Talmud is a Hebrew word that means “learning”. It refers to a large collection of writings that were written between the third and sixth centuries. It explains everything that there is to know about Jewish laws and traditions. It is divided into two great bodies.
The Talmud
After the Second Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed, rabbis continued to teach, and it was eventually collected into the two bodies that make up the Jerusalem Talmud. One, contains the teachings of rabbis from the Land of Israel. The others, the Babylonian Talmud, were taught by the rabbis of Babylon, and it is the most widely studied according to many.
The Talmud Sections
There are six sections of the Talmud and they are referred to as the sedarim, or orders. The Zera’im (seeds), the Mo’ed (festival), the Nashim (women), the Nezikin (damages), the kodashim (holy “things”), and the taharoth (purities). These “orders” give a basic idea of what is expected of those who live a Jewish lifestyle, but there are sometimes a little vague. This is where the Oral Torah is needed and most useful.
Oral Torah
This is basically the “manual” for those who are Jewish. It is a more detailed explanation of the “laws” for those who live by the Jewish faith. However, it is the written word that was transmitted orally. It is also how it is still taught, since the teachings happen verbally from a teacher to his student and not just in writing. This allows the students to clarify anything that they do not fully understand from the writings.