Class 6. 2/4 Rabbinic literature: Talmud

Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Bava Batra, printed by Daniel Bomberg, Venice, 1522 Links to an external site..

Satlow, Creating Judaism, ch. 5, “Rabbinic Concepts Download Rabbinic Concepts

Schiffman, Texts and Traditions, “Halakha and Aggadah Download Halakha and Aggadah

Jeffrey Rubenstein, Rabbinic Stories (2002), Preface, xvii–xxi; ch. 9, “The ‘Oven of Akhnai’: Rabbinic Authority and Human Dignity (Bavli Bava Metsia 59a–59b) Download The ‘Oven of Akhnai’: Rabbinic Authority and Human Dignity (Bavli Bava Metsia 59a–59b)

How did the rabbis create a Jewish world through halakha (Jewish law)? How did the rabbis understand their own authority and their relationship to God?