The Talmud
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the Talmud, the written version of Jewish oral law and one of the most important texts of Judaism.
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the history and contents of the Talmud, one of the most important texts of Judaism. The Talmud was probably written down over a period of several hundred years, beginning in the 2nd century. It contains the authoritative text of the traditional Jewish oral law, and also an account of early Rabbinic discussion of, and commentary on, these laws. In later centuries scholars wrote important commentaries on these texts, which remain central to most strands of modern Judaism.
With:
Philip Alexander
Emeritus Professor of Jewish Studies at the University of Manchester
Rabbi Norman Solomon
Former Lecturer at the Oxford Centre for Jewish and Hebrew Studies
Laliv Clenman
Lecturer in Rabbinic Literature at Leo Baeck College and a Visiting Lecturer at the Department of Theology and Religious Studies, King's College London
Producer: Thomas Morris.
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LINKS AND FURTHER READING
Philip Alexander at the University of Manchester
Laliv Clenman at Leo Baeck College
READING LIST:
Rachel Adler, Engendering Judaism (Jewish Publication Society, 1998)
Shaye Cohen, Beginnings of Jewishness: Boundaries, Varieties, Uncertainties (University of California Press, 2001)
Eliezer Diamond, Holy Men and Hunger Artists: Fasting and Asceticism in Rabbinic Culture (Oxford University Press, 2003)
I. Epstein (ed.), The Babylonian Talmud (translated into English with notes, glossary, and indices, Soncino Press, first edition 1935-1948, second edition 1978)
Charlotte E. Fonrobert and Martin S. Jaffee (eds.), The Cambridge Companion to the Talmud and Rabbinic Literature (Cambridge University Press, 2007)
Martin Goodman and Philip Alexander (eds.), Rabbinic Texts and the History of Late-Roman Palestine (Oxford University Press/British Academy, 2011)
Louis Jacobs, Rabbinic Thought in the Talmud (Vallentine Mitchell, 2005)
Ishay Rosen-Zvi, Demonic Desires: “Yetzer Hara” and the Problem of Evil in Late Antiquity (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2011)
Michael L. Satlow, Jewish Marriage in Antiquity (Princeton University Press, 2001)
Paul Socken (ed.), Why Study Talmud in the Twenty-First Century? The Relevance of the Ancient Jewish Text to Our World (Rowman & Littlefield, 2009)
Norman Solomon, The Talmud: A Selection (Penguin, 2009)
Norman Solomon, A Very Short Introduction to Judaism (Oxford University Press, first edition 1996, revised edition 2014)
Adin Steinsaltz, The Essential Talmud (Basic Books, 2006)
Adin Steinsaltz, The Talmud: A Reference Guide (Maggid, 2013)
H. L. Strack and G. Stemberger, Introduction to the Talmud and Midrash (T&T Clark, 1996)
Credits
| Role | Contributor |
|---|---|
| Presenter | Melvyn Bragg |
| Interviewed Guest | Philip Alexander |
| Interviewed Guest | Norman Solomon |
| Interviewed Guest | Laliv Clenman |
| Producer | Thomas Morris |
Broadcasts
- Thu 29 May 201409:00BBC Radio 4
- Thu 29 May 201421:30BBC Radio 4
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