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[[Image:Talmud Babli bokhylle.jpg|thumb|250px|The Babylonian Talmud]]
[[Image:Talmud.jpg|thumb|The first page of the Vilna Edition of the [[Babylonian Talmud]], Tractate Berachot, folio 2a.]]
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The '''Talmud''' ([[Hebrew language|Hebrew]]: תלמוד) is a record of [[rabbi]]nical discussions pertaining to [[Halakha|Jewish law]], biblical interpretation, [[Jewish ethics|ethics]], customs, and history. It is the basis for all codes of rabbinical law and is much quoted in other [[Jewish literature]].  
The '''Talmud''' ([[Hebrew language|Hebrew]]: תלמוד) is a record of [[rabbi]]nic discussions pertaining to [[Halakha|Jewish law]], [[Jewish ethics|ethics]], customs and history. The Talmud has two components: the [[Mishnah]] (c. 200 C.E.), the first written compendium of Judaism's Oral Law; and the [[Gemara]] (c. 500 C.E.), a discussion of the Mishnah and related [[Tannaim|Tannaitic]] writings that often ventures onto other subjects and expounds broadly on the [[Tanakh]]. The terms ''Talmud'' and ''Gemara'' are often used interchangeably.  The Gemara is the basis for all codes of rabbinic law and is much quoted in other [[rabbinic literature]]. The whole Talmud is traditionally also referred to as '''Shas''' (a Hebrew abbreviation of ''shishah sedarim'', the "six orders" of the Mishnah).
 
  
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The Talmud has two basic components: the ''[[Mishnah]]'' (c. 200 C.E.), the first written compendium of [[Judaism]]'s [[Oral Law]]; and the ''[[Gemara]]'' (c. 500 C.E.), a rabbinical discussion of the Mishnah and related writings that often ventures into other subjects and expounds broadly on the [[Hebrew Bible]]. Printed editions of the Talmud also contain later commentaries from rabbinical authorities through the Middle Ages. The terms ''Talmud'' and ''Gemara'' are often used interchangeably.
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There are two versions of the Talmud—the [[Babylonian Talmud]] and the [[Jerusalem Talmud]]—each containing basically the same ''Mishnah'' but a different ''Gemara''. Of these, the Babylonian Talmud is larger, better edited, and more influential. Other commentaries were also added to later editions of the Talmud.
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In European history, the Talmud was sometimes suppressed by the [[Roman Catholic Church|Catholic Church]], and it became a source of [[anti-semitism|anti-semitic]] literature in modern times, when excerpts from it were quoted to "prove" ideas of Jewish arrogance and hatred toward [[Gentiles]]. In fact, the Talmud contains the opinions of hundreds of rabbis, often including strong disagreements on many subjects. Like the [[Bible]] itself, it can be used to support varying positions on many subjects.
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{{readout||right|250px|The Talmud contains the opinions of hundreds of rabbis, often including strong disagreements on many subjects. Like the [[Bible]] itself, it can be used to support varying positions on many subjects.}}
 
== History ==
 
== History ==
===Oral law===
 
Originally, Jewish scholarship was oral. Rabbis expounded and debated the law and discussed the Bible without the benefit of written works (other than the Biblical books themselves.)  This situation changed drastically, however, mainly as the result of the destruction of the Jewish commonwealth in the year 70 C.E. 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 and Judea without 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 earliest recorded oral law may have been of the [[midrash|midrashic]] form, in which [[halakha|halakhic]] discussion is structured as [[exegesis|exegetical]] commentary on the [[Torah|Pentateuch]]. But an alternative form, organized by subject matter instead of by biblical verse, became dominant about the year 200 C.E., when [[Judah haNasi|Rabbi Judah haNasi]] redacted the [[Mishnah]] (משנה).
 
  
===Mishnah===
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[[Image:José de Ribera 041.jpg|thumb|200px|According to Jewish tradition, God revealed the Oral Law to Moses at Sinai, as well as the Written Law. The Talmud is the expression of the Oral Law.]]
{{main|Mishnah}}
 
  
The ''Mishnah'' (משנה) is a compilation of legal opinions and debates. The name means  “redaction,” from the verb ''shanah'' שנה, or to study and review, in Hebrew. This name may hint at the original oral memorization method of studying rabbinic discourse.
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===Oral Law===
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Rabbinical tradition holds that the Talmud expresses a sacred [[Oral Torah]], equally authoritative to the Written Law given to [[Moses]] at Sinai. Originally, Jewish legal and biblical scholarship was also oral. This situation changed drastically, however, mainly as the result of the defeat of the [[Jewish Revolt]] against Rome in the year 70 C.E. and the consequent upheaval of Jewish social and legal norms. As the rabbis were required to face a new reality—especially the fact of [[Judaism]] without a [[Temple of Jerusalem|Temple]]—there was a flurry of legal discourse and the tradition of oral scholarship was committed to writing.  
  
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 of the Mishnah are known as ''Tannaim'' (sing. ''Tanna'' תנא).  
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The earliest recorded Oral Law may have been of the [[midrash|midrashic]] form, in which Jewish legal discussion was structured as [[exegesis|exegetical]] commentary on the [[Torah|Pentateuch]]. An alternative form, organized by subject matter instead of by biblical verse, became dominant about the year 200 C.E., when [[Judah haNasi|Rabbi Judah ha-Nasi]] redacted the [[Mishnah]].
  
Since it sequences its laws by subject matter instead of by biblical context, the Mishnah discusses individual subjects more thoroughly than the Midrash, and it includes a much broader selection of halakhic subjects than the Midrash. The Mishna's topical organization thus became the framework of the Talmud as a whole
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===Mishnah===
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The ''[[Mishnah]]'' forms the core of the Talmud. It is a compilation of legal opinions and debates of leading rabbis of the second century. The rabbis of the Mishnah are known as ''[[tannaim]]'', meaning roughly "sages." Since it sequences its laws by subject matter instead of by biblical context, the Mishnah discusses individual subjects more thoroughly than the [[Midrash]], and it includes a much broader selection of ''halakhic'' (legal) subjects than the Midrash. The Mishnah's topical organization thus became the framework of the Talmud as a whole.
The Mishnah consists of six orders (''sedarim'', singular ''seder'' סדר). Each of the six orders contains between 7 and 12 tractates, called ''masechtot'' (singular ''masechet'' מסכת; lit. "web"). Each ''masechet'' is divided into chapters (''peraqim'') composed of smaller units called ''mishnayot'' (singular ''mishnah''). 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; see the discussion on each Seder.
 
  
*First Order: ''[[Zeraim]]'' ("Seeds").  11 tractates. It deals with prayer and blessings, tithes, and agricultural laws.
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In addition to the Mishnah, other rabbinical works were recorded at about the same time or shortly thereafter. The Talmud frequently refers to these tannaic statements in order to compare them to those contained in the Mishnah and to support or refute the propositions of various rabbinical authorities. All such non-Mishnaic sources of the ''tannaim'' are termed [[beraita|''baraitot'']] (lit. outside material, "Works external to the Mishnah"; sing. baraita ברייתא).
*Second Order: ''[[Moed]]'' ("Festival Days"). 12 tractates. This pertains to the laws of the Sabbath and the Festivals.
 
