The continuation of the beliefs of the Pharisees after the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 c.e. It developed through the second to sixth centuries c.e. Rabbinic Judaism is to be contrasted with Karaite Judaism, which broke with the rabbinic Jews over the validity of the Oral Law, and over procedures used to interpret Jewish scripture, the Torah; and early Christianity, which developed into a separate religion.
Rabbinic Judaism is based on the tradition that the law (Torah) revealed at Sinai had both a written and oral form. The written part consists in the Torah, or the five books of Moses. The oral revelation was transmitted by word of mouth from the generation present at Sinai to their descendants up to the time of the Second Temple in Jerusalem. The oral law was subsequently codified in the Mishnah and Gemara, and is interpreted by subsequent rabbinic decisions and writings. Rabbinic Jewish literature is predicated on the belief that the written law cannot be properly understood without recourse to the Oral Law (the Mishnah and the Talmud). Much rabbinic Jewish literature concerns specifying what behavior is sanctioned by the law; this body of interpretations is called halakhah, “the way.”

Rabbinic Judaism employs the methods of p’shat, “plain meaning,” of the text; remez “implication or clue”; d’rash, “deep interpretation,” based on breaking down individual words; and sod, “secret,” the deeper meaning of the text (drawing on its mystical implications) to interpret the oral and written law.