ABSTRACT
Traditional Jewish learning has in the main been centred on the study of Jewish sacred texts. The texts are the Bible, midrash, the Talmud, commentaries and codes, as well as philosophical and mystical texts. In time, following the destruction of two Temples in Jerusalem and two exiles of the Jewish people from the land of Israel, these canonical texts became the unifying force that helped maintain the identity of the Jewish people. This paper will describe the classic ways in which Jews have studied these texts and the pedagogic methods that evolved in order to do so.