*Third Order: ''[[Nashim]]'' ("Women").  7 tractates. Concerns marriage and divorce, some forms of oaths and the laws of the nazirite.
 
*Fourth Order: ''[[Nezikin]]'' ("Damages").  10 tractates.  Deals with civil and criminal law, the functioning of the courts and oaths.
 
*Fifth Order: ''[[Kodashim]]'' ("Holy things"). 11 tractates. This involves sacrificial rites, the [[Temple in Jerusalem|Temple]], and the dietary laws.
 
*Sixth Order: ''[[Tohorot]]'' ("Purity"). 12 tractates. This pertains to the laws of ritual purity.
 
  
{{mishnah|nocat}}
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[[Image:Talmud.jpg|thumb|225px|A page of the Vilna Edition of the [[Babylonian Talmud]], Tractate Berachot, folio 2a, featuring a ''Mishnah'' passage in the center and the ''Gemara'' and other commentaries surrounding it]]
 
 
===Baraita===
 
In addition to the Mishnah, other tannaitic works were recorded at about the same time or shortly thereafter.  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 [[Amoraim]].   All such non-Mishnaic tannaitic sources are termed [[beraita|''baraitot'']] (lit. outside material, "Works external to the Mishnah"; sing. baraita ברייתא).
 
 
 
Baraita includes the [[Tosefta]], a tannaitic compendium of [[halakha]] parallel to the Mishnah; and the [[Halakhic Midrash]], specifically [[Midrash#Tannaitic|Mekhilta, Sifra and Sifre]].
 
  
 
=== Gemara ===
 
=== Gemara ===
{{main|Gemara}}
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In the three centuries following the redaction of the [[Mishnah]], rabbis throughout [[Palestine]] and [[Babylonia]] analyzed, debated and discussed that work. These discussions form the [[Gemara]] (גמרא). The rabbis of the Gemara are known as [[amoraim]] (sing. ''amora'' אמורא). ''Gemara'' means “completion,” from ''gamar'' גמר : [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] to complete; [[Aramaic language|Aramaic]] to study.
 
 
In the three centuries following the redaction of the Mishnah, rabbis throughout Israel and Babylonia analyzed, debated and discussed that work. These discussions form the [[Gemara]] (גמרא). The Gemara mainly  focuses on elucidating and elaborating the opinions of the Tannaim.  The rabbis of the Gemara are known as [[Amoraim]] (sing. ''Amora'' אמורא). ''Gemara'' means “completion,” from ''gamar'' גמר : [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] to complete; [[Aramaic language|Aramaic]] to study.
 
 
 
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 in a [[Dialectic|dialectical exchange]] between two (frequently anonymous and sometimes metaphorical) disputants, termed the ''makshan'' (questioner) and ''tartzan'' (answerer).
 
 
 
These exchanges form the "building-blocks" of the Gemara; the name for a passage of gemara is a ''[[Gemara#The Sugya|sugya]]'' (סוגיא; plural ''sugyot''). A ''Sugya'' will typically comprise a detailed proof-based elaboration of a Mishnaic statement.
 
 
 
In a given ''sugya'', scriptural, Tannaic and Amoraic statements are brought to support the various opinions. In so doing, the Gemara will bring [[semantics|semantic disagreements]] between Tannaim and Amoraim (often ascribing a view to an earlier authority as to how he may have answered a question), and compare the Mishnaic views with passages from the [[Beraita]]. Rarely are debates formally closed; in many instances, the final word determines the practical law, although there are many exceptions to this principle. See [[Gemara]] for further discussion.
 
 
 
===Halakha and aggadah===
 
The Talmud contains a vast amount of material and touches on a great many subjects.  Traditionally Talmudic statements can be classified into two broad categories, ''Halakhic'' and ''Agaddic'' statements.  Halakhic statements are those which directly relate to questions of Jewish law  and practice ([[Halakha]]).  Aggadic statements are those which are not legally related, but rather are exegetical, homiletical, ethical or historical in nature. See [[Aggadah]] for further discussion.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
==Bavli and Yerushalmi==
 
The process of "Gemara" proceeded in the two major centers of Jewish scholarship, [[Land of Israel|Palestine]] and [[Babylonia]]. Correspondingly, two bodies of analysis developed, and two works of ''Talmud'' were created. The older compilation is called the Jerusalem Talmud or the ''Talmud Yerushalmi''. It was compiled sometime during the fourth century in Israel.  The Babylonian Talmud was compiled about the year 500 C.E., although it continued to be edited later.  The word "Talmud," when used without qualification, usually refers to the Babylonian Talmud.
 
 
 
=== ''Talmud Yerushalmi'' (Jerusalem Talmud) ===
 
{{main|Jerusalem Talmud}}
 
[[Image:Yerushalmi Talmud.jpg|thumb|left|250px|A page of a medieval Jerusalem Talmud manuscript, from the [[Cairo Genizah]].]]
 
The Jerusalem Talmud originated in Tiberias in the School of Johanan ben Nappaha. It is a compilation of teachings of the schools of Tiberias, Sepphoris and Caesarea. It is written in both [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] and a western [[Aramaic language|Aramaic]] dialect that differs from its Babylonian counterpart.
 
 
 
The Gemara of 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 Israel (principally those of [[Tiberias]] and [[Caesaria]].) Because of their location, the sages of these Academies devoted considerable attention to analysis of the agricultural laws of the Land of Israel. Traditionally, this Talmud was thought to have been redacted in about the year 350 C.E. by Rav Muna and Rav Yossi in 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 ''The Talmud of the Land of Israel''.  It has also often been referred to as the Palestinian Talmud, especially in sources that predate the Israeli-Palestine conflict.  
 
  
Its final redaction probably belongs to the end of the fourth century, but the individual scholars who brought it to its present form cannot be fixed with assurance. By this time Christianity had become the state religion of the Roman Empire and Jerusalem the holy city of Christendom. In 325 C.E. Constantine, the first Christian emperor, said “let us have nothing in common with this odious people.” 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. Any further work on the Jerusalem Talmud probably came to an abrupt end in 425 C.E., when [[Theodosius II]] suppressed the [[Nasi|Patriarchate]] and put an end to the practice of [[semicha|formal scholarly ordination]].
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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 in a [[Dialectic|dialectical exchange]] between two (frequently anonymous and sometimes metaphorical) disputants, termed the ''makshan'' (questioner) and ''tartzan'' (answerer).  
  
Despite this, 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 resource in the study of the Babylonian Talmud by the [[Kairouan]] school of [[Chananel Ben Chushiel|Hananel ben Hushiel]] and [[Nissim Ben Jacob|Nissim Gaon]], with the result that opinions ultimately based on the Jerusalem Talmud found their way into both the [[Tosafot]] and the [[Mishneh Torah]] of [[Maimonides]].
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These exchanges form the "building-blocks" of the Gemara; the name for a passage of Gemara is a ''[[Gemara#The Sugya|sugya]]'' (סוגיא; plural ''sugyot''). A ''Sugya'' will typically be comprised of a detailed proof-based elaboration of a mishnaic statement.
  
