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I have been looking for a skirmish game for awhile now and recently decided on Malifaux and the Seamus group. I have not read the rules in to much depth though. My question is can someone just jump in with an opponent and play without reading the rules at all and just learn the game that way or do you need to have a good understanding of the rulebook before you can even sit down. I mean is the game teachable without the student being familiar with the rulebook?

Yes you can jump right in, just keep the book handy, and take it small.

Also, with the Seamus crew, really watch match-ups with Justice. She really treats undead badly.

you can jump straight in with Seamus, if you've only got the starter box you may want to purchase yourself another blister of belles to summon as the game goes on. If your opponent has experience with the game system it's extremely easy to learn. What I'd recommend is perhaps downloading and using the reference sheet from here
http://malifaux.nezumi.me.uk/Downloads/Malifaux_Reference_1-1.pdf
it has all the steps you go through for combat and all the common triggers and spell effects, makes it nice and easy to learn.

Enjoy the game

Only thing to add, start small. Like 15points or something. Malefauxs core rules are simple, but each unit has a slew of abilities and nuances, it takes a while to figure things out.

I've just started too, I picked lilith.

both really good starter crews. as other have stated keep the games small so you can hammer down the rules. for the seamus crew get more belles, the lilith crew has the potential to grow rather fast, youll need some young nephs and a second mature.