The Evolution of Torah: a history of rabbinic literature

JTS

An introduction to the first 1000 years of rabbinic literature in five episodes with Rabbi Mordecai Schwartz, Director, Matthew Eisenfeld and Sara Duker Beit Midrash and Assistant Professor of Talmud and Rabbinics at JTS.

  • 12 minutes 17 seconds
    Introducing: Exploring Kabbalah
    Check out this new series from JTS Podcasts, Exploring Kabbalah. Dr. Eitan Fishbane shares the complext history of Jewish mystical thought from the Torah to Hasidism. 

    Subscribe now:
    RSS: https://www.spreaker.com/show/3550593/episodes/feed
    Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/exploring-kabbalah/id1739159484


    Hosted by: Dr. Eitan Fishbane
    Produced by Ellie Gettinger
    Edited by Sarah Brown
    Cover art: Lee Willet
    Theme music: “Yah Notein Binah” from Seeds of Song

    Find more JTS Podcasts at www.jtsa.edu/torah/podcasts
    11 April 2024, 2:29 pm
  • 14 minutes
    2.6 Evolution of Torah: Christian Spain
    All the legal cultures we discussed in this season come together in Christian Spain in the 14th Century. Rabbi Asher ben Yehiel (the Rosh) is one of the rabbis leading the integration of the legal culture of Muslim Spain, with the interpretative work of France and the rabbinic authority that was standard in Germany. This episode traces the Rosh’s immigration to Spain and highlights the period until the Spanish Inquisition. We end this season on the precipice of even broader geographic dispersion and as moveable type is about to revolutionize rabbinic and Jewish culture.

    Hosted by: Rabbi Mordecai Marcus Schwartz
    Produced by Ellie Gettinger
    Edited by Sarah Brown
    Cover art: Lee Willet
    Theme music: Stock media provided by u19_studios / Pond5
    18 July 2023, 12:30 pm
  • 14 minutes 21 seconds
    2.5 Evolution of Torah: Germany
    The German Jewish community was at once highly organized and prosperous. At the same time, they were subject to the potentially violent whims of non-Jewish community around them. These parallels of strength and challenge are at the core of this episode about rabbinic culture in the Germanic provinces in the 13th century. We will focus on the specific struggles of two rabbis, the Maharam (Rabbi Meir ben Barukh) of Rothenberg and Rabbi Mordechai ben Hillel while exploring their and others’ contributions to Jewish practice.

    Hosted by: Rabbi Mordecai Marcus Schwartz
    Produced by Ellie Gettinger
    Edited by Sarah Brown
    Cover art: Lee Willet
    Theme music: Stock media provided by u19_studios / Pond5
    11 July 2023, 12:30 pm
  • 14 minutes 47 seconds
    2.4 Maimonides
    For this episode, we focus solely on Rabbi Moses ben Maimon (1138–1204, Maimonides/Rambam), whose work in diverse disciplines from medicine to philosophy worked to elevate rabbinic legal culture. We examine the Mishneh Torah, Maimonides’s companion to the written Torah, which is the oldest in existence and delve into his rigorous work life. Through his letters, we get a sense of Maimonides personal challenges and extensive reach during his lifetime underscoring our desire to dedicate an episode to this transformational figure.

    Hosted by: Rabbi Mordecai Marcus Schwartz
    Produced by Ellie Gettinger
    Edited by Sarah Brown
    Cover art: Lee Willet
    Theme music: Stock media provided by u19_studios / Pond5
    27 June 2023, 12:30 pm
  • 13 minutes 43 seconds
    2.3 France
    This episode focuses on Rashi (1040 - 1105, Rabbi Solomon ben Isaac) and his intellectual (and genetic) heirs. We start by exploring the significant differences between French rabbinic culture and that of North Africa and Muslim Spain. As opposed to summarizing the law as presented in the Talmud which was the central aim of scholars like the RIF, Rashi embarked on a broader interpretative process which led his predecessors to the mammoth task of harmonizing conflicting and contradictory Talmudic discussion.