There are traditions that hold that in the Messianic Age the Jerusalem Talmud will have priority over the Babylonian.  This may be interpreted as meaning that, following the restoration of the [[Sanhedrin]] and the line of [[semicha|ordained scholars]], the work will be completed and "out of Zion shall go the Law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem."
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In a given ''sugya'', scriptural, ''tannaic'' and ''amoraic'' statements are brought to support the various opinions. In so doing, the Gemara will often include disagreements between tannaim and amoraim, and compare the mishnaic views with passages from the [[Beraita]]. Rarely are debates formally closed; in many instances, the final word determines the practical law, although there are many exceptions to this principle.  
  
=== ''Talmud Bavli'' (Babylonian Talmud) ===
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===Halakha and Aggadah===
[[Image:Chasan Shas.JPG|thumb|right|300px|An (almost) full copy of the Babylonian Talmud.]]
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The Talmud contains a vast amount of material and touches on a great many subjects. Traditionally talmudic statements can be classified into two broad categories: ''halakhic'' and ''agaddic''. Halakhic statements are those which directly relate to questions of Jewish law and practice ([[Halakha]]). Aggadic statements are those which are not legally related, but rather are exegetical, homiletical, ethical, or historical in nature ([[Aggadah]]).
Since the Exile to Babylonia in 586 B.C.E., Jews had been living in settlements just out of Judea. Most captives didn’t return home. Through natural increase and migration, the population had increased. The most important of the Jewish centres were Nehardea, Nisibis, Mahoza, Pumbeditha and Sura. It was no longer necessary for scholars to constantly have to journey to Palestine to gather authentic tradition. The man who laid the foundations for the Babylonian Talmud was [[Abba Arika|Rab]]. Rab became a disciple of Rabbi Judah ha-Nasi. The real editor of the Babylonian Talmud was Rabbi Ashi. Ashi was president of the Sura Academy from 375 to 427 C.E. The work begun by Ashi was completed by Rabina. According to ancient traditions, Rabina was the final Amoraic expounder. Rabina’s death in 499 C.E. marked the completion of the redaction of the Talmud.
 
  
''Talmud Bavli'' (the "Babylonian Talmud") comprises the Mishnah and the Babylonian Gemara. This Gemara is a synopsis of more than 300 years of analysis of the Mishnah in the Babylonian Academies.  Tradition ascribes the initial editing of the Babylonian Talmud to two Babylonian sages, ''Rav Ashi'' and ''Ravina''.
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==Babylon and Jerusalem==
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The process of [[Gemara]] proceeded in the two major centers of Jewish scholarship, [[Land of Israel|Palestine]] and [[Babylonia]]. Correspondingly, two bodies of analysis developed, and two works of the ''Talmud'' were created. The older compilation is called the [[Jerusalem Talmud]] or the ''Talmud Yerushalmi''. It was compiled sometime during the fourth century in [[Palestine]]. The [[Babylonian Talmud]] was compiled about the year 500 C.E., although it continued to be edited later. The word "Talmud," when used without qualification, usually refers to the Babylonian Talmud, which is the better known of the two editions.
  
The question as to when the Gemara was finally put into its present form is not settled among modern scholars. Some of the text did not reach its final form until around 700.  Traditionally, the rabbis who edited the Talmud after the end of the Amoraic period are called the ''Saboraim'' or ''Rabanan Saborai''. Modern scholars also use the term ''Stammaim'' (from the Hebrew ''Stam'', meaning "closed," "vague" or "unattributed") for the authors of unattributed statements in the Gemara. (See [[Halakha#Eras of history important in Jewish law|eras within Jewish law]].)
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===The Jerusalem Talmud===
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[[Image:Yerushalmi Talmud.jpg|thumb|right|275px|A page of a medieval Jerusalem Talmud manuscript, from the [[Cairo Genizah]]]]
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The Jerusalem Talmud originated in [[Tiberias]] in the [[School of Johanan ben Nappaha]]. It is a compilation of teachings of the rabbinical schools of Tiberias, [[Sepphoris]] and [[Caesarea]]. It is written in both [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] and a western [[Aramaic language|Aramaic]] dialect that differs from its [[Babylon|Babylonian]] counterpart.
  
=== Comparison of style and subject matter===
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Its final redaction probably belongs to the end of the fourth century, but the individual scholars who brought it to its present form cannot be fixed with assurance. By this time [[Christianity]] had become the state religion of the [[Roman Empire]] and Jerusalem, the holy city of [[Christendom]]. The text is evidently incomplete and is not easy to follow. Any further work on the Jerusalem Talmud probably came to an abrupt end in 425 C.E., when [[Theodosius II]] suppressed the Jewish [[Nasi|Patriarchate]] and put an end to the practice of [[semicha|formal scholarly ordination]] in the Jewish community.
  
There are significant differences between the two Talmud compilations.  The language of the Jerusalem Talmud is a western Aramaic dialect which differs from that of the Babylonian.  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.
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Despite this, the Jerusalem Talmud remains an indispensable source of knowledge regarding the development of the Jewish Law in the Holy Land. Opinions based on the Jerusalem Talmud ultimately found their way into both the [[Tosafot]] and the [[Mishneh Torah]] of [[Maimonides]].
In the Bavli, however, Gemara exists only for 37 out of the 63 tractates of the Mishnah: most laws from the Orders Zeraim (agricultural laws limited to the land of Israel) and Toharot (ritual purity laws related to the Temple and sacrificial system) had little practical relevance in Babylonia and were therefore not included. The Yerushalmi, though, covers a number of these tractates.
 
  
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 era. Furthermore, the editing of the Babylonian Talmud was superior to that of the Jerusalem version, making it more accessible and readily usable.
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===The Babylonian Talmud===
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[[Image:Chasan Shas.JPG|thumb|right|300px|Volumes of the Babylonian Talmud]]
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Since the [[Babylonian Exile]] of 586 B.C.E., Jews had been living in settlements outside of Judea, and most of the captives did not return home to Jerusalem when this was finally allowed. After the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 C.E. and the later failure of the [[Bar Kochba]] revolt, many more Jews moved east. The most important of the Jewish centers were Nehardea, Nisibis, Mahoza, Pumbeditha and Sura.
  
==Language==
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''Talmud Bavli'' (the "Babylonian Talmud") includes the Mishnah and the Babylonian ''Gemara''. This Gemara is a synopsis of more than 300 years of analysis of the Mishnah in the Babylonian academies.
  
