Talmud

The Talmud (תלמוד) is considered an authoritative record of rabbinic discussions on Jewish law, Jewish ethics, customs, legends and stories. It is a fundamental source of legislation, customs, case histories and moral exhortations. The Talmud has two components, the Mishnah, and the Gemara, a discussion of the Mishnah (though the terms Talmud and Gemara are generally used interchangeably). It expands on the earlier writings in the Torah in general and in the Mishnah in particular, and is the basis for all later codes of Jewish law, and much of Rabbinic literature. The Talmud is also traditionally referred to as Shas (a Hebrew abbreviation of shishah sedarim, the "six orders" of the Mishnah).

Talmudists

The most renowned Talmud scholars of the 20th century include:

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• Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Auerbach
• Rabbi Yechiel Michel Epstein (author of the Aruch HaShulchan).
• Rabbi Moshe Feinstein (author of the Iggros Moshe)
• Rabbi Yosef Eliahu Henkin
• Rabbi Yisrael Meir Kagan (the Chofetz Chaim, author of the Mishnah Berurah)
• Rabbi Avraham Yishayahu Karelitz (the Chazon Ish)
• Rabbi Eleazar Menachem Shach
• Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik (the Rav)
• Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz
• Rabbi Yehiel Yaakov Weinberg (Seridei Eish)
• Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef