This concise volume provides a lucid introduction to the genesis and development of Rabbinic Judaism. Jacob Neusner outlines and examines the four stages in which the initial period of the historical development of Rabbinic Judaism divides, beginning with the Pentateuch and ending with its definitive and normative statement in the Talmud of Babylonia. He traces the development of Rabbinic Judaism by exploring the relationships between and among the cognate writings which embody its formative history.

The Halakhah embodies the complete Jewish Law, and contains commandments and guidelines for day-to-day living. The original commandments given by God to the Jewish people were enhanced by rabbis to offer a detailed framework to guide the lives of all Jews. In this complete, all-encompassing encyclopaedia of the Halakhah, the various laws are classified in such a way that a systematic and coherent structure is obtained. Each entry of the Halakhah is presented in a logical fashion. Where applicable, the original biblical wording is given, extended with literal abstracts from the Torah. Next, problems and questions that may arise from that law are stated and any additional information given. Finally, each entry gives comprehensive explanations and recommendations as to how these laws are to be observed in daily life – where to be and where not to be, what to do and what not to do, what to say and what not to say. The Halakhah, or standard Jewish Law, combines the Mishnah (about 200 CE), the Tosefta (about 300 CE), and the two Talmuds (about 400, 600 CE for the Land of Israel and Babylon, respectively). Volumes I and II contain entries pertaining to the Jewish people in relationship to God. Volume III explains how the Jewish people can restore and maintain their society in accordance with the Torah as it is explained by the rabbis. In Volumes IV and V of this study, we take up the life of the Jewish household in their encounter with God. The Encyclopaedic account therefore moves from regulating relationships between Israel and God to establishing stable and equitable relationships among Israelites and finally to actually living the Halakhah.

The Halakhah constitutes a coherent construction comprised by category-formations defined by topics purposively amplified. These category-formations everywhere pursue a cogent analytical program, addressing diverse subjects, treated systematically, a single set of questions of definition and analysis. Is Scripture the origin of the Halakhic system, which defines the norms of Judaism? At stake is not the starting point of discrete bits of legal data. At issue is the origin of the comprehensive structure comprised by the Halakhic category-formations, by these topics and no others. Scripture forms the natural starting point for any inquiry into the origins of Judaism. So it is quite natural to treat Scripture as the base-line and the Halakhic category-formations as the variable when seeking the origin of the system. But what happens when, as in this project, we treat the system as the base-line and Scripture as the variable? Then we see that the Halakhic system viewed as a coherent statement does not originate in Scripture. Important parts of that statement do, important parts do not. But the system viewed whole does not.

This major study of a Markan genre, represented in the central section 8.27-10.4, ranges through Greek, rabbinic and early Christian literature, providing detailed comparison with the anecdotes in Lucian's Demonax and the Mishnah.Moeser concludes that the Markan anecdotes clearly follow the definition of, and typologies for, the Greek chreia. His analysis indicates that while the content of the three sets of anecdotes is peculiar to its respective cultural setting, the Greek, Jewish and Christian examples all function according to the purposes of the genre.

Neusner proves that the law of normative Judaism, the Halakhah, viewed whole, with its category-formations read in logical sequence, tells a coherent story. He demonstrates that details of the law contribute to making a single statement, one that, moreover, complements and corresponds with that of the Aggadah, the lore and scriptural exegesis of Judaism. He has now portrayed for the first time the way in which Aggadah and Halakhah, attitude and action, belief and behavior, join together to set forth normative Judaism, the vast system for holy Israel's social order of the Mishnah, Talmud, and Midrash of late antiquity.