University of Virginia Library

JUDAISM, RABBINIC:

after the loss of JERUSALEM and the destruction of the TEMPLE in 70 A.D. the scattered JEWISH community sought a new center which it found in a new interpretation of its religious heritage known as MIDRASH. Everything worth knowing was to be found in the TORAH—and interpreted by the TALMUD—which evidences concern for the whole of life. The central motive of Rabbinic Judaism was henceforth the quest for underlying meaning and ethical action in Jewish life.