Evolution of Torah

By :  Marcus Mordecai Schwartz Ripps Schnitzer Librarian for Special Collections; Assistant Professor, Talmud and Rabbinics

This JTS Podcast explores the ways in which Jewish legal culture changed after the destruction of the Second Temple with Rabbi Mordecai Schwartz.

A History of Rabbinic Literature

Season 1

An introduction to the first 1000 years of rabbinic literature in five episodes



Establishing Rabbinic Culture

Season 2

A six-episode series focused on the distinct Torah cultures that emerged in different geographic regions after the codification of the Talmud

About Our Host

Rabbi Marcus Mordecai Schwartz serves as the Ripp Schnitzer Librarian for Special Collections of The Library of JTS overseeing the largest collection of Hebrew manuscripts in the world.

He is a past recipient of the prestigious Professor Saul Lieberman and Dr. Judith Berlin Lieberman Graduate Fellowships in Talmudic Studies. He is also an alumnus of the University of Nebraska.

Rabbi Schwartz has taught at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, and Hebrew Union College–Jewish Institute of Religion. He has written articles for the Hebrew Union College Annual, Zeramim, the Encyclopedia Judaica Online, and the Cambridge Dictionary of Judaism and Jewish Culture. His book, Rewriting the Talmud, on the effect of tradition from the Land of Israel on the composition of the Babylonian Talmud, was released in the summer of 2019.