Talmud

High school (ages 12+)
History & Culture

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/talmud

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the primary texts?Mishnah and Gemara
2. What is the major versions?Jerusalem Talmud and Babylonian Talmud
3. What is the Talmud and why is it so big?The Talmud is a huge book made of many rabbinic discussions, stories, and questions about Jewish law and how to live a good life. It grew over many centuries in schools in Babylonia and Israel, so it has many pages.
4. Who wrote the Talmud and when?The first part, the Mishnah, was written by Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi around 200 CE. Later, many scholars added the Gemara, finishing the Jerusalem Talmud around 400 CE and the Babylonian Talmud around 500 CE.

Oral Torah: The body of Jewish law and tradition believed to have been transmitted orally from Moses.
Amoraim: The rabbinic sages who compiled the Gemara between the 3rd and 5th centuries CE.
Poskim: Rabbinic authorities who interpret Jewish law and issue legal rulings (psakim).