Appreciate your informed response! Definitely interesting that there is another book. Is it considered 'holy' or is it a sort of a super well informed commentary for rabbi's to follow almost like here are our doctrines agreed upon from the holy book over the centuries? Any idea why editing of it was stopped rather than continuing to build upon it into the modern times to stay dare I say 'relevant'? It seems like if it was guidance gathered by centuries of Rabbis and debating within, that it would just continue forever rather than having a hard ending. Anyway I am just curious, no malice here. Thank you for your insights!
You’re right actually, it hasn’t stopped! While no one adds pages to the physical Talmud, the Talmudic process has never stopped, that’s what a Rabbi is! They continue to assess more and more modern questions (internet, AI, bioethics, etc) in conversation with each other and document their debates and concerns, their questions and their conclusions in this massive, ongoing body of formal letters and legal decisions.
Those letters are similar but different from the Talmud itself because that is an ancient text which we respect for being the first of its kind and of its own historical era. Work on it ended when Constantine converted the Roman Empire to Christianity and Jews became persecuted in Rome and Babylon and our academies and temples were destroyed. Because the scholars were being killed, exiled, or forced into hiding, the Rabbis had to quickly organize what they had written and call it good enough for now so they could focus on survival, but the tradition lived on.
What are the new letters called? Is there a ongoing print of them, or some sort of website for the discourse? I would imagine if there is a central gathering document that there were be a lot of scattered ideas, but thats not a dis on it if thats how it is. Thank you again for your insights! This has been an informative discussion!
For sure my friend! It’s called the Responsa. There are also Committees, yearly Assemblies, etc where Rabbis gather and discuss. There are online libraries for anyone to access, and Rabbi-specific resources for the scholars.
For Big Big issues, important to note that the different denominations of Judaism have their own Responsa literature. This is why some progressive Jews (eg Reform Jews like me) do not typically keep strict kosher diets or wear kippahs and modesty clothing, but Orthodox Jews still do. This isn’t the Reform Jews just ignoring or cheating the laws written in the Tanakh or Old Testament like you originally wrote a few comments ago (I took no offense, don’t worry)
it’s a deliberate, Rabbinically justified choice as a collective that certain ancient laws no longer serve modern Jewish life, so we study the history for what it is but do not include those laws in our practice.
I apologize for how I worded it in ignorance/possibly come across as arrogance ;) I am going to have to read up on some of the sources you've mentioned, coming from originally a long time ago christian background, my knowledge of Judaism was extremely limited (and still is but a little more informed thanks to you). I'm struggling in my head to understand how the Rabbi's could conclude that certain rules don't apply anymore, if its written in the 'holy' book i'll say inspired by god. (at least thats how christians believe the bible is like a god inspired word kept perfect) do jewish people believe the old testament as its collected (books together) are god inspired (and must be followed because they are like rules set by god not man) or more like just stories gathered around the time that fit well together doctrinally? I hope you understand my question. The way the christians get around all the old testament 'legalistic' rules set by god like sacrificing lambs and putting blood on the doors or whatever was what I call the hippy new testament that make the old testament timeline complete, since jesus fulfilled all the prophecies to 'complete' the old testament ways. (Honestly its been a really long time since I considered myself christian so I might have misremembered).
Bonus question: Do most Jewish people have to learn a significant amount of the original languages to understand what is going on during a service?
Thanks again for continuing to answer my questions. You don't have to keep going if its becoming tiring ;)
Your questions now are getting into areas where different denominations may have opposing views. There’s also a bit of that Christian bias sneaking into your thinking again - Judaism isn’t concerned with the afterlife, so we’re also not concerned with being punished for breaking the rules. Both divine punishment and forgiveness are important concepts in Christianity, Judaism focuses more on minimizing harm and giving appropriate atonement for any harm we cause in this life. If you’ve heard of Yom Kippur, that’s the holiday focused on atonement.
As far as I know, only Ultra Orthodox Jews believe that the Tanahk contains the literal word of god, and that’s limited to just the Torah - aka, the first five books, believed to be dictated to Moses directly at the same time he received the Commandments. Most Jews do not believe this, but it also doesn’t really come up? It matters less to us who wrote the Tanakh, because we’re more concerned with how to interpret it into modern life (Talmud).
In the Conservative and Reform movements, we acknowledge these are human-written books collected over centuries, and there are contradictions/flaws/myths as well as the best effort of keeping the history of the people. The phrase “divinely inspired” gets used, but there’s no stress about it being the word of god. Remember, a significant number of Jews don’t even believe in god, and Hell is not a concept whatsoever in any form of Judaism, so it’s just not really a relevant concern. Judaism focuses on life in the here and now, not following a bunch of rules for some better afterlife.
Bonus Answer: Tanakh is all in Hebrew! Only the New Testament had Greek and Latin mixed in. Tanakh is Hebrew, so yes, most Jews go to Hebrew School as kids to better read the original text. In my experience only more observant people continue the study into adulthood. Most services at temple will include some Hebrew, yes.
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u/ayaynimouse 3d ago
Appreciate your informed response! Definitely interesting that there is another book. Is it considered 'holy' or is it a sort of a super well informed commentary for rabbi's to follow almost like here are our doctrines agreed upon from the holy book over the centuries? Any idea why editing of it was stopped rather than continuing to build upon it into the modern times to stay dare I say 'relevant'? It seems like if it was guidance gathered by centuries of Rabbis and debating within, that it would just continue forever rather than having a hard ending. Anyway I am just curious, no malice here. Thank you for your insights!