Talmud

making a case for talmud pedagogy—the talmud as an educational model

Marjorie Lehman

Jane Kanarek

pp. 581-596

in: Helena Miller, Lisa Grant, Alex Pomson (eds), International handbook of Jewish education, Berlin, Springer, 2011

Abstract

The Babylonian Talmud (Bavli) stands at the canonical center of Jewish tradition. Composed between the third and seventh centuries C.E., the Bavli has been and continues to be studied in a variety of contexts, ranging from religious academies (yeshivot) to modern secular universities. Its study has resulted in a long chain of commentaries, including the almost line-by-line commentary of Rabbi Solomon Yitzhaki (Rashi, 1040/1–1105) and the medieval dialogical commentaries of the Tosafists. Legal codification was also an outgrowth of Talmudic analysis and interpretation and resulted in Isaac Alfasi's (Rif, 1013–1103) Hilkhot Ha-rif and Moses Maimonides' (Rambam, 1135–1204) Mishneh Torah, to cite two examples.