Rabbinic Judaism Rabbinic Judaism ( he, יהדות רבנית, Yahadut Rabanit), also called Rabbinism, Rabbinicism, or Judaism espoused by the Rabbanites, has been the mainstream form of Judaism since the 6th century CE, after the codification of the Babylonian ...

halakha ''Halakha'' (; he, הֲלָכָה, ), also transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Jewish religious laws which is derived from the written and Oral Torah. Halakha is based on biblical commandm ...

Jewish theology Jewish philosophy () includes all philosophy carried out by Jews, or in relation to the religion of Judaism. Until modern ''Haskalah'' (Jewish Enlightenment) and Jewish emancipation, Jewish philosophy was preoccupied with attempts to reconcil ...

modernity Modernity, a topic in the humanities and social sciences, is both a historical period (the modern era) and the ensemble of particular socio-cultural norm (social), norms, attitudes and practices that arose in the wake of the Renaissancein the " ...

Jerusalem Talmud The Jerusalem Talmud ( he, תַּלְמוּד יְרוּשַׁלְמִי, translit=Talmud Yerushalmi, often for short), also known as the Palestinian Talmud or Talmud of the Land of Israel, is a collection of rabbinic notes on the second-century ...

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

Mishnah The Mishnah or the Mishna (; he, מִשְׁנָה, "study by repetition", from the verb ''shanah'' , or "to study and review", also "secondary") is the first major written collection of the Jewish oral traditions which is known as the Oral Torah ...

compendium A compendium (plural: compendia or compendiums) is a comprehensive collection of information and analysis pertaining to a body of knowledge. A compendium may concisely summarize a larger work. In most cases, the body of knowledge will concern a s ...

Oral Torah According to Rabbinic Judaism, the Oral Torah or Oral Law ( he, , Tōrā šebbəʿal-pe}) are those purported laws, statutes, and legal interpretations that were not recorded in the Five Books of Moses, the Written Torah ( he, , Tōrā šebbīḵ� ...

Gemara The Gemara (also transliterated Gemarah, or in Yiddish Gemo(r)re; from Aramaic , from the Semitic root ג-מ-ר ''gamar'', to finish or complete) is the component of the Talmud comprising rabbinical analysis of and commentary on the Mishnah w ...

Tannaitic ''Tannaim'' ( Amoraic Hebrew: תנאים , singular , ''Tanna'' "repeaters", "teachers") were the rabbinic sages whose views are recorded in the Mishnah, from approximately 10–220 CE. The period of the ''Tannaim'', also referred to as the Mis ...

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. Hebrew: ''Tān ...

tractate A tractate is a written work dealing formally and systematically with a subject; the word derives from the Latin ''tractatus'', meaning treatise. One example of its use is in citing a section of the Talmud, when the term ''masekhet'' () is used i ...

Vilna Shas The Vilna Edition of the Talmud, printed in Vilna (now Vilnius), Lithuania, is by far the most common printed edition of the Talmud still in use today as the basic text for Torah study in yeshivas and by all scholars of Judaism. It was typeset b ...

Mishnaic Hebrew Mishnaic Hebrew is the Hebrew of Talmudic texts. Mishnaic Hebrew can be sub-divided into Mishnaic Hebrew proper (also called Tannaitic Hebrew, Early Rabbinic Hebrew, or Mishnaic Hebrew I), which was a spoken language, and Amoraic Hebrew (also cal ...

Jewish Babylonian Aramaic Jewish Babylonian Aramaic was the form of Aramaic language#Middle Aramaic, Middle Aramaic employed by writers in Lower Mesopotamia between the fourth and eleventh centuries. It is most commonly identified with the language of the Babylonian Talm ...

rabbi A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as ''semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of ...

Common Era Common Era (CE) and Before the Common Era (BCE) are year notations for the Gregorian calendar (and its predecessor, the Julian calendar), the world's most widely used calendar era. Common Era and Before the Common Era are alternatives to the or ...

halakha ''Halakha'' (; he, הֲלָכָה, ), also transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Jewish religious laws which is derived from the written and Oral Torah. Halakha is based on biblical commandm ...

Jewish ethics Jewish ethics is the ethics of the Jewish religion or the Jewish people. A type of normative ethics, Jewish ethics may involve issues in Jewish law as well as non-legal issues, and may involve the convergence of Judaism and the Western philosoph ...

customs Customs is an authority or agency in a country responsible for collecting tariffs and for controlling the flow of goods, including animals, transports, personal effects, and hazardous items, into and out of a country. Traditionally, customs ...

history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...

folklore Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, ranging ...

rabbinic literature Rabbinic literature, in its broadest sense, is the entire spectrum of rabbinic writings throughout Jewish history. However, the term often refers specifically to literature from the Talmudic era, as opposed to medieval and modern rabbinic writ ...

Semitic root The roots of verbs and most nouns in the Semitic languages are characterized as a sequence of consonants or " radicals" (hence the term consonantal root). Such abstract consonantal roots are used in the formation of actual words by adding the vowel ...

oral The word oral may refer to: Relating to the mouth * Relating to the mouth, the first portion of the alimentary canal that primarily receives food and liquid **Oral administration of medicines ** Oral examination (also known as an oral exam or oral ...

Tanakh The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
''

Second Temple The Second Temple (, , ), later known as Herod's Temple, was the reconstructed Temple in Jerusalem between and 70 CE. It replaced Solomon's Temple, which had been built at the same location in the United Kingdom of Israel before being inherited ...

in the year 70 and the consequent upheaval of Jewish social and legal norms. As the rabbis were required to face a new reality—mainly Judaism without a Temple (to serve as the center of teaching and study) and total Roman control over

Judaea Judea or Judaea ( or ; from he, יהודה, Standard ''Yəhūda'', Tiberian ''Yehūḏā''; el, Ἰουδαία, ; la, Iūdaea) is an ancient, historic, Biblical Hebrew, contemporaneous Latin, and the modern-day name of the mountainous south ...

, without at least partial autonomy—there was a flurry of legal discourse and the old system of oral scholarship could not be maintained. It is during this period that rabbinic discourse began to be recorded in writing. The oldest full manuscript of the Talmud, known as the

Munich Talmud The Munich Codex Hebraica 95 ("Munich, Beyerische Staatbibliothek, Cod. Heb. 95) was written by Solomon b. Samson (Shlomo ben Shimshon) in France. He completed his copying task in 1342. It is the only existing handwritten copy of the entire Babyloni ...

(Codex Hebraicus 95), dates from 1342 and is available online.

Babylonian and Jerusalem

The process of "Gemara" proceeded in what were then the two major centers of Jewish scholarship:

Galilee Galilee (; he, הַגָּלִיל, hagGālīl; ar, الجليل, al-jalīl) is a region located in northern Israel and southern Lebanon. Galilee traditionally refers to the mountainous part, divided into Upper Galilee (, ; , ) and Lower Galil ...

and

Babylonia Babylonia (; Akkadian: , ''māt Akkadī'') was an ancient Akkadian-speaking state and cultural area based in the city of Babylon in central-southern Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq and parts of Syria). It emerged as an Amorite-ruled state c. ...

. Correspondingly, two bodies of analysis developed, and two works of Talmud were created. The older compilation is called the Jerusalem Talmud or the . It was compiled in the 4th century in Galilee. The Babylonian Talmud was compiled about the year 500, although it continued to be edited later. The word "Talmud", when used without qualification, usually refers to the Babylonian Talmud. While the editors of Jerusalem Talmud and Babylonian Talmud each mention the other community, most scholars believe these documents were written independently;

Louis Jacobs Louis Jacobs (17 July 1920 – 1 July 2006) was a leading writer and theologian. He was the rabbi of the New London Synagogue in the United Kingdom. He was also the focus in the early 1960s of what became known as "The Jacobs Affair" in the ...

writes, "If the editors of either had had access to an actual text of the other, it is inconceivable that they would not have mentioned this. Here the

argument from silence To make an argument from silence (Latin: ''argumentum ex silentio'') is to express a conclusion that is based on the absence of statements in historical documents, rather than their presence.John Lange, ''The Argument from Silence'', History and T ...

is very convincing."

Jerusalem Talmud

The Jerusalem Talmud, also known as the Palestinian Talmud, or (Talmud of the Land of Israel), was one of the two compilations of Jewish religious teachings and commentary that was transmitted orally for centuries prior to its compilation by Jewish scholars in the

Land of Israel The Land of Israel () is the traditional Jewish name for an area of the Southern Levant. Related biblical, religious and historical English terms include the Land of Canaan, the Promised Land, the Holy Land, and Palestine (see also Isra ...

. It is a compilation of teachings of the schools of

Tiberias Tiberias ( ; he, טְבֶרְיָה, ; ar, طبريا, Ṭabariyyā) is an Israeli city on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee. A major Jewish center during Late Antiquity, it has been considered since the 16th century one of Judaism's Fo ...

,

Sepphoris Sepphoris (; grc, Σέπφωρις, Séphōris), called Tzipori in Hebrew ( he, צִפּוֹרִי, Tzipori),Palmer (1881), p115/ref> and known in Arabic as Saffuriya ( ar, صفورية, Ṣaffūriya) since the 7th century, is an archaeolog ...

, and

Caesarea Caesarea () ( he, קֵיסָרְיָה, ), ''Keysariya'' or ''Qesarya'', often simplified to Keisarya, and Qaysaria, is an affluent town in north-central Israel, which inherits its name and much of its territory from the ancient city of Caesare ...

. It is written largely in

Jewish Palestinian Aramaic Jewish Palestinian Aramaic or Jewish Western Aramaic was a Western Aramaic language spoken by the Jews during the Classic Era in Judea and the Levant, specifically in Hasmonean, Herodian and Roman Judea and adjacent lands in the late first mil ...

, a

Western Aramaic language The Western Aramaic languages represent a specific group of Aramaic languages once spoken widely throughout the ancient Levant, from ancient Nabatea and Judea, across Palestine and Samaria, further to Palmyra and Phoenicia, and into Syria prope ...

that differs from its Babylonian counterpart. This Talmud is a synopsis of the analysis of the Mishnah that was developed over the course of nearly 200 years by the Academies in Galilee (principally those of Tiberias and Caesarea.) Because of their location, the sages of these Academies devoted considerable attention to the analysis of the agricultural laws of the Land of Israel. Traditionally, this Talmud was thought to have been redacted in about the year 350 by Rav Muna and Rav Yossi in the Land of Israel. It is traditionally known as the ''Talmud Yerushalmi'' ("Jerusalem Talmud"), but the name is a misnomer, as it was not prepared in Jerusalem. It has more accurately been called "The Talmud of the Land of Israel". Its final redaction probably belongs to the end of the 4th century, but the individual scholars who brought it to its present form cannot be fixed with assurance. By this time

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

had become the

state religion A state religion (also called religious state or official religion) is a religion or creed officially endorsed by a sovereign state. A state with an official religion (also known as confessional state), while not secular state, secular, is not n ...

of the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediterr ...

and Jerusalem the holy city of Christendom. In 325

Constantine the Great Constantine I ( , ; la, Flavius Valerius Constantinus, ; ; 27 February 22 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337, the first one to Constantine the Great and Christianity, convert to Christiani ...

, the first Christian emperor, said "let us then have nothing in common with the detestable Jewish crowd." This policy made a Jew an outcast and pauper. The compilers of the Jerusalem Talmud consequently lacked the time to produce a work of the quality they had intended. The text is evidently incomplete and is not easy to follow. The apparent cessation of work on the Jerusalem Talmud in the 5th century has been associated with the decision of

Theodosius II Theodosius II ( grc-gre, Θεοδόσιος, Theodosios; 10 April 401 – 28 July 450) was Roman emperor for most of his life, proclaimed ''Augustus (title), augustus'' as an infant in 402 and ruling as the eastern Empire's sole emperor after ...

in 425 to suppress the

Patriarchate Patriarchate ( grc, πατριαρχεῖον, ''patriarcheîon'') is an ecclesiological term in Christianity, designating the office and jurisdiction of an ecclesiastical patriarch. According to Christian tradition three patriarchates were esta ...

and put an end to the practice of

semikhah Semikhah ( he, סמיכה) is the traditional Jewish name for rabbinic ordination. The original ''semikhah'' was the formal "transmission of authority" from Moses through the generations. This form of ''semikhah'' ceased between 360 and 425 C ...

, formal scholarly ordination. Some modern scholars have questioned this connection. Despite its incomplete state, the Jerusalem Talmud remains an indispensable source of knowledge of the development of the Jewish Law in the Holy Land. It was also an important primary source for the study of the Babylonian Talmud by the

Kairouan Kairouan (, ), also spelled El Qayrawān or Kairwan ( ar, ٱلْقَيْرَوَان, al-Qayrawān , aeb, script=Latn, Qeirwān ), is the capital of the Kairouan Governorate in Tunisia and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The city was founded by th ...

school of Chananel ben Chushiel and Nissim ben Jacob, with the result that opinions ultimately based on the Jerusalem Talmud found their way into both the

Tosafot The Tosafot, Tosafos or Tosfot ( he, תוספות) are medieval commentaries on the Talmud. They take the form of critical and explanatory glosses, printed, in almost all Talmud editions, on the outer margin and opposite Rashi's notes. The auth ...

and the

Mishneh Torah The ''Mishneh Torah'' ( he, מִשְׁנֵה תּוֹרָה, , repetition of the Torah), also known as ''Sefer Yad ha-Hazaka'' ( he, ספר יד החזקה, , book of the strong hand, label=none), is a code of Rabbinic Jewish religious law (''h ...

of

Maimonides Musa ibn Maimon (1138–1204), commonly known as Maimonides (); la, Moses Maimonides and also referred to by the acronym Rambam ( he, רמב״ם), was a Sephardic Jewish philosopher who became one of the most prolific and influential Torah ...

. Ethical maxims contained in the Jerusalem Talmud are scattered and interspersed in the legal discussions throughout the several treatises, many of which differing from those in the Babylonian Talmud. Following the formation of the modern

state of Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

there is some interest in restoring ''Eretz Yisrael'' traditions. For example, rabbi

David Bar-Hayim David Hanoch Yitzchak Bar-Hayim (Hebrew: דוד חנוך יצחק ב"ר חיים; born Mandel; born 24 February 1960) is an Israeli Orthodox rabbi who heads the Shilo Institute (''Machon Shilo''), a Jerusalem-based rabbinical court and institute ...

of the ''Makhon Shilo'' institute has issued a

siddur A siddur ( he, סִדּוּר ; plural siddurim ) is a Jewish prayer book containing a set order of daily prayers. The word comes from the Hebrew root , meaning 'order.' Other terms for prayer books are ''tefillot'' () among Sephardi Jews, ' ...

reflecting ''Eretz Yisrael'' practice as found in the Jerusalem Talmud and other sources.

Babylonian Talmud

The Babylonian Talmud (''Talmud Bavli'') consists of documents compiled over the period of

late antiquity Late antiquity is the time of transition from classical antiquity to the Middle Ages, generally spanning the 3rd–7th century in Europe and adjacent areas bordering the Mediterranean Basin. The popularization of this periodization in English ha ...

(3rd to 6th centuries). During this time, the most important of the Jewish centres in

Mesopotamia Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the F ...

, a region called "

Babylonia Babylonia (; Akkadian: , ''māt Akkadī'') was an ancient Akkadian-speaking state and cultural area based in the city of Babylon in central-southern Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq and parts of Syria). It emerged as an Amorite-ruled state c. ...

" in Jewish sources and later known as

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

, were

Nehardea Nehardea or Nehardeah ( arc, נהרדעא, ''nəhardəʿā'' "river of knowledge") was a city from the area called by ancient Jewish sources Babylonia, situated at or near the junction of the Euphrates with the Nahr Malka (the Royal Canal), one ...

, Nisibis (modern

Nusaybin Nusaybin (; '; ar, نُصَيْبِيْن, translit=Nuṣaybīn; syr, ܢܨܝܒܝܢ, translit=Nṣībīn), historically known as Nisibis () or Nesbin, is a city in Mardin Province, Turkey. The population of the city is 83,832 as of 2009 and is ...

), Mahoza (

al-Mada'in Al-Mada'in ( ar, المدائن, , ; ) was an ancient metropolis situated on the Tigris River in modern-day Iraq. It was located between the ancient royal centers of Ctesiphon and Seleucia, and was founded by the Sassanid Empire. The city's na ...

, just to the south of what is now

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...

),

Pumbedita Pumbedita (sometimes Pumbeditha, Pumpedita, or Pumbedisa; arc, פוּמְבְּדִיתָא ''Pūmbəḏīṯāʾ'', "The Mouth of the River,") was an ancient city located near the modern-day city of Fallujah, Iraq. It is known for having hosted t ...

(near present-day

al Anbar Governorate Al Anbar Governorate ( ar, محافظة الأنبار; ''muḥāfaẓat al-’Anbār''), or Anbar Province, is the largest governorate in Iraq by area. Encompassing much of the country's western territory, it shares borders with Syria, Jordan, ...

), and the

Sura Academy Sura Academy (Hebrew: ישיבת סורא) was a Jewish yeshiva located in Sura, Babylonia. With Pumbedita Academy, it was one of the two major Jewish academies from the year 225 CE at the beginning of the era of the Amora sages until 1033 CE at ...

, probably located about south of Baghdad. The Babylonian Talmud comprises the

Mishnah The Mishnah or the Mishna (; he, מִשְׁנָה, "study by repetition", from the verb ''shanah'' , or "to study and review", also "secondary") is the first major written collection of the Jewish oral traditions which is known as the Oral Torah ...

and the Babylonian Gemara, the latter representing the culmination of more than 300 years of analysis of the Mishnah in the Talmudic Academies in Babylonia. The foundations of this process of analysis were laid by

Abba Arika Abba Arikha (175–247 CE; Jewish Babylonian Aramaic: ; born: ''Rav Abba bar Aybo'', ), commonly known as Rav (), was a Jewish amora of the 3rd century. He was born and lived in Kafri, Asoristan, in the Sasanian Empire. Abba Arikha establishe ...

(175–247), a disciple of

Judah ha-Nasi Judah ha-Nasi ( he, יְהוּדָה הַנָּשִׂיא‎, ''Yəhūḏā hanNāsīʾ‎''; Yehudah HaNasi or Judah the Prince) or Judah I, was a second-century rabbi (a tanna of the fifth generation) and chief redactor and editor of the ''Mi ...

. Tradition ascribes the compilation of the Babylonian Talmud in its present form to two Babylonian sages,

Rav Ashi Rav Ashi ( he, רב אשי) ("Rabbi Ashi") (352–427) was a Babylonian Jewish rabbi, of the sixth generation of amoraim. He reestablished the Academy at Sura and was the first editor of the Babylonian Talmud. Biography According to a trad ...

and

Ravina II Ravina II or Rabina II (Hebrew: רב אבינא בר רב הונא or רבינא האחרון; died 475 CE or 500 CE) was a Babylonian rabbi of the 5th century (seventh and eighth generations of amoraim). He, along with his teacher Rav Ashi, wer ...

. Rav Ashi was president of the Sura Academy from 375 to 427. The work begun by Rav Ashi was completed by Ravina, who is traditionally regarded as the final Amoraic expounder. Accordingly, traditionalists argue that Ravina's death in 475 is the latest possible date for the completion of the redaction of the Talmud. However, even on the most traditional view, a few passages are regarded as the work of a group of rabbis who edited the Talmud after the end of the Amoraic period, known as the ''

Savoraim A ''Savora'' (; Aramaic: סבורא, "a reasoner", plural ''Savora'im'', ''Sabora'im'' , סבוראים) is a term used in Jewish law and history to signify one among the leading rabbis living from the end of period of the ''Amoraim'' (around 500 ...

'' or ''Rabbanan Savora'e'' (meaning "reasoners" or "considerers").

Comparison of style and subject matter

There are significant differences between the two Talmud compilations. The language of the Jerusalem Talmud is a western Aramaic dialect, which differs from the form of Aramaic in the Babylonian Talmud. The Talmud Yerushalmi is often fragmentary and difficult to read, even for experienced Talmudists. The redaction of the Talmud Bavli, on the other hand, is more careful and precise. The law as laid down in the two compilations is basically similar, except in emphasis and in minor details. The Jerusalem Talmud has not received much attention from commentators, and such traditional commentaries as exist are mostly concerned with comparing its teachings to those of the Talmud Bavli.

Encyclopaedia Judaica The ''Encyclopaedia Judaica'' is a 22-volume English-language encyclopedia of the Jewish people, Judaism, and Israel. It covers diverse areas of the Jewish world and civilization, including Jewish history of all eras, culture, holidays, langua ...

Neither the Jerusalem nor the Babylonian Talmud covers the entire Mishnah: for example, a Babylonian Gemara exists only for 37 out of the 63 tractates of the Mishnah. In particular: * The Jerusalem Talmud covers all the tractates of

Zeraim Seder Zeraim ( he, סדר זרעים, Seder Zra'im, lit. "Order of Seeds") is the first of the six orders, or major divisions, of the Mishnah, Tosefta, and the Talmud, and, apart from the first tractate which concerns the rules for prayers and bles ...

, while the Babylonian Talmud covers only tractate Berachot. The reason might be that most laws from the Order Zeraim (agricultural laws limited to the Land of Israel) had little practical relevance in Babylonia and were therefore not included. The Jerusalem Talmud has a greater focus on the Land of Israel and the Torah's agricultural laws pertaining to the land because it was written in the Land of Israel where the laws applied. * The Jerusalem Talmud does not cover the Mishnaic order of

Kodashim file:Pidyon HaBen P6020102.JPG, 150px, Pidyon haben Kodashim ( he, קדשים, "Holy Things") is the fifth of the six orders, or major divisions, of the Mishnah, Tosefta and the Talmud, and deals largely with the services within the Temple in Jer ...

, which deals with sacrificial rites and laws pertaining to the

Temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...

, while the Babylonian Talmud does cover it. It is not clear why this is, as the laws were not directly applicable in either country following the Temple's destruction in year 70. Early Rabbinic literature indicates that there once was a Jerusalem Talmud commentary on Kodashim but it has been lost to history (though in the early Twentieth Century an infamous forgery of the lost tractates was at first widely accepted before being quickly exposed). * In both Talmuds, only one tractate of

Tohorot ''Tohorot'' (Hebrew: טָהֳרוֹת, literally "Purities") is the sixth and last order of the Mishnah (also of the Tosefta and Talmud). This order deals with the clean/unclean distinction and family purity. This is the longest of the orders in t ...

(ritual purity laws) is examined, that of the menstrual laws,

Niddah Niddah (or nidah; he, נִדָּה), in traditional Judaism, describes a woman who has experienced a uterine discharge of blood (most commonly during menstruation), or a woman who has menstruated and not yet completed the associated requirem ...

. The Babylonian Talmud records the opinions of the rabbis of the ''Ma'arava'' (the West, meaning Israel/Palestine) as well as of those of Babylonia, while the Jerusalem Talmud seldom cites the Babylonian rabbis. The Babylonian version also contains the opinions of more generations because of its later date of completion. For both these reasons, it is regarded as a more comprehensive collection of the opinions available. On the other hand, because of the centuries of redaction between the composition of the Jerusalem and the Babylonian Talmud, the opinions of early ''

amoraim ''Amoraim'' (Aramaic language, Aramaic: plural or , singular ''Amora'' or ''Amoray''; "those who say" or "those who speak over the people", or "spokesmen") refers to Jewish scholars of the period from about 200 to 500 Common Era, CE, who "sai ...

'' might be closer to their original form in the Jerusalem Talmud. The influence of the Babylonian Talmud has been far greater than that of the ''Yerushalmi''. In the main, this is because the influence and prestige of the Jewish community of Israel steadily declined in contrast with the Babylonian community in the years after the redaction of the Talmud and continuing until the

Gaonic ''Geonim'' ( he, גאונים; ; also transliterated Gaonim, singular Gaon) were the presidents of the two great Babylonian Talmudic Academies of Sura and Pumbedita, in the Abbasid Caliphate, and were the generally accepted spiritual leaders of ...

era. Furthermore, the editing of the Babylonian Talmud was superior to that of the Jerusalem version, making it more accessible and readily usable. According to Maimonides (whose life began almost a hundred years after the end of the Gaonic era), all Jewish communities during the Gaonic era formally accepted the Babylonian Talmud as binding upon themselves, and modern Jewish practice follows the Babylonian Talmud's conclusions on all areas in which the two Talmuds conflict.

Structure

The structure of the Talmud follows that of the Mishnah, in which six orders (''sedarim''; singular: ''seder'') of general subject matter are divided into 60 or 63 tractates (''masekhtot''; singular: ''

masekhet A ( he, מַסֶּכֶת, Sephardic: , Ashkenazic: ; plural ) is an organizational element of Talmudic literature that systematically examines a subject, referred to as a tractate in English. A tractate/ consists of chapters (; singular: or ...

'') of more focused subject compilations, though not all tractates have Gemara. Each tractate is divided into chapters (''perakim''; singular: ''perek''), 517 in total, that are both numbered according to the

Hebrew alphabet The Hebrew alphabet ( he, wikt:אלפבית, אָלֶף־בֵּית עִבְרִי, ), known variously by scholars as the Ktav Ashuri, Jewish script, square script and block script, is an abjad script used in the writing of the Hebrew languag ...

and given names, usually using the first one or two words in the first mishnah. A ''perek'' may continue over several (up to tens of)

pages Page most commonly refers to: * Page (paper), one side of a leaf of paper, as in a book Page, PAGE, pages, or paging may also refer to: Roles * Page (assistance occupation), a professional occupation * Page (servant), traditionally a young mal ...

. Each ''perek'' will contain several ''mishnayot''.

Mishnah

The

Mishnah The Mishnah or the Mishna (; he, מִשְׁנָה, "study by repetition", from the verb ''shanah'' , or "to study and review", also "secondary") is the first major written collection of the Jewish oral traditions which is known as the Oral Torah ...

is a compilation of legal opinions and debates. Statements in the Mishnah are typically terse, recording brief opinions of the rabbis debating a subject; or recording only an unattributed ruling, apparently representing a consensus view. The rabbis recorded in the Mishnah are known as the

Tannaim ''Tannaim'' ( Amoraic Hebrew: תנאים , singular , ''Tanna'' "repeaters", "teachers") were the rabbinic sages whose views are recorded in the Mishnah, from approximately 10–220 CE. The period of the ''Tannaim'', also referred to as the Mis ...

(literally, "repeaters," or "teachers"). These tannaim—rabbis of the second century CE--"who produced the Mishnah and other tannaic works, must be distinguished from the rabbis of the third to fifth centuries, known as amoraim (literally, "speakers"), who produced the two Talmudim and other amoraic works". Since it sequences its laws by subject matter instead of by biblical context, the Mishnah discusses individual subjects more thoroughly than the

Midrash ''Midrash'' (;"midrash"
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. he, מִדְרָשׁ; ...

, and it includes a much broader selection of halakhic subjects than the Midrash. The Mishnah's topical organization thus became the framework of the Talmud as a whole. But not every tractate in the Mishnah has a corresponding Gemara. Also, the order of the tractates in the Talmud differs in some cases from that in the ''Mishnah''.

Baraita

In addition to the Mishnah, other tannaitic teachings were current at about the same time or shortly after that. The Gemara frequently refers to these tannaitic statements in order to compare them to those contained in the Mishnah and to support or refute the propositions of the

Amoraim ''Amoraim'' (Aramaic language, Aramaic: plural or , singular ''Amora'' or ''Amoray''; "those who say" or "those who speak over the people", or "spokesmen") refers to Jewish scholars of the period from about 200 to 500 Common Era, CE, who "sai ...

. The ''baraitot'' cited in the Gemara are often quotations from the

Tosefta The Tosefta (Jewish Babylonian Aramaic: תוספתא "supplement, addition") is a compilation of the Jewish oral law from the late 2nd century, the period of the Mishnah. Overview In many ways, the Tosefta acts as a supplement to the Mishnah ( ...

(a tannaitic compendium of halakha parallel to the Mishnah) and the

Midrash halakha ''Midrash halakha'' ( he, הֲלָכָה) was the ancient Judaic rabbinic method of Torah study that expounded upon the traditionally received 613 Mitzvot (commandments) by identifying their sources in the Hebrew Bible, and by interpreting these ...

(specifically Mekhilta, Sifra and Sifre). Some ''baraitot'', however, are known only through traditions cited in the Gemara, and are not part of any other collection.

Gemara

In the three centuries following the

redaction Redaction is a form of editing in which multiple sources of texts are combined and altered slightly to make a single document. Often this is a method of collecting a series of writings on a similar theme and creating a definitive and coherent wo ...

of the Mishnah, rabbis in Palestine and Babylonia analyzed, debated, and discussed that work. These discussions form the Gemara. The Gemara mainly focuses on elucidating and elaborating the opinions of the Tannaim. The rabbis of the Gemara are known as (sing. ' ). Much of the Gemara consists of legal analysis. The starting point for the analysis is usually a legal statement found in a Mishnah. The statement is then analyzed and compared with other statements used in different approaches to biblical

exegesis Exegesis ( ; from the Ancient Greek, Greek , from , "to lead out") is a critical explanation or interpretation (logic), interpretation of a text. The term is traditionally applied to the interpretation of Bible, Biblical works. In modern usage, ...

in rabbinic Judaism (or – simpler – interpretation of text in

Torah study Torah study is the study of the Torah, Hebrew Bible, Talmud, responsa, rabbinic literature, and similar works, all of which are Judaism's Sifrei kodesh, religious texts. According to Rabbinic Judaism, the study is done for the purpose of the ''mi ...

) exchanges between two (frequently anonymous and sometimes metaphorical) disputants, termed the ' (questioner) and ' (answerer). Another important function of Gemara is to identify the correct biblical basis for a given law presented in the Mishnah and the logical process connecting one with the other: this activity was known as ''talmud'' long before the existence of the "Talmud" as a text.

Minor tractates

In addition to the six Orders, the Talmud contains a series of short treatises of a later date, usually printed at the end of Seder Nezikin. These are not divided into Mishnah and Gemara.

Language

Within the

Gemara The Gemara (also transliterated Gemarah, or in Yiddish Gemo(r)re; from Aramaic , from the Semitic root ג-מ-ר ''gamar'', to finish or complete) is the component of the Talmud comprising rabbinical analysis of and commentary on the Mishnah w ...

, the quotations from the Mishnah and the

Baraita ''Baraita'' (Aramaic: "external" or "outside"; pl. ''Barayata'' or ''Baraitot''; also Baraitha, Beraita; Ashkenazi: Beraisa) designates a tradition in the Jewish oral law not incorporated in the Mishnah. ''Baraita'' thus refers to teachings "ou ...

s and verses of

Tanakh The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
''

Jewish Babylonian Aramaic Jewish Babylonian Aramaic was the form of Aramaic language#Middle Aramaic, Middle Aramaic employed by writers in Lower Mesopotamia between the fourth and eleventh centuries. It is most commonly identified with the language of the Babylonian Talm ...

. There are occasional quotations from older works in other dialects of Aramaic, such as

Megillat Taanit ''Megillat Taanit'' (Hebrew: ), lit. ''"the Scroll of Fasting,"'' is an ancient text, in the form of a chronicle, which enumerates 35 eventful days on which the Jewish nation either performed glorious deeds or witnessed joyful events. These days ...

. Overall, Hebrew constitutes somewhat less than half of the text of the Talmud. This difference in language is due to the long time period elapsing between the two compilations. During the period of the

Tannaim ''Tannaim'' ( Amoraic Hebrew: תנאים , singular , ''Tanna'' "repeaters", "teachers") were the rabbinic sages whose views are recorded in the Mishnah, from approximately 10–220 CE. The period of the ''Tannaim'', also referred to as the Mis ...

(rabbis cited in the Mishnah), a late form of Hebrew known as Rabbinic or Mishnaic Hebrew was still in use as a spoken

vernacular A vernacular or vernacular language is in contrast with a "standard language". It refers to the language or dialect that is spoken by people that are inhabiting a particular country or region. The vernacular is typically the native language, n ...

among Jews in

Judaea Judea or Judaea ( or ; from he, יהודה, Standard ''Yəhūda'', Tiberian ''Yehūḏā''; el, Ἰουδαία, ; la, Iūdaea) is an ancient, historic, Biblical Hebrew, contemporaneous Latin, and the modern-day name of the mountainous south ...

(alongside Greek and Aramaic), whereas during the period of the

Amoraim ''Amoraim'' (Aramaic language, Aramaic: plural or , singular ''Amora'' or ''Amoray''; "those who say" or "those who speak over the people", or "spokesmen") refers to Jewish scholars of the period from about 200 to 500 Common Era, CE, who "sai ...

(rabbis cited in the Gemara), which began around the year 200, the spoken vernacular was almost exclusively Aramaic. Hebrew continued to be used for the writing of religious texts, poetry, and so forth. Even within the Aramaic of the Gemara, different dialects or writing styles can be observed in different tractates. One dialect is common to most of the Babylonian Talmud, while a second dialect is used in Nedarim, Nazir, Temurah,

Keritot Keritot is a tractate of the Mishnah and Babylonian Talmud. It is the seventh tractate in the Order of Kodashim. Its name is the plural of the punishment kareth which the Torah specifies for intentional violation of certain sins; unintentional viol ...

, and

Me'ilah Me'ilah ( he, מ֧עילׇה; "misuse of property") is a tractate of Seder Kodashim in the Mishnah, Tosefta, and Babylonian Talmud. It deals chiefly with the exact provisions of the law (Lev. 5:15-16) concerning the trespass-offering and the repa ...

; the second dialect is closer in style to the

Targum A targum ( arc, תרגום 'interpretation, translation, version') was an originally spoken translation of the Hebrew Bible (also called the ''Tanakh'') that a professional translator ( ''mǝturgǝmān'') would give in the common language of the ...

.

Scholarship

From the time of its completion, the Talmud became integral to Jewish scholarship. A maxim in

Pirkei Avot Pirkei Avot ( he, פִּרְקֵי אָבוֹת; also transliterated as ''Pirqei Avoth'' or ''Pirkei Avos'' or ''Pirke Aboth''), which translates to English as Chapters of the Fathers, is a compilation of the ethics, ethical teachings and Maxim ...

advocates its study from the age of 15. This section outlines some of the major areas of Talmudic study.

Geonim

The earliest Talmud commentaries were written by the

Geonim ''Geonim'' ( he, גאונים; ; also transliterated Gaonim, singular Gaon) were the presidents of the two great Babylonian Talmudic Academies of Sura and Pumbedita, in the Abbasid Caliphate, and were the generally accepted spiritual leaders o ...

( 800–1000) in

Babylonia Babylonia (; Akkadian: , ''māt Akkadī'') was an ancient Akkadian-speaking state and cultural area based in the city of Babylon in central-southern Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq and parts of Syria). It emerged as an Amorite-ruled state c. ...

. Although some direct commentaries on particular treatises are extant, our main knowledge of the Gaonic era Talmud scholarship comes from statements embedded in Geonic responsa that shed light on Talmudic passages: these are arranged in the order of the Talmud in Levin's ''Otzar ha-Geonim''. Also important are practical abridgments of Jewish law such as

Yehudai Gaon Yehudai ben Nahman (or Yehudai Gaon; Hebrew: יהודאי גאון, sometimes: Yehudai b. Nahman) was the head of the yeshiva in Sura from 757 to 761, during the Gaonic period of Judaism. He was originally a member of the academy of Pumbedita, b ...

's ''Halachot Pesukot'',

Achai Gaon Achai Gaon (also known as Ahai of Shabḥa or Aha of Shabḥa, Hebrew: רב אחא �חאימשַׁבָּחָא) was a leading scholar during the period of the Geonim, an 8th-century Talmudist of high renown. He enjoys the distinction of being th ...

's ''Sheeltot'' and

Simeon Kayyara Simeon Kayyara, also spelled ''Shimon Kiara'' (Hebrew: שמעון קיירא), was a Jewish-Babylonian halakhist of the first half of the 8th century. Although he lived during the Geonic period, he was never officially appointed as a Gaon, and the ...

's ''Halachot Gedolot''. After the death of

Hai Gaon Hai ben Sherira (Hebrew: האי/י בר שרירא) better known as Hai Gaon (Hebrew: האי/י גאון, חאיי גאון), was a medieval Jewish theologian, rabbi and scholar who served as Gaon of the Talmudic academy of Pumbedita during the ...

, however, the center of Talmud scholarship shifts to Europe and North Africa.

Halakhic and Aggadic extractions

One area of Talmudic scholarship developed out of the need to ascertain the

Halakha ''Halakha'' (; he, הֲלָכָה, ), also transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Jewish religious laws which is derived from the written and Oral Torah. Halakha is based on biblical commandm ...

. Early commentators such as rabbi

Isaac Alfasi Isaac ben Jacob Alfasi ha-Cohen (1013–1103) ( ar, إسحاق الفاسي, he, ר' יצחק אלפסי) - also known as the Alfasi or by his Hebrew acronym Rif (Rabbi Isaac al-Fasi), was a Maghrebi Talmudist and posek (decider in matters of hal ...

(North Africa, 1013–1103) attempted to extract and determine the binding legal opinions from the vast corpus of the Talmud. Alfasi's work was highly influential, attracted several commentaries in its own right and later served as a basis for the creation of halakhic codes. Another influential medieval Halakhic work following the order of the Babylonian Talmud, and to some extent modelled on Alfasi, was "the ''Mordechai''", a compilation by

Mordechai ben Hillel Mordechai ben Hillel HaKohen ( he, "המָּרְדֳּכַי" ,רבי מרדכי בן הלל הכהן; c. 1250–1298), also known as The Mordechai, was a 13th-century German rabbi and posek. His chief legal commentary on the Talmud, referred to as ...

( 1250–1298). A third such work was that of rabbi

Asher ben Yechiel Asher ben Jehiel ( he, אשר בן יחיאל, or Asher ben Yechiel, sometimes Asheri) (1250 or 1259 – 1327) was an eminent rabbi and Talmudist best known for his abstract of Talmudic law. He is often referred to as Rabbenu Asher, “our Rabb ...

(d. 1327). All these works and their commentaries are printed in the Vilna and many subsequent editions of the Talmud. A 15th-century Spanish rabbi, Jacob ibn Habib (d. 1516), composed the ''

Ein Yaakov ''Ein Yaakov'' () is a 16th-century compilation of all the Aggadic material in the Talmud together with commentaries.Aggadic Aggadah ( he, ''ʾAggāḏā'' or ''Haggāḏā''; Jewish Babylonian Aramaic: אַגָּדְתָא ''ʾAggāḏəṯāʾ''; "tales, fairytale, lore") is the non-legalistic exegesis which appears in the classical rabbinic literature of Judaism, ...

material from the Talmud. It was intended to familiarize the public with the ethical parts of the Talmud and to dispute many of the accusations surrounding its contents.

Commentaries

The commentaries on the Talmud constitute only a small part of

Rabbinic literature Rabbinic literature, in its broadest sense, is the entire spectrum of rabbinic writings throughout Jewish history. However, the term often refers specifically to literature from the Talmudic era, as opposed to medieval and modern rabbinic writ ...

in comparison with the

responsa ''Responsa'' (plural of Latin , 'answer') comprise a body of written decisions and rulings given by legal scholars in response to questions addressed to them. In the modern era, the term is used to describe decisions and rulings made by scholars i ...

literature and the commentaries on the

codices The codex (plural codices ) was the historical ancestor of the modern book. Instead of being composed of sheets of paper, it used sheets of vellum, papyrus, or other materials. The term ''codex'' is often used for ancient manuscript books, with ...

. When the Talmud was concluded the traditional literature was still so fresh in the memory of scholars that no need existed for writing Talmudic commentaries, nor were such works undertaken in the first period of the gaonate.

Paltoi ben Abaye Rav Paltoi Yishia ben Rav Abaye Gaon HaKohen (Hebrew: רב פלטוי ישעיה בר אביי גאון הכהן: – 858 ) was the Gaon of Pumbedita from 841 up until his death in 858. His time as Gaon would be defined by an idealistic and innov ...

(''c.'' 840) was the first who in his responsum offered verbal and textual comments on the Talmud. His son,

Zemah ben Paltoi Rav Zemah ben Paltoi, also spelt Tzemach ben Poltoi, Zemaḥ Gaon, (Hebrew: צמח גאון בר מר רב פולטוי) (died 890 CE), was the Gaon of Pumbeditha from 872 up until his death in 890. Biography Zemah's father, Paltoi ben Abaye, ...

paraphrased and explained the passages which he quoted; and he composed, as an aid to the study of the Talmud, a lexicon which

Abraham Zacuto Abraham Zacuto ( he, , translit=Avraham ben Shmuel Zacut, pt, Abraão ben Samuel Zacuto; 12 August 1452 – ) was a Castilian astronomer, astrologer, mathematician, rabbi and historian who served as Royal Astronomer to King John II of Portugal. ...

consulted in the fifteenth century.

Saadia Gaon Saʻadiah ben Yosef Gaon ( ar, سعيد بن يوسف الفيومي ''Saʻīd bin Yūsuf al-Fayyūmi''; he, סַעֲדְיָה בֶּן יוֹסֵף אַלְפַיּוּמִי גָּאוֹן ''Saʿăḏyāh ben Yōsēf al-Fayyūmī Gāʾōn''; ...

is said to have composed commentaries on the Talmud, aside from his Arabic commentaries on the Mishnah. There are many passages in the Talmud which are cryptic and difficult to understand. Its language contains many Greek and Persian words that became obscure over time. A major area of Talmudic scholarship developed to explain these passages and words. Some early commentators such as Rabbenu

Gershom of Mainz Gershom ben Judah, (c. 960 -1040) best known as Rabbeinu Gershom ( he, רבנו גרשום, "Our teacher Gershom") and also commonly known to scholars of Judaism by the title ''Rabbeinu Gershom Me'Or Hagolah'' ("Our teacher Gershom the light of the ...

(10th century) and Rabbenu Ḥananel (early 11th century) produced running commentaries to various tractates. These commentaries could be read with the text of the Talmud and would help explain the meaning of the text. Another important work is the ''Sefer ha-Mafteaḥ'' (Book of the Key) by Nissim Gaon, which contains a preface explaining the different forms of Talmudic argumentation and then explains abbreviated passages in the Talmud by cross-referring to parallel passages where the same thought is expressed in full. Commentaries (''ḥiddushim'') by

Joseph ibn Migash Joseph ibn Migash or Joseph ben Meir HaLevi ibn Migash or Yosef Ibn Meir Ha-Levi Ibn Megas or José ben Meir ibn Megas (early 1077 – c. 1141) ( he, יוסף בן מאיר הלוי אבן מיגאש) was a Rabbi, Posek, and Rosh Yeshiva in Lucena ...

on two tractates, Bava Batra and Shevuot, based on Ḥananel and Alfasi, also survive, as does a compilation by Zechariah Aghmati called ''Sefer ha-Ner''. Using a different style, rabbi Nathan b. Jechiel created a lexicon called the ''Arukh'' in the 11th century to help translate difficult words. By far the best-known commentary on the Babylonian Talmud is that of

Rashi Shlomo Yitzchaki ( he, רבי שלמה יצחקי; la, Salomon Isaacides; french: Salomon de Troyes, 22 February 1040 – 13 July 1105), today generally known by the acronym Rashi (see below), was a medieval French rabbi and author of a compre ...

(Rabbi Solomon ben Isaac, 1040–1105). The commentary is comprehensive, covering almost the entire Talmud. Written as a running commentary, it provides a full explanation of the words and explains the logical structure of each Talmudic passage. It is considered indispensable to students of the Talmud. Although Rashi drew upon all his predecessors, his originality in using the material offered by them was unparalleled. His commentaries, in turn, became the basis of the work of his pupils and successors, who composed a large number of supplementary works that were partly in emendation and partly in explanation of Rashi's, and are known under the title "

Tosafot The Tosafot, Tosafos or Tosfot ( he, תוספות) are medieval commentaries on the Talmud. They take the form of critical and explanatory glosses, printed, in almost all Talmud editions, on the outer margin and opposite Rashi's notes. The auth ...

." ("additions" or "supplements"). The ''Tosafot'' are collected commentaries by various medieval Ashkenazic rabbis on the Talmud (known as ''

Tosafists Tosafists were rabbis of France and Germany, who lived from the 12th to the mid-15th centuries, in the period of Rishonim. The Tosafists composed critical and explanatory glosses (questions, notes, interpretations, rulings and sources) on the Tal ...

'' or ''Ba'alei Tosafot''). One of the main goals of the ''Tosafot'' is to explain and interpret contradictory statements in the Talmud. Unlike Rashi, the ''Tosafot'' is not a running commentary, but rather comments on selected matters. Often the explanations of ''Tosafot'' differ from those of Rashi. In Yeshiva, the integration of Talmud, Rashi and Tosafot, is considered as the foundation (and prerequisite) for further analysis; this combination is sometimes referred to by the acronym ''"gefet"'' ( גפ״ת - ''

Gemara The Gemara (also transliterated Gemarah, or in Yiddish Gemo(r)re; from Aramaic , from the Semitic root ג-מ-ר ''gamar'', to finish or complete) is the component of the Talmud comprising rabbinical analysis of and commentary on the Mishnah w ...

'', ''perush Rashi'', ''Tosafot''). Among the founders of the Tosafist school were Rabbi Jacob ben Meir (known as

Rabbeinu Tam Jacob ben Meir (1100 – 9 June 1171 (4 Tammuz)), best known as Rabbeinu Tam ( he, רבינו תם), was one of the most renowned Ashkenazi Jewish rabbis and leading French Tosafists, a leading ''halakhic'' authority in his generation, and a gra ...

), who was a grandson of Rashi, and, Rabbenu Tam's nephew, rabbi

Isaac ben Samuel Isaac ben Samuel the Elder (c. 1115 – c. 1184), also known as the Ri ha-Zaken (Hebrew: ר"י הזקן), was a French tosafist and Biblical commentator. He flourished at Ramerupt and Dampierre, France in the twelfth century. He is the father of ...

. The Tosafot commentaries were collected in different editions in the various schools. The benchmark collection of Tosafot for Northern France was that of R.

Eliezer of Touques Eliezer (ben Solomon) of Touques was a French tosafist, who lived at Touques in the second half of the thirteenth century. He abridged the tosafot of Samson of Sens, Samuel of Évreux, and many others, and added thereto marginal notes of his own, ...

. The standard collection for Spain was that of Rabbenu Asher ("Tosefot Harosh"). The Tosafot that are printed in the standard Vilna edition of the Talmud are an edited version compiled from the various medieval collections, predominantly that of Touques. Over time, the approach of the Tosafists spread to other Jewish communities, particularly those in Spain. This led to the composition of many other commentaries in similar styles. Among these are the commentaries of

Nachmanides Moses ben Nachman ( he, מֹשֶׁה בֶּן־נָחְמָן ''Mōše ben-Nāḥmān'', "Moses son of Nachman"; 1194–1270), commonly known as Nachmanides (; el, Ναχμανίδης ''Nakhmanídēs''), and also referred to by the acronym Ra ...

(Ramban),

Solomon ben Adret Shlomo ben Avraham ibn Aderet ( he, שלמה בן אברהם אבן אדרת or Solomon son of Abraham son of Aderet) (1235 – 1310) was a medieval rabbi, halakhist, and Talmudist. He is widely known as the Rashba (Hebrew: ), the Hebrew acronym ...

(Rashba), Yom Tov of Seville (Ritva) and

Nissim of Gerona Nissim ben Reuven (1320 – 9th of Shevat, 1376, he, נִסִּים בֶּן רְאוּבֵן) of Girona, Catalonia was an influential talmudist and authority on Jewish law. He was one of the last of the great Spanish medieval Talmudic scholars. ...

(Ran); these are often titled “ ''Chiddushei'' ...” (“

Novellae In Roman law, a novel ( la, novella constitutio, "new decree"; gr, νεαρά, neara) is a new decree or edict, in other words a new law. The term was used from the fourth century AD onwards and was specifically used for laws issued after the publi ...

of ...”). A comprehensive anthology consisting of extracts from all these is the ''Shittah Mekubbetzet'' of

Bezalel Ashkenazi Bezalel ben Abraham Ashkenazi ( he, בצלאל בן אברהם אשכנזי) ( 1520 – 1592) was a rabbi and talmudist who lived in Ottoman Israel during the 16th century. He is best known as the author of ''Shitah Mekubetzet'', a commentary on ...

. Other commentaries produced in Spain and Provence were not influenced by the Tosafist style. Two of the most significant of these are the

Yad Ramah A yad (, literally "hand"; ''hant'', "hand") is a Jewish ritual pointer, popularly known as a Torah pointer, used by the reader to follow the text during the Torah reading from the parchment Torah scrolls. It is often shaped like a long rod, cap ...

by rabbi

Meir Abulafia :''Meir Abulafia is commonly known as "the Ramah" (Hebrew: רמ"ה). He should not be confused with Moses Isserles, known as "the Rema" or "the Rama" (Hebrew: רמ"א).'' Meir ben Todros HaLevi Abulafia ( ; c. 1170 – 1244), also known as the Rama ...

and ''Bet Habechirah'' by rabbi Menahem haMeiri, commonly referred to as "Meiri". While the ''Bet Habechirah'' is extant for all of Talmud, we only have the ''Yad Ramah'' for Tractates Sanhedrin, Baba Batra and Gittin. Like the commentaries of Ramban and the others, these are generally printed as independent works, though some Talmud editions include the ''Shittah Mekubbetzet'' in an abbreviated form. In later centuries, focus partially shifted from direct Talmudic interpretation to the analysis of previously written Talmudic commentaries. These later commentaries are generally printed at the back of each tractate. Well known are "Maharshal" (

Solomon Luria Solomon Luria (1510 – November 7, 1573) ( he, שלמה לוריא) was one of the great Ashkenazic ''poskim'' (decisors of Jewish law) and teachers of his time. He is known for his work of Halakha, ''Yam Shel Shlomo'', and his Talmudic commenta ...

), "Maharam" (

Meir Lublin Meir Lublin or Meir ben Gedalia (1558 – 1616) was a Polish rabbi, Talmudist and Posek ("decisor of Jewish law"). He is well known for his commentary on the Talmud, ''Meir Einai Chachamim''. He is also referred to as Maharam (Hebrew acronym: "Ou ...

) and "

Maharsha Shmuel Eidels (1555 – 1631) ( he, שמואל אליעזר הלוי איידלס Shmuel Eliezer HaLevi Eidels) was a renowned rabbi and Talmudist famous for his commentary on the Talmud, ''Chiddushei Halachot''. Eidels is also known as Maharsha ( ...

" (Samuel Edels), which analyze Rashi and Tosafot together; other such commentaries include ''Ma'adanei Yom Tov'' by Yom-Tov Lipmann Heller, in turn a commentary on the Rosh (see below), and the glosses by

Zvi Hirsch Chajes Zvi Hirsch Chajes ( he, צבי הירש חיות - November 20, 1805 - October 12, 1855; also Chayes or Hayot or Chiyos) was one of the foremost Galician talmudic scholars. He is best known for his work ''Mevo Hatalmud'' (Introduction to the Tal ...

. Another very useful study aid, found in almost all editions of the Talmud, consists of the marginal notes ''Torah Or'', ''Ein Mishpat Ner Mitzvah'' and ''Masoret ha-Shas'' by the Italian rabbi

Joshua Boaz Joshua Boaz ben Simon Baruch (died 1557), also known as the Shiltei Giborim after a work he authored, was a prominent Talmudist who lived at Sabbioneta, and later at Savigliano. He was a descendant of an old Judæo-Spanish family, and probably s ...

, which give references respectively to the cited Biblical passages, to the relevant halachic codes (''

Mishneh Torah The ''Mishneh Torah'' ( he, מִשְׁנֵה תּוֹרָה, , repetition of the Torah), also known as ''Sefer Yad ha-Hazaka'' ( he, ספר יד החזקה, , book of the strong hand, label=none), is a code of Rabbinic Jewish religious law (''h ...

'', '' Tur'', ''

Shulchan Aruch The ''Shulchan Aruch'' ( he, שֻׁלְחָן עָרוּך , literally: "Set Table"), sometimes dubbed in English as the Code of Jewish Law, is the most widely consulted of the various legal codes in Judaism. It was authored in Safed (today in Is ...

'', and '' Se'mag'') and to related Talmudic passages. Most editions of the Talmud include brief marginal notes by

Akiva Eger Rabbi Akiva Eiger (, also spelled Eger; , yi, עקיבא אייגער), or Akiva Güns (17611837) was an outstanding Talmudic scholar, influential halakhic decisor and foremost leader of European Jewry during the early 19th century. He was also ...

under the name ''Gilyon ha-Shas'', and textual notes by

Joel Sirkes Joel ben Samuel Sirkis (Hebrew: רבי יואל בן שמואל סירקיש; born 1561 - March 14, 1640) also known as the Bach (an abbreviation of his magnum opus BAyit CHadash), was a prominent Ashkenazi posek and halakhist, who lived in cent ...

and the

Vilna Gaon Elijah ben Solomon Zalman, ( he , ר' אליהו בן שלמה זלמן ''Rabbi Eliyahu ben Shlomo Zalman'') known as the Vilna Gaon (Yiddish: דער װילנער גאון ''Der Vilner Gaon'', pl, Gaon z Wilna, lt, Vilniaus Gaonas) or Elijah of ...

(see Textual emendations below), on the page together with the text. Commentaries discussing the Halachik-legal content include "Rosh", "Rif" and "Mordechai"; these are now standard appendices to each volume.

Rambam Musa ibn Maimon (1138–1204), commonly known as Maimonides (); la, Moses Maimonides and also referred to by the acronym Rambam ( he, רמב״ם), was a Sephardic Jewish philosopher who became one of the most prolific and influential Torah s ...

's ''

Mishneh Torah The ''Mishneh Torah'' ( he, מִשְׁנֵה תּוֹרָה, , repetition of the Torah), also known as ''Sefer Yad ha-Hazaka'' ( he, ספר יד החזקה, , book of the strong hand, label=none), is a code of Rabbinic Jewish religious law (''h ...

'' is invariably studied alongside these three; although a code, and therefore not in the same order as the Talmud, the relevant location is identified via the ''"Ein Mishpat"'', as mentioned. A recent project, ''Halacha Brura'', founded by

Abraham Isaac Kook Abraham Isaac Kook (; 7 September 1865 – 1 September 1935), known as Rav Kook, and also known by the acronym HaRaAYaH (), was an Orthodox rabbi, and the first Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of British Mandatory Palestine. He is considered to be one ...

, presents the Talmud and a summary of the halachic codes side by side, so as to enable the "collation" of Talmud with resultant Halacha.

Pilpul

During the 15th and 16th centuries, a new intensive form of Talmud study arose. Complicated logical arguments were used to explain minor points of contradiction within the Talmud. The term ''

pilpul ''Pilpul'' ( he, פלפול, loosely meaning 'sharp analysis'; ) is a method of studying the Talmud through intense textual analysis in attempts to either explain conceptual differences between various halakhic rulings or to reconcile any appare ...

'' was applied to this type of study. Usage of ''pilpul'' in this sense (that of "sharp analysis") harks back to the Talmudic era and refers to the intellectual sharpness this method demanded. Pilpul practitioners posited that the Talmud could contain no redundancy or contradiction whatsoever. New categories and distinctions (''hillukim'') were therefore created, resolving seeming contradictions within the Talmud by novel logical means. In the

Ashkenazi Ashkenazi Jews ( ; he, יְהוּדֵי אַשְׁכְּנַז, translit=Yehudei Ashkenaz, ; yi, אַשכּנזישע ייִדן, Ashkenazishe Yidn), also known as Ashkenazic Jews or ''Ashkenazim'',, Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation: , singu ...

world the founders of ''pilpul'' are generally considered to be

Jacob Pollak Rabbi Jacob Pollak (other common spelling Yaakov Pollack), son of Rabbi Joseph, was the founder of the Polish method of halakhic and Talmudic study known as the Pilpul. Biography He was born about 1460 or 1470 in Poland, and died at Lublin in ...

(1460–1541) and

Shalom Shachna Shalom Shachna ( 1510 – 1558) was a rabbi and Talmudist, and Rosh yeshiva of several great Acharonim including Moses Isserles, who was also his son-in-law. Biography Shachna was a pupil of Jacob Pollak, founder of the method of Talmudic study ...

. This kind of study reached its height in the 16th and 17th centuries when expertise in pilpulistic analysis was considered an art form and became a goal in and of itself within the yeshivot of Poland and Lithuania. But the popular new method of Talmud study was not without critics; already in the 15th century, the ethical tract ''Orhot Zaddikim'' ("Paths of the Righteous" in Hebrew) criticized pilpul for an overemphasis on intellectual acuity. Many 16th- and 17th-century rabbis were also critical of pilpul. Among them are

Judah Loew ben Bezalel Judah Loew ben Bezalel (; between 1512 and 1526 – 17 September 1609), also known as Rabbi Loew ( Löw, Loewe, Löwe or Levai), the Maharal of Prague (), or simply the Maharal (the Hebrew acronym of "''Moreinu ha-Rav Loew''", 'Our Teacher, Rabbi ...

(the ''Maharal'' of Prague),

Isaiah Horowitz Isaiah or Yeshayahu ben Avraham Ha-Levi Horowitz ( he, ישעיה בן אברהם הלוי הורוויץ), (c. 1555 – March 24, 1630), also known as the ''Shelah HaKaddosh'' ( "the holy ''Shelah''") after the title of his best-known work, was ...

, and

Yair Bacharach Rabbi Yair Chayim Bacharach (1639, Lipník nad Bečvou, Moravia — 1702; also known by his work Chavos Yair) was a German rabbi and major 17th century posek, who lived first in Koblenz and then the remainder of his life in Worms and Mainz. H ...

. By the 18th century, pilpul study waned. Other styles of learning such as that of the school of Elijah b. Solomon, the

Vilna Gaon Elijah ben Solomon Zalman, ( he , ר' אליהו בן שלמה זלמן ''Rabbi Eliyahu ben Shlomo Zalman'') known as the Vilna Gaon (Yiddish: דער װילנער גאון ''Der Vilner Gaon'', pl, Gaon z Wilna, lt, Vilniaus Gaonas) or Elijah of ...

, became popular. The term "pilpul" was increasingly applied derogatorily to novellae deemed casuistic and hairsplitting. Authors referred to their own commentaries as "al derekh ha-peshat" (by the simple method) to contrast them with pilpul.

Sephardic approaches

Among

Sephardi Sephardic (or Sephardi) Jews (, ; lad, Djudíos Sefardíes), also ''Sepharadim'' , Modern Hebrew: ''Sfaradim'', Tiberian Hebrew, Tiberian: Səp̄āraddîm, also , ''Ye'hude Sepharad'', lit. "The Jews of Spain", es, Judíos sefardíes (or ), ...

and

Italian Jews Italian Jews ( it, Ebrei Italiani, he, יהודים איטלקים ''Yehudim Italkim'') or Roman Jews ( it, Ebrei Romani, he, יהודים רומים ''Yehudim Romim'') can be used in a broad sense to mean all Jews living in or with roots in I ...

from the 15th century on, some authorities sought to apply the methods of

Aristotelian logic In philosophy, term logic, also known as traditional logic, syllogistic logic or Aristotelian logic, is a loose name for an approach to formal logic that began with Aristotle and was developed further in ancient history mostly by his followers, t ...

, as reformulated by

Averroes Ibn Rushd ( ar, ; full name in ; 14 April 112611 December 1198), often Latinized as Averroes ( ), was an Andalusian polymath and jurist who wrote about many subjects, including philosophy, theology, medicine, astronomy, physics, psycholog ...

. This method was first recorded, though without explicit reference to Aristotle, by Isaac Campanton (d. Spain, 1463) in his ''Darkhei ha-Talmud'' ("The Ways of the Talmud"), and is also found in the works of

Moses Chaim Luzzatto Moshe Chaim Luzzatto ( he, משה חיים לוצאטו, also ''Moses Chaim'', ''Moses Hayyim'', also ''Luzzato'') (1707 – 16 May 1746 (26 ''Iyar'' 5506)), also known by the Hebrew acronym RaMCHaL (or RaMHaL, ), was a prominent Italia ...

. According to the present-day Sephardi scholar

José Faur José Faur ( he, חכם יוסף פאור הלוי ''Ḥāḵām Yōsēf Fawr Hallēwī''; 1934, 2020) was a Sepharadi Hakham (rabbi), teacher and scholar. He was a Rabbi in the Syrian-Jewish community in Brooklyn for many years. He was also a pr ...

, traditional Sephardic Talmud study could take place on any of three levels. * The most basic level consists of literary analysis of the text without the help of commentaries, designed to bring out the ''tzurata di-shema'ta'', i.e. the logical and narrative structure of the passage. * The intermediate level, ''iyyun'' (concentration), consists of study with the help of commentaries such as

Rashi Shlomo Yitzchaki ( he, רבי שלמה יצחקי; la, Salomon Isaacides; french: Salomon de Troyes, 22 February 1040 – 13 July 1105), today generally known by the acronym Rashi (see below), was a medieval French rabbi and author of a compre ...

and the

Tosafot The Tosafot, Tosafos or Tosfot ( he, תוספות) are medieval commentaries on the Talmud. They take the form of critical and explanatory glosses, printed, in almost all Talmud editions, on the outer margin and opposite Rashi's notes. The auth ...

