Talmud

Learn some of the common Jewish laws, or Halacha, found in the Babylonian Talmud.

What’s the Talmud?

Talmud is the encyclopedic code of Jewish oral law and important commentaries on it. In these videos, we have brought to life some of the Talmud’s “Greatest Hits” – stories that are frequently taught to illustrate a point in Jewish law, or to teach an important value. These videos add a new layer of artistic interpretation to the millennia-old, still evolving, original hypertext document. We additionally offer a groundbreaking curriculum for teaching Talmud using video as a lens.

The Rise of Yavneh from Gittin 55b-57a

By Becca Grumet and Sam Grinberg

A new perspective to the famous beginning of Gittin 55-56, in which Jerusalem is destroyed due to the confusion of Kamtza and Bar Kamtza.

Artists’ statement: As a comedy writer and a cartoonist, we approached the piece with a contemporary voice and used humor to focus on the positive outcomes of the story. While most might view the tale as “the destruction of Jerusalem,” we like to think of it as “the rise of Yavneh.” We were inspired by each other’s similar comedic styles and had a ton of fun seeing the jokes on the page come to life with flash animation.

Created in chevruta, or partnership, between a visual artist and a writer as part of a 2012-3 program called Studio G-dcast.


download icon

Talmud Character Map

free download

download icon

Rise of Yavneh Source Sheet

free download

The BimBam Creative Talmud Curriculum

Where Do Jewish Laws Come From?

Halacha means the way, or the path, and it’s what Judaism calls Jewish law. This video is an explainer that tells the basics of how laws evolved in Judaism and how they are interpreted today.

While everyone knows about the Bible, many don’t realize the many books that followed after it in Jewish tradition. These books and the Bible weave together to create the rules Jews follow to this day.

Machloket L’shem Shemayim – the power of constructive conflict

By Daniel Roth

Here is a different way to look at conflict resolution. 2000 years ago, Beit Hillel and Beit Shammai knew how to engage in “Machloket L’shem Shemayim”, meaning “Disagreements for the Sake of Heaven” or constructive conflicts.

Today, we can learn from their example in order to manage our own personal or communal disagreements in a healthy and constructive way. You can watch the video and take action today by joining 9Adar Project: Jewish Week of Constructive Conflict, a project of the Pardes Center for Judaism and Conflict Resolution.

Please visit the Pardes site to download a free lesson plan geared for grades 5-9.

download icon

For the Sake of Heaven

free download

For the Sake of Heaven

Subscribe to our e-Newsletter

Keep up to date with the latest videos and news from BimBam