Tannaim Era ends the Essenic ascetics

The Tannaim were the rabbinic sages whose teachings became the basis for the Mishnah, while the Talmud is the extensive work of Jewish law and theology that contains those very teachings. A need for a new form of Judaism was made because the Temple was destroyed around 70 AD, which meant Second Temple Judaism was no longer a representative of the communities that did not become Christian. The most significant accomplishment was the creation of the Mishnah, a systematic code of Jewish law, which was redacted by Rabbi Judah ha-Nasi around 220 AD. His redaction consists of 63 tractates divided into six major orders covering subjects like agriculture, festivals, women, civil and criminal law, sacrifices, and purity laws. The Mishnah presents differing rabbinic opinions. All this shows the "bible" was not an artifact, but a process. For more on the Essenes see the Holy Land link at bottom button