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Reading Talmud as an Ethical Prompt

Introduction

This issue offers readers a new way into the study of the Babylonian Talmud. Bringing together essays by prominent scholars of rabbinic literature and Jewish ethics, it is designed to help readers engage with the Talmudic text as a dialogue partner around pressing ethical questions in contemporary life. This special issue begins from the assumption that sustained engagement with the Talmud can offer new ways to think through the most pressing ethical, legal, and existential questions of our day. While the essays explore specific challenges, such as climate change, sexual harassment, or economic inequality, each essay also guides the reader through the process of reading and decoding a particular sugya and provides a model for how to pursue the moral questions that arise through this engagement with the Talmudic text. Finally, because the authors teach in both Jewish seminaries and public universities, each essay also reflects upon the specific challenges and advantages of teaching the Talmud in these distinct contexts.