Chazal or Ḥazal (Hebrew: חז״ל)^[a] are the Jewish sages of the Mishnaic and Talmudic eras, spanning from the final 300 years of the Second Temple period until the 7th century, or c. 250 BCE – c. 625 CE. Their authority was mostly in the field of Halakha (Jewish law) and less regarding Jewish theology.^[1]

Chazal are generally divided according to their era and the major written products thereof:^[2]

• Soferim ("scribes"): Sages from the period preceding Ezra the scribe and up to the Zugot era, including the men of the Great Assembly.^[2] Traditionally, the era of Soferim is assumed to have stretched from the Matan Torah ("giving of the Law"; i.e., the receipt of the Torah by Moses on Mount Sinai) to the era of the earliest Halakha, including the times of Simeon the Just.
• Zugot ("pairs"): Five pairs of sages from consecutive generations who lived during a period of roughly 100 years toward the end of the Second Temple era. (142 BCE – c. 40 BCE)
• Tannaim ("teachers"): The sages of the Mishnah who lived in the Land of Israel until 220 CE. In addition to the Mishnah, their writings were preserved in the Midrash. Key figures among the Tannaim include Yohanan ben Zakkai, Rabbi Akiva, and Judah haNasi.
• Amoraim ("expounders"): The sages of the Talmud active during the codification of the Mishnah and until the finalization of the Talmud (220 CE – 500 CE). The Amoraim were active in two areas: the Land of Israel and Babylon. In addition to the Babylonian Talmud and the Jerusalem Talmud, their writings were preserved in midrashim, such as Midrash Rabba.
• Savoraim ("reasoners"): The sages of batei midrash (houses of Torah study) in Babylonia from the end of the era of the Amoraim (5th century) to the early Geonim (from the end of the 6th century or the midst of the 7th century).

Until the end of the Savoraim era, Chazal had the authority to comment on the Torah according to the standards of Talmudical hermeneutics as defined by the Law given to Moses at Sinai—sometimes even expounding a word or phrase outside its plain and ordinary sense.^[3] Nowadays in Orthodox Judaism, the authority of Chazal is not delegated to the current generation's sages; thus, the Torah cannot be commented upon in matters concerning Halakha if it contradicts Chazal's commentary.

Until the middle of the Tannaim era, when there was a Sanhedrin (a high court of Jewish law), Chazal had also the authority to decree restrictions and to enact new religious regulations—in any matter they saw fit—concerning issues that were not included in the Torah, written or oral. The Rabbinic mitzvot (commandments) include the holidays of Purim and Hanukkah, the laws of muktzeh ("set-aside items") on Shabbat, the ritual washing of one's hands (netilat yadayim) before eating bread, the construction of eruvim (liminal gateways), and the institution of the current schedule of daily prayer services: shacharit (morning prayer), mincha (afternoon prayer), and ma'ariv (evening prayer).

• Jewish commentaries on the Bible

• The dictionary definition of Chazal at Wiktionary