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Decoding the Talmud: Inside the Story, Substance, and Significance of the Book that Defines Judaism

 Wednesday February 12 at the Cayman JCC

Lesson Details

Lesson 1

The Jewish People and the Talmud Why Jewish life orbits a book of law. Jewish law’s ultimate record is the Talmud, but what is Jewish law?

Explore its nature, scope, and roots in the written Torah and Oral Law—and see learning’s central role in Jewish practice and culture.

Lesson 2 The Mishnah The origins, authors, and contents of Judaism’s first legal code. See how Jewish law shifted from oral tradition to written code and encounter the Mishnah’s precise style, tight structure, and tolerance for debate—and its spiritual significance in Jewish life.

Lesson 3 Decrypting the Mishnah How the sages studied, debated, and understood the Mishnah. Discover the tools, methods, and principles the sages employed in the centuries-long effort to unpack the Mishnah’s full practical implications.

Lesson 4 To Create the Talmud How the sages shaped its structure and substance. Meet the pivotal sages in the Talmud’s story—from Rav and Shmuel’s first academies to Rav Ashi and Ravina’s final text—and see how they wove in stories as well as ethical and philosophical teachings.

Lesson 5 How the Talmud Thinks A unique method of logic—and why it matters. Understand the Babylonian Talmud’s rigorous mode of legal reasoning, how it balances dueling principles to arrive at clear legal boundaries, and how its elegant logic fuels deeper learning.

Lesson 6 The Talmud until Today Talmudic literature and fifteen centuries of constant study. See how and why the Talmud became the core of Jewish law and discover the vast literature of responsa, legal codes, and commentaries that continue the conversation until today.