The Torah refers to the Five Books of Moses (also known as the Pentateuch), which for Jews is the core part of the Jewish faith and the source of the main laws and ethics. The Talmud is a record of the rabbinic debates in the 2nd-5th century on the teachings of the Torah, both trying to understand how they apply and seeking answers for the situations they themselves were encountering. An example of the former is “Thou shall not kill” – but how does this apply to suicide or self-defence or time of war? An example of the latter is : what does Jewish teaching say about going to a bath-house in which there is a Roman statue (does it count as an idol and mean Jews cannot go there ?). The Torah and Talmud together form the background of Judaism today, with the Biblical commands often being re-interpreted in the light of the Talmudic debates (eg ‘an eye for an eye’ does not mean literal physical retribution but financial compensation for the pain, public embarrassment, time off work, medical fees etc).
