The Talmud (Hebrew: תַּלְמוּד)

The Talmud (Hebrew: תַּלְמוּד) is a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, customs, and history.

The Talmud has two components: the Mishnah (c. 200 CE), the first written compendium of Judaism's Oral Law; and the Gemara (c. 500 CE), a discussion of the Mishnah and related Tannaitic writings that often ventures onto other subjects and expounds broadly on the Tanakh.

The Tanakh is the Hebrew Bible. The Hebrew Bible is the holiest book and highest authority of Judaism, and the Talmud records rabbinical and theological efforts to fully understand the Hebrew Bible, especially where questions arise in real life that are not explicitly answered in the Bible. Thus, some books of the Talmud are devoted entirely to topics of great importance in ancient times, such as agriculture. The Talmud does not present rules issued under its own authority, but presents rabbinical debates reasoning from what is stated in the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh to find answers to new questions.

The terms Talmud and Gemara are often used interchangeably. The Gemara is the basis for all codes of rabbinic law and is much quoted in other rabbinic literature. The whole Talmud is also traditionally referred to as Shas (ש"ס (a Hebrew abbreviation of shisha sedarim, the "six orders" of the Mishnah).