The rabbis viewed the Oral Law as beginning with Moses and being passed, saying by saying and generation by generation. The Oral had been given to Moses at Sinai along with the Written Law and so had coexisted with it ever since.
Because of a rabbinic aversion to transmitting oral material to writing, the entire body of oral law was not thus transmitted until the beginning of the 3rd Century CE. The origin of this aversion is not known, but its force appears in a remark by Judah ben Nachmani: "What has been said orally one may not say in writing, and vice versa (Gittin 60b). And a kindred remark, by Rabbi Yochanan, adds to this force - although by the time of Nachmani and Yochanan the Oral Law was already in the process of being transmitted to writing: "He who records oral laws is like him who burns the Torah; and whoever studies these collections has no reward" (Temurah 14b). However, in spite of this aversion, the Oral Law began to be transmitted to writing at the beginning of the 3rd century C.E.
The first compilation of Oral Law into written form for public use was the Mishnah. It was compiled by Rabbi Yehudah ha-Nasi (ca 200 CE). Once he broke with tradition and published his work, similar compilations followed, incorporating materials he had not used. One such compilation is the Tosephta "supplement" or "addition." It is about four times larger than the Mishnah, is divided in the same manner, and contains the same kind of material. The Tosephta appeared early in the 5th century CE, roughly 200 years after the Mishna of Rabbi Yehudah.
Both the Mishna and the Tosephta contian readings, rulings, and maxims divided into six orders: Zaraim, "seeds"; Moed, "festivals"; Nashim, "women"; Nezikin, "damages"; Kodashim, "sacred things"; and Tohorot, "purity." These orders then subdivide into 63 books or tractates. Both compilations also contain detailed commentaries on the five books of the Torah - with exegeses of not merely chapters but, as well, of verses and even words within these chapters. These commentaries are Mekhilta, Sifra, and Sifre. Mekhilta, (a measuring vessel) is a commentary on most of the book of Exodus. Sifra (a book) is a commentary on the entire book of Leviticus, and Sifre (books) contains rabbinic rulings and commentary on large portions of the book of Numbers and of Deuteronomy.
Much additional Oral Law is to be found in the Gamara, a commentary on the Mishna. The Gamara, together with the Mishnah, is known as the Talmud. There are two versions of the Talmud: one compoied by Jewish scholars in Babylon (the Babylonian Talmud) and one compiled by Jewish scholars in the Land of Israel (the Jerusalem Talmud).
Being the work of two different schools of scholars, the Gemara in one version of the Talmud differs markedly from that in the other. But the Mishnah in both is the Mishnah of Rabbi Yehudah. The Babylonian Talmud was completed ca 500CE, the Jerusalem Talmud roughly a century earlier. It is a gigantic sea of rebbinic learning, consisting of 2,500,000 words spread over 5,894 folio pages roughly 10.5 x 14 inches in size. Although the Jerusalem Talmud is a monumental work, it is 10 times smaller than the Babylonian.
The Babylonian Talmud is today the focus of Jewish religious education. And when the Talmud appears alone, the reference is understood to be the Babylonian as opposed to the Jerusalem Talmud. The Talmud holds the position of the highest esteem in Orthodox Judaism. To study it, to be illuminated by it, is the goal of every young orthodox Jewish Man.
MWJ
