The Talmud: Mishnah and Gemara

Talmud means 'teaching' or study.

It is made up of two different texts; The Mishnah, which is a collection of oral laws and the Gemara which is a commentary on the Misnah.

The Babylonian Talmud and Jerusalem Talmud

Jerusalem-Talmud Yerushalm

It consists of the Mishnah and gemara. The mishnah is the same as the Babylonian talmud but the Gemara is different, such a variation in material. It only contains the first 39 tractates.The Jerusalem talmud ocntains the entire first order of laws relating to agriculture.

Jerusalem is primarily written in Palestinian Aramaic and complied by Judah Ha-Nasi.

It is the shorter of the two and has content that is more focused, but with longer narrative. It is less standardised and has a looser selection of the discussion and teaching present. However, it tends to repeat itself resulting in debate as to why. Some believe it was due to the lack of editing and others, stylistic devices.

Quoted sections are labelled as 'Halakhot', with reference to the chapter and Halakhah. Therefore, it mostly has legal content.

The Jersusalem Talmud is printed in folio pages with 2 columns on each side. Therefore when a quote is referenced, it refers to the page and column.

Babylonian Talmud-Talmud Bavli

it can complied around 500 ce. It grew to importance in Babylon.

It tends to favour long debates with examples and is fairly uniform. For example, the Babylonian talmud has a large discussion on how to turn a Sukkah, or booth into a home.

The Babylonian talmud does not have the laws of agriculture. Howoever it contains Gemara on the Berakhot or blessings.

The Babylonian Gemara however has 36 and a half non consecutive tractates.

When something is reference in the Babylonian Talmud, the page and side is referenced.

The Babylonian talmud is considered to have more authority within Judaism. For example, when Talmud is said, it usually refers to the Babylonian.

Jacob Neusner' The Babylonian talmud is the primary source for Jewish law and theology'.

The Babylonian talmud achieved more prominence because it was written during the exile, where many new questions were being asked. Only in the darkness of the exile, could they find this truth.

Because the Babylonian talmud contains a mix of infomation, it is more favoured.

The Jerusalem talmud focuses on 'what' whereas the Babylonian talmud looks at 'how.'

The Talmud is a central source of authority within Judaism because it goes back to when Moses was given the oral Torah and provides a clear guideline. It makes sure that the mitzvot are interpreted correctly.

However, it is not found in every Jewish home.

De Lange says 'its authority in traditional rabbinic Judaism is enormous, even outstripping that of the Bible in some respects'.

It can also be said that the fact that Talmud is studied exclusively at the yeshiva demonstrates its importance.

Usually it will be studies in pairs (a havruta)

Even in Reform colleges is there an emphasis on Talmudic study.

The Mishnah

The Mishnah is believed to have been the second Torah that Moses received. It was passed down word of mouth to each new leader. This is because God knew that the laws in the written Torah would not be enough once they actually left the wilderness.

The oral Torah was eventually written in the Mishnah around 200 CE.

The Tractate is a volume of the Talmud and was added to the Mishnah. It is called the Ethics of the Fathers and asks for three different things; 'Be deliberate in judgement, raise up many disciples and make a fence around the Torah'.

However, due to it being oral, there are many difffering versions resulting in a lot of scholarly debate.

BEcause the Temple was destroyed during the Roman occupation and how coplex the Halakha had got, then there was a relisation that the Mishnah needed to be written down.

Judah Ha Nasi was an important scholar then, who was the head of the Sanhedrin, or the court of Rabbis. He was famous for the redaction of the Mishnah which includes lessons and sayings from many rabbis. Around 120 scholars had contributed to the Mishnah and they are referred to as the Tannaim.

The Mishnah tackles 6 different areas of importance.

1) Seeds, or Zeraim. This talks about the offerings for priests, laws about agriculture and farming, and what to give to help the poor.

2) Holidays (Moed) what to do on the Sabbath, or other festivals or holdays like the Psssover.

3) Women (Nashim) laws about divorce and marriage etc.

4) Damages (Nezildn) what to do to sort out an argument, if someone breaks a vow etc.

5) Holy things (Kodashim) rules about sacrifice, dietary laws.

6) Purty (Tohorot) ritual cleansing.

It is mainly in Hebrew, but does contain a bit of Aramaic

The Mishnah's six sections are further divided up in volumes (tractates), chapters (perek) and paragraphs (mishnayot)

In order to ensure understanding, the Mishnah provides examples of real life situations. Discussion in the Mishnah is about how best to follow certain laws.

However because of teh vast discussion, there is often not a conclusion drawn.

Importance of the Mishnah

• It was the first authoratitve compliation of the Oral Torah. Believed to gave come directly from Sinai in an unbroken tradition of having been passed down the generations.

• It is unique and stood as the foundation for Jerusalem and Babylonian Talmuds.

• The mishnah also shaped the Jewish practices and how to achieve holiness.

• It also helped to clrafiy commandments of the Torah and especially for when the Jewish people would no longer be wanderers in the desert.

• The Mishnah can be hard to understand because there is not a lot of context. It presupposes what the reader knows and offers no explanation for something. It also includes a lot of reference to Temple rituals and procedures which is strange for a post-Temple audience that the Jewish society were.

• Also different views are offeredn by no clear answer given.

• Furthermore despite the Mishnah being arranged into volumes,it is not structured very well and many chapters are misplaced in the wrong thematic orders.

• Mishnah nto able to cope with the changing times.

The point of the Mishnah was to make sure that despite the loss of the Temple, Judaism was still relevant and helpful.

The Gemara

The Gemara is a commentary on the Mishnah and was written by a group of rabbis called the Amoraim.

When the Mishnah was written down, it was worried that the issues would not be kept relevant. The Gemara is a response to issues on current problems and how to resolve them through looking at the Torah and Talmud. The Mishnah only looks at matter of Halakhah (legal matters) whereas the Gemaras looked as Halakhah and non-legal material (called Aggadah)

It is also organised in the same way as the Mishnah with the six orders. These orders allow for discussion on those topics.

The mishnah does not mentoin the biblical text from where a point is made, whereas the Gemara does this. It provides precedent and examples of the law being applied to everyday life.

It is presented un an unbroken flow of discussion. Despite dealing with practical issues it is academic.

There are 63 tractates.

• Adds to the law

• It explains unclear words and phrases and gives examples whilst also providing connections in the biblical text.

• Provides alternate opinions from scholars and sages.

Importance of the Gemara

Many issues are about how to correctly carry out the law, but often present conclusions without links. The Gemara brings in these links between the text and practices.

Addes laws that have been left out of the Mishnah

Gemara explains unclear words and phrases, providing explanations.

The extent of its importance is shown because it is the focus of study at the yeshiva.

It is claimed that the Mishnah can be learnt through study of the Gemara.

Wider range of contetn.

However the Gemara acts as a companion to the mishnah and relies on it for its existence.