Chazal
| Rabbinical eras |
|---|
Chazal or Ḥazal (
Mishna, Toseftic and Talmudic eras, spanning from the times of the final 300 years of the Second Temple until the 7th century
, or c. 250 BCE – c. 625 CE.
Rabbinical eras; eras of the Halakha
 |
Chazal are generally divided according to their era and the main writing done in that era:[1]
- Biblical Mount Sinai), to the Halakha ("traditions") era, including the times of Simeon the Just.
- Zugot ("pairs"): Five pairs (zugot) of sages from consecutive generations, who lived during a period of around 100 years towards the end of the Second Temple era. (142 BCE – c. 40 BCE)
- Judah haNasi.
- Babylonian Talmud and the Jerusalem Talmud, their writings were preserved in midrashs such as Midrash Rabba.
- Savoraim ("reasoners"): The sages of Beth midrash (Torah study places) in Babylon from the end of the era of the Amoraim (5th century) and until the beginning of the era of the Geonim (from the end of the 6th century or the midst of the 7th century).
Chazal's authority
Until the end of the Savoraim era, Chazal had the authority to comment on the Torah according to the Talmudical hermeneutics standards required by the Law given to Moses at Sinai,[2] sometimes even expounding a word or phrase outside its plain and ordinary sense. Nowadays in Orthodoxy, this authority is not delegated to the current generation's sages, and thus the Torah can not be commentated on, in matters concerning the halakha ("Jewish Law"), if it contradicts Chazal's commentary.
Until the middle of the Tannaim era, when there was a
ma'ariv
(evening prayer).
See also
Footnotes
References
- ^ a b "אנציקלופדיה יהודית דעת - תורה שבעל פה - תקופות".
- ^ "הלכה למשה מסיני" (Hebrew wikipedia); Halakhah le-Moshe mi-Sinai, Jewish Virtual Library
External links
The dictionary definition of Chazal at Wiktionary
