Is the Talmud also the Word of God?
See Also:
"Talmud and Bible" by Gil Student.
https://hebrewnations.com/articles/student/talmud1/talmud4.html
What is the Talmud?
The Talmud is that Major book outside of the Bible that defines Judaism.
In Principle the Talmud explains, using Bible verses, what the practical application of the Law should be. In the Bible one finds numerous commandments and enactments.
How to put all of these into practice is not clear from the simple text. When exceptional situations arise and it is not certain how the Law is to be carried out the Talmud helps us.
Going against the Talmud is going against the will of the Almighty!
For some reason even apologists for the Talmud neglect to emphasize this point.
The Talmud proves more than 90% of its decisions from Biblical Passages!
If one disagrees with the Talmud on any point then it means either (1) you do not accept how they interpret the Bible OR (2) you go against the Bible.
This latter option is an oxymoron since the God of the Bible gives the Sages of the Talmud the right to decide how Scripture should be interpreted! There is a difference between beleiving what is written and carrying it out since the Commandments in our generation only apply in thier full sense to the Jews who are still bound by the Covenant. In the future this will change. The Ten Tribes will also be so obliged but what exactly this will entail will be made known to us (in the full sense) only at the time in question.
See Also::
Talmud: The Real Truth About The Talmud
Introduction.
by Gil Student.
https://hebrewnations.com/articles/student/talmud1/talmud2.html
Gil Student tells us:
https://hebrewnations.com/articles/student/talmud1/talmud3.html
Gil Student notes:
# Jews believe that the entire Torah (Five Books of Moses) was written by Moses as dictated by G-d. This includes all of the happenings recorded in it from the time of creation. Even Deuteronomy, which is written as the testimony of Moses, was written at the express commandment of G-d. G-d dictated the book as if Moses were addressing the people. [Based on R. Aryeh Kaplan, Handbook of Jewish Thought.]
# Along with that written text of the Torah, G-d gave Moses an oral explanation. We can thus speak of two Torahs - the Written Torah and the Oral Torah. They complement each other and a true understanding of each will reveal that they are the same. In many cases the (written) Torah refers to details that are not included in the text, thus alluding to an oral tradition. For example, the Torah states (Deut. 12:21) "You shall slaughter your cattle as I have commanded you," implying an oral commandment concerning ritual slaughter. Similarly, such commandments as Tefillin (Deut. 6:8) and Tzitzit (Numbers 15:38) are found in the Torah but no details are given and are assumed to be in the Oral Torah. Also, although keeping the Sabbath is one of the Ten Commandments, no details are given as to how it should be kept, and these are also in the unwritten tradition. G-d thus said (Jer. 17:22) "You shall keep the Sabbath holy, as I have commanded your fathers." [Kaplan, 9:1-5].
Gil Student goes on to outline the physical structure of the Talmud which has many volumes and literally 10s of thousands of commentaries.
It does not really matter. The whole body comprises part of an accepted tradition sanctified by the Bible.
See:
The Bible and the Sages.
https://hebrewnations.com/articles/sources/biblesages.html
Elders. Rabbinical Authority
https://hebrewnations.com/articles/18/elders.html