Intellectual Templates of the Law of Judaism

Facing a vast corpus of facts, the heirs of the Mishnah adopted analytical templates that transcended details and transformed the Mishnah's collection of topical expositions into a system of law. This was accomplished in the Bavli, the Talmud of Babylonia, which systematized and imposed an orderly program on the numerous subjects treated by the Mishnah. In this book, the author systematically defines and classifies four analytical initiatives of the Bavli.

Jacob Neusner is Research Professor of Theology and Senior Fellow of the Institute of Advanced Theology at Bard College.