The Talmud, the central text of rabbinic Judaism, refers to the writings known as the Jerusalem Talmud (Talmud Yerushalmi), or the Talmud of the Land of Israel, and the Babylonian Talmud (Talmud Bavli). It is also referred to as the Shas, the Hebrew abbreviation for the six orders (shisha sedarim) of the Mishnah. The Hebrew Talmud (Aram. Talmuda’) lit…