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What Is the Talmud?

The State of the Question
Brief Description
The Babylonian Talmud, or Bavli, stands as one of the central pillars of Jewish intellectual, cultural, and religious life. But what, precisely, is this monumental and heterogeneous compilation? How was it formed, redacted, and transmitted? Who composed it and for what purpose? How was it shaped... Read More
Format: Hardback
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The Babylonian Talmud, or Bavli, stands as one of the central pillars of Jewish intellectual, cultural, and religious life. The essays collected in What Is the Talmud? provide a comprehensive exploration of the Talmud’s origins, compilation, and redaction, its study across generations, and its enduring influence on Jewish life.

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The Babylonian Talmud, or Bavli, stands as one of the central pillars of Jewish intellectual, cultural, and religious life. But what, precisely, is this monumental and heterogeneous compilation? How was it formed, redacted, and transmitted? Who composed it and for what purpose? How was it shaped by its broader cultures and historical period? How was it received and re-conceived by subsequent generations, and what has the Talmud become in our day?

What Is the Talmud? collects essays that provide a comprehensive exploration of the Talmud’s origins, compilation, and redaction; its diverse genres and discursive practices; its historical and cultural setting; its preservation and study across generations; and its enduring influence on Jewish life and culture today.

Series: Jewish Law and Culture Series

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780674305564

Publisher: Harvard University Press

Format: Hardback

Date Published: 12 May 2026

Country: United States

Imprint: Harvard University Press

Illustration: 27 photos

Contributors:

  • Edited by Christine Hayes
  • Edited by Jay M. Harris
  • Edited by Jay M Harris

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Width: 152.0mm

Height: 229.0mm

Weight: 0g

Pages: 904

About the Author

Christine Hayes is Sterling Professor Emerita of Jewish Studies at Yale University, and a Senior Research Fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute of North America. She is the author of Gentile Impurities and Jewish Identities and What’s Divine about Divine Law? Early Perspectives. Jay M. Harris is Harvard College Professor and Harry Austryn Wolfson Professor of Jewish Studies at Harvard University. He is the author of How Do We Know This: Midrash and the Fragmentation of Modern Judaism.

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