A polychrome and parcel-gilt carved oak figure of a Pharisee

A Pharisee is a member of a Jewish religious party that flourished in Palestine during the latter part of the Second Temple period (515 bc - ad 70). Their insistence on the binding force of oral tradition (the unwritten Torah) still remains a basic tenet of Jewish theological thought. When the Mishna (the first constituent part of the Talmud) was compiled about ad 200, it incorporated the teachings of the Pharisees on Jewish law.