What kind of text is the Talmud?
The Talmud is a giant commentary that further describes the Written Torah and explains the rulings formulated in it. It is a compilation of discussions and rulings that further expound upon the Written Torah.
For example, in Sukkah 2a, it says
"אמר רבה: דאמר קרא "למען ידעו דורותיכם כי בסוכות הושבתי את בני ישראל" (ויקרא כג) - עד עשרים אמה אדם יודע שהוא דר בסוכה. למעלה מעשרים אמה אין אדם יודע שדר בסוכה משום דלא שלטא בה עינא." This masechet is Rava’s answer to a the question מני הני מילי. He is answering a question about words from the bible with this quotation here. Not only does he answer a biblical question, he quotes the Torah to do so.
How does the Talmud “work”?
The Talmud works by quoting biblical texts
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Sometimes they use them to agree, sometimes they use them to make a point, and sometimes they use them to create an argument. They also cite the opinions of long dead Rabbis to make points for themselves.
For example, in Shabbat 49b it says:
אמר להו רבי יונתן ברבי אלעזר כך אמר רבי שמעון ברבי יוסי בן לקוניא This means “Rabbi Yonatan said that Rabbi Elazar said, so said Rabbi Shimon in the name of Rabbi Yosi ben Luknia.” All of these Rabbis used the point originally made by Rabbi Yosi ben Luknia. They wanted to help prove their own points or make a new point off of it.
What are the goals of the Talmud?
Because many of the Torah’s laws were either hard to fully decipher or useless for the time, the Rabbis created Talmud to express their own opinions, further the public’s learning of Jewish laws, and to them most importantly, further the acceptance of all of these laws. Their main goal was to decipher the laws and make Judaism as appealing and as easy as possible for everyone to follow. What ideas does the Talmud discuss? What topics?
The Talmud discusses just about anything, as long as it came up somewhere else first. The topics range from laws of the Written Torah to holidays to practices and values.
For example, in Shabbat 88b, the topic of the reception of the Torah