, similar to that practiced among the

Ashkenazim Ashkenazi Jews ( ; he, יְהוּדֵי אַשְׁכְּנַז, translit=Yehudei Ashkenaz, ; yi, אַשכּנזישע ייִדן, Ashkenazishe Yidn), also known as Ashkenazic Jews or ''Ashkenazim'',, Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation: , singu ...

. Historically Sephardim studied the ''Tosefot ha-Rosh'' and the commentaries of Nahmanides in preference to the printed Tosafot. A method based on the study of Tosafot, and of Ashkenazi authorities such as ''

Maharsha Shmuel Eidels (1555 – 1631) ( he, שמואל אליעזר הלוי איידלס Shmuel Eliezer HaLevi Eidels) was a renowned rabbi and Talmudist famous for his commentary on the Talmud, ''Chiddushei Halachot''. Eidels is also known as Maharsha ( ...

'' (Samuel Edels) and ''Maharshal'' (

Solomon Luria Solomon Luria (1510 – November 7, 1573) ( he, שלמה לוריא) was one of the great Ashkenazic ''poskim'' (decisors of Jewish law) and teachers of his time. He is known for his work of Halakha, ''Yam Shel Shlomo'', and his Talmudic commenta ...

), was introduced in late seventeenth century

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

by rabbis Abraham Hakohen (d. 1715) and Tsemaḥ Tsarfati (d. 1717) and perpetuated by rabbi

Isaac Lumbroso Isaac Lumbroso (1680–1752) was a chief rabbi of Tunis and rabbinical author. He was prominent in Tunisian Jewry, being judge of the community about 1710, an epoch coinciding with the schism which divided the Jews of the city into two camps, nati ...

and is sometimes referred to as'' 'Iyyun Tunisa'i''. * The highest level, ''halachah'' (Jewish law), consists of collating the opinions set out in the Talmud with those of the halachic codes such as the

Mishneh Torah The ''Mishneh Torah'' ( he, מִשְׁנֵה תּוֹרָה, , repetition of the Torah), also known as ''Sefer Yad ha-Hazaka'' ( he, ספר יד החזקה, , book of the strong hand, label=none), is a code of Rabbinic Jewish religious law (''h ...

and the

Shulchan Aruch The ''Shulchan Aruch'' ( he, שֻׁלְחָן עָרוּך , literally: "Set Table"), sometimes dubbed in English as the Code of Jewish Law, is the most widely consulted of the various legal codes in Judaism. It was authored in Safed (today in Is ...

, so as to study the Talmud as a source of law; the equivalent Ashkenazi approach is sometimes referred to as being "

aliba dehilchasa A yeshiva (; he, ישיבה, , sitting; pl. , or ) is a traditional Jewish educational institution focused on the study of Rabbinic literature, primarily the Talmud and halacha (Jewish law), while Torah and Jewish philosophy are stu ...

". Today most Sephardic yeshivot follow Lithuanian approaches such as the Brisker method: the traditional Sephardic methods are perpetuated informally by some individuals.'' 'Iyyun Tunisa'i'' is taught at the

Kisse Rahamim yeshivah Kisse Rahamim yeshivah is an Orthodox yeshivah in Bnei Brak, Israel, which perpetuates the traditions of the Tunisian Jews. It was founded in Tunis in 1962 and moved to Bnei Brak in 1971. Meir Mazuz, a leading Sephardic Rabbi in Israel ...

in

Bnei Brak Bnei Brak or Bene Beraq ( he, בְּנֵי בְּרַק ) is a city located on the central Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean Israeli coastal plain, coastal plain in Israel, just east of Tel Aviv. A center of Haredi Judaism, Bnei Brak covers an are ...

.

Brisker method

In the late 19th century another trend in Talmud study arose. Rabbi Hayyim Soloveitchik (1853–1918) of Brisk (Brest-Litovsk) developed and refined this style of study.

Brisker method The Brisker method, or Brisker ''derech'', is a reductionistic approach to Talmud study innovated by Rabbi Chaim Soloveitchik of Brisk (Brest, Belarus), as opposed to the traditional approach which was rather holistic. It has since become popula ...

involves a reductionistic analysis of rabbinic arguments within the Talmud or among the

Rishonim ''Rishonim'' (; he, ; sing. he, , ''Rishon'', "the first ones") were the leading rabbis and ''poskim'' who lived approximately during the 11th to 15th centuries, in the era before the writing of the ''Shulchan Aruch'' ( he, , "Set Table", a ...

, explaining the differing opinions by placing them within a categorical structure. The Brisker method is highly analytical and is often criticized as being a modern-day version of

pilpul ''Pilpul'' ( he, פלפול, loosely meaning 'sharp analysis'; ) is a method of studying the Talmud through intense textual analysis in attempts to either explain conceptual differences between various halakhic rulings or to reconcile any appare ...

. Nevertheless, the influence of the Brisker method is great. Most modern-day Yeshivot study the Talmud using the Brisker method in some form. One feature of this method is the use of

Maimonides Musa ibn Maimon (1138–1204), commonly known as Maimonides (); la, Moses Maimonides and also referred to by the acronym Rambam ( he, רמב״ם), was a Sephardic Jewish philosopher who became one of the most prolific and influential Torah ...

' ''

Mishneh Torah The ''Mishneh Torah'' ( he, מִשְׁנֵה תּוֹרָה, , repetition of the Torah), also known as ''Sefer Yad ha-Hazaka'' ( he, ספר יד החזקה, , book of the strong hand, label=none), is a code of Rabbinic Jewish religious law (''h ...

'' as a guide to Talmudic interpretation, as distinct from its use as a source of practical ''halakha''. Rival methods were those of the

Mir ''Mir'' (russian: Мир, ; ) was a space station that operated in low Earth orbit from 1986 to 2001, operated by the Soviet Union and later by Russia. ''Mir'' was the first modular space station and was assembled in orbit from 1986 to&n ...

and

Telz yeshiva Telshe Yeshiva (also spelled ''Telz'') is a yeshiva in Wickliffe, Ohio, formerly located in Telšiai, Lithuania. During World War II the yeshiva began relocating to Wickliffe, Ohio, in the United States and is now known as the Rabbinical College o ...

s. See and .

Critical method

As a result of

Jewish emancipation Jewish emancipation was the process in various nations in Europe of eliminating Jewish disabilities, e.g. Jewish quotas, to which European Jews were then subject, and the recognition of Jews as entitled to equality and citizenship rights. It incl ...

, Judaism underwent enormous upheaval and transformation during the 19th century. Modern methods of textual and historical analysis were applied to the Talmud.

Textual emendations

The text of the Talmud has been subject to some level of critical scrutiny throughout its history. Rabbinic tradition holds that the people cited in both Talmuds did not have a hand in its writings; rather, their teachings were edited into a rough form around 450 CE (Talmud Yerushalmi) and 550 CE (Talmud Bavli.) The text of the Bavli especially was not firmly fixed at that time. Gaonic responsa literature addresses this issue. Teshuvot Geonim Kadmonim, section 78, deals with mistaken biblical readings in the Talmud. This Gaonic responsum states: In the early medieval era, Rashi already concluded that some statements in the extant text of the Talmud were insertions from later editors. On Shevuot 3b Rashi writes "A mistaken student wrote this in the margin of the Talmud, and copyists ubsequentlyput it into the Gemara." The emendations of

Yoel Sirkis Joel ben Samuel Sirkis (Hebrew: רבי יואל בן שמואל סירקיש; born 1561 - March 14, 1640) also known as the Bach (an abbreviation of his magnum opus BAyit CHadash), was a prominent Ashkenazi posek and halakhist, who lived in centra ...

and the Vilna Gaon are included in all standard editions of the Talmud, in the form of marginal glosses entitled ''Hagahot ha-Bach'' and ''Hagahot ha-Gra'' respectively; further emendations by

Solomon Luria Solomon Luria (1510 – November 7, 1573) ( he, שלמה לוריא) was one of the great Ashkenazic ''poskim'' (decisors of Jewish law) and teachers of his time. He is known for his work of Halakha, ''Yam Shel Shlomo'', and his Talmudic commenta ...

are set out in commentary form at the back of each tractate. The Vilna Gaon's emendations were often based on his quest for internal consistency in the text rather than on manuscript evidence; nevertheless many of the Gaon's emendations were later verified by textual critics, such as

Solomon Schechter Solomon Schechter ( he, שניאור זלמן הכהן שכטר‎; 7 December 1847 – 19 November 1915) was a Moldavian-born British-American rabbi, academic scholar and educator, most famous for his roles as founder and President of the ...

, who had

Cairo Genizah The Cairo Geniza, alternatively spelled Genizah, is a collection of some 400,000 Jewish manuscript fragments and Fatimid administrative documents that were kept in the '' genizah'' or storeroom of the Ben Ezra Synagogue in Fustat or Old Cairo, Eg ...

texts with which to compare our standard editions. In the 19th century, Raphael Nathan Nota Rabinovicz published a multi-volume work entitled ''

Dikdukei Soferim Dikdukei Soferim (Hebrew: דקדוקי סופרים) is the name of a series of books written by Rabbi Raphael Nathan Nata Rabbinovicz, which bring different textual variants of the Babylonian Talmud from the Munich 95 manuscript (written in 1342, ...

'', showing textual variants from the Munich and other early manuscripts of the Talmud, and further variants are recorded in the Complete Israeli Talmud and ''Gemara Shelemah'' editions (see

Critical editions Textual criticism is a branch of textual scholarship, philology, and of literary criticism that is concerned with the identification of textual variants, or different versions, of either manuscripts or of printed books. Such texts may range in da ...

, above). Today many more manuscripts have become available, in particular from the

Cairo Geniza The Cairo Geniza, alternatively spelled Genizah, is a collection of some 400,000 Jewish manuscript fragments and Fatimid administrative documents that were kept in the '' genizah'' or storeroom of the Ben Ezra Synagogue in Fustat or Old Cairo, Eg ...

. The

Academy of the Hebrew Language The Academy of the Hebrew Language ( he, הָאָקָדֶמְיָה לַלָּשׁוֹן הָעִבְרִית, ''ha-akademyah la-lashon ha-ivrit'') was established by the Israeli government in 1953 as the "supreme institution for scholarship on t ...

has prepared a text on CD-ROM for lexicographical purposes, containing the text of each tractate according to the manuscript it considers most reliable, and images of some of the older manuscripts may be found on the website of the

National Library of Israel The National Library of Israel (NLI; he, הספרייה הלאומית, translit=HaSifria HaLeumit; ar, المكتبة الوطنية في إسرائيل), formerly Jewish National and University Library (JNUL; he, בית הספרים הלא� ...

(formerly the Jewish National and University Library). The NLI, the Lieberman Institute (associated with the

Jewish Theological Seminary of America The Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS) is a Conservative Jewish education organization in New York City, New York. It is one of the academic and spiritual centers of Conservative Judaism and a major center for academic scholarship in Jewish studie ...

), the Institute for the Complete Israeli Talmud (part of Yad Harav Herzog) and the Friedberg Jewish Manuscript Society all maintain searchable websites on which the viewer can request variant manuscript readings of a given passage. Further variant readings can often be gleaned from citations in secondary literature such as commentaries, in particular, those of Alfasi, Rabbenu Ḥananel and Aghmati, and sometimes the later Spanish commentators such as

Nachmanides Moses ben Nachman ( he, מֹשֶׁה בֶּן־נָחְמָן ''Mōše ben-Nāḥmān'', "Moses son of Nachman"; 1194–1270), commonly known as Nachmanides (; el, Ναχμανίδης ''Nakhmanídēs''), and also referred to by the acronym Ra ...

and

Solomon ben Adret Shlomo ben Avraham ibn Aderet ( he, שלמה בן אברהם אבן אדרת or Solomon son of Abraham son of Aderet) (1235 – 1310) was a medieval rabbi, halakhist, and Talmudist. He is widely known as the Rashba (Hebrew: ), the Hebrew acronym ...

.

Historical analysis, and higher textual criticism

Historical study of the Talmud can be used to investigate a variety of concerns. One can ask questions such as: Do a given section's sources date from its editor's lifetime? To what extent does a section have earlier or later sources? Are Talmudic disputes distinguishable along theological or communal lines? In what ways do different sections derive from different schools of thought within early Judaism? Can these early sources be identified, and if so, how? Investigation of questions such as these are known as ''higher textual criticism''. (The term "criticism" is a technical term denoting academic study.) Religious scholars still debate the precise method by which the text of the Talmuds reached their final form. Many believe that the text was continuously smoothed over by the ''

savoraim A ''Savora'' (; Aramaic: סבורא, "a reasoner", plural ''Savora'im'', ''Sabora'im'' , סבוראים) is a term used in Jewish law and history to signify one among the leading rabbis living from the end of period of the ''Amoraim'' (around 500 ...

''. In the 1870s and 1880s, rabbi Raphael Natan Nata Rabbinovitz engaged in the historical study of Talmud Bavli in his ''Diqduqei Soferim''. Since then many Orthodox rabbis have approved of his work, including Rabbis

Shlomo Kluger Solomon ben Judah Aaron Kluger (1785–June 9, 1869) ( he, שלמה בן יהודה אהרן קלוגר), known as the Maggid of Brody, was chief dayyan and preacher of Brody, Galicia. He was successively Rabbi at Rava-Ruska (Galicia), Kulikow ...

,

Joseph Saul Nathansohn Joseph Saul Nathansohn (1808–1875) ( he, יוסף שאול בן אריה הלוי) was a Polish rabbi and posek, and a leading rabbinical authority of his day. Biography Rabbi Nathansohn was born at Berezhany (Berzan), Galicia (today's western Uk ...

,

Jacob Ettlinger Jacob Ettlinger (17 March 1798 – 7 December 1871) ( he, יעקב עטלינגר) was a German rabbi and author, and one of the leaders of Orthodox Judaism. He is sometimes referred to as the ''Aruch la-Ner'' (ערוך לנר), after his best- ...

,

Isaac Elhanan Spektor Yitzchak Elchanan Spektor or Isaac Elhanan Spector ( he, יצחק אלחנן ספקטור; 1817 - March 6, 1896) was a Jews of Russia, Russian rabbi, ''posek'' and Talmudist of the 19th century. Early life Spektor was born in Ros', Belarus, Ros ...

and

Shimon Sofer Shimon Sofer (1820–1883) (german: Simon Schreiber) was a prominent Austrian Orthodox Jewish rabbi in the 19th century. He was Chief Rabbi of Kraków, Poland after serving as Chief Rabbi of Mattersdorf. He was the second son of Rabbi Moshe Sofe ...

. During the early 19th century, leaders of the newly evolving

Reform movement A reform movement or reformism is a type of social movement that aims to bring a social or also a political system closer to the community's ideal. A reform movement is distinguished from more radical social movements such as revolutionary mo ...

, such as

Abraham Geiger Abraham Geiger (Hebrew: ''ʼAvrāhām Gayger''; 24 May 181023 October 1874) was a German rabbi and scholar, considered the founding father of Reform Judaism. Emphasizing Judaism's constant development along history and universalist traits, Geige ...

and

Samuel Holdheim Samuel Holdheim (1806 – 22 August 1860) was a German rabbi and author, and one of the more extreme leaders of the early Reform Movement in Judaism. A pioneer in modern Jewish homiletics, he was often at odds with the Orthodox community.(Histo ...

, subjected the Talmud to severe scrutiny as part of an effort to break with traditional rabbinic Judaism. They insisted that the Talmud was entirely a work of evolution and development. This view was rejected as both academically incorrect, and religiously incorrect, by those who would become known as the Orthodox movement. Some Orthodox leaders such as

Moses Sofer Moses Schreiber (1762–1839), known to his own community and Jewish posterity in the Hebrew translation as Moshe Sofer, also known by his main work ''Chatam Sofer'', ''Chasam Sofer'', or ''Hatam Sofer'' ( trans. ''Seal of the Scribe'', and acron ...

(the ''Chatam Sofer'') became exquisitely sensitive to any change and rejected modern critical methods of Talmud study. Some rabbis advocated a view of Talmudic study that they held to be in-between the Reformers and the Orthodox; these were the adherents of positive-historical Judaism, notably

Nachman Krochmal Nachman HaKohen Krochmal ( he, נחמן קְרוֹכְמַל; born in Brody, Galicia, on 17 February 1785; died at Ternopil on 31 July 1840) was a Jewish Galician philosopher, theologian, and historian. Biography He began the study of the Talmud ...

and

Zecharias Frankel Zecharias Frankel, also known as Zacharias Frankel (30 September 1801 – 13 February 1875) was a Bohemian-German rabbi and a historian who studied the historical development of Judaism. He was born in Prague and died in Breslau. He was the foun ...

. They described the

Oral Torah According to Rabbinic Judaism, the Oral Torah or Oral Law ( he, , Tōrā šebbəʿal-pe}) are those purported laws, statutes, and legal interpretations that were not recorded in the Five Books of Moses, the Written Torah ( he, , Tōrā šebbīḵ� ...

as the result of a historical and exegetical process, emerging over time, through the application of authorized exegetical techniques, and more importantly, the subjective dispositions and personalities and current historical conditions, by learned sages. This was later developed more fully in the five-volume work ''Dor Dor ve-Dorshav'' by

Isaac Hirsch Weiss Isaac (Isaak) Hirsch Weiss, also Eisik Hirsch Weiss () (9 February 1815 – 1 June 1905), was an Austrian Talmudist and historian of literature born at Groß Meseritsch, Habsburg Moravia. After having received elementary instruction in Hebrew ...

. (See Jay Harris ''Guiding the Perplexed in the Modern Age'' Ch. 5) Eventually, their work came to be one of the formative parts of

Conservative Judaism Conservative Judaism, known as Masorti Judaism outside North America, is a Jewish religious movement which regards the authority of ''halakha'' (Jewish law) and traditions as coming primarily from its people and community through the generatio ...

. Another aspect of this movement is reflected in Graetz's ''History of the Jews''. Graetz attempts to deduce the personality of the

Pharisees The Pharisees (; he, פְּרוּשִׁים, Pərūšīm) were a Jewish social movement and a school of thought in the Levant during the time of Second Temple Judaism. After the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE, Pharisaic beliefs bec ...

based on the laws or aggadot that they cite, and show that their personalities influenced the laws they expounded. The leader of Orthodox Jewry in Germany

Samson Raphael Hirsch Samson Raphael Hirsch (; June 20, 1808 – December 31, 1888) was a German Orthodox rabbi best known as the intellectual founder of the ''Torah im Derech Eretz'' school of contemporary Orthodox Judaism. Occasionally termed ''neo-Orthodoxy'', his ...

, while not rejecting the methods of scholarship in principle, hotly contested the findings of the Historical-Critical method. In a series of articles in his magazine ''Jeschurun'' (reprinted in Collected Writings Vol. 5) Hirsch reiterated the traditional view and pointed out what he saw as numerous errors in the works of Graetz, Frankel and Geiger. On the other hand, many of the 19th century's strongest critics of Reform, including strictly orthodox rabbis such as

Zvi Hirsch Chajes Zvi Hirsch Chajes ( he, צבי הירש חיות - November 20, 1805 - October 12, 1855; also Chayes or Hayot or Chiyos) was one of the foremost Galician talmudic scholars. He is best known for his work ''Mevo Hatalmud'' (Introduction to the Tal ...

, used this new scientific method. The Orthodox rabbinical seminary of

Azriel Hildesheimer Azriel Hildesheimer (also Esriel and Israel, yi, עזריאל הילדעסהיימער; 11 May 1820 – 12 July 1899) was a German rabbi and leader of Orthodox Judaism. He is regarded as a pioneering moderniser of Orthodox Judaism in Germany an ...

was founded on the idea of creating a "harmony between Judaism and science". Other Orthodox pioneers of scientific Talmud study were

David Zvi Hoffmann David Zvi Hoffmann (November 24, 1843, Verbó, Austrian Empire – November 20, 1921, Berlin) (Hebrew: דוד צבי הופמן), was an Orthodox Rabbi and Torah Scholar. He headed the Yeshiva in Berlin, and published research on the Pent ...

and

Joseph Hirsch Dünner Joseph Hirsch Dünner ( (also known as (הריצ״ד)); 11 January 1833 – 13 October 1911) was a Dutch Jewish leader and scholar, who served as Chief Rabbi of North Holland (including Amsterdam). Biography Dünner was born in Cracow, Poland, i ...

