The Tanakh, Mishnah, Talmud, and Midrash form the cornerstone of the sacred literature of Judaism.
The primary text of Judaism is the Tanakh, also known as the Jewish Bible, the Hebrew Bible, or the Mikra. The Tanakh is made up of the Torah (Pentateuch), the Nevi'im (Prophets), and the Ketuvim (Writings). Tanakh is an acronym for these three books. The Tanakh is the chief canonical collection of texts in Judaism, and the source for the Old Testament used by Christians. The Masoretic text of the Tanakh is considered authoritative in Rabbinic Judaism, although modern Jewish scholars use a range of sources that may include the Septuagint and Syriac translations, the Samaritan Pentateuch, and the Dead Sea Scrolls.
The Tanakh is arranged into twenty-four books, although the Protestiant Christian translations that consist of basically the same text divide it into thirty-nine books. The Tanakh counts each of the volumes of Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles as one book, combines Ezra and Nehemiah, and considered the Twelve Minor Prophets as a single book.
The Mishnah, sometimes spelled Mishna, is a written collection of oral Jewish traditions known as the Oral Torah. The first major work of Rabbinic literature, the Mishnah is arranged into six orders, and further divided into chapters, paragraphs, and verses. As Mishnah can refer to a single paragraph or verse of the larger work, the entirety of the collection is sometimes referred in the plural, Mishnayot.
The Babylonian Talmud states that there were either six hundred or seven hundred orders of the Mishnah, but Hillel the Elder arranged them into six orders for ease of memory. The six orders are Zeraim (Seeds), Moed (Festival), Nashim (Women), Nezikin (Damages), Kodashim (Holy Things), and Tohorot (Purities).
The Mishnah presents the oral traditions by example, citing actual cases that had been brought to judgment, usually including the debate and the judgment given by a notable rabbi, as well as the point of halakha, mitzvot, and spirit of the teaching that led to the decision.
The Mishnah does not create new law, but is rather a collection of existing traditions.
The Talmud is the main text of Rabbinic Judaism, and the primary source for Jewish religious law and theology. Generally, the term refers to the collection of literature known specifically as the Babylonian Talmud, although there was an earlier collection known as the Jerusalem Talmud. A reference to the Talmud without further qualification generally refers to the Babylonian version.
The Talmud includes the Mishnah and the Gemara, which is a rabbinical commentary and analysis of the Mishnah.
The group of rabbis who wrote the Mishnah are known collectively as the Tannaim, while those who wrote the Gemara are referred to as the Amoraim.
The Midrash is an interpretation or exegesis on the Written and Oral Torah written between 400-1200 CE.
When not capitalized, midrash may also refer to Judaic biblical interpretation or to the method used in interpretation, but when capitalized, Midrash refers to the collection of such interpretations.
Other writings that may be considered sacred Judaic literature include Halakha, which refers to the body of Jewish religious laws that were derived from the Written and Oral Torah, and often referred to simply as Jewish Law, although separate from the more secular laws of the Nation of Israel.
Others that may be elevated to the status of the sacred by some Jewish sects, but not others, include the Haggada, the Kabbalah, the Zohar, the Siddur and other prayer books, and perhaps other written works of Judaism not mentioned here.
Not all Jewish literature is sacred of course, but those that are considered such are the focus of topics found in this category.
Recommended Resources
The full text of the English translation of the Babylonian Talmud is available here, downloadable in PDF format, in HTML format, or as an Android application. Online, the text is arranged in six orders, and sub-divided into tractates. A forward by Dr. J.H. Hertz and Chief Rabbi Israel Brodie are included, along with abbreviations and a glossary. Links to places where a published version and other Judaic texts may be purchased are included.
https://www.halakhah.com/
Operated by community members, the non-profit organization serves to disperse the Torah by way of the Internet. Users may find content by the name of the Rabbi, topical category or sub-category, class title, or keyword. Audio resources may be listened to online for free or downloaded in MP3 format for a small fee, which is distributed to the class author or used to cover expenses. In order to download MP3s, an account must be created on the site. Sponsorships are also acknowledged.