Not only the Mishnah, but also all the Baraitas quoted and embedded in the Gemara, are in Hebrew, so that Hebrew constitutes somewhat less than half of the text of the Talmud.  The rest, including the discussions of the Amoraim and the overall framework, is in a characteristic dialect of [[Jewish Babylonian Aramaic]]. There are occasional quotations from older works in other dialects of Aramaic, such as [[Megillat Taanit]].
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The man who laid the foundations for the Babylonian Talmud was known simply as [[Abba Arika|Rab]], a disciple of Rabbi [[Judah ha-Nasi]], the compiler of the [[Mishnah]]. Rabbi [[Ashi]] was president of the Sura academy from 375 to 427 C.E. The work begun by Ashi was completed by [[Rabina]]. According to ancient tradition, Rabina was the final ''amoraic'' expounder. His death in 499 C.E. marked the completion of the redaction of the Talmud.
  
==Printing==
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The question as to when the Gemara was finally put into its present form is not settled among modern scholars. Some of the text did not reach its final form until around 700 C.E.
  
The first complete edition of the Babylonian Talmud was [[Printing|printed]] in Italy by [[Daniel Bomberg]] during the 16th century. In addition to the ''Mishnah'' and ''Gemara'', Bomberg's edition contained the commentaries of [[Rashi]] and [[Tosafot]]. Almost all printings since Bomberg have followed the same pagination.  In 1835, a new edition of the Talmud was printed by Menachem Romm of Vilna. Known as the [[Vilna edition|''Vilna Shas'']], this edition (and later ones printed by his widow and sons) have become an unofficial standard for Talmud editions.  
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=== Comparing the two Talmuds===
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There are significant differences between the two Talmud compilations. The language of the [[Jerusalem Talmud]] is primarily a western [[Aramaic]] dialect which differs from that of the [[Babylonian Talmud|Babylonian]]. The ''Talmud Yerushalmi'' is also 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.
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In the Bavli, however, Gemara exists only for 37 out of the 63 ''tractates'' of the Mishnah. Many agricultural ritual purity laws having to do with the Temple had little practical relevance in [[Babylonia]] and were therefore not included. The Yerushalmi, though, covers a number of these chapters.
  
A page number in the Talmud refers to a double-sided page, known as a ''daf''; each daf has two ''amudim'' labeled  א and ב, sides A and B. The referencing by ''daf'' is relatively recent and dates from the early Talmud printings of the [[17th century]]. Earlier [[rabbinic literature]] generally only refers to the tractate or chapters within a tractate. Nowadays, reference is made in format [''Tractate daf a/b''] (e.g. Berachot 23b).  In the Vilna edition of the Talmud there are 5,894 folio pages.
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The influence of the Babylonian Talmud has been far greater than that of the ''Yerushalmi''. This is mainly because the influence and prestige of the Jewish community of [[Palestine]] steadily declined in contrast with the Babylonian community in the years after the redaction of the Talmud, as Jews in the Islamic lands received much better treatment than they did in the later Christian Empire.
 
 
The text of the Vilna editions is considered by scholars not to be uniformly reliable.  In the early twentieth century one Rabbinowitz published a series of volumes called ''Dikduke Soferim'' showing textual variants from early manuscripts and printings, and in recent decades the Institute for the Complete Israeli Talmud has started a similar project under the name of ''Gemara Shelemah''.  There have been critical editions of particular tractates (e.g. Malter's edition of ''Ta'anit''), but there is no modern critical edition of the whole Talmud.
 
  
 
== Commentary and study ==
 
== Commentary and study ==
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From the time of its completion, the Talmud became integral to Jewish scholarship. The earliest post-[[Gemara]] Talmud commentaries were written by the [[Gaonim]]—the presidents of the rabbinical academies—(approximately 800-1000 C.E.) in [[Babylonia]].
  
From the time of its completion, the Talmud became integral to Jewish scholarship. This section outlines some of the major areas of Talmudic study.
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Early commentators such as Rabbi [[Isaac Alfasi]] (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 and later served as a basis for the creation of ''halakhic'' codes. Another influential medieval halakhic commentary was that of Rabbi [[Asher ben Yechiel]] (d. 1327). A fifteenth-century [[Spain|Spanish]] rabbi, Jacob ibn Habib (d. 1516), composed the ''En Yaaqob''. En Yaaqob (or Ein Yaaqov) extracts nearly all the [[Aggadah|aggadic]] 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.
  
=== The Geonim ===
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Besides ''halakhic'' studies, another major area of talmudic scholarship developed in order to explain these passages and words. Some early commentators such as Rabbenu [[Gershom of Mainz]] (tenth century) and [[Chananel Ben Chushiel|Rabbenu Hananel]] (early eleventh 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-Mafteach'' (Book of the Key) by [[Nissim Ben Jacob|Nissim Gaon]], which contains a preface explaining the different forms of talmudic argumentation and then explains abbreviated passages in the Talmud by referring to parallel passages where the same thought is expressed in full. Using a different style, Rabbi Nathan b. Jechiel created a [[lexicon]] called the ''Arukh'' in the eleventh century in order to translate difficult words.
  
The earliest Talmud commentaries were written by the [[Geonim]] (approximately 800-1000, C.E.) in [[Babylonia]].  Although some direct commentaries on particular treatises are extant, our main knowledge of Gaonic era Talmud scholarship comes from statements embedded in Geonic responsa which shed light on Talmudic passages. After the death of [[Hai Gaon]], however, the center of Talmud scholarship shifts to Europe and North Africa.
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[[Image:Rashi woodcut.jpg|thumb|200px|Sixteenth-century woodcut of Rashi]]
  
=== Halakhic and Aggadic extractions ===
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By far the most well known commentary on the Babylonian Talmud is that of [[Rashi]] (Rabbi Solomon ben Isaac, 1040-1105). Rashi's commentary is comprehensive, covering almost the entire Talmud. It is considered indispensable to students of the Talmud and is included as a running commentary in modern editions. [[Maimonides]]' commentary on the [[Mishnah]], though limited in scope compared to Rahsi's, exerted a similarly great influence.
  
One area of Talmudic scholarship developed out of the need to ascertain the [[Halakha]].  Early commentators such as Rabbi [[Isaac Alfasi]] (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 and later served as a basis for the creation of halakhic codes. Another influential medieval Halakhic commentary was that of Rabbi [[Asher ben Yechiel]] (d. 1327).
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Medieval [[Ashkenazi]]c Jewry produced another major commentary known as [[Tosafists|Tosafot]] ("additions" or "supplements"). The ''Tosafot'' are collected commentaries by various medieval Ashkenazic rabbis on the Talmud. 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''.  
  
A fifteenth century Spanish rabbi, Jacob ibn Habib (d. 1516), composed the ''En Yaaqob''.  En Yaaqob (or Ein Yaaqov) extracts nearly all the [[Aggadah|Aggadic]] 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.
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Over time, the approach of the ''tosafists'' spread to other Jewish communities, particularly that of the [[Sephardi]]c communities in Spain. This led to the composition of many other commentaries in similar styles. Among these are the commentaries of [[Nachmanides|Ramban]], [[Rashba]], [[Ritva]], [[Nissim of Gerona|Ran]], [[Meir Abulafia|Yad Ramah]], and [[Meiri]].
  
