Course Title: Talmud (four levels)
6 Academic Credits

The Babylonian Talmud is the centerpiece of “the Oral Torah” and has been the focus of traditional Jewish learning for the past 1,500 years.  It is a multi-layered text engaging sources ranging from second century Palestine to sixth century Babylonia in a unique “dialogue.”  During the Discover Jerusalem 2009 semester all classes will be studying the ninth perek (chapter) of Tractate Gittin, in which we’ll see how the exclusive nature of the marriage relationship impacts and sheds light on the nature and process of divorce, and vice versa.

Talmud I (Instructor: Esther Israel) - for students with no previous experience studying Talmud. It introduces the various genres of rabbinic literature and the method of discussion of the Babylonian Talmud.

Talmud II (Instructor: Rabbi Mordechai Silverstein) - for students with some experience of Talmud study or good Hebrew. It dives right into the Talmudic text and Rashi's commentary, looking into the Tosafot commentary by the end of the year. 

Talmud III (Instructor: Dr. Joshua Kulp) - for people with a pretty good background in Talmud study. Emphasis is placed on analyzing how the sugya (discussion) was formed from the pre-existing material and on medieval commentaries (rishonim).
 
Talmud IV (Instructor: Rabbi Shmuel Lewis) - for advanced students. Students are expected to enter class with a clear understanding of the sugya, so that they can begin to explore how the halakhic conceptions in the sugya developed over the course of time, taking into account parallel texts from the Tosefta and the Yerushalmi, and the commentaries of the rishonim. This class is taught in Hebrew.