The Talmud is the great collection of writings that hold Jewish law and Jewish learning — rules about religious life, but also about the ordinary business of living: money, marriage, farming, food, courts, how to treat a neighbour, what to do when two people both claim the same coat. It was written down in the first several hundred years after the fall of the Temple in Jerusalem, and it is enormous — many volumes. What makes it different from most law books is its shape. It is not a tidy list of rules. It is a record of argument. A short older statement of law (the Mishnah) sits on the page, and around it runs a long discussion (the Gemara) in which rabbis question it, object, tell stories, disagree — and very often the disagreement is left standing, with both opinions written down. A printed page of Talmud shows this visually: the old text in the middle, commentaries from later centuries wrapped around it on all sides. Studying it is traditionally done out loud and with a partner, arguing your way through. Because of this, English speakers sometimes use 'Talmud' and 'Talmudic' loosely, about any body of writing full of fine, detailed argument. Almost always used with 'the': 'the Talmud'. Capital T.