=== Commentaries ===
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In later centuries, focus partially shifted from direct talmudic interpretation to the analysis of previously written talmudic commentaries. These later commentaries include "Maharshal" ([[Solomon Luria]]), "Maharam" ([[Meir Lublin]]) and "Maharsha" ([[Samuel Edels]]).
{{main|Rabbinical literature}}
 
  
The Talmud is often cryptic and difficult to understand. Its language contains many Greek and Persian words which over time became obscure.  A major area of Talmudic scholarship developed in order to explain these passages and words.  Some early commentators such as Rabbenu Gershom of Mainz (10th c.) and [[Chananel Ben Chushiel|Rabbenu Hananel]] (early 11th c.) 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-Mafteach'' (Book of the Key) by [[Nissim Ben Jacob|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.  Using a different style, Rabbi Nathan b. Jechiel created a lexicon called the ''Arukh'' in the 11th century in order to translate difficult words.
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===Printing===
 
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The first complete edition of the [[Babylon|Babylonian]] [[Babylonian Talmud|Talmud]] was [[Printing|printed]] in Italy by [[Daniel Bomberg]] during the sixteenth century. In addition to the ''Mishnah'' and ''Gemara'', Bomberg's edition contained the ''[[Tosafot]]'', the commentaries of [[Rashi]]. Almost all printings since Bomberg have followed the same pagination. In 1835, a new edition of the Talmud was printed by Menachem Romm of Vilna ([[Vilnius]], Lithuania). Known as the [[Vilna edition|''Vilna Shas'']], this edition (and later ones printed by his widow and sons) have become an unofficial standard for Talmud editions. In the Vilna edition of the Talmud there are 5,894 folio pages.
By far the most well known ''commentary'' on the Babylonian Talmud is that of [[Rashi]] (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.
 
 
 
Medieval Ashkenazic Jewry produced another major commentary known as [[Tosafists|Tosafot]] ("additions" or "supplements"). The ''Tosafot'' are collected commentaries by various medieval Ashkenazic Rabbis on the Talmud. 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''.
 
 
 
Over time, the approach of the Tosafists spread to other Jewish communities, particularly that of Spain. This led to the composition of many other commentaries in similar styles. Among these are the commentaries of [[Nachmanides|Ramban]], [[Rashba]], [[Ritva]], [[Nissim of Gerona|Ran]], [[Meir Abulafia|Yad Ramah]], and [[Meiri]].
 
 
 
In later centuries, focus partially shifted from direct Talmudic interpretation to the analysis of previously written Talmudic commentaries. These later commentaries include "Maharshal" ([[Solomon Luria]]), "Maharam" ([[Meir Lublin]]) and "Maharsha" ([[Samuel Edels]])
 
  
 
===Pilpul===
 
===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]]'', which means "pepper" in Hebrew and was applied to this type of study, hearkens back to the Talmudic era and refers to the intellectual sharpness this method demanded.  
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During the fifteenth and sixteenth 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]]'', which means "pepper" in Hebrew and was applied to this type of study, which hearkens 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  were therefore created, resolving seeming contradictions within the Talmud by novel logical means.
  
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. This pilpulistic style was first recorded by Isaac Canpanton (d. Spain, 1463) in his Darkhei haTalmud (or "The Ways of the Talmud" in Hebrew).  
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Pilpul study reached its height in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries when expertise in pilpulistic analysis was considered an art form and became a goal in and of itself within the ''yeshivot'' (schools) of [[Poland]] and [[Lithuania]]. However, many sixteenth- and seventeenth-century rabbis were also critical of pilpul. Among them may be noted Judah Loew b. Bezalel (the [[Maharal]]), [[Isaiah Horowitz]], and [[Yair Bacharach|Jair Hayyim Bacharach]].  
  
Pilpul 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'' ("Lights 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 may be noted Judah Loew b. Bezalel (the [[Maharal]]), [[Isaiah Horowitz]], and [[Yair Bacharach|Jair Hayyim Bacharach]].
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By the eighteenth century, ''pilpul'' study waned. Instead, other styles of learning such as that of the school of Elijah b. Solomon, the [[Vilna Gaon]], became popular.
 
 
By the 18th century, pilpul study waned. Other styles of learning such as that of the school of Elijah b. Solomon, the [[Vilna Gaon]], 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.<ref> On Pilpul, see''Pilpul'', Mordechai Breuer, Encyclopedia Judaica and H.H. Ben Sasson, ''A History of the Jewish People'', p. 627, 717.</ref>
 
  
 
===Brisker method===
 
===Brisker method===
In the late nineteenth century another trend in Talmud study arose. Rabbi [[Chaim Soloveitchik|Hayyim Soloveitchik]] (1853-1918) of Brisk (Brest-Litovsk) developed and refined this style of study. [[Brisker method]] involves the analysis of rabbinic arguments within the Talmud or among the [[Rishonim]], 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. Nevertheless, the influence of the Brisker method is great. Most modern day Yeshivot study the Talmud using the Brisker method in some form. And it is through this method that [[Maimonides]]' ''[[Mishneh Torah]]'' began to be read not only as a halakhic work but also as a work of Talmudic interpretation.
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In the late nineteenth century another trend in Talmud study arose. Rabbi [[Chaim Soloveitchik|Hayyim Soloveitchik]] (1853-1918) of Brisk (Brest-Litovsk) developed and refined this style of study. The [[Brisker method]] involves the analysis of rabbinic arguments within the Talmud, 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 the ''Pilpul''. Nevertheless, the influence of the Brisker method is great. Most modern day ''yeshivot'' (Hebrew schools) study the Talmud using the Brisker method in some form. And it is through this method that [[Maimonides]]' famous ''[[Mishneh Torah]]'' began to be read not only as a ''halakhic'' work but also as a work of general talmudic interpretation.
  
