Rabbinic literature, in its broadest sense, can mean the entire spectrum of rabbinic writings throughout Jewish history. However, the term often refers specifically to literature from the Talmudic era, as opposed to medieval and modern rabbinic writing, and thus corresponds with the Hebrew term Sifrut Hazal (ספרות חז"ל; "Literature [of our] sages [of] blessed memory," where Hazal normally refers only to the sages of the Talmudic era). This more specific sense of "Rabbinic literature"—referring to the Talmudim, Midrash, and related writings, but hardly ever to later texts—is how the term is generally intended when used in contemporary academic writing. On the other hand, the terms meforshim and parshanim (commentaries/commentators) almost always refer to later, post-Talmudic writers of Rabbinic glosses on Biblical and Talmudic texts.

This article discusses rabbinic literature in both senses. It begins with the classic rabbinic literature of the Talmudic era (Sifrut Hazal), and then adds a broad survey of rabbinic writing from later periods.

Johann Andreas Eisenmenger (Mannheim, 1654 – Heidelberg, December 20, 1704) was a German Orientalist, now best known as the author of the anti-Semitic polemic, Entdecktes Judenthum (Judaism Unmasked).

The son of an official in the service of the Elector of the Palatinate Charles I Louis (who had, in 1673, offered Spinoza a chair in philosophy at Heidelberg), Eisenmenger received a good education, despite the early loss of his father to plague when he was 12 years old. He distinguished himself at the Collegium Sapientiae at Heidelberg by his zeal for Hebrew studies and Semitic languages. He eventually mastered Hebrew, Arabic and Aramaic. He was sent by the Elector to England and Holland to pursue his studies there, and in Holland established amicable relations with figures like Rabbi David ben Aryeh Leib of Lida, formerly of Lithuania, and then head of the Ashkenazi community in Amsterdam. An intended sojourn in Palestine was interrupted by the death of his sponsor in 1680, who died in August of that year.

Henry (Hillel) Abramson is the Dean for Academic Affairs and Student Services at Touro College's Miami branch (Touro College South). He is also currently the interim Chair of Judaic Studies there.

Henry Abramson was born and raised in Iroquois Falls, Ontario. He received his doctorate in history from the University of Toronto. He was Assistant Professor of History/Jewish Studies at Florida Atlantic University from 2002–2006 and during that time held appointments at a number of institutions including Oxford University, Cornell University, Harvard University, and Hebrew University. While teaching at Hebrew University, he simultaneously attended a class with Rabbi Mendel Weinbach at Ohr Somayach, Jerusalem. In 2006, Abramson moved to his current position at Touro College South.

Henry Abramson is largely known for his scholarship in Ukrainian Jewish history and antisemitic iconography. However, at the 40th Association of Jewish Studies Conference, Abramson chose to deliver a paper which reflected on his interest in the work of David Weiss Halivni and Joshua Rubinstein as regards the savoraim.