Babylonian Talmud

The Babylonian Talmud was compiled mainly in the Jewish academies of Babylonia, especially Sura and Pumbedita, around c. 500, with later editing continuing afterward. It explains the Mishnah through legal debate, stories, interpretation, and rabbinic reasoning. Because Babylonian Jewish communities had more stability than those in the Land of Israel, this Talmud became larger and more developed than the Jerusalem Talmud. From a Jewish perspective, the Babylonian Talmud became one of the central texts of Jewish law, learning, and identity.