 
===Critical method===
 
===Critical method===
The Text of the Talmud has been subject to some level of critical scrutiny throughout its history.<ref>As Yonah Fraenkel shows in his book ''Darko Shel Rashi be-Ferusho la-Talmud ha-Bavli'', one of [[Rashi's]] major accomplishments was textual emendation. Rabbenu Tam, Rashi's grandson and one of the central figures in the Tosafist academies, polemicizes against textual emendation in his less studied work ''Sefer ha-Yashar''. However, the Tosafists, too, emended the Talmudic text (See e.g. ''Baba Kamma'' 83b ''s.v.'' ''af haka'ah ha'amurah'' or ''Gittin'' 32a ''s.v. mevutelet'') as did many other medieval commentators (see e.g. R. Shlomo ben Adrat, ''Hidushei ha-Rashb"a al ha-Sha"s'' to ''Baba Kamma'' 83b, or Rabbenu Nissim's commentary to Alfasi on ''Gittin'' 32a). </ref> In general, however, traditional commentaries shied away from textual emendation of Talmudic passages. As a result of emancipation from the ghetto (1789), Judaism underwent enormous upheaval and transformation during the nineteenth century, (see [[Reform Judaism]], [[Haskalah]]). Modern methods of textual and historical analysis were applied to the Talmud.  
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The text of the Talmud has been subject to some level of critical scrutiny throughout its history.<ref>One of [[Rashi's]] major accomplishments was textual correction. Some ''tosafists'', too, amended the talmudic text (for example, ''Baba Kamma'' 83b ''s.v.'' ''af haka'ah ha'amurah'' or ''Gittin'' 32a ''s.v. mevutelet'') as did many other medieval commentators (for example, R. Shlomo ben Adrat, ''Hidushei ha-Rashb"a al ha-Sha"s'' to ''Baba Kamma'' 83b, or Rabbenu Nissim's commentary to Alfasi on ''Gittin'' 32a).</ref> In general, however, traditional commentaries shied away from textual criticism of talmudic passages. In the late eighteenth century, liberalization of social restrictions against [[Judaism|Jew]]s resulted in Judaism undergoing enormous upheaval and transformation. Such movements as [[Reform Judaism]] and other secularizing and assimilating trends emerged. During this time, modern methods of textual and historical analysis were applied to the Talmud.
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Leaders of the Reform movement, such as [[Abraham Geiger]] and [[Samuel Holdheim]], subjected the Talmud to severe scrutiny as part of an effort to break with traditional [[rabbinic Judaism]]. In reaction, Orthodox leaders such as [[Moses Sofer]] and [[Samson Raphael Hirsch]] rejected modern critical methods of Talmud study. The methods and manner of Talmud study were thus caught in the debate between the Reformers and Orthodoxy. A middle ground was developed by scholars who believed that, while tampering with Jewish law should be avoided, traditional Jewish sources such as the Talmud should be subject to academic inquiry and critical analysis. Exponents of this view were [[Zecharias Frankel]], [[Leopold Zunz]] and [[Solomon Judah Leib Rappaport]].
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Because the modern method of historical study had its origins in the era of religious reform, the method was immediately controversial within the Orthodox world. Still, many of the nineteenth century's strongest critics of Reform, including strictly Orthodox rabbis, utilized this new scientific method. Notable among them were [[Nachman Krochmal]] and [[Zvi Hirsch Chajes]].
  
Leaders of the Reform movement, such as [[Abraham Geiger]] and [[Samuel Holdheim]], subjected the Talmud to severe scrutiny as part of an effort to break with traditional rabbinic Judaism. In reaction, Orthodox leaders such as [[Moses Sofer]] and [[Samson Raphael Hirsch]] became exquisitely sensitive to any change and rejected modern critical methods of Talmud study. The methods and manner of Talmud study was thus caught in the debate between the Reformers and Orthodoxy.  
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==External attacks==
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===Suppression===
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[[Image:Talmudtrial.jpg|thumb|right|200px|The burning of the Talmud]]
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The history of the Talmud reflects in part the history of [[Judaism]] persisting in a world of hostility and persecution. The charge against the Talmud brought by the convert [[Nicholas Donin]] in 1244 led to the first burning of copies of the Talmud in [[Paris]]. The Talmud was likewise the subject of a disputation at [[Barcelona]] in 1263 between [[Nahmanides]] (Rabbi Moses ben Nahman) and the convert [[Pablo Christiani]]. Criticizing the Talmud's [[Oral Law]] tradition as a [[heresy]] against the [[Bible]], Christiani's attacks also resulted in a [[papal bull]] against the Talmud and in the Dominican censorship commission, which ordered the cancellation of passages reprehensible from a [[Christianity|Christian]] perspective (1264).
  
Somewhere in between these two diametrically opposed views arose a new school, which developed the Historical-Critical method of Talmud study. Scholars and rabbis of this outlook believed that Jewish Law was the product of a long development and that tampering with this process should be avoided. On the other hand, they believed that traditional Jewish sources, such as the Talmud, should be subject to academic inquiry and critical analysis. Exponents of this view were [[Zecharias Frankel]], [[Leopold Zunz]] and [[Solomon Judah Leib Rappaport]].  
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At the disputation of [[Tortosa]] in 1413, Geronimo de Santa Fé brought forward a number of accusations, including the fateful assertion that the condemnations of pagans and apostates found in the Talmud referred in reality to Christians. Two years later, [[Pope Martin V]], who had convened this disputation, issued a bull forbidding the Jews to read the Talmud, and ordering the destruction of all copies of it. Thankfully, this order was not implemented. Far more important were the charges made in the early part of the [[sixteenth century]] by the convert [[Johannes Pfefferkorn]], the agent of the Dominicans whose efforts succeeded in forcing the Jews in several areas to surrender the talmudic books in their possession.
  
Because the modern method of historical study had its origins in the era of religious reform, the method was immediately controversial within the Orthodox world. Still, many of the nineteenth century's strongest critics of Reform, including strictly orthodox Rabbis, utilized this new scientific method. Notable among them were [[Nachman Krochmal]] and [[Zvi Hirsch Chajes]].
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[[Image:Pfefferkorn and reuchlin.jpg|thumb|250px|Pfefferkorn (standing) disputes with his adversary, [[Johannes Reuchlin]]. Woodcut, [[Cologne]], 1521]]  
  
=== Contemporary scholarship ===
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The affair resulted in an investigation which proved some of Pfefferkorn's allegations to be irresponsible. Under the protection of a papal privilege, the complete printed edition of the Babylonian Talmud was issued in 1520 by [[Daniel Bomberg]] in [[Venice]]. Three years later, in 1523, Bomberg published the first edition of the Jerusalem Talmud. Yet, 30 years after the Vatican permitted the Talmud to appear in print, it undertook a campaign of destruction against it. On September 9, 1553, copies of the Talmud which had been confiscated in compliance with a decree of the [[Inquisition]] were burned in [[Rome]]; and similar burnings took place in other Italian cities, as at [[Cremona]] 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 Vatican's list of forbidden books. [[Pope Pius IV]] commanded in 1565 that the Talmud be deprived of its very name.
Some trends within contemporary talmud scholarship are listed below.
 
  
*Orthodox Judaism maintains that the oral law was revealed together with the written law. As such, most of Orthodox Judaism has resisted any effort to apply the historical method to the Talmud. It also resists imputing motives to the authors of the Talmud.
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The first edition of the expurgated Talmud, on which most subsequent editions were based, appeared at [[Basel]] (1578-1581) with the omission of passages considered inimical to Christianity, together with modifications of certain phrases. A fresh attack on the Talmud was decreed by [[Pope Gregory XIII]] (1575-85), and in 1593 [[Pope Clement VIII|Clement VIII]] renewed the old interdiction against reading or owning it. However, the increasing study of the Talmud in [[Poland]] led to the issue of a complete edition ([[Kraków]], 1602-5), with a restoration of the original text. In 1707, copies of the Talmud were confiscated in the province of [[Brandenburg]], but were restored to their owners by command of [[Friedrich I of Prussia|Frederick, the first king of Prussia]]. The last attack on the Talmud took place in Poland in 1757, when Bishop Dembowski convened a public disputation at Kamenetz-Podolsk, and ordered all copies of the work found in his bishopric to be confiscated and burned by the hangman.
  