. The Iraqi rabbi

Yaakov Chaim Sofer Yaakov Chaim Sofer (1870–1939) (Hebrew: יעקב חיים סופר) was a Sephardi rabbi, Kabbalist, Talmudist and ''posek''. He is the author of ''Kaf Hachaim'', a work of halakha that he came to be known by. Biography Sofer was born in Bagh ...

notes that the text of the Gemara has had changes and additions, and contains statements not of the same origin as the original. See his ''Yehi Yosef'' (Jerusalem, 1991) p. 132 "This passage does not bear the signature of the editor of the Talmud!" Orthodox scholar

Daniel Sperber Daniel Sperber (Hebrew: דניאל שפרבר) is a British-born Israeli academic and centrist orthodox rabbi. He is a professor of Talmud at Bar-Ilan University in Israel, and an expert in classical philology, history of Jewish customs, Jewish ...

writes in "Legitimacy, of Necessity, of Scientific Disciplines" that many Orthodox sources have engaged in the historical (also called "scientific") study of the Talmud. As such, the divide today between Orthodoxy and Reform is not about whether the Talmud may be subjected to historical study, but rather about the theological and halakhic implications of such study.

Contemporary scholarship

Some trends within contemporary Talmud scholarship are listed below. * Orthodox Judaism maintains that the

oral Torah According to Rabbinic Judaism, the Oral Torah or Oral Law ( he, , Tōrā šebbəʿal-pe}) are those purported laws, statutes, and legal interpretations that were not recorded in the Five Books of Moses, the Written Torah ( he, , Tōrā šebbīḵ� ...

was revealed, in some form, together with the written Torah. As such, some adherents, most notably

Samson Raphael Hirsch Samson Raphael Hirsch (; June 20, 1808 – December 31, 1888) was a German Orthodox rabbi best known as the intellectual founder of the ''Torah im Derech Eretz'' school of contemporary Orthodox Judaism. Occasionally termed ''neo-Orthodoxy'', his ...

and his followers, resisted any effort to apply historical methods that imputed specific motives to the authors of the Talmud. Other major figures in Orthodoxy, however, took issue with Hirsch on this matter, most prominently

David Tzvi Hoffman David Zvi Hoffmann (November 24, 1843, Verbó, Austrian Empire – November 20, 1921, Berlin) (Hebrew: דוד צבי הופמן), was an Orthodox Rabbi and Torah Scholar. He headed the Yeshiva in Berlin, and published research on the Pentat ...

n. * Some scholars hold that there has been extensive editorial reshaping of the stories and statements within the Talmud. Lacking outside confirming texts, they hold that we cannot confirm the origin or date of most statements and laws, and that we can say little for certain about their authorship. In this view, the questions above are impossible to answer. See, for example, the works of

Louis Jacobs Louis Jacobs (17 July 1920 – 1 July 2006) was a leading writer and theologian. He was the rabbi of the New London Synagogue in the United Kingdom. He was also the focus in the early 1960s of what became known as "The Jacobs Affair" in the ...

and

Shaye J.D. Cohen Shaye J. D. Cohen (born October 21, 1948) is a modern scholar of Hebrew Bible. Currently he is the Littauer Professor of Hebrew Literature and Philosophy in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations of Harvard University. Backgro ...

. * Some scholars hold that the Talmud has been extensively shaped by later editorial redaction, but that it contains sources we can identify and describe with some level of reliability. In this view, sources can be identified by tracing the history and analyzing the geographical regions of origin. See, for example, the works of Lee I. Levine and David Kraemer. * Some scholars hold that many or most of the statements and events described in the Talmud usually occurred more or less as described, and that they can be used as serious sources of historical study. In this view, historians do their best to tease out later editorial additions (itself a very difficult task) and skeptically view accounts of miracles, leaving behind a reliable historical text. See, for example, the works of

Saul Lieberman Saul Lieberman (Hebrew: שאול ליברמן, May 28, 1898 – March 23, 1983), also known as Rabbi Shaul Lieberman or, among some of his students, The ''Gra"sh'' (''Gaon Rabbeinu Shaul''), was a rabbi and a Talmudic scholar. He served as Professo ...

,

David Weiss Halivni David Weiss Halivni ( he, דוד וייס הלבני; September 27, 1927 – June 28, 2022) was a European-born American-Israeli rabbi, scholar in the domain of Jewish sciences, and Professor of Talmud. He served as '' Reish Metivta'' of the U ...

, and Avraham Goldberg. * Modern academic study attempts to separate the different "strata" within the text, to try to interpret each level on its own, and to identify the correlations between parallel versions of the same tradition. In recent years, the works of R.

David Weiss Halivni David Weiss Halivni ( he, דוד וייס הלבני; September 27, 1927 – June 28, 2022) was a European-born American-Israeli rabbi, scholar in the domain of Jewish sciences, and Professor of Talmud. He served as '' Reish Metivta'' of the U ...

and Dr. Shamma Friedman have suggested a paradigm shift in the understanding of the Talmud (Encyclopaedia Judaica 2nd ed. entry "Talmud, Babylonian"). The traditional understanding was to view the Talmud as a unified homogeneous work. While other scholars had also treated the Talmud as a multi-layered work, Dr. Halivni's innovation (primarily in the second volume of his ''Mekorot u-Mesorot'') was to differentiate between the Amoraic statements, which are generally brief Halachic decisions or inquiries, and the writings of the later "Stammaitic" (or Saboraic) authors, which are characterised by a much longer analysis that often consists of lengthy dialectic discussion. The Jerusalem Talmud is very similar to the Babylonian Talmud minus Stammaitic activity (Encyclopaedia Judaica (2nd ed.), entry "Jerusalem Talmud"). Shamma Y. Friedman's ''Talmud Aruch'' on the sixth chapter of Bava Metzia (1996) is the first example of a complete analysis of a Talmudic text using this method. S. Wald has followed with works on Pesachim ch. 3 (2000) and Shabbat ch. 7 (2006). Further commentaries in this sense are being published by Dr Friedman's "Society for the Interpretation of the Talmud". * Some scholars are indeed using outside sources to help give historical and contextual understanding of certain areas of the Babylonian Talmud. See for example the works of the Prof Yaakov Elman and of his student Dr. Shai Secunda, which seek to place the Talmud in its Iranian context, for example by comparing it with contemporary

Zoroastrian Zoroastrianism is an Iranian religion and one of the world's oldest organized faiths, based on the teachings of the Iranian-speaking prophet Zoroaster. It has a dualistic cosmology of good and evil within the framework of a monotheistic on ...

texts.

Translations

Talmud Bavli

There are six contemporary translations of the Talmud into English:

Steinsaltz

* The Noé Edition of the ''Koren Talmud Bavli'',

Adin Steinsaltz Rabbi Adin Even-Israel Steinsaltz (11 July 19377 August 2020) ( he, עדין אבן-ישראל שטיינזלץ) was an Israeli Chabad Chasidic rabbi, teacher, philosopher, social critic, author, translator and publisher. His '' Steinsaltz edi ...

,

Koren Publishers Jerusalem Koren Publishers Jerusalem is an Israeli publisher of Jewish religious texts. It was established in 1961 by Eliyahu Koren, with the aim of publishing the first Hebrew Bible designed, edited, printed, and bound by Jews in nearly 500 years. It produ ...

was launched in 2012. It has a new, modern English translation and the commentary of rabbi

Adin Steinsaltz Rabbi Adin Even-Israel Steinsaltz (11 July 19377 August 2020) ( he, עדין אבן-ישראל שטיינזלץ) was an Israeli Chabad Chasidic rabbi, teacher, philosopher, social critic, author, translator and publisher. His '' Steinsaltz edi ...

, and was praised for its "beautiful page" with "clean type". Opened from the right cover (front for Hebrew and Aramaic books), the Steinsaltz Talmud edition has the traditional Vilna page with vowels and punctuation in the original Aramaic text. The

Rashi Shlomo Yitzchaki ( he, רבי שלמה יצחקי; la, Salomon Isaacides; french: Salomon de Troyes, 22 February 1040 – 13 July 1105), today generally known by the acronym Rashi (see below), was a medieval French rabbi and author of a compre ...

commentary appears in

Rashi script Rashi script or Sephardic script (), is a typeface for the Hebrew alphabet based on 15th-century Sephardic semi-cursive handwriting. It is named for the rabbinic commentator Rashi, whose works are customarily printed in the typeface (though Ras ...

with vowels and punctuation. When opened from the left cover the edition features bilingual text with side-by-side English/Aramaic translation. The margins include color maps, illustrations and notes based on rabbi

Adin Steinsaltz Rabbi Adin Even-Israel Steinsaltz (11 July 19377 August 2020) ( he, עדין אבן-ישראל שטיינזלץ) was an Israeli Chabad Chasidic rabbi, teacher, philosopher, social critic, author, translator and publisher. His '' Steinsaltz edi ...

’s

Hebrew language Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

translation and commentary of the Talmud. Rabbi

Tzvi Hersh Weinreb Rabbi Dr. Tzvi Hersh Weinreb (born 1940) is an ordained rabbi, a qualified psychotherapist and the Executive Vice President Emeritus of the Orthodox Union, the largest Orthodox Jewish organisation in North America; a position he has held since 20 ...

serves as the Editor-in-Chief. The entire set, which has vowels and punctuation (including for Rashi) is 42 volumes. * '' The Talmud: The Steinsaltz Edition'' (Random House) contains the text with punctuation and an English translation based on Rabbi Steinsaltz' complete

Hebrew language Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

translation of and commentary on the entire Talmud. Incomplete—22 volumes and a reference guide. There are two formats: one with the traditional Vilna page and one without. It is available in modern Hebrew (first volume published 1969), English (first volume published 1989), French, Russian and other languages. *In February 2017, the ''William Davidson Talmud'' was released to

Sefaria Sefaria is an online open source, free content, digital library of Jewish texts. It was founded in 2011 by former Google project manager Brett Lockspeiser and journalist-author Joshua Foer. Calling itself "a living library of Jewish texts", Sefar ...

. This translation is a version of the Steinsaltz edition which was released under

creative commons Creative Commons (CC) is an American non-profit organization and international network devoted to educational access and expanding the range of creative works available for others to build upon legally and to share. The organization has release ...

license.

Artscroll

* The '' Schottenstein Edition of the Talmud'' (

Artscroll ArtScroll is an imprint of translations, books and commentaries from an Orthodox Jewish perspective published by Mesorah Publications, Ltd., a publishing company based in Rahway, New Jersey. Rabbi Nosson Scherman is the general editor. ArtScroll' ...

/Mesorah Publications), is 73 volumes, both with English translation and the Aramaic/Hebrew only. In the translated editions, each English page faces the Aramaic/Hebrew page it translates. Each Aramaic/Hebrew page of Talmud typically requires three to six English pages of translation and notes. The Aramaic/Hebrew pages are printed in the traditional Vilna format, with a gray bar added that shows the section translated on the facing page. The facing pages provide an expanded paraphrase in English, with translation of the text shown in bold and explanations interspersed in normal type, along with extensive footnotes. Pages are numbered in the traditional way but with a superscript added, e.g. 12b⁴ is the fourth page translating the Vilna page 12b. Larger tractates require multiple volumes. The first volume was published in 1990, and the series was completed in 2004.

Soncino

* ''The Soncino Talmud'' (1935-1948),

Isidore Epstein Rabbi Ezekiel Isidore Epstein (יחזקא-ל יצחק אפשטיין ;1894-1962) was an Orthodox rabbi and rabbinical scholar in England. He is best known as Editor of the first complete English translation of the Babylonian Talmud, and for hi ...

, Soncino Press (26 volumes; also formerly an 18 volume edition was published). Notes on each page provide additional background material. This translation: is published both on its own and in a parallel text edition, in which each English page faces the Aramaic/Hebrew page. It is available also on CD-ROM. Complete. ** The travel edition opens from left for English, from right for the Gemara, which, unlike the other editions, does not use "Tzurat HaDaf;" instead, each normal page of Gemara text is two pages, the top and the bottom of the standard ''Daf'' (albeit reformatted somewhat).

Other English translations

* ''The Talmud of Babylonia. An American Translation'',

Jacob Neusner Jacob Neusner (July 28, 1932 – October 8, 2016) was an American academic scholar of Judaism. He was named as one of the most published authors in history, having written or edited more than 900 books. Life and career Neusner was born in Hartfor ...

, Tzvee Zahavy, others. Atlanta: 1984–1995: Scholars Press for Brown Judaic Studies. Complete. * ''Rodkinson'': Portions of the Babylonian Talmu
were translated
by

Michael L. Rodkinson Michael Levi Rodkinson (1845 – January 4, 1904) was a Jewish scholar, an early Hasidic historiographer and an American publisher. Rodkinson is known for being the first to translate the Babylonian Talmud to English. Rodkinson’s literary works ...

(1903). It has been linked to online, for copyright reasons (initially it was the only freely available translation on the web), bu
this
has been wholly superseded by the Soncino translation. (see below, under Full text resources). * The Babylonian Talmud: A Translation and Commentary, edited by Jacob Neusner and translated by Jacob Neusner, Tzvee Zahavy, Alan Avery-Peck, B. Barry Levy, Martin S. Jaffe, and Peter Haas, Hendrickson Pub; 22-Volume Set Ed., 2011. It is a revision of "The Talmud of Babylonia: An Academic Commentary," published by the University of South Florida Academic Commentary Series (1994–1999). Neusner gives commentary on transition in use langes from Biblical Aramaic to Biblical Hebrew. Neusner also gives references to Mishnah, Torah, and other classical works in Orthodox Judaism.

Translations into other languages

*The ''

Extractiones de Talmud The ''Extractiones de Talmud'' is a collection of passages from the Babylonian Talmud translated from Hebrew and Aramaic into Latin in 1244–1245. It is the earliest substantial translation of any part of the Talmud into Latin and the larg ...

'', a

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

translation of some 1,922 passages from the Talmud, was made in Paris in 1244–1245. It survives in two recensions. There is a

critical edition Textual criticism is a branch of textual scholarship, philology, and of literary criticism that is concerned with the identification of textual variants, or different versions, of either manuscripts or of printed books. Such texts may range in da ...

of the sequential recension: * *A circa 1000 CE translation of (some parts of) the Talmud to Arabic is mentioned in

Sefer ha-Qabbalah ''Sefer ha-Qabbalah'' (Hebrew: ספר הקבלה, "Book of Tradition") was a book written by Abraham ibn Daud around 1160–1161. The book is a response to Karaitic attacks against the historical legitimacy of Rabbinic Judaism, and contains, amon ...

. This version was commissioned by the

Fatimid The Fatimid Caliphate was an Ismaili Shi'a caliphate extant from the tenth to the twelfth centuries AD. Spanning a large area of North Africa, it ranged from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Red Sea in the east. The Fatimids, a dy ...

Caliph

Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah Abū ʿAlī Manṣūr (13 August 985 – 13 February 1021), better known by his regnal name al-Ḥākim bi-Amr Allāh ( ar, الحاكم بأمر الله, lit=The Ruler by the Order of God), was the sixth Fatimid caliph and 16th Ismaili ima ...

and was carried out by Joseph ibn Abitur. *The Talmud was translated by

Shimon Moyal Shimon Moyal (1866–1915) was a Zionist activist and physician. He worked for several newspapers and started a short-lived newspaper with his wife, Esther Moyal. He was the translator of the Talmud into Arabic language. Early life and education ...

into Arabic in 1909. There is one translation of the Talmud into Arabic, published in 2012 in Jordan by the Center for Middle Eastern Studies. The translation was carried out by a group of 90 Muslim and Christian scholars. The introduction was characterized by Raquel Ukeles, Curator of the Israel National Library's Arabic collection, as "racist", but she considers the translation itself as "not bad". *In 2018 Muslim-majority

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...

co-hosted an event at the United Nations with Catholic-majority Italy and Jewish-majority Israel celebrating the translation of the Talmud into Italian for the first time. Albanian UN Ambassador

Besiana Kadare Besiana Kadare is an Albanian diplomat. She served as the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Permanent Representative of Albania to the United Nations, a Vice President of the United Nations General Assembly for its 75th session, and ...

opined: “Projects like the Babylonian Talmud Translation open a new lane in intercultural and interfaith dialogue, bringing hope and understanding among people, the right tools to counter prejudice, stereotypical thinking and discrimination. By doing so, we think that we strengthen our social traditions, peace, stability — and we also counter violent extremist tendencies.”

Talmud Yerushalmi

* ''Talmud of the Land of Israel: A Preliminary Translation and Explanation''

Jacob Neusner Jacob Neusner (July 28, 1932 – October 8, 2016) was an American academic scholar of Judaism. He was named as one of the most published authors in history, having written or edited more than 900 books. Life and career Neusner was born in Hartfor ...

, Tzvee Zahavy, others. University of Chicago Press. This translation uses a form-analytical presentation that makes the logical units of discourse easier to identify and follow. Neusner's mentor

Saul Lieberman Saul Lieberman (Hebrew: שאול ליברמן, May 28, 1898 – March 23, 1983), also known as Rabbi Shaul Lieberman or, among some of his students, The ''Gra"sh'' (''Gaon Rabbeinu Shaul''), was a rabbi and a Talmudic scholar. He served as Professo ...

, then the most prominent Talmudic scholar alive, read one volume shortly before his death and wrote a review, published posthumously, in which he describes dozens of major translation errors in the first chapter of that volume alone, also demonstrating that Neusner had not, as claimed, made use of manuscript evidence; he was "stunned by Neusner's ignorance of rabbinic Hebrew, of Aramaic grammar, and above all the subject matter with which he deals" and concluded that "the right place for eusner's translationis the wastebasket". This review was devastating for Neusner's career. At a meeting of the

Society of Biblical Literature The Society of Biblical Literature (SBL), founded in 1880 as the Society of Biblical Literature and Exegesis, is an American-based learned society dedicated to the academic study of the Bible and related ancient literature. Its current stated mis ...

a few months later, during a plenary session designed to honor Neusner for his achievements,

Morton Smith Morton Smith (May 28, 1915 – July 11, 1991)Neusner, Jacob, ''Christianity, Judaism, and other Greco-Roman Cults. Part 1: New Testament'', ed. J. Neusner, ''Studies for Morton Smith at Sixty, vol 1, New Testament'' (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1975), p. ...

(also Neusner's mentor) took to the lectern and announced that "I now find it my duty to warn" that the translation "cannot be safely used, and had better not be used at all". He also called Neusner's translation "a serious misfortune for Jewish studies". After delivering this speech, Smith marched up and down the aisles of the ballroom with printouts of Lieberman's review, handing one to every attendee. * ''Schottenstein Edition of the Yerushalmi Talmud'' Mesorah/Artscroll. This translation is the counterpart to Mesorah/Artscroll's Schottenstein Edition of the Talmud (i.e. Babylonian Talmud). * ''The Jerusalem Talmud, Edition, Translation and Commentary'', ed. Guggenheimer, Heinrich W., Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co. KG, Berlin, Germany * German Edition, ''Übersetzung des Talmud Yerushalmi'', published by Martin Hengel, Peter Schäfer, Hans-Jürgen Becker, Frowald Gil Hüttenmeister, Mohr&Siebeck, Tübingen, Germany * Modern Elucidated Talmud Yerushalmi, ed. Joshua Buch. Uses the Leiden manuscript as its based text corrected according to manuscripts and Geniza Fragments. Draws upon Traditional and Modern Scholarship

Index

"A widely accepted and accessible index" was the goal driving several such projects.: * Michlul haMa'amarim, a three-volume index of the Bavli and Yerushalmi, containing more than 100,000 entries. Published by

Mossad Harav Kook Mossad HaRav Kook ( he, מוסד הרב קוק, "Rabbi Kook Institute") is a religious research foundation and publishing house based in Jerusalem. Mossad Harav Kook is named after Abraham Isaac Kook, the first Ashkenazi chief rabbi of the British ...

in 1960. * Soncino: covers the entire Talmud Bavli; released 1952; 749 pages * HaMafteach ("the key"): released by

Feldheim Publishers Feldheim Publishers (or Feldheim) is an American Orthodox Jewish publisher of Torah books and literature. Its extensive catalog of titles includes books on Jewish law, Torah, Talmud, Jewish lifestyle, Shabbat and Jewish holidays, Jewish history, b ...

2011, has over 30,000 entries. * Search-engines:

Bar Ilan University Bar-Ilan University (BIU, he, אוניברסיטת בר-אילן, ''Universitat Bar-Ilan'') is a public research university in the Tel Aviv District city of Ramat Gan, Israel. Established in 1955, Bar Ilan is Israel's second-largest academic i ...

