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Talmud

7 Episodes

The Talmud is the sprawling body of rabbinic discussion built around the Mishnah, preserving arguments, interpretations, and legal reasoning about how Torah should be understood and lived. Rather than presenting a single voice, it records centuries of debate across different sages, schools, and settings.

Why this topic matters

The Talmud matters here because it shows how scriptural interpretation becomes an extended argument rather than a static rulebook. Episodes under this topic return to the way rabbinic literature preserves disagreement, fills in legal gaps, and works out what fidelity to Torah looks like in practice.

It also opens up questions about authority, tradition, and reception. Sometimes the focus is the Talmud itself; other times it appears as a later interpretive witness that helps explain how Jewish readers negotiated commandments, purity, oral tradition, and the practical problems left unresolved by the biblical text.

Where to start

Start here for the best in-depth listening on Talmud: featured segments, featured episodes, and the episode with the most mentions.

Quotes from the Data

“But not everything in the Mishnah is entirely clear. A lot of it is not exactly comprehensible without additional context and additional discussion. And that is what we find in the Gemara, which is debate, discussion, and analysis of what is in the Mishnah.”

Miriam Anzovin Episode 24

“It is interwoven. So let me say it this way. All these different sages, the rabbis, they are arguing, right? Is there agreement amongst them? Rarely.”

Miriam Anzovin Episode 24

“There are all types of ways to study Talmud. This idea of being all on the same page, meeting there every day for seven and a half years, is a fascinating collective experience.”

Miriam Anzovin Episode 24

“They both seem to me to be different negotiations with the Torah. They're both chasing down the implications of these unanswered questions, and it is still a bit of a battle of traditions.”

Dan McClellan Episode 85

Top episodes

Ranked by mentions of Talmud across the transcript. Start with the top mention above, then keep going here.

All episodes

Every episode currently tagged with Talmud.