Babylonian Talmud

The Hebrew Scriptures contain many hundreds of laws both religious and civil. They concern the Temple (in Exodus), the priesthood (in Leviticus), the Temple offerings and other rites (in Numbers), and the social order of Israel (in Deuteronomy). These may rightly be called the written law (Torah). The oral law is the extension of these precepts to cover all of life and its contingencies. The oral law (or Mishnah) was written down by rabbinic sages about 200 C.E. With the Talmud, Jewish sages systematized the laws in Scripture together with those of the oral tradition. While the Mishnah records rules governing the conduct of the holy life of Israel, the Talmud concerns itself with the details of the Mishnah. Israel's oral law found its definitive expression in the Talmud. The Talmud of Babylonia (a.k.a., the Bavli, or Babylonian Talmud), is a sustained commentary on the written and oral law of Israel. Compiled between 500-600 C.E., it offers a magnificent record of how Jewish scholars preserved a humane and enduring civilization. Representing the primary document of rabbinic Judaism, it throws considerable light on the New Testament as well. This monumental American translation was completed a decade ago-but was extraordinarily expensive and difficult to find. Featuring translations by Jacob Neusner, Tzvee Zahavy, Alan Avery-Peck, B. Barry Levy, Peter Haas, and Martin S. Jaffee, and commentary and new introductions by Jacob Neusner, all thirty-seven Talmudic tractates, recently published in 22 hardcover volumes, are available on a searchable CD. The CD contains all the content of the translations, commentary, and introductions in PDF format. Enabling instantaneous searches by word or phrase, it provides exceptional research capabilities-and opens swift avenues for exploration and discovery.

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