*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]] and [[Shaye J.D. Cohen]].
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===Anti-Jewish criticism===
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The external history of attacks against the Talmud also includes the literary attacks made upon it by [[Christianity|Christian]] theologians after the [[Reformation]]. [[Martin Luther]] and other Reformation theologians harshly criticized Jews and [[Judaism]], and many of these attacks were based on the Talmud.
  
*Some scholars hold that the Talmud has been extensively shaped by later editorial redaction, but that it contains sources which 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 C. Kraemer]].
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Later, in 1830, during a debate in the [[France|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 either for their refusal to recognize [[Jesus]] as the [[Messiah]] or for their possession of the Talmud. In the same year the [[Abbé Luigi Chiarini]] published in [[Paris, France|Paris]] a voluminous work entitled ''Théorie du Judaïsme'', advocating for the first time that the Talmud should be generally accessible, not to serve the Jewish community, but to serve for attacks on Judaism. In a like spirit, modern [[anti-semitism|anti-Semitic]] agitators have urged that a translation be made. The Talmud and the "Talmud Jew" thus became objects of anti-Semitic attacks, although, on the other hand, they were defended by many Christian students of the Talmud.
  
*Some scholars hold that many or most 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]], [[David Weiss Halivni]], and [[Avraham Goldberg]].
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In fact, the Talmud makes little mention of Jesus directly or the early Christians. There are a number of derogatory quotes about individuals named [[Yeshu]] that once existed in editions of the Talmud; these quotes were long ago removed from the main text due to accusations that they referred to Jesus, and are no longer used in Talmud study. However, these removed quotes were preserved through rare printings of lists of ''errata'', known as ''Hashmatot Hashass'' ("Omissions of the Talmud"). 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 alternate print.
  
 
== Role of the Talmud in Judaism ==
 
== Role of the Talmud in Judaism ==
 
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The Talmud is the written record of an oral tradition. It became the basis for many rabbinic legal codes and customs. Not all Jews, in the past and present, have accepted the Talmud as having religious authority. This section briefly outlines such movements.
The Talmud is the written record of an oral tradition. It became the basis for many rabbinic legal codes and customs. Not all Jews, in the past and present, have accepted the Talmud as having religious authority. This section briefly outlines such movements.
 
  
 
===Sadducees===
 
===Sadducees===
The [[Sadducees]] were a Jewish sect which flourished during the second temple period. One of their main arguments with the [[Pharisees]] (later known as Rabbinic Judaism) was over their rejection of an ''Oral Law''.
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The [[Sadducees]] were a Jewish sect which flourished during the second temple period. One of their main arguments with the [[Pharisees]] (the precursors of [[Rabbinic Judaism]]) was over their rejection of an ''Oral Law''. The Sadducees rejected the idea of the [[Oral Torah]] and insisted that only the five Books of Moses were authoritative. They also were less likely to accept the authority of some of the [[prophets]] and other biblical writings, especially those dealing with such topics as the resurrection of the dead. Because they were largely associated with the Temple priesthood, the Sadducees influence rapidly diminished after the destruction of the Temple in 70 C.E..  
  
 
===Karaism===
 
===Karaism===
Another movement which rejected the oral law was [[Karaism]]. It arose within two centuries of 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 Law]], as embodied in the Talmud, in favor of a strict adherence to the Written Law only. This opposes the fundamental [[Rabbinic Judaism|Rabbinic]] concept that the Oral Law was given to [[Moses]] on [[Mount Sinai]] together with the Written Law. Karaism has virtually disappeared, declining from a high of nearly 10% of the Jewish population to a current estimated .002%.
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Another movement which rejected the Oral Law was [[Karaism]]. It arose within two centuries of 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]]—and therefore of rabbinical authority—as embodied in the Talmud, in favor of a strict adherence to the Written Law only. Karaism was once a major movement, but has diminished in recent centuries, declining from a high of nearly 10 percent of the Jewish population to a current estimated .002 percent.
  
 
===Reform Judaism===
 
===Reform Judaism===
With the rise of Reform Judaism, during the nineteenth century, the authority of the Talmud was again questioned. The Talmud was seen (together with the written law as well) as being a product of late antiquity and of having relevance merely as a historical document.
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With the rise of [[Reform Judaism]], during the nineteenth century, the authority of the Talmud was again questioned. The Talmud was seen (together with the Written Law as well) as being a product of antiquity and of having limited relevance to modern Jews. Reform Judaism does not emphasize the study of Talmud to nearly the same degree in their Hebrew schools as do other forms of contemporary Judaism, but the Talmud is indeed studied in Reform rabbinical seminaries.
  
=== Present day ===
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===Orthodox Judaism===
:''See also [[Halakha#How Halakha is viewed today|How Halakha is viewed today]]; [[Halakha#The sources and process of Halakha|The Halakhic process]]''.
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[[Image:Pale teacher.jpg|thumb|200px|A nineteenth century Talmud teacher and young students, probably his own children]]
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[[Orthodox Judaism|Orthodox]] Judaism continues to stress the importance of Talmud study and it is a central component of [[Yeshiva]] curriculum. The regular study of the Talmud among laymen has been popularized by the ''[[Daf Yomi]]'', a daily course of Talmud study initiated by Rabbi [[Meir Shapiro]] in 1923. Traditional rabbinic education continues to lay heavy emphasis on the knowledge of Talmud.
  
[[Orthodox Judaism|Orthodox]] Judaism continues to stress the importance of Talmud study and it is a central component of [[Yeshiva]] curriculum. The regular study of Talmud among laymen has been popularized by the ''[[Daf Yomi]]'', a daily course of Talmud study initiated by Rabbi [[Meir Shapiro]] in 1923; its 12th cycle of study on March 2, 2005.  Traditional Rabbinic education continues to lay heavy emphasis on the knowledge of Talmud. This is so even though ''Halakha'' is generally studied from the medieval codes and not directly from the Talmud. See also: ''[[Orthodox Judaism#Beliefs about Jewish law and tradition|Orthodox beliefs about Jewish law and tradition]]''.
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===Conservative Judaism===
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[[Conservative Judaism|Conservative]] Judaism similarly emphasizes the study of Talmud within its religious and rabbinic education. Generally, however, the Talmud is studied as a historical source-text for [[Halakha]]. The Conservative approach to legal decision-making emphasizes placing classic texts and prior decisions in historical and cultural context, and examining the historical development of Halakha. This approach has resulted in greater practical flexibility than that of the Orthodox.  
  
