Jesus in the Talmud
In the first few centuries CE, there were many sects of Judaism (such as Pharisees, Essenes, and Sadducees) each claiming to be the correct faith. Some scholars treat Christianity, during that era, referred to as Early Christianity, as simply one of many sects of Judaism. Some sects wrote polemics advocating their position, and occasionally disparaging rival sects. Some scholars view the depictions of Jesus in the Talmud as a manifestation of those inter-sect rivalries – thus the depictions can be read as polemics by the rabbinic authors of the Talmud which indirectly criticized the rival sect (Christianity), which was growing and becoming more dominant.
Jewish religious movements
Most streams of modern Judaism developed from the Pharisaic movement, which became known as Rabbinic Judaism (in Hebrew "Yahadut Rabanit" - יהדות רבנית) with the compilation of the Oral Torah into the Mishna. After the destruction of the Second Temple and the Bar Kokhba revolt the other movements disappeared from the historical record, yet the Sadducees probably kept on existing in a non-organized form for at least several more decades. A scholar named Rodkinson claimed about a century ago that the Sadducees ultimately changed their name and are those who are referred to as the "Qara'im" and "Ba`alei Miqra" in the Talmud.