's ''Responsa Project'' CD/search-engine.

Printing

Bomberg Talmud 1523

Talmud-Druck von Daniel Bomberg und Ambrosius Froben

The first complete edition of the Babylonian Talmud was printed in Venice by

Daniel Bomberg Daniel is a masculine given name and a surname of Hebrew origin. It means "God is my judge"Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 68. (cf. Gabriel—"God is my strength" ...

1520–23 with the support of

Pope Leo X Pope Leo X ( it, Leone X; born Giovanni di Lorenzo de' Medici, 11 December 14751 December 1521) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 9 March 1513 to his death in December 1521. Born into the prominent political an ...

. In addition to the ''Mishnah'' and ''Gemara'', Bomberg's edition contained the commentaries of

Rashi Shlomo Yitzchaki ( he, רבי שלמה יצחקי; la, Salomon Isaacides; french: Salomon de Troyes, 22 February 1040 – 13 July 1105), today generally known by the acronym Rashi (see below), was a medieval French rabbi and author of a compre ...

and

Tosafot The Tosafot, Tosafos or Tosfot ( he, תוספות) are medieval commentaries on the Talmud. They take the form of critical and explanatory glosses, printed, in almost all Talmud editions, on the outer margin and opposite Rashi's notes. The auth ...

. Almost all printings since Bomberg have followed the same pagination. Bomberg's edition was considered relatively free of censorship.

Froben Talmud 1578

Ambrosius Frobenius collaborated with the scholar Israel Ben Daniel Sifroni from Italy. His most extensive work was a Talmud edition published, with great difficulty, in 1578–81.

Benveniste Talmud 1645

Following

Ambrosius Frobenius Ambrosius Froben, or in Latin Frobenius (1537–1602), was a Basel printer, and publisher of an almost complete Hebrew Talmud, 1578–1580.The way Jews lived: five hundred years of printed words and images p51 Constance Harris - 2009 "Froben's gran ...

's publication of most of the Talmud in installments in Basel,

Immanuel Benveniste Immanuel Benveniste (also Manuel Benveniste) (1608 in Venice – c. 1660 in Amsterdam) was an Italian Jewish printer in Amsterdam who printed many Hebrew works including an edition of the Talmud from 1644-48. He was one of a number of notable Portu ...

published the whole Talmud in installments in Amsterdam 1644–1648, Although according to Raphael Rabbinovicz the Benveniste Talmud may have been based on the

Lublin Talmud Lublin is the ninth-largest city in Poland and the second-largest city of historical Lesser Poland. It is the capital and the center of Lublin Voivodeship with a population of 336,339 (December 2021). Lublin is the largest Polish city east of t ...

and included many of the censors' errors. "It is noteworthy due to the inclusion of ''Avodah Zarah'', omitted due to Church censorship from several previous editions, and when printed, often lacking a title page.

Slavita Talmud 1795 and Vilna Talmud 1835

The edition of the Talmud published by the Szapira brothers in Slavita was published in 1817, and it is particularly prized by many

rebbe A Rebbe ( yi, רבי, translit=rebe) or Admor ( he, אדמו״ר) is the spiritual leader in the Hasidic movement, and the personalities of its dynasties.Heilman, Samuel"The Rebbe and the Resurgence of Orthodox Judaism."''Religion and Spiritua ...

s of

Hasidic Judaism Hasidism, sometimes spelled Chassidism, and also known as Hasidic Judaism (Ashkenazi Hebrew: חסידות ''Ḥăsīdus'', ; originally, "piety"), is a Judaism, Jewish religious group that arose as a spiritual revival movement in the territory ...

. In 1835, after a religious community copyright was nearly over, and following an acrimonious dispute with the Szapira family, a new edition of the Talmud was printed by Menachem Romm of

Vilna Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional u ...

. Known as the ''

Vilna Edition Shas The Vilna Edition of the Talmud, printed in Vilna (now Vilnius), Lithuania, is by far the most common printed edition of the Talmud still in use today as the basic text for Torah study in yeshivas and by all scholars of Judaism. It was typeset by ...

'', this edition (and later ones printed by his widow and sons, the Romm publishing house) has been used in the production of more recent editions of Talmud Bavli. A page number in the Vilna Talmud refers to a double-sided page, known as a ''daf'', or folio in English; each daf has two ''amudim'' labeled and , sides A and B (

recto and verso ' is the "right" or "front" side and ''verso'' is the "left" or "back" side when text is written or printed on a leaf of paper () in a bound item such as a codex, book, broadsheet, or pamphlet. Etymology The terms are shortened from Latin ...

). The convention of referencing by ''daf'' is relatively recent and dates from the early Talmud printings of the 17th century, though the actual pagination goes back to the Bomberg edition. Earlier

rabbinic literature Rabbinic literature, in its broadest sense, is the entire spectrum of rabbinic writings throughout Jewish history. However, the term often refers specifically to literature from the Talmudic era, as opposed to medieval and modern rabbinic writ ...

generally refers to the tractate or chapters within a tractate (e.g. Berachot Chapter 1, ). It sometimes also refers to the specific Mishnah in that chapter, where "Mishnah" is replaced with "Halakha", here meaning route, to "direct" the reader to the entry in the Gemara corresponding to that Mishna (e.g. Berachot Chapter 1 Halakha 1, , would refer to the first Mishnah of the first chapter in Tractate Berachot, and its corresponding entry in the Gemara). However, this form is nowadays more commonly (though not exclusively) used when referring to the Jerusalem Talmud. Nowadays, reference is usually made in format 'Tractate daf a/b''(e.g. Berachot 23b, ). Increasingly, the symbols "." and ":" are used to indicate Recto and Verso, respectively (thus, e.g. Berachot 23:, ). These references always refer to the pagination of the Vilna Talmud.

Critical editions

The text of the Vilna editions is considered by scholars not to be uniformly reliable, and there have been a number of attempts to collate textual variants. # In the late 19th century, Nathan Rabinowitz published a series of volumes called ''Dikduke Soferim'' showing textual variants from early manuscripts and printings. # In 1960, work started on a new edition under the name of ''Gemara Shelemah'' (complete Gemara) under the editorship of

Menachem Mendel Kasher Menachem Mendel Kasher ( he, מנחם מנדל כשר; March 7, 1895 – November 3, 1983) was a Polish-born Israeli rabbi and prolific author who authored an encyclopedic work on the Torah entitled ''Torah Sheleimah''. Early life Kasher was bor ...

: only the volume on the first part of tractate Pesachim appeared before the project was interrupted by his death. This edition contained a comprehensive set of textual variants and a few selected commentaries. # Some thirteen volumes have been published by the Institute for the Complete Israeli Talmud (a division of Yad Harav Herzog), on lines similar to Rabinowitz, containing the text and a comprehensive set of textual variants (from manuscripts, early prints and citations in secondary literature) but no commentaries. There have been critical editions of particular tractates (e.g.

Henry Malter Henry Malter (March 23, 1867 at Zabno, Galicia – 1925) was an American rabbi and scholar. Life He was educated at the Zabno elementary school, and at the universities of Berlin (1889–93) and Heidelberg (Ph.D. 1894). He pursued his Jewi ...

's edition of ''

Ta'anit A ta'anit or ta'anis (Mishnaic Hebrew: תענית) is a Fasting, fast in Judaism in which one abstains from all food and drink, including water. Purposes A Jewish fast may have one or more purposes, including: * Atonement for sins: Fasting is n ...

''), but there is no modern critical edition of the whole Talmud. Modern editions such as those of the Oz ve-Hadar Institute correct misprints and restore passages that in earlier editions were modified or excised by censorship but do not attempt a comprehensive account of textual variants. One edition, by rabbi Yosef Amar, represents the Yemenite tradition, and takes the form of a photostatic reproduction of a Vilna-based print to which Yemenite vocalization and textual variants have been added by hand, together with printed introductory material. Collations of the Yemenite manuscripts of some tractates have been published by Columbia University.

Editions for a wider audience

A number of editions have been aimed at bringing the Talmud to a wider audience. Aside from the Steinsaltz and Artscroll/Schottenstein sets there are: * The Metivta edition, published by the Oz ve-Hadar Institute. This contains the full text in the same format as the Vilna-based editions, with a full explanation in modern Hebrew on facing pages as well as an improved version of the traditional commentaries. * A previous project of the same kind, called Talmud El Am, "Talmud to the people", was published in Israel in the 1960s–80s. It contains Hebrew text, English translation and commentary by

Arnost Zvi Ehrman Rabbi Dr Arnost Zvi Ehrman (1914–1976) is best known for his work as editor of the ''Talmud El Am'' (cf below). In addition, his contribution on Jewish law is evident in a number of learned articles and conference papers on the subject. Professor ...

, with short 'realia', marginal notes, often illustrated, written by experts in the field for the whole of Tractate Berakhot, 2 chapters of Bava Mezia and the halachic section of Qiddushin, chapter 1. * Tuvia's ''Gemara Menukad'': includes vowels and punctuation (''Nekudot''), including for Rashi and Tosafot. It also includes "all the abbreviations of that ''amud'' on the side of each page."

Incomplete sets from prior centuries

* Amsterdam (1714, ''Proops'' Talmud and ''Marches/de Palasios'' Talmud): Two sets were begun in Amsterdam in 1714, a year in which "acrimonious disputes between publishers within and between cities" regarding reprint rights also began. The latter ran 1714–1717. Neither set was completed, although a third set was printed 1752–1765.

Other notable editions

Lazarus Goldschmidt Lazarus Goldschmidt (born at Plungė, December 17, 1871; died in England, April 18, 1950) was a German Jewish writer and translator. He translated the Babylonian Talmud into German, and was the first to translate the entire Babylonian Talmud. He r ...

published an edition from the "uncensored text" of the Babylonian Talmud with a German translation in 9 volumes (commenced Leipzig, 1897–1909, edition completed, following emigration to England in 1933, by 1936). Twelve volumes of the Babylonian Talmud were published by Mir Yeshiva refugees during the years 1942 thru 1946 while they were in

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...

. The major tractates, one per volume, were: "Shabbat, Eruvin, Pesachim, Gittin, Kiddushin, Nazir, Sotah, Bava Kama, Sanhedrin, Makot, Shevuot, Avodah Zara" (with some volumes having, in addition, "Minor Tractates"). A Survivors' Talmud was published, encouraged by President Truman's "responsibility toward these victims of persecution" statement. The U.S. Army (despite "the acute shortage of paper in Germany") agreed to print "fifty copies of the Talmud, packaged into 16-volume sets" during 1947–1950. The plan was extended: 3,000 copies, in 19-volume sets.

Role in Judaism

The Talmud represents the written record of an

oral tradition Oral tradition, or oral lore, is a form of human communication wherein knowledge, art, ideas and cultural material is received, preserved, and transmitted orally from one generation to another. Vansina, Jan: ''Oral Tradition as History'' (1985 ...

. It provides an understanding of how laws are derived, and it became the basis for many rabbinic legal codes and customs, most importantly for the

Mishneh Torah The ''Mishneh Torah'' ( he, מִשְׁנֵה תּוֹרָה, , repetition of the Torah), also known as ''Sefer Yad ha-Hazaka'' ( he, ספר יד החזקה, , book of the strong hand, label=none), is a code of Rabbinic Jewish religious law (''h ...

and for the

Shulchan Aruch The ''Shulchan Aruch'' ( he, שֻׁלְחָן עָרוּך , literally: "Set Table"), sometimes dubbed in English as the Code of Jewish Law, is the most widely consulted of the various legal codes in Judaism. It was authored in Safed (today in Is ...

. Orthodox and, to a lesser extent, Conservative Judaism accept the Talmud as authoritative, while Samaritan, Karaite, Reconstructionist, and Reform Judaism do not.

Sadducees

The Jewish sect of the

Sadducees The Sadducees (; he, צְדוּקִים, Ṣədūqīm) were a socio-religious sect of Jewish people who were active in Judea during the Second Temple period, from the second century BCE through the destruction of the Temple in 70 CE. Th ...

(

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

: צְדוּקִים) flourished during the Second Temple period. Principal distinctions between them and the

Pharisees The Pharisees (; he, פְּרוּשִׁים, Pərūšīm) were a Jewish social movement and a school of thought in the Levant during the time of Second Temple Judaism. After the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE, Pharisaic beliefs bec ...

(later known as Rabbinic Judaism) involved their rejection of an ''Oral Torah'' and their denying a resurrection after death.

Karaism

Another movement that rejected the Oral Torah as authoritative was

Karaism Karaite Judaism () or Karaism (, sometimes spelt Karaitism (; ''Yahadut Qara'it''); also spelt Qaraite Judaism, Qaraism or Qaraitism) is a Jewish religious movement characterized by the recognition of the written Torah alone as its supreme au ...

, which arose within two centuries after the completion of the Talmud. Karaism developed as a reaction against the Talmudic Judaism of Babylonia. The central concept of Karaism is the rejection of the

Oral Torah According to Rabbinic Judaism, the Oral Torah or Oral Law ( he, , Tōrā šebbəʿal-pe}) are those purported laws, statutes, and legal interpretations that were not recorded in the Five Books of Moses, the Written Torah ( he, , Tōrā šebbīḵ� ...

, as embodied in the Talmud, in favor of a strict adherence only to the Written Torah. This opposes the fundamental Rabbinic concept that the Oral Torah was given to

Moses Moses hbo, מֹשֶׁה, Mōše; also known as Moshe or Moshe Rabbeinu (Mishnaic Hebrew: מֹשֶׁה רַבֵּינוּ, ); syr, ܡܘܫܐ, Mūše; ar, موسى, Mūsā; grc, Mωϋσῆς, Mōÿsēs () is considered the most important pro ...

on

Mount Sinai Mount Sinai ( he , הר סיני ''Har Sinai''; Aramaic: ܛܘܪܐ ܕܣܝܢܝ ''Ṭūrāʾ Dsyny''), traditionally known as Jabal Musa ( ar, جَبَل مُوسَىٰ, translation: Mount Moses), is a mountain on the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt. It is ...

together with the Written Torah. Some later Karaites took a more moderate stance, allowing that some element of tradition (called ''sevel ha-yerushah'', the burden of inheritance) is admissible in interpreting the Torah and that some authentic traditions are contained in the Mishnah and the Talmud, though these can never supersede the plain meaning of the Written Torah.

Reform Judaism

The rise of

Reform Judaism Reform Judaism, also known as Liberal Judaism or Progressive Judaism, is a major Jewish denomination that emphasizes the evolving nature of Judaism, the superiority of its ethical aspects to its ceremonial ones, and belief in a continuous searc ...

during the 19th century saw more questioning of the authority of the Talmud. Reform Jews saw the Talmud as a product of late antiquity, having relevance merely as a historical document. For example, the "Declaration of Principles" issued by the Association of Friends of Reform Frankfurt in August 1843 states among other things that: Some took a critical-historical view of the written Torah as well, while others appeared to adopt a neo- Karaite "back to the Bible" approach, though often with greater emphasis on the prophetic than on the legal books.

Humanistic Judaism

Within

Humanistic Judaism Humanistic Judaism ( ''Yahadut Humanistit'') is a Jewish movement that offers a nontheistic alternative to contemporary branches of Judaism. It defines Judaism as the cultural and historical experience of the Jewish people rather than a religio ...

, Talmud is studied as a historical text, in order to discover how it can demonstrate practical relevance to living today.

Present day

Orthodox Judaism Orthodox Judaism is the collective term for the traditionalist and theologically conservative branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Written and Oral, as revealed by God to Moses on M ...

continues to stress the importance of Talmud study as a central component of

Yeshiva A yeshiva (; he, ישיבה, , sitting; pl. , or ) is a traditional Jewish educational institution focused on the study of Rabbinic literature, primarily the Talmud and halacha (Jewish law), while Torah and Jewish philosophy are s ...

curriculum, in particular for those training to become rabbis. This is so even though ''Halakha'' is generally studied from the medieval and early modern codes and not directly from the Talmud. Talmudic study amongst the laity is widespread in Orthodox Judaism, with daily or weekly Talmud study particularly common in

Haredi Judaism Haredi Judaism ( he, ', ; also spelled ''Charedi'' in English; plural ''Haredim'' or ''Charedim'') consists of groups within Orthodox Judaism that are characterized by their strict adherence to ''halakha'' (Jewish law) and traditions, in oppos ...

and with Talmud study a central part of the curriculum in Orthodox Yeshivas and day schools. The regular study of Talmud among laymen has been popularized by the ''

Daf Yomi ''Daf Yomi'' ( he, דף יומי, ''Daf Yomi'', "page of the day" or "daily folio") is a daily regimen of learning the Oral Torah and its commentaries (also known as the Gemara), in which each of the 2,711 pages of the Babylonian Talmud is covere ...

'', a daily course of Talmud study initiated by rabbi

Meir Shapiro Yehuda Meir Shapiro ( pl, Majer Jehuda Szapira; March 3, 1887 – October 27, 1933), was a prominent Polish Hasidic rabbi and rosh yeshiva, also known as the Lubliner Rav. He is noted for his promotion of the Daf Yomi study program in 1923, a ...

in 1923; its 13th cycle of study began in August 2012 and ended with the 13th

Siyum HaShas Siyum HaShas ( he, סיום הש"ס, lit. "completion of the Six Orders f the Talmud) is a celebration of the completion of the Daf Yomi (daily Talmud folio) program, a roughly seven-and-a-half-year cycle of learning the Oral Torah and its comme ...

on January 1, 2020. The

Rohr Jewish Learning Institute The Rohr Jewish Learning Institute (JLI) is a division of Merkos L'Inyonei Chinuch, the educational arm of the Chabad-Lubavitch Orthodox Jewish Hasidic dynasty. It offers adult Jewish courses on Jewish history, law, ethics, philosophy and rabb ...

has popularized the "MyShiur – Explorations in Talmud" to show how the Talmud is relevant to a wide range of people.

Conservative Judaism Conservative Judaism, known as Masorti Judaism outside North America, is a Jewish religious movement which regards the authority of ''halakha'' (Jewish law) and traditions as coming primarily from its people and community through the generatio ...

similarly emphasizes the study of Talmud within its religious and rabbinic education. Generally, however, Conservative Jews study the Talmud as a historical source-text for

Halakha ''Halakha'' (; he, הֲלָכָה, ), also transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Jewish religious laws which is derived from the written and Oral Torah. Halakha is based on biblical commandm ...

. The Conservative approach to legal decision-making emphasizes placing classic texts and prior decisions in a historical and cultural context and examining the historical development of

Halakha ''Halakha'' (; he, הֲלָכָה, ), also transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Jewish religious laws which is derived from the written and Oral Torah. Halakha is based on biblical commandm ...

. This approach has resulted in greater practical flexibility than that of the Orthodox. Talmud study forms part of the curriculum of Conservative parochial education at many Conservative day-schools, and an increase in Conservative day-school enrollments has resulted in an increase in Talmud study as part of Conservative Jewish education among a minority of Conservative Jews. See also: '' The Conservative Jewish view of the Halakha''.

Reform Judaism Reform Judaism, also known as Liberal Judaism or Progressive Judaism, is a major Jewish denomination that emphasizes the evolving nature of Judaism, the superiority of its ethical aspects to its ceremonial ones, and belief in a continuous searc ...

does not emphasize the study of Talmud to the same degree in their Hebrew schools, but they do teach it in their rabbinical seminaries; the world view of liberal Judaism rejects the idea of binding

Jewish law ''Halakha'' (; he, הֲלָכָה, ), also Romanization of Hebrew, transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Judaism, Jewish religious laws which is derived from the Torah, written and Oral Tora ...

and uses the Talmud as a source of inspiration and moral instruction. Ownership and reading of the Talmud is not widespread among

Reform Reform ( lat, reformo) means the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc. The use of the word in this way emerges in the late 18th century and is believed to originate from Christopher Wyvill#The Yorkshire Associati ...

and Reconstructionist Jews, who usually place more emphasis on the study of the Hebrew Bible or

Tanakh The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
''

File:Carl Schleicher Jüdische Szene 1.jpg, ''Jewish Scene I'' File:Carl Schleicher Jüdische Szene 2.jpg, ''Jewish Scene II'' File:Carl Schleicher Eine Streitfrage aus dem Talmud.jpg, ''A Controversy Whatsoever on Talmud'' File:Carl Schleicher Beim Rabbi.jpg, ''At the Rabbi's''

Jewish art and photography

File:Juden beim Talmudstudium Paris 19-20Jh.jpg, ''Jews studying Talmud'', París, c. 1880–1905 File:Samuel Hirszenberg 'Szkoła talmudystów'.jpg, Samuel Hirszenberg, ''Talmudic School'', c. 1895–1908 File:The Talmud students.jpg,

Ephraim Moses Lilien Ephraim Moses Lilien ( pl, Maurycy Lilien, ; 23 May 1874 – 18 July 1925) was an art nouveau illustrator and printmaker particularly noted for his art on Jewish themes. He is sometimes called the "first Zionist artist."Tanakh The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
''

Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

and his disciples, while the Christian canon makes mention of Talmudic figures and contains teachings that can be paralleled within the Talmud and

Midrash ''Midrash'' (;"midrash"
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. he, מִדְרָשׁ; ...

