The book concludes with a discussion of why Judaism has succeeded through centuries of competition with Christianity and Islam, and a chapter on exemplary figures in the emergence of Judaism.

Neusner's The Talmud: What It Is and What It Says invites readers to engage with the text, and emphasizes that the Talmud will continue to be an important cultural guidebook for Jewish life through the next millennium.

Placing himself within the context of the Gospel of Matthew, Neusner imagines himself in a dialogue with Jesus of Nazareth and pays him the supreme Judaic gesture of respect: making a connection with him through an honest debate about the ...

ÒWhile every history of ancient Judaism and Christianity gives a detailed picture of the Pharisees, none systematically and critically analyzes the traits and tendencies of the discrete sources combined to form such an account.

He points out the core-belief of normative Judaism and reveals the methodological underpinnings of the most cogent and up-to-date interpretations of the texts that determined classical Judaism.