tables interaction

Hi All,

I'm building my webpage from scratch and there is something I want to do with tables and I don't know how:
I have two html tables (ie, a table with a table with two columns inside) and I have a menu with options on the left table and text on the right table.
Now I want to be able to pick a link from the menu on the left-side and have the text on the right-side table change accordingly (kinda like replicating the behavior one can get out of frames)
I am fluent in Java, jsp and servlets, and I know some javascript. The problem is that I do not know how to reference tables and their raws or columns. If someone knows how to do this, I would very much appreciate it! It does not matter which technology is used (jsp, servlets, javascript, or other)

Many thanks