    Hosted by: Rabbi Mordecai Marcus Schwartz
    Produced by Ellie Gettinger
    Edited by Sarah Brown
    Cover art: Lee Willet
    Theme music: Stock media provided by u19_studios / Pond5
    20 June 2023, 12:30 pm
  • 12 minutes 56 seconds
    2.2 Muslim Spain and North Africa
    The legal culture of Muslim Spain and North Africa from the ninth to the thirteenth century focused on making the Talmud accessible through practical applications of Gaonic interpretations. This episode follows two scholars: Rabenu Hananel ben Hushiel whose approach is one of the earliest known attempt to provide a systematic commentary on the Talmud and that of Rabbi Isaac Alfasi (the RIF) whose work superseded Hananel’s within two generations. This period in general and the Rif’s work specifically kicked off the period of the Rishonim.

    Hosted by: Rabbi Mordecai Marcus Schwartz
    Produced by Ellie Gettinger
    Edited by Sarah Brown
    Cover art: Lee Willet
    Theme music: Stock media provided by u19_studios / Pond5
    13 June 2023, 12:30 pm
  • 14 minutes 2 seconds
    2.1 Journeys in Torah Study
    How did geographic diversity and separation impact rabbinic culture? In the season opener, we begin with the story of the four captives, the story that ended season one. This narrative offers an example of how rabbinic learning spread. We introduce the challenges and opportunities that faced Jewish communities which connect our four regions: Muslim Spain and North Africa, France, Germany, and Christian Spain. The season also includes a stand-alone episode about the monumental figure of Maimonides.

    Hosted by: Rabbi Mordecai Marcus Schwartz
    Produced by Ellie Gettinger
    Edited by Sarah Brown
    Cover art: Lee Willet
    Theme music: Stock media provided by u19_studios / Pond5
    6 June 2023, 12:00 pm
  • 50 seconds
    The Evolution of Torah Season 2 Trailer
    Get ready for Season 2 of the Evolution of Torah: Establishing Rabbinic Culture
    31 May 2023, 1:52 pm
  • 16 minutes 47 seconds
    5. The Talmud after the Talmud
    How did the Babylonian Talmud become a fixed, closed book, the most influential one in the Jewish world? In this episode, we discuss the final layers of interpretation and editing that made it into the Talmud. We’ll also see how the influence of the Geonim, the heads of the Babylonian academies, together with immigration, spread the authority of the Babylonian Talmud to even far-flung Jewish communities. Lastly, we reflect on how the process of interpreting the Talmud continues through the medieval period and into our own day.

    Credits:
    Produced by Rabbi Tim Bernard
    Cover art: Rabbi Tim Bernard
    Theme music: Stock media provided by u19_studios / Pond5
    19 November 2019, 4:35 pm
  • 11 minutes 29 seconds
    4. Midrash: Making meaning
    The Rabbis were not only interested in compiling and interpreting the Mishnah. In this episode, we look at some examples of Midrash, rabbinic interpretation of the Bible to derive both legal and narrative insights. We also hear how study of Midrash experienced a renaissance in the hands of modern scholars and ask if genuine Midrash can be found after the rabbinic period.

    Credits:
    Produced by Rabbi Tim Bernard
    Cover art: Rabbi Tim Bernard
    Theme music: Stock media provided by u19_studios / Pond5
    19 November 2019, 4:33 pm
  • 9 minutes 42 seconds
    3. The Talmud(s): Creating Torah through dispute
    Interpreting the Mishnah evolved into a creative process where pairs of Rabbis would argue with each other. In this episode, we discuss how these debates about interpretation developed into a primary component of the Babylonian Talmud and the Jerusalem Talmud.

    Credits:
    Produced by Rabbi Tim Bernard
    Cover art: Rabbi Tim Bernard
    Theme music: Stock media provided by u19_studios / Pond5
    19 November 2019, 4:32 pm
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