Judith Z. Abrams earned her Ph.D. in Rabbinic literature from the Baltimore Hebrew University and teaches across the country. She is the founder and director of Maqom: A School for Adult Talmud Study, where anyone can learn, regardless of their background. She lives in Houston with her husband and three children: Michael, Ruth, and Hannah.

All too often Talmud dissembles into a mass of details, some fascinating but many others esoteric or irrelevant. In this book, Rabbi Abrams identifies the underlying grand themes that pull it all together. She takes the novice by the hand, gently walking him/her through complex logical analyses, until the beauty of the complete structure comes into sight. By weaving lively examples of loving relationships between human beings into her explanations, Rabbi Abrams not only clarifies the nature of a Jew's relationship to God, but prods the reader into grappling with some of the larger religious issues of the day. In short, like Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz, she makes the study of Talmud inviting instead of intimidating.

Judith Z. Abrams earned her Ph.D. in Rabbinic literature from the Baltimore Hebrew University and teaches across the country. She is the founder and director of Maqom: A School for Adult Talmud Study, where anyone can learn, regardless of their background. She lives in Houston with her husband and three children: Michael, Ruth, and Hannah.

All too often Talmud dissembles into a mass of details, some fascinating but many others esoteric or irrelevant. In this book, Rabbi Abrams identifies the underlying grand themes that pull it all together. She takes the novice by the hand, gently walking him/her through complex logical analyses, until the beauty of the complete structure comes into sight. By weaving lively examples of loving relationships between human beings into her explanations, Rabbi Abrams not only clarifies the nature of a Jew's relationship to God, but prods the reader into grappling with some of the larger religious issues of the day. In short, like Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz, she makes the study of Talmud inviting instead of intimidating.