ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book discusses Orthodox Jews, all of whom live in the modern world and some of whom also consider themselves to be part of it. Ashkenazic or European Jews emphasize the study of Talmud. In Jerusalem the synagogue is not the only center of religious or even communal life as is the case in America and other diaspora Jewish settlernents. Among Ashkenazic Jewry, the most important and by now the most common is the Talmud study circle. There are two Talmuds: the so-called Jerusalem and the Babylonian. Both contain elaborations of the Mishna, the codification of basic Jewish law, which after generations of oral trans mission was redacted arid arranged around the second century. The Jerusalem Talmud consists of the interpretations and elaborations, the so-called completion of the Mishna.
