaim, and the Tanakh. The Talmud is taken very seriously. The Talmud is studied and used every day by Jewish people all over the world and is considered an extremely necessary component of the Jewish religion.

Images for kids

The first page of the Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Berachot, folio 2a. The center column contains the Talmud text, beginning with a section of Mishnah. The Gemara begins 14 lines down with the abbreviation גמ (gimmel-mem) in larger type. Mishnah and Gemara sections alternate throughout the Talmud. The blocks of text on either side are the Rashi and Tosafot commentaries, printed in Rashi script. Other notes and cross references are in the margins.
A page of a medieval Jerusalem Talmud manuscript, from the Cairo Geniza
A full set of the Babylonian Talmud
Koren Talmud Bavli
Jewish Scene I
Jewish Scene II
A Controversy Whatsoever on Talmud
At the Rabbi's
Samuel Hirszenberg, Talmudic School, c. 1895–1908
Maurycy Trębacz, The Dispute, c. 1920–1940
Solomon's Haggadoth, bronze relief from the Knesset Menorah, Jerusalem, by Benno Elkan, 1956
Hilel's Teachings, bronze relief from the Knesset Menorah
Jewish Mysticism: Jochanan ben Sakkai, bronze relief from the Knesset Menorah

Talmud facts for kids

Images for kids

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