This course is intended to introduce the student to the exegetical methods of the rabbis in their analysis of concepts related to the Divine, to human beings, and to the Jewish people. The selections are chosen from the Babylonian and Jerusalem Talmuds and midrashic and other rabbinic literature. Close attention will be paid to the literary forms, organization, language, and exegetical techniques of this material. The student will be introduced to concepts of philology, text criticism, and redaction criticism, and become acquainted with the manuscript traditions of the primary text analyzed. The shaping and reshaping of these traditions will be explored through a study of textual parallels. The essential modern debates concerning the text under consideration will inform the background of the study as well as methods to help resolve if possible these scholarly conflicts.