. The Talmud provides cultural and historical context to the

Gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...

and the writings of the Apostles. South Koreans reportedly hope to emulate Jews' high academic standards by studying Jewish literature. Almost every household has a translated copy of a book they call "Talmud", which parents read to their children, and the book is part of the primary-school curriculum. The "Talmud" in this case is usually one of several possible volumes, the earliest translated into Korean from the Japanese. The original Japanese books were created through the collaboration of Japanese writer

Hideaki Kase was a Japanese diplomatic critic known for promoting historical revisionism. His father, Toshikazu Kase, was a diplomat under Shigenori Tōgō who negotiated an end to the Pacific war. Yoko Ono is his cousin. Revisionist organizations Kase wa ...

and

Marvin Tokayer Marvin Tokayer (born 1936) is an American Rabbi and author who served as a United States Air Force chaplain in Japan. He was later advised by the Lubavitcher Rebbe to return to Japan where he served for eight years as the only rabbi in the country. ...

, an Orthodox American rabbi serving in Japan in the 1960s and 70s. The first collaborative book was ''5,000 Years of Jewish Wisdom: Secrets of the Talmud Scriptures'', created over a three-day period in 1968 and published in 1971. The book contains actual stories from the Talmud, proverbs, ethics, Jewish legal material, biographies of Talmudic rabbis, and personal stories about Tokayer and his family. Tokayer and Kase published a number of other books on Jewish themes together in Japanese. The first South Korean publication of ''5,000 Years of Jewish Wisdom'' was in 1974, by Tae Zang publishing house. Many different editions followed in both Korea and China, often by black-market publishers. Between 2007 and 2009, Reverend Yong-soo Hyun of the Shema Yisrael Educational Institute published a 6-volume edition of the Korean Talmud, bringing together material from a variety of Tokayer's earlier books. He worked with Tokayer to correct errors and Tokayer is listed as the author. Tutoring centers based on this and other works called "Talmud" for both adults and children are popular in Korea and "Talmud" books (all based on Tokayer's works and not the original Talmud) are widely read and known.

Criticism

Historian

Michael Levi Rodkinson Michael Levi Rodkinson (1845 – January 4, 1904) was a Jewish scholar, an early Hasidic historiographer and an American publisher. Rodkinson is known for being the first to translate the Babylonian Talmud to English. Rodkinson’s literary works ...

, in his book ''The History of the Talmud'', wrote that detractors of the Talmud, both during and subsequent to its formation, "have varied in their character, objects and actions" and the book documents a number of critics and persecutors, including

Nicholas Donin Nicholas Donin (french: Nicolas Donin) of La Rochelle, a Jewish convert to Christianity in early thirteenth-century Paris, is known for his role in the 1240 Disputation of Paris, which resulted in a decree for the public burning of all available ...

,

Johannes Pfefferkorn Johannes Pfefferkorn (original given name Joseph; 1469, Nuremberg – Oktober 22, 1521, Cologne) was a German Catholicism, Catholic theologian and writer who Conversion to Christianity, converted from Judaism. Pfefferkorn actively preached again ...

,

Johann Andreas Eisenmenger Johann Andreas Eisenmenger (1654 in Mannheim – 20 December 1704 in Heidelberg) was a German Orientalist from the Electorate of the Palatinate, now best known as the author of ''Entdecktes Judenthum'' (''Judaism Unmasked''), which was published i ...

, the Frankists, and August Rohling.Rodkinson Many attacks come from antisemitic sources such as

Justinas Pranaitis Justinas Bonaventura Pranaitis or Pronaitis''Scapegoat on Trial: The Story of Mendel Beilis - The Autobiography of Mendel Beilis the Defendant in the Notorious 1912 Blood Libel in Kiev'', Beilis, Mendel, Introd. & Ed. By Shari Schwartz, CIS, New Yo ...

,

Elizabeth Dilling Elizabeth Eloise Kirkpatrick Dilling (April 19, 1894 – May 26, 1966) was an American writer and political activist.Dye, 6 In 1934, she published ''The Red Network—A Who's Who and Handbook of Radicalism for Patriots'', which catalogs over 1,3 ...

, or

David Duke David Ernest Duke (born July 1, 1950) is an American white supremacist, antisemitic conspiracy theorist, far-right politician, convicted felon, and former Grand Wizard of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. From 1989 to 1992, he was a member ...

. Criticisms also arise from Christian, Muslim, and Jewish sources, as well as from atheists and skeptics. Accusations against the Talmud include alleged: # Anti-Christian or anti-Gentile content # Absurd or sexually immoral content # Falsification of scripture Defenders of the Talmud point out that many of these criticisms, particularly those in antisemitic sources, are based on quotations that are taken out of context, and thus misrepresent the meaning of the Talmud's text and its basic character as a detailed record of discussions that preserved statements by a variety of sages, and from which statements and opinions that were rejected were never edited out. Sometimes the misrepresentation is deliberate, and other times simply due to an inability to grasp the subtle and sometimes confusing and multi-faceted narratives in the Talmud. Some quotations provided by critics deliberately omit passages in order to generate quotes that appear to be offensive or insulting.

Middle Ages

At the very time that the

Babylon ''Bābili(m)'' * sux, 𒆍𒀭𒊏𒆠 * arc, 𐡁𐡁𐡋 ''Bāḇel'' * syc, ܒܒܠ ''Bāḇel'' * grc-gre, Βαβυλών ''Babylṓn'' * he, בָּבֶל ''Bāvel'' * peo, 𐎲𐎠𐎲𐎡𐎽𐎢 ''Bābiru'' * elx, 𒀸𒁀𒉿𒇷 ''Babi ...

ian ''

savoraim A ''Savora'' (; Aramaic: סבורא, "a reasoner", plural ''Savora'im'', ''Sabora'im'' , סבוראים) is a term used in Jewish law and history to signify one among the leading rabbis living from the end of period of the ''Amoraim'' (around 500 ...

'' put the finishing touches to the redaction of the Talmud, the

emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...

Justinian Justinian I (; la, Iustinianus, ; grc-gre, Ἰουστινιανός ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was the Byzantine emperor from 527 to 565. His reign is marked by the ambitious but only partly realized ''renovat ...

issued his edict against ''deuterosis'' (doubling, repetition) of the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. Hebrew: ''Tān ...

. It is disputed whether, in this context, ''deuterosis'' means "Mishnah" or "

Targum A targum ( arc, תרגום 'interpretation, translation, version') was an originally spoken translation of the Hebrew Bible (also called the ''Tanakh'') that a professional translator ( ''mǝturgǝmān'') would give in the common language of the ...

": in

patristic Patristics or patrology is the study of the early Christian writers who are designated Church Fathers. The names derive from the combined forms of Latin ''pater'' and Greek ''patḗr'' (father). The period is generally considered to run from ...

literature, the word is used in both senses. Full-scale attacks on the Talmud took place in the 13th century in France, where Talmudic study was then flourishing. In the 1230s

Nicholas Donin Nicholas Donin (french: Nicolas Donin) of La Rochelle, a Jewish convert to Christianity in early thirteenth-century Paris, is known for his role in the 1240 Disputation of Paris, which resulted in a decree for the public burning of all available ...

, a Jewish convert to Christianity, pressed 35 charges against the Talmud to

Pope Gregory IX Pope Gregory IX ( la, Gregorius IX; born Ugolino di Conti; c. 1145 or before 1170 – 22 August 1241) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 March 1227 until his death in 1241. He is known for issuing the '' Decre ...

by translating a series of blasphemous passages about

Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

,

Mary Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religious contexts * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also calle ...

or Christianity. There is a quoted Talmudic passage, for example, where

Jesus of Nazareth Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

is sent to Hell to be boiled in excrement for eternity. Donin also selected an injunction of the Talmud that permits Jews to kill non-Jews. This led to the

Disputation of Paris The Disputation of Paris ( ''Mishpat Pariz''; ), also known as the Trial of the Talmud (), took place in 1240 at the court of King Louis IX of France. It followed the work of Nicholas Donin, a Jewish convert to Christianity who translated the T ...

, which took place in 1240 at the court of

Louis IX of France Louis IX (25 April 1214 – 25 August 1270), commonly known as Saint Louis or Louis the Saint, was King of France from 1226 to 1270, and the most illustrious of the Direct Capetians. He was crowned in Reims at the age of 12, following the ...

, where four rabbis, including

Yechiel of Paris Yechiel ben Joseph of Paris or Jehiel of Paris, called Sire Vives in French (Judeo-French: ) and Vivus Meldensis ("Vives of Meaux") in Latin, was a major Talmudic scholar and Tosafist from northern France, father-in-law of Isaac ben Joseph of Cor ...

and

Moses ben Jacob of Coucy Rabbi Moses ben Jacob of Coucy, also known as Moses Mikkotsi ( he, משה בן יעקב מקוצי; la, Moses Kotsensis), was a French Tosafist and authority on Halakha (Jewish law). He is best known as the author of one of the earliest codific ...

, defended the Talmud against the accusations of Nicholas Donin. The translation of the Talmud from Aramaic to non-Jewish languages stripped Jewish discourse from its covering, something that was resented by Jews as a profound violation. The Disputation of Paris led to the condemnation and the first burning of copies of the Talmud in Paris in 1242. The burning of copies of the Talmud continued. The Talmud was likewise the subject of the

Disputation of Barcelona The Disputation of Barcelona (July 20–24, 1263) was a formal ordered medieval debate between representatives of Christianity and Judaism regarding whether or not Jesus was the Messiah. It was held at the royal palace of King James I of Aragon in ...

in 1263 between

Nahmanides Moses ben Nachman ( he, מֹשֶׁה בֶּן־נָחְמָן ''Mōše ben-Nāḥmān'', "Moses son of Nachman"; 1194–1270), commonly known as Nachmanides (; el, Ναχμανίδης ''Nakhmanídēs''), and also referred to by the acronym Ra ...

(Rabbi Moses ben Nahman) and Christian convert,

Pablo Christiani Pablo Christiani (or ''Paul Christian''; né "Saúl" or "NN שאול בן" ) was a Sephardic Jew who, having converted to Christianity, used his position as a Dominican friar to endeavor to convert other Jews in Europe to Roman Catholicism. Earl ...

. This same Pablo Christiani made an attack on the Talmud that resulted in a papal bull against the Talmud and in the first censorship, which was undertaken at Barcelona by a commission of Dominicans, who ordered the cancellation of passages deemed objectionable from a Christian perspective (1264).Maccoby At the

Disputation of Tortosa The Disputation of Tortosa was one of the famous ordered disputations between Christians and Jews of the Middle Ages, held in the years 1413–1414 in the city of Tortosa, Catalonia, Crown of Aragon (part of modern-day Spain). According to the ' ...

in 1413, Geronimo de Santa Fé brought forward a number of accusations, including the fateful assertion that the condemnations of "pagans", "heathens", and "apostates" found in the Talmud were, in reality, veiled references to Christians. These assertions were denied by the Jewish community and its scholars, who contended that Judaic thought made a sharp distinction between those classified as heathen or pagan, being polytheistic, and those who acknowledge one true God (such as the Christians) even while worshipping the true monotheistic God incorrectly. Thus, Jews viewed Christians as misguided and in error, but not among the "heathens" or "pagans" discussed in the Talmud. Both Pablo Christiani and Geronimo de Santa Fé, in addition to criticizing the Talmud, also regarded it as a source of authentic traditions, some of which could be used as arguments in favor of Christianity. Examples of such traditions were statements that the Messiah was born around the time of the destruction of the Temple and that the Messiah sat at the right hand of God. In 1415,

Antipope Benedict XIII Pedro Martínez de Luna y Pérez de Gotor (25 November 1328 – 23 May 1423), known as in Spanish and Pope Luna in English, was an Aragonese nobleman who, as Benedict XIII, is considered an antipope (see Western Schism) by the Catholic Church ...

, who had convened the Tortosa disputation, issued a papal bull (which was destined, however, to remain inoperative) forbidding the Jews to read the Talmud, and ordering the destruction of all copies of it. Far more important were the charges made in the early part of the 16th century by the convert

Johannes Pfefferkorn Johannes Pfefferkorn (original given name Joseph; 1469, Nuremberg – Oktober 22, 1521, Cologne) was a German Catholicism, Catholic theologian and writer who Conversion to Christianity, converted from Judaism. Pfefferkorn actively preached again ...

, the agent of the Dominicans. The result of these accusations was a struggle in which the emperor and the pope acted as judges, the advocate of the Jews being

Johann Reuchlin Johann Reuchlin (; sometimes called Johannes; 29 January 1455 – 30 June 1522) was a German Catholic humanist and a scholar of Greek and Hebrew, whose work also took him to modern-day Austria, Switzerland, and Italy and France. Most of Reuchlin's ...

, who was opposed by the obscurantists; and this controversy, which was carried on for the most part by means of pamphlets, became in the eyes of some a precursor of the

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

. An unexpected result of this affair was the complete printed edition of the Babylonian Talmud issued in 1520 by

Daniel Bomberg Daniel is a masculine given name and a surname of Hebrew origin. It means "God is my judge"Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 68. (cf. Gabriel—"God is my strength" ...

at

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

, under the protection of a papal privilege. Three years later, in 1523, Bomberg published the first edition of the Jerusalem Talmud. After thirty years the Vatican, which had first permitted the Talmud to appear in print, undertook a campaign of destruction against it. On the New Year, Rosh Hashanah (September 9, 1553) the copies of the Talmud confiscated in compliance with a decree of the

Inquisition The Inquisition was a group of institutions within the Catholic Church whose aim was to combat heresy, conducting trials of suspected heretics. Studies of the records have found that the overwhelming majority of sentences consisted of penances, ...

were burned at

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, in Campo dei Fiori (auto de fé). Other burnings took place in other Italian cities, such as the one instigated by

Joshua dei Cantori Joshua dei Cantori was a converted Italian Jew who attacked the Talmud at Cremona in 1559. According to Moritz Steinschneider, he belonged to the family Cantarini. In consequence of a dispute with Joseph Ottolenghi, who was head of the Talmudic ...

at

Cremona Cremona (, also ; ; lmo, label= Cremunés, Cremùna; egl, Carmona) is a city and ''comune'' in northern Italy, situated in Lombardy, on the left bank of the Po river in the middle of the ''Pianura Padana'' ( Po Valley). It is the capital of th ...

in 1559. Censorship of the Talmud and other Hebrew works was introduced by a papal bull issued in 1554; five years later the Talmud was included in the first

Index Expurgatorius The ''Index Librorum Prohibitorum'' ("List of Prohibited Books") was a list of publications deemed heretical or contrary to morality by the Sacred Congregation of the Index (a former Dicastery of the Roman Curia), and Catholics were forbidde ...

; and

Pope Pius IV Pope Pius IV ( it, Pio IV; 31 March 1499 – 9 December 1565), born Giovanni Angelo Medici, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 25 December 1559 to his death in December 1565. Born in Milan, his family considered ...

commanded, in 1565, that the Talmud be deprived of its very name. The convention of referring to the work as "Shas" (''shishah sidre Mishnah'') instead of "Talmud" dates from this time. The first edition of the expurgated Talmud, on which most subsequent editions were based, appeared at

Basel , french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS ...

(1578–1581) with the omission of the entire treatise of 'Abodah Zarah and of passages considered inimical to Christianity, together with modifications of certain phrases. A fresh attack on the Talmud was decreed by

Pope Gregory XIII Pope Gregory XIII ( la, Gregorius XIII; it, Gregorio XIII; 7 January 1502 – 10 April 1585), born Ugo Boncompagni, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 13 May 1572 to his death in April 1585. He is best known for ...

(1575–85), and in 1593

Clement VIII Pope Clement VIII ( la, Clemens VIII; it, Clemente VIII; 24 February 1536 – 3 March 1605), born Ippolito Aldobrandini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 2 February 1592 to his death in March 1605. Born ...

renewed the old interdiction against reading or owning it. The increasing study of the Talmud in Poland led to the issue of a complete edition (

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...

, 1602–05), with a restoration of the original text; an edition containing, so far as known, only two treatises had previously been published at

Lublin Lublin is the ninth-largest city in Poland and the second-largest city of historical Lesser Poland. It is the capital and the center of Lublin Voivodeship with a population of 336,339 (December 2021). Lublin is the largest Polish city east of t ...

(1559–76). After an attack on the Talmud took place in Poland (in what is now Ukrainian territory) in 1757, when Bishop Dembowski, at the instigation of the Frankists, convened a public disputation at

Kamieniec Podolski Kamianets-Podilskyi ( uk, Ка́м'яне́ць-Поді́льський, russian: Каменец-Подольский, Kamenets-Podolskiy, pl, Kamieniec Podolski, ro, Camenița, yi, קאַמענעץ־פּאָדאָלסק / קאַמעניץ, ...

, and ordered all copies of the work found in his bishopric to be confiscated and burned. A "1735 edition of Moed Katan, printed in Frankfurt am Oder" is among those that survived from that era. "Situated on the Oder River, Three separate editions of the Talmud were printed there between 1697 and 1739." The external history of the Talmud includes also the literary attacks made upon it by some Christian theologians after the Reformation since these onslaughts on Judaism were directed primarily against that work, the leading example being Eisenmenger's ''Entdecktes Judenthum'' (Judaism Unmasked) (1700). In contrast, the Talmud was a subject of rather more sympathetic study by many Christian theologians, jurists and Orientalists from the

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...

on, including

Johann Reuchlin Johann Reuchlin (; sometimes called Johannes; 29 January 1455 – 30 June 1522) was a German Catholic humanist and a scholar of Greek and Hebrew, whose work also took him to modern-day Austria, Switzerland, and Italy and France. Most of Reuchlin's ...

,

John Selden John Selden (16 December 1584 – 30 November 1654) was an English jurist, a scholar of England's ancient laws and constitution and scholar of Jewish law. He was known as a polymath; John Milton hailed Selden in 1644 as "the chief of learned ...

,

Petrus Cunaeus Petrus Cunaeus (1586, in Vlissingen – 2 December 1638, in Leiden) was the pen name of the Dutch Christian scholar Peter van der Kun. His book ''The Hebrew Republic'' is considered "the most powerful statement of republican theory in the earl ...

,

John Lightfoot John Lightfoot (29 March 1602 – 6 December 1675) was an English churchman, rabbinical scholar, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge and Master of St Catharine's College, Cambridge. Life He was born in Stoke-on-Trent, the son of ...

and

Johannes Buxtorf Johannes Buxtorf ( la, Johannes Buxtorfius) (December 25, 1564September 13, 1629) was a celebrated Hebraist, member of a family of Orientalists; professor of Hebrew for thirty-nine years at Basel and was known by the title, "Master of the Rabbis" ...

father and

son A son is a male offspring; a boy or a man in relation to his parents. The female counterpart is a daughter. From a biological perspective, a son constitutes a first degree relative. Social issues In pre-industrial societies and some current c ...

.

19th century and after

The Vilna edition of the Talmud was subject to Russian government censorship, or self-censorship to meet government expectations, though this was less severe than some previous attempts: the title "Talmud" was retained and the tractate Avodah Zarah was included. Most modern editions are either copies of or closely based on the Vilna edition, and therefore still omit most of the disputed passages. Although they were not available for many generations, the removed sections of the Talmud, Rashi, Tosafot and Maharsha were preserved through rare printings of lists of ''errata'', known as ''Chesronos Hashas'' ("Omissions of the Talmud"). Many of these censored portions were recovered from uncensored manuscripts in the

Vatican Library The Vatican Apostolic Library ( la, Bibliotheca Apostolica Vaticana, it, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana), more commonly known as the Vatican Library or informally as the Vat, is the library of the Holy See, located in Vatican City. Formally es ...

