aggadah • the non-legal portions of rabbinic literature. Aggadah includes legends, folklore, anecdotes, homilies, ethical teachings, and reflections on theology. While halakhah will determine how and when a commandment should be observed, aggadah provides the rationale behind it.
amora (pl. amoraim) • Aramaic term for sages who flourished during the amoraic period, approximately 225–550 C.E.
baraita • traditions from the tannaitic period that were not included in the Mishnah.
Conservative Judaism • a denomination within contemporary Judaism that originated in the nineteenth century as a reaction to Reform Judaism. The Conservative movement maintains that Jewish law is binding but may and should be adapted to new circumstances.
gemara • commentary on the Mishnah developed by amoraic sages in Palestine and Babylonia. Together, the Mishnah and the gemara constitute the Talmud.
halakhah • Jewish religious law. It is also used to refer to the legal portions of rabbinic literature. Halakhah deals with details of how and when commandments are to be observed.
haredim (sg. haredi) • (literally “those who fear God”), ultra-orthodox.
hasidism • a charismatic movement that developed in eastern Europe in the mid-eighteenth century. In response to the focus on Talmud study, it emphasized spirituality and joy as important aspects of Judaism. Hasidism is a part of contemporary haredi Judaism.
haskalah • a late eighteenth-century movement among European Jews adopting Enlightenment values and advocating education in secular studies.
Jesus movement • a movement within Second Temple Judaism whose adherents believed that Jesus was the Messiah. Also non-Jews who believed that Jesus was the Messiah joined the movement.
litvaks (literally “Lithuanians”) • opponents of Hasidism, also known as mitnagdim. They constitute a group within contemporary haredi society.
mashal • parable.
midrash • rabbinic biblical interpretation based on the assumptions that the biblical text is perfect, relevant to later times and contains hidden meanings beyond the plain contextual meaning. The term can also refer to compilations of biblical interpretations.
Mishnah • one of the earliest works of rabbinic Judaism redacted in the early third century. It consists mainly of legal teachings and traditions attributed to sages who lived before 200 C.E. The Mishnah and its later commentary, the gemara, together form the Talmud. The smallest section of the Mishnah is known also as a mishnah.
nimshal • the situation that a mashal (parable) aims to illustrate.
Oral Torah • see Torah below.
Orthodox Judaism • a collective term for modern Orthodox and haredi Jews. While haredi Jews reject modern society, modern Orthodox Jews believe that strict observance of Jewish law can be reconciled with a secular education and integration into modern society.
rabbinic Judaism • the Judaism that emerged after the fall of the second temple in the year 70. A basic tenet of rabbinic Judaism is that the Torah was revealed to Moses at Mt. Sinai in one written (the Bible) and one oral form (rabbinic tradition) and that the written Torah can only be understood through oral tradition (Mishnah, Talmud, midrash).
rabbinic literature • refers primarily to the literature of the Talmudic era (the Mishnah, Talmuds, and classical midrashim), but can also include midrashic anthologies redacted later.
Reconstructionist Judaism • a denomination within contemporary Judaism that originated as a branch within the Conservative movement. Judaism is seen as a progressively evolving civilization and an emphasis is placed on its cultural aspects. Jewish law is not considered binding.
Reform Judaism • a denomination of contemporary Judaism that emerged in the late nineteenth century as a consequence of the attempts to reform and adapt Jewish tradition. Reform Judaism regards Jewish law as a set of guiding principles rather than a binding law code.
Responsa (sing. responsum, “answers”) • a body of rulings written by legal authorities in response to specific questions addressed to them. The custom of writing responsa began in the early medieval period and continues to the present.
stam (“anonymous”) • the latest, anonymous layer of the Talmud.
sugya • a literary unit in the Talmud.
Talmud • a central collection of texts from the rabbinic period. It consists of the Mishnah and its commentary (gemara). The Talmud exists in two versions, the Palestinian Talmud (also known as the Jerusalem Talmud), that originated in the Galilee between 225–400 C.E. and the Babylonian Talmud that evolved in Babylonia between 225–700. The Babylonian one is the most comprehensive and the one still studied by religious Jews.
Tanakh • an acronym for the Hebrew Bible, formed from the first Hebrew letters of the three main units of the Bible: Torah (five books of Moses), Nevi’im (Prophets), and Ketuvim (Writings).
tanna (pl. tannaim) • Aramaic term for sages who flourished during the tannaitic period, from the destruction of the temple until ca. 225 C.E.
targum (literally “translation”) • Aramaic translations of the Bible that also include many interpretive traditions.
Torah • In its most restrictive sense, Torah refers to the first part of the Hebrew Bible (the five books of Moses), in a more expanded sense to the Hebrew Bible as a whole (Written Torah), and in an even more expanded sense to the entire body of rabbinic interpretation and legislation (Oral Torah).
Tosefta (Aramaic, literally “addition”) • A collection of traditions from the tannaitic period roughly contemporaneous with the Mishnah. The Tosefta is organized according to the same tractates as the Mishnah but includes more traditions.
Written Torah • see Torah above.