Introduction

This book explores how Judaism, as a religion, and Jews, as people, relate to the economic sphere of life in modern society and how they did so in past societies. This article traces the major sources of Jewish Law beginning with the Pentateuch (i.e., the Five Books of Moses), which, according to orthodox Jewish tradition, was revealed by God to Moses at Mount Sinai (c.1312 bce).The authoritative literary sources dating from after the Pentateuch to the beginning of the second Temple period (fifth century bce) are the Prophets (Nevi'im) and the Hagiographia (Ketuvim). This article traces the codification of ancient Judaic texts such as the Talmud and Mishnah. The laws of the Mishnah are mostly presented in the form of factual cases rather than through simple statements of the legal principles in abstract form. The rest of the article explains the various Judaic eras beginning from Savoraim till Roshonim.