https://www.learntorah.com/
An open-source project for liturgy and custom prayer books, the Open Siddur Project is a non-profit, non-denominational, volunteer-driven effort to provide an archive of Jewish prayer, liturgy, and related work, historic, contemporary, familiar, and obscure, in every language that Jews have ever prayed. An overview of the project is set forth, and contributions may be made online. Its content is arranged by prayers, public readings, sources, and cantillation, compilations, essays, and documents.
https://opensiddur.org/
Sacred Mathematics & Periodic Systems of Nature
The website provides information research into Hebrew applied and sacred geometry to create Kabbalistic models of Hebrew for solution-significant problems. Throughout history, scholars have attempted to find hidden messages within the Hebrew Bible's text, and this is along those lines. Topics include the Kabbalah, sacred mathematics, numbers, periodic systems, a knowledge database, chemistry and biology, the Universe, science, free energy, and perspectives, as well as an e-book recommendation.
https://www.visnsoft.com/
Centered around the nation and people of Israel, the Israel Bible is a commentary that attempts to explain God's focus on Israel alongside the original Hebrew text, a transliteration of select Hebrew verses, and the New Jewish Publication Society translation, with commentaries that highlight verses relating to Israel. the Bible may be purchased in print format or accessed online, along with study resources.
https://theisraelbible.com/
Authored by Kabbalist Rav Shimon bar Yochai, the Zohar is a set of twenty-three books, a commentary on biblical and spiritual matters in the form of conversations among spiritual masters. A description of the Zohar is given, along with a history of its writing, a guide to using the text, and a Zohar scanning text. The full text of the Zohar is available online, and articles, video, and other suggested readings are included. The Zohar Project is defined.
http://www.zohar.com/
Created for Torah and Biblical Scholarship (TABS), an educational organization founded to encourage the Jewish people by integrating the Torah and other Jewish texts with other academic disciplines, advancing the understanding of the Torah, making biblical scholarship accessible to the larger Jewish community, and addressing challenges of biblical scholarship. A list of authors and the benefits and need for TABS are set forth.
https://thetorah.com/
Project Genesis is a Jewish outreach program that seeks to advance education about the roots of Judaism, to establish a strong Jewish identity, and encourage participants to become more involved with Judaism and the Jewish community. Offering Torah lessons at the beginner, intermediate, and advanced levels, educational articles and other resources are available, along with an overview of Jewish holidays, Shabbat, prayers, practices, and lifestyles. Jewish history, and contemporary Judaism.
https://torah.org/
The organization records Torah lectures from around the world, which are then uploaded to the site for online viewing, free of charge. Currently, the site includes more than twenty thousand videos of more than four hundred speakers, recording and posting up to a hundred lectures per week, which are also viewable online. Videos may be found by speaker name or by topic. A list of sponsoring organizations is included.
https://www.torahanytime.com/
Featuring a collection of digitalized shiurim, largely in MP3 audio format, the Jewish resource site is maintained by volunteers, its content includes Chumash, Each, Talmud, Mishnah, Halacha, Moadim, Machshava, Family, Tefilla, Leining, History, and Sifrei Kodesh, and by subtopic and speaker. The length of each audio record is played, and visitors may listen to them online. Recently added resources are highlighted.
http://www.torahdownloads.com/
Yitzhak Winer, a certified Sofer Stam, produces custom scrolls to serve the ritual needs of synagogues and Jewish individuals in their ritual needs for Torah Scrolls. New and used Torah Scrolls are available, including Torah rentals, along with Torah restoration services. Another service is known as the Torah Project, where the entire synagogue community can participate in the writing of the first letters of the Torah Scroll, to be presented to their Synagogue.
http://www.torahscroll.com/
