A Messianic Jewish Look at the
Talmud
By Tirzah Suissa
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Talmud is a Hebrew word that means learning and is considered one of the most important
writings of Rabbinic Judaism. It's origin is believed to be the Torah she-Ba-al Peh, or the
Oral Law, that was given to Moshe at Sinai together with the Written Law. It is believed that
the Oral traditions relating to the application of the The Torah was passed down in an
unbroken chain of oral tradition for generations until it was written down around 500 CE.
The Talmud is also known as the Gemara, an Aramaic word that means completion or
tradition.
1) Legal material that deals with even the most minute regulations of how to return a lost
object to how judge a witnesses testimony in capital cases.
2) Material called "aggadata," which delves into Jewish metaphysics, stories of the lives of
some of the ancient rabbis, popular sayings and even recipes.
The Talmud is not written in a clear format and is rather opaque and confusing to the
unlearned. Understanding the text requires long and extensive training to master both the
coded nature of the Aramaic text and to make any sense of it. The material is not organized in
a format that is familiar to the "Westernized" reader. There is no easily discernible
punctuation that helps the reader to understand, or even differentiate between who is
"speaking" within the text; and the discussion can move from a sort of a long stream of
discussion that interjects the proper payment of damages for a gored cow to a reflection on
the ultimate purpose of human existence.
Because of the lack of punctuation, for example, any text within the Talmud can be read in
vastly differing ways making it virtually impossible to ever understand exactly the true meaning,
which can obviously result in error.
The Messianic Jewish viewpoint concerning the Talmud must hold to the Truth that our G-d is
not the author of confusion, and that the writings within this work, though they may indeed be
the works of some inspired men, are not necessarily inspired text. Essentially the Talmud is a
commentary and should be treated as such.
Most teachers within Messianic Judaism hold the above viewpoint toward the Talmud--That
being said; it is important to understand that many of the traditions that we value within our
culture as Jews come to us from within its pages. The candles we light on Erev Shabbat, the
Challah, the Tallit, the kippah; even the Seder at Pesach all come from the Talmud--or the
Oral traditions, the beauty of which are unparalleled.
However, our understanding of, and viewpoint toward the traditions passed down to us by our
forefathers must not supersede our hunger and thirst for the W-rd of our G-d and King. To
do so would subject us to the same error that we were warned not to fall into by Y'shua
Himself.
Mark 7:6-10
And He said to them, "Rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written,
'This people honors Me with their lips,
But their heart is far away from Me.
7'But in vain do they worship Me,
Teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.'
8 "Neglecting the commandment of God, you hold to the tradition of men." 9 He was also
saying to them, "You nicely set aside the commandment of God in order to keep your
tradition. NAS
The Place of Rabbinic Tradition in
Messianic Judaism
www.gnfi.org
Some perspective for beginners
By Robert Goldenberg