Rabbinic Judaism (or in Hebrew "Yahadut Rabanit" - יהדות רבנית) is a Jewish denomination characterized by reliance on the written Torah as well as the Oral Law (the Mishnah, Talmuds and subsequent rabbinic decisions) as halakha (Legally Binding, i.e. required religious practice).
The term is used to make the distinction between Rabbinic Judaism and Karaite Judaism who reject the authority of rabbinic interpretation and rely on a literal interpretation of the written Torah.
According to the theology of Rabbinic Judaism, the law (Torah) revealed at Sinai had both a written and oral form. The written form can be found in the Pentateuch, or the five books of Moses. The oral revelation was revealed to those present and transmitted orally through the generations to the time of the second Temple in Jerusalem. Its propositional content is evident in prophetic and other biblical writings, has been codified in the Mishna and Gemarah, and finds interpretation in subsequent rabbinic decisions and writings. The premise for this is that the Written Torah can not be understood without the benefit of knowing the Oral Torah.
Rabbinic Judaism represents the largest group of Judaism and is in most vernacular forms used interchangeably with the term "Judaism." There are, however, different interpretations among religious groups within Rabbinic Judaism about the nature of revelation and the function of rabbinic decisions. The three main divisions are:
- Orthodox Judaism, which views the Written and Oral Torah as immutable and only subject to interpretation;
- Conservative Judaism, which holds that revelation is continuous through the halakhic process of precedence and consideration of new facts
- Reform Judaism, which considers the Torah to be the work of humans, though possibly inspired by the divine
