The Talmud in One Article
The Talmud is the rabbinic literature that develops the Oral Torah into the Halacha and the worldview of normative Judaism.
Torah & Texts
Tanakh, Talmud, Midrash, and the library of the tradition
The Tanakh in One Article
Tanakh is the Hebrew Bible: Torah, Nevi’im, Ketuvim. Twenty-four books, one canon, the foundation of everything else.
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What Is Halacha?
Halacha is the Jewish legal system—the way one walks. It is the operating language of observant Jewish life.
The 613 Mitzvot
The Torah contains 613 commandments—248 positive and 365 negative. They are the operating program of a Jewish life.
Pirkei Avot
“Ethics of the Fathers”—the tractate of Jewish ethical wisdom traditionally read between Pesach and Shavuot.
The Parshah Cycle
The Torah is divided into 54 parshiyot; one is read each Shabbat, completing the cycle annually on Simchat Torah.
Megillot
The five biblical scrolls read on five different occasions—most famously the Megillat Esther on Purim.
The Oral Torah and Its Authority
Orthodoxy holds that Moshe received both a Written and an Oral Torah at Sinai. The doctrine is the foundation of Halacha.
Midrash
The rabbinic genre of creative biblical interpretation—filling gaps, drawing moral lessons, and reading the text in surprising directions.
Chukim, Mishpatim, and Eidot
Three classical categories of mitzvot—laws beyond reason, laws of reason, and laws of testimony.
Shaatnez (Wool & Linen)
A response to a Christian article on the wool-linen prohibition—clarifying its halachic scope, the major rabbinic readings, and the importance of not casually dismissing ancient Jewish law.
Cantillation (Te’amim / Trope)
The musical notation used to chant biblical texts, preserving melody, phrasing, and interpretation.
Daf Yomi: A Page a Day
The 7.5-year program that has unified Jewish learning across the world since 1923.