Rabbinic literature

Rabbinic literature, in the broadest sense, is any literature written by religious concerning the religion of Judaism. The term is usually restricted to rabbinic writings from the beginning of the common era to around 700 CE; this would include the Mishna, Talmud and midrash compilations written in this time frame. The Hebrew term is Sifrut Hazal. This article discusses rabbinic literature broadly, yet is limited to that literature which has achieved some degree of canonicity among Jews. There is a great deal of classical Jewish literature on the Hebrew Bible, including the early midrash literature and the works of the meforshim (Jewish Bible commentators).

Table of contents

1 The oral law 2 The Midrash 3 Later works by category 3.1 Jewish thought and ethics 3.2 Liturgy 4 Later works by historical period 4.3 Works of the Rishonim 4.4 Works of the Acharonim 5 See also 6 Bibliography 7 External links

The oral law

\nThe Mishnah and the Tosefta (compiled from materials pre-dating 200 CE) are the earliest extant works of rabbinic literature, explaining Judaism's oral law. Next came the two Talmuds:\n*The Jerusalem Talmud, circa 450 CE\n*The Babylonian Talmud, circa 600 CE\n*The minor tractates (part of the Babylonian Talmud)

The Midrash

\nMidrash (pl. Midrashim) is a Hebrew word referring to a method of reading details into, or out of, a Biblical text. The term "midrash" also can refer to a compilation of Midrashic teachings, in the form of legal, exegetical or homiletical commentaries on the Bible.

Later works by category

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Jewish law

\nHalakha is the Jewish way of life. Notable works in this category include:\n*The Major Codes of Jewish Law (See halakha article)\n**The Mishneh Torah and its commentaries.\n**The Arba'ah Turim and its commentaries.\n**The Shulhan Arukh and its commentaries.\n*The Responsa literature

Jewish thought and ethics

\n*Jewish philosophy\n*Kabbalah\n*The works of Hasidic Judaism\n*Jewish ethics and the Mussar Movement

Liturgy

\n*The Siddur and Jewish liturgy\n*Piyyutim (Classical Jewish poetry)

Later works by historical period

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Works of the Geonim

\nThe Geonim are the rabbis of Sura and Pumbeditha, in Babylon (650 CE - 1250 CE) :\n* She'iltoth of Acha'i Gaon\n* Halachoth Gedoloth\n* Emunoth ve-Deoth (Saadia Gaon)\n* The Siddur by Amram Gaon\n* Responsa

Works of the Rishonim

\nThe Rishonim are the rabbis of the early medieval period (1250 CE - 1550 CE)\n* The commentaries on the Bible, such as those by Rashi, Abraham ibn Ezra and Nahmanides.\n* Commentaries on the Talmud, principally by Rashi, his grandson Samuel ben Meir and Nissim of Gerona.\n* Talmudic novellae (chiddushim) by Tosafists, Nahmanides, Nissim of Geronda, Solomon ben Adereth (Rashba), Yomtov ben Ashbili (Ritva)\n* Works of halakha (Asher ben Yechiel, Mordechai ben Hillel)\n* Codices by Maimonides and Jacob ben Asher, and finally Shulkhan Arukh\n* Responsa, e.g. by Solomon ben Adereth (Rashba)\n* Kabbalistic works (such as the Zohar)\n* Philosophical works (Maimonides, Gersonides, Nahmanides)\n* Ethical works (Bahya ibn Paquda, Jonah of Gerona)

Works of the Acharonim

\nThe Acharonim are the rabbis from 1550 CE to the present day.\n* Important Bible commentaries include Keli Yakar, Ohr ha-Chayim by Chayim ben-Attar, the commentary of Samson Raphael Hirsch, the commentary of Naphtali Yehuda Zwi Berlin and the Jewish Publication Society commentary on the Tanakh.\n* Important works of Talmudic novellae include: Pnei Yehoshua, Hafla'ah, Sha'agath Aryei\n* Responsa, e.g. by Moses Sofer, Moshe Feinstein\n* Works of halakha and codices e.g. Mishna Berura by Yisrael Meir Kagan and the Aruch ha-Shulchan\n* Ethical and philosophical works: Moses Chaim Luzzato, Yisrael Meir Kagan and the Mussar Movement\n* Hasidic works (Kedushath Levi, Sefath Emmeth, Shem mi-Shemuel)\n* Philosphical/metaphysical works (the works of the Maharal of Prague, Moses Chaim Luzzato and Nefesh ha-Chayim by Chayim of Volozhin)\n* Mystical works\n* Historical works, e.g. Shem ha-Gedolim by Chaim Joseph David Azulai.

See also

\n*Torah databases (electronic versions of the Traditional Jewish Bookshelf)\n*List of Jewish Prayers and Blessings

Bibliography

\n* "Back to the Sources: Reading the Classic Jewish Texts", Barry W. Holtz, Summit Books.\n* "Introduction to Rabbinic Literature" Jacob Neusner, Anchor Bible Reference Library/Doubleday\n* "Introduction to the Talmud and Midrash", H. L. Strack and G. Stemberger, Fortress Press\n* Shemuel Safrai and Peter J. Tomsan "The Literature of the Sages: Oral Torah, Halakha, Mishna, Tosefta, Talmud, External Tractates" Fortress, 1987

External links

\n*A survey of rabbinic literature on the Ohr Somayach website Category:Jewish texts Category:Rabbis