. Some modern editions of the Talmud contain some or all of this material, either at the back of the book, in the margin, or in its original location in the text. In 1830, during a debate in the French Chamber of Peers regarding state recognition of the Jewish faith, Admiral Verhuell declared himself unable to forgive the Jews whom he had met during his travels throughout the world either for their refusal to recognize

Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

as the

Messiah In Abrahamic religions, a messiah or messias (; , ; , ; ) is a saviour or liberator of a group of people. The concepts of ''mashiach'', messianism, and of a Messianic Age originated in Judaism, and in the Hebrew Bible, in which a ''mashiach'' ...

or for their possession of the Talmud. In the same year the Abbé Chiarini published a voluminous work entitled ''Théorie du Judaïsme'', in which he announced a translation of the Talmud, advocating for the first time a version that would make the work generally accessible, and thus serve for attacks on Judaism: only two out of the projected six volumes of this translation appeared. In a like spirit 19th-century anti-Semitic agitators often urged that a translation be made; and this demand was even brought before legislative bodies, as in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

. The Talmud and the "Talmud Jew" thus became objects of anti-Semitic attacks, for example in August Rohling's ''Der Talmudjude'' (1871), although, on the other hand, they were defended by many Christian students of the Talmud, notably

Hermann Strack Hermann Leberecht Strack (6 May 1848 – 5 October 1922) was a German Protestant theologian and orientalist; born in Berlin. Biography From 1877, Strack was assistant professor of Old Testament exegesis and Semitic languages at the University ...

. Further attacks from anti-Semitic sources include

Justinas Pranaitis Justinas Bonaventura Pranaitis or Pronaitis''Scapegoat on Trial: The Story of Mendel Beilis - The Autobiography of Mendel Beilis the Defendant in the Notorious 1912 Blood Libel in Kiev'', Beilis, Mendel, Introd. & Ed. By Shari Schwartz, CIS, New Yo ...

' '' The Talmud Unmasked: The Secret Rabbinical Teachings Concerning Christians'' (1892) and

Elizabeth Dilling Elizabeth Eloise Kirkpatrick Dilling (April 19, 1894 – May 26, 1966) was an American writer and political activist.Dye, 6 In 1934, she published ''The Red Network—A Who's Who and Handbook of Radicalism for Patriots'', which catalogs over 1,3 ...

's ''The Plot Against Christianity'' (1964). The criticisms of the Talmud in many modern pamphlets and websites are often recognizable as verbatim quotations from one or other of these. "If any reader doubts the maliciousness, virulence and prevalence of such material in cyber-space, it is well worth a visit to the Internet site known as Talmud Exposé (http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Cyprus/8815 ow at http://www.oocities.org/athens/cyprus/8815/, in which Melbourne's David Maddison has performed the Herculean task of responding, one by one, to the hundreds of "anti-Talmud" quotes, lies and themes he has encountered on the Internet." Historians

Will Will may refer to: Common meanings * Will and testament, instructions for the disposition of one's property after death * Will (philosophy), or willpower * Will (sociology) * Will, volition (psychology) * Will, a modal verb - see Shall and will ...

and

Ariel Durant Ariel Durant (; May 10, 1898 – October 25, 1981) was a Russian-born American researcher and writer. She was the coauthor of '' The Story of Civilization'' with her husband, Will Durant. They were awarded the Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fi ...

noted a lack of consistency between the many authors of the Talmud, with some tractates in the wrong order, or subjects dropped and resumed without reason. According to the Durants, the Talmud "is not the product of deliberation, it is the deliberation itself."

Contemporary accusations

The Internet is another source of criticism of the Talmud. The

Anti-Defamation League The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), formerly known as the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith, is an international Jewish non-governmental organization based in the United States specializing in civil rights law. It was founded in late Septe ...

's report on this topic states that antisemitic critics of the Talmud frequently use erroneous translations or selective quotations in order to distort the meaning of the Talmud's text, and sometimes fabricate passages. In addition, the attackers rarely provide the full context of the quotations and fail to provide contextual information about the culture that the Talmud was composed in, nearly 2,000 years ago. One such example concerns the line: "If a Jew be called upon to explain any part of the rabbinic books, he ought to give only a false explanation. One who transgresses this commandment will be put to death." This is alleged to be a quote from a book titled ''Libbre David'' (alternatively ''Livore David''). No such book exists in the Talmud or elsewhere. The title is assumed to be a corruption of ''Dibre David'', a work published in 1671. Reference to the quote is found in an early

Holocaust denial Holocaust denial is an antisemitic conspiracy theory that falsely asserts that the Nazi genocide of Jews, known as the Holocaust, is a myth, fabrication, or exaggeration. Holocaust deniers make one or more of the following false statements: ...

book, ''The Six Million Reconsidered'' by William Grimstad.The Six Million Reconsidered: A Special Report by the Committee for Truth in History, p. 16

Historical Review Press Anthony Hancock (5 May 1947 – 11 June 2012) was a publisher who created literature for British far right groups and a member of such organisations in the United Kingdom. Biography Based in Brighton, where Hancock owned a hotel called th ...

, 1979

Gil Student Gil Ofer Student (born August 8, 1972) is the Book Editor of the Orthodox Union's Jewish Action magazine; former Managing Editor of OU Press, and an Orthodox Jewish blogger who writes about the interface between different facets of Judaism, speci ...

, Book Editor of the Orthodox Union's

Jewish Action ''Jewish Action'' is an American Orthodox Jewish magazine published by the Orthodox Union. The magazine generally presents a Modern Orthodox viewpoint, and covers "topics of interest to an international Orthodox Jewish audience... ncludingartic ...

magazine, states that many attacks on the Talmud are merely recycling discredited material that originated in the 13th-century disputations, particularly from

Raymond Marti Raymond Martini, also called Ramon Martí in Catalan, was a 13th-century Dominican friar and theologian. He is remembered for his polemic work ''Pugio Fidei'' (c. 1270). In 1250 he was one of eight friars appointed to make a study of oriental lan ...

and

Nicholas Donin Nicholas Donin (french: Nicolas Donin) of La Rochelle, a Jewish convert to Christianity in early thirteenth-century Paris, is known for his role in the 1240 Disputation of Paris, which resulted in a decree for the public burning of all available ...

, and that the criticisms are based on quotations taken out of context and are sometimes entirely fabricated.

References

Notes

Citations

Works cited

* * Nathan T. Lopes Cardozo ''The Infinite Chain: Torah, Masorah, and Man'' (Philipp Feldheim, 1989). * (includes Samuel ha-Nagid's ''Mevo ha-Talmud'', see next section) *

Zvi Hirsch Chajes Zvi Hirsch Chajes ( he, צבי הירש חיות - November 20, 1805 - October 12, 1855; also Chayes or Hayot or Chiyos) was one of the foremost Galician talmudic scholars. He is best known for his work ''Mevo Hatalmud'' (Introduction to the Tal ...

Mevo Hatalmud
', transl. Jacob Shachter: ''The Students' Guide Through The Talmud'' (Yashar Books, 2005). * * * Fraade, Steven D, "Navigating the Anomalous: Non-Jews at the Intersection of Early Rabbinic Law and Narrative", in * * * * D. Landesman ''A Practical Guide to Torah Learning'' (

Jason Aronson Jason Aronson was an American publisher of books in the field of psychotherapy. Topics dealt with in these books include child therapy, family therapy, couple therapy, object relations therapy, play therapy, depression, eating disorders, persona ...

, 1995). * * Levy, Richard S., ''Antisemitism: a historical encyclopedia of prejudice and persecution, Volume 2'', ABC-CLIO, 2005. See articles: "Talmud Trials", "Entdecktes Judenthum", "The Talmud Jew", "David Duke", "August Rohling", and "Johannes Pfefferkorn". * A compendium of primary source materials, with commentary. * Maimonides ''Introduction to the

Mishneh Torah The ''Mishneh Torah'' ( he, מִשְׁנֵה תּוֹרָה, , repetition of the Torah), also known as ''Sefer Yad ha-Hazaka'' ( he, ספר יד החזקה, , book of the strong hand, label=none), is a code of Rabbinic Jewish religious law (''h ...

''
English translation
* Maimonides ''Introduction to the Commentary on the Mishnah''
Hebrew Fulltext
), transl. Zvi Lampel (Judaica Press, 1998). *

Aaron Parry Aaron Parry is an American synagogue rabbi, counter-missionary expert, and author of several beginners books on Judaism. He was formerly the Rabbi of Young Israel of Beverly Hills. He is the former education director for the West Coast branch of J ...

''The Complete Idiot's Guide to The Talmud'' (Alpha Books, 2004). * Rodkinson, Michael Levi, ''The history of the Talmud from the time of its formation, about 200 B.C., up to the present time'', The Talmud Society, 1918 * * Read mor
here
See als
here
*

Adin Steinsaltz Rabbi Adin Even-Israel Steinsaltz (11 July 19377 August 2020) ( he, עדין אבן-ישראל שטיינזלץ) was an Israeli Chabad Chasidic rabbi, teacher, philosopher, social critic, author, translator and publisher. His '' Steinsaltz edi ...

''The Talmud: A Reference Guide'' (Random House, 1996).

Logic and methodology

*

Samuel ha-Nagid Samuel ibn Naghrillah (, ''Sh'muel HaLevi ben Yosef HaNagid''; ''ʾAbū ʾIsḥāq ʾIsmāʿīl bin an-Naghrīlah''), also known as Samuel HaNagid (, ''Shmuel HaNagid'', lit. ''Samuel the Prince'') and Isma’il ibn Naghrilla (born 993; died 1056 ...

, ''Mevo ha-Talmud'' *

Joseph ben Judah ibn Aknin Joseph ben Judah ibn Aknin ( ar, يوسف ابن عقنين, he, יוסף בן יהודה אבן עקנין; 1150 – c. 1220) was a Sephardic Jewish writer of numerous treatises, mostly on the ''Mishnah'' and the Talmud. He was born in Barcelon ...

,
Mevo ha-Talmud
' * Zerachiah Halevi,
Sefer ha-Tzava
' *

Samson of Chinon Samson ben Isaac of Chinon (c. 1260 – c. 1330) (Hebrew: שמשון מקינון) was a French Talmudist who lived at Chinon. In Talmudic literature he is generally called after his native place, Chinon (Hebr. קינון), and sometimes by the ...

,
Sefer ha-Keritut
' *

Jacob Hagiz Jacob Hagiz (1620–1674) () was a Jewish Talmudist born of a Sephardi Jewish family at Fes, Morocco. Ḥagiz's teacher was David Karigal who afterward became his father-in-law. In about 1646, Ḥagiz went to Italy for the purpose of publishing hi ...

, ''Teḥillat Ḥochmah'' (included in most editions of ''Keritut'') * collective, ed.

Abraham ibn Akra Abraham ibn Akra or Abraham ben Solomon Akra was a Jewish-Italian scholar and editor of scientific works who lived at the end of the 16th century. He edited the work Me-Harere Nemerim' (Venice, 1599), a collection of several methodological essays ...

,
Meharere Nemarim
' *

Joseph ibn Verga Joseph ibn Verga (Hebrew: יוסף אבן וירגה) was a Turkish rabbi and historian who lived at Adrianople at the beginning of the 16th century. He was the son of Solomon ibn Verga, author of ''Shebeṭ Yehudah'' ( Scepter of Judah) who emi ...

,
She'erit Yosef
' * Isaac Campanton,
Darche ha-Talmud
' *

David ben Solomon ibn Abi Zimra David ben Solomon ibn (Abi) Zimra ( he, ר׳ דָּוִד בֶּן שְׁלֹמֹה אִבְּן אָבִי זִמְרָא) (1479–1573) also called Radbaz (רַדְבָּ"ז) after the initials of his name, Rabbi David iBn Zimra, was an early A ...

, ''Kelale ha-Gemara'' *

Bezalel Ashkenazi Bezalel ben Abraham Ashkenazi ( he, בצלאל בן אברהם אשכנזי) ( 1520 – 1592) was a rabbi and talmudist who lived in Ottoman Israel during the 16th century. He is best known as the author of ''Shitah Mekubetzet'', a commentary on ...

,
Kelale ha-Gemara
' * Yeshu’ah b. Yosef ha-Levi,
Halichot Olam
' **

Joseph Caro Joseph ben Ephraim Karo, also spelled Yosef Caro, or Qaro ( he, יוסף קארו; 1488 – March 24, 1575, 13 Nisan 5335 A.M.), was the author of the last great codification of Jewish law, the '' Beit Yosef'', and its popular analogue, the ''Shu ...

,
Kelale ha-Gemara
' (commentary on ''Halichot Olam'') ** Solomon Algazi,
Yavin Shemu’ah
' (commentary on ''Halichot Olam'') * Yisrael Ya'akov Algazi,
Ar'a de-Rabbanan
' * Serillo, Samuel,
Kelale Shemuel
' * Horowitz, Isaiah, ''Shene Luchot ha-Berit'' (section on ''Torah she-be-al-Pe'') *

Moses Chaim Luzzatto Moshe Chaim Luzzatto ( he, משה חיים לוצאטו, also ''Moses Chaim'', ''Moses Hayyim'', also ''Luzzato'') (1707 – 16 May 1746 (26 ''Iyar'' 5506)), also known by the Hebrew acronym RaMCHaL (or RaMHaL, ), was a prominent Italia ...

,
Derech Tevunot
', translated into English as ''The Ways of Reason'', Feldheim 1988, ** same, ''Sefer ha-Higgayon'', translated into English as ''The Book of Logic'', Feldheim 1995, * de Oliveira, Solomon,
Darche Noam
' * Malachi ha-Cohen,
Yad Malachi
' *

Aryeh Leib HaCohen Heller Aryeh Leib HaCohen Heller ( 1745 – 1812) ( he, אריה לייב בן יוסף הכהן הלר) was a Rabbi, Talmudist, and Halachist in Galicia. He was known as "the ''Ketzos''" based on his magnum opus, '' Ketzot Hachoshen'', . Biography Bo ...

, ''

Shev Shema'tata Shev Shema'tata ( he, שב שמעתתא), most commonly pronounced Shev Shmaytsa or ''Shev Shmaisa'', is a work on Talmudic logic and methodology by R. Aryeh Leib HaCohen Heller. The name of the book is Aramaic, and means "seven passages". It c ...

'' * Goitein, B.,
Kesef Nivhar
' * Ezechia Bolaffi
''Ben Zekunim'' vol. 1
* Moshe Amiel, ''Ha-Middot le-Ḥeqer ha-Halachah''
vol. 1vol. 2vol. 3

Modern scholarly works

* Hanoch Albeck, ''Mavo la-talmudim'' *

Daniel Boyarin Daniel Boyarin ( he, דניאל בויארין; born 1946) is a Religion historian, Born in New Jersey, he holds dual United States and Israeli citizenship. He is the Hermann P. and Sophia Taubman Professor of Talmudic Culture in the Departments ...

, ''Sephardi Speculation: A Study in Methods of Talmudic Interpretation'' (Hebrew), Machon Ben Zvi: Jerusalem, 1989 * Yaakov Elman, "Order, Sequence, and Selection: The Mishnah’s Anthological Choices,” in

David Stern David Joel Stern (September 22, 1942 – January 1, 2020) was an American lawyer and business executive who was the commissioner of the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1984 to 2014. Stern oversaw NBA basketball's growth into one of ...

, ed. ''The Anthology in Jewish Literature'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004) 53–80 * Y.N. Epstein, ''Mevo-ot le-Sifrut haTalmudim'' * Uziel Fuchs, ''Talmudam shel Geonim: yaḥasam shel geone Bavel lenosaḥ ha-Talmud ha-Bavli'' (The Geonic Talmud: the Attitude of Babylonian Geonim to the Text of the Babylonian Talmud): Jerusalem 2017 *

David Weiss Halivni David Weiss Halivni ( he, דוד וייס הלבני; September 27, 1927 – June 28, 2022) was a European-born American-Israeli rabbi, scholar in the domain of Jewish sciences, and Professor of Talmud. He served as '' Reish Metivta'' of the U ...

, ''Mekorot u-Mesorot'' (Jerusalem: Jewish Theological Seminary, 1982 on) *

Louis Jacobs Louis Jacobs (17 July 1920 – 1 July 2006) was a leading writer and theologian. He was the rabbi of the New London Synagogue in the United Kingdom. He was also the focus in the early 1960s of what became known as "The Jacobs Affair" in the ...

, "How Much of the Babylonian Talmud is Pseudepigraphic?" Journal of Jewish Studies 28, No. 1 (1977), pp. 46–59 *

Saul Lieberman Saul Lieberman (Hebrew: שאול ליברמן, May 28, 1898 – March 23, 1983), also known as Rabbi Shaul Lieberman or, among some of his students, The ''Gra"sh'' (''Gaon Rabbeinu Shaul''), was a rabbi and a Talmudic scholar. He served as Professo ...

, ''Hellenism in Jewish Palestine'' (New York: Jewish Theological Seminary, 1950) *

Moses Mielziner Moses Mielziner (August 12, 1828 in Schubin, Grand Duchy of Posen, Prussia - February 18, 1903 in Cincinnati) was an American Reform rabbi and author. Life Mielziner received his first instruction in Talmudic literature from his father, Benjamin, w ...

, ''Introduction to the Talmud'': repr. 1997, hardback , paperback *

Jacob Neusner Jacob Neusner (July 28, 1932 – October 8, 2016) was an American academic scholar of Judaism. He was named as one of the most published authors in history, having written or edited more than 900 books. Life and career Neusner was born in Hartfor ...

, ''Sources and Traditions: Types of Compositions in the Talmud of Babylonia'' (Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1992). * Aviram Ravitzky, ''Aristotelian Logic and Talmudic Methodology'' (Hebrew): Jerusalem 2009, * Andrew Schumann, ''Talmudic Logic'': (London: College Publications 2012), * Strack, Herman L. and Stemberger, Günter, ''Introduction to the Talmud and Midrash'', tr.

Markus Bockmuehl Markus Bockmuehl (born 1961) is a biblical scholar specialising in Early Christianity. He has been the Dean Ireland's Professor of the Exegesis of Holy Scripture at the University of Oxford since 2014, and a Fellow of Keble College, Oxford, since ...

: repr. 1992, hardback , paperback On individual tractates * Moshe Benovitz, Berakhot chapter 1: ''Iggud le-Farshanut ha-Talmud'' (Hebrew, with English summary) * Stephen Wald, Shabbat chapter 7: ''Iggud le-Farshanut ha-Talmud'' (Hebrew, with English summary) * Aviad Stollman, Eruvin chapter 10: ''Iggud le-Farshanut ha-Talmud'' (Hebrew, with English summary) * Aaron Amit, Pesachim chapter 4: ''Iggud le-Farshanut ha-Talmud'' (Hebrew, with English summary) * Netanel Baadani, Sanhedrin chapter 5: ''Iggud le-Farshanut ha-Talmud'' (Hebrew, with English summary) * Moshe Benovitz, Sukkah chapters 4–5: ''Iggud le-Farshanut ha-Talmud'' (Hebrew, with English summary) Historical study * Shalom Carmy (ed.) ''Modern Scholarship in the Study of Torah: Contributions and Limitations'' Jason Aronson, Inc. * Richard Kalmin ''Sages, Stories, Authors and Editors in Rabbinic Babylonia'' Brown Judaic Studies * David C. Kraemer, ''On the Reliability of Attributions in the Babylonian Talmud,'' Hebrew Union College Annual 60 (1989), pp. 175–90 * Lee Levine, ''Ma'amad ha-Hakhamim be-Eretz Yisrael'' (Jerusalem: Yad Yizhak Ben-Zvi, 1985), (=The Rabbinic Class of Roman Palestine in Late Antiquity) *

Saul Lieberman Saul Lieberman (Hebrew: שאול ליברמן, May 28, 1898 – March 23, 1983), also known as Rabbi Shaul Lieberman or, among some of his students, The ''Gra"sh'' (''Gaon Rabbeinu Shaul''), was a rabbi and a Talmudic scholar. He served as Professo ...

, ''Hellenism in Jewish Palestine'' (New York: Jewish Theological Seminary, 1950) * John W. McGinley, The Written' as the Vocation of Conceiving Jewishly''. * David Bigman
Finding A Home for Critical Talmud Study

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External links

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Sefaria.org

Jewish Encyclopedia: Talmud

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University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, incl ...

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Ohr Somayach Ohr Somayach may refer to: *Ohr Somayach (book), commentary by Rabbi Meir Simcha of Dvinsk **''Ohr Somayach'', common reference to Rabbi Meir Simcha of Dvinsk *Ohr Somayach, Jerusalem, a network of yeshivas based in Israel * Ohr Somayach, Monsey, a ...

Introduction to the Talmud
by Rabbi M. Taub
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