[[Conservative Judaism|Conservative]] Judaism similarly emphasises the study of Talmud within its religious and rabbinic education.  Generally, however, the Talmud is studied as a historical source-text for [[Halakha]].  The Conservative approach to legal decision-making emphasizes placing classic texts and prior decisions in historical and cultural context, and examining the historical development of Halakha.  This approach has resulted in greater practical flexibility than that of the Orthodox. See also: ''[[Conservative Judaism#Jewish law|The Conservative Jewish view of the Halakha]]''.
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===Secular Judaism===
 
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Many Jews today define themselves as Jews only in an ethnic or cultural sense. These Jews reject the tenets of Jewish religion outright, defining themselves either as agnostics or atheists. Included in the latter category are Jewish [[Marxism|Marxists]] and [[Marxism-Leninism|Marxist-Leninists]], who take a militantly atheistic stance, believing that religion itself is primarily a tool of economic oppression.
[[Reform Judaism|Reform]] Judaism 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 [[Halakha|Jewish law]], and uses the Talmud as a source of inspiration and moral instruction. See also: ''[[Reform Judaism#Reform's position on Halakha (Jewish law) today|The Reform Jewish view of the Halakha]]'' and ''[[Reform Judaism#Teachings on the Oral Law|view of the Talmud]]''.
 
 
 
==External attacks==
 
===Middle ages===
 
The history of the Talmud reflects in part the history of Judaism persisting in a world of hostility and persecution. Almost at the very time that the Babylonian savoraim put the finishing touches to the redaction of the Talmud, the emperor [[Justinian I|Justinian]] issued his edict against the abolition of the Greek translation of the Bible in the service of the Synagogue. This edict, dictated by Christian zeal and anti-Jewish feeling, was the prelude to attacks on the Talmud, conceived in the same spirit, and beginning in the [[thirteenth century]] in [[France]], where Talmudic study was then flourishing.
 
 
 
The charge against the Talmud brought by the convert Nicholas Donin led to the first public disputation between Jews and Christians and to the first burning of copies of the work ([[Paris]],  Place de Grève,1244). The Talmud was likewise the subject of a disputation at [[Barcelona]] in 1263 between [[Nahmanides]] (Rabbi Moses ben Nahman) and Pablo Christiani. This same Pablo Christiani made an attack on the Talmud which resulted in a [[papal bull]] against it and in the first censorship, which was undertaken at Barcelona by a commission of [[Dominican Order|Dominican]]s, who ordered the cancellation of passages reprehensible from a Christian perspective (1264).
 
 
 
At the disputation of [[Tortosa]] in 1413, Geronimo de Santa Fé brought forward a number of accusations, including the fateful assertion that the condemnations of pagans and apostates found in the Talmud referred in reality to Christians. Two years later, [[Pope Martin V]], who had convened this disputation, issued a 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 [[sixteenth century]] by the convert [[Johannes Pfefferkorn]], 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]], who was opposed by the obscurantists and the humanists; and this controversy, which was carried on for the most part by means of pamphlets, became the precursor of the [[Protestant Reformation|Reformation]] {{Fact|date=February 2007}}.
 
 
 
An unexpected result of this affair was the complete printed edition of the Babylonian Talmud issued in 1520 by [[Daniel Bomberg]] at [[Venice]], 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 New-Year's Day (September 9, 1553) the copies of the Talmud which had been confiscated in compliance with a decree of the [[Inquisition]] were burned at [[Rome]]; and similar burnings took place in other Italian cities, as at [[Cremona]] in 1559. The 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]]; and [[Pope Pius IV]] commanded, in 1565, that the Talmud be deprived of its very name.
 
 
 
The first edition of the expurgated Talmud, on which most subsequent editions were based, appeared at [[Basel]] (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]] (1575-85), and in 1593 [[Pope Clement VIII|Clement VIII]] 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]], 1602-5), with a restoration of the original text; an edition containing, so far as known, only two treatises had previously been published at [[Lublin]] (1559-76). In 1707 some copies of the Talmud were confiscated in the province of [[Brandenburg]], but were restored to their owners by command of [[Friedrich I of Prussia|Frederick, the first king of Prussia]]. The last attack on the Talmud took place in Poland in 1757, when Bishop Dembowski, at the instigation of the [[Frankists]], convened a public disputation at Kamenetz-Podolsk, and ordered all copies of the work found in his bishopric to be confiscated and burned by the hangman.
 
 
 
The external history of the Talmud includes also the literary attacks made upon it by Christian theologians after the Reformation, since these onslaughts on Judaism were directed primarily against that work, even though it was made a subject of study by the Christian theologians of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. 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]] as the [[Messiah]] or for their possession of the Talmud. In the same year the Abbé Chiarini published at Paris a voluminous work entitled "Théorie du Judaïsme," in which he announced a translation of the Talmud, advocating for the first time a version which should make the work generally accessible, and thus serve for attacks on Judaism. In a like spirit modern anti-Semitic agitators have urged that a translation be made; and this demand has even been brought before legislative bodies, as in Vienna. The Talmud and the "Talmud Jew" thus became objects of anti-Semitic attacks, although, on the other hand, they were defended by many Christian students of the Talmud.
 
 
 
Despite the numerous mentions of [[Edom]] which may refer to Christendom, the Talmud makes little mention of Jesus directly or the early Christians. There are a number of quotes about individuals named [[Yeshu]] that once existed in editions of the Talmud; these quotes were long ago removed from the main text due to accusations that they referred to Jesus, and are no longer used in Talmud study. However, these removed quotes were preserved through rare printings of lists of ''errata'', known as ''Hashmatot Hashass'' ("Omissions of the Talmud"). 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 alternate print. These passages do not necessarily refer to a single individual and many of the stories are far removed from anything written in the [[New Testament]]. Many scholars are convinced that these people cannot be identified with the Christian messiah.
 
 
 
===Contemporary attacks===
 
 
 
Some groups and individuals consider that passages in the Talmud show that [[Judaism]] is inherently racist.  Critics of these charges argue that the passages in question do not indicate inherent racism on the part of the Talmud (and Judaism), but rather mistranslation, falsification, and selective choice of quotes out of context, on the part of those making the charges. The [[Anti-Defamation League]]'s report on this topic states:
 
 
 
<blockquote>By selectively citing various passages from the Talmud and Midrash, polemicists have sought to demonstrate that Judaism espouses hatred for non-Jews (and specifically for Christians), and promotes obscenity, sexual perversion, and other immoral behavior. To make these passages serve their purposes, these polemicists frequently mistranslate them or cite them out of context (wholesale fabrication of passages is not unknown)...<br/>
 
In distorting the normative meanings of rabbinic texts, anti-Talmud writers frequently remove passages from their textual and historical contexts. Even when they present their citations accurately, they judge the passages based on contemporary moral standards, ignoring the fact that the majority of these passages were composed close to two thousand years ago by people living in cultures radically different from our own. They are thus able to ignore Judaism's long history of social progress and paint it instead as a primitive and parochial religion.<br/>
 
Those who attack the Talmud frequently cite ancient rabbinic sources without noting subsequent developments in Jewish thought, and without making a good-faith effort to consult with contemporary Jewish authorities who can explain the role of these sources in normative Jewish thought and practice.</blockquote>
 
 
 
Rabbi [[Gil Student]], a prolific author on the internet, refutes anti-Talmud accusations and writes:
 
<blockquote>Anti-Talmud accusations have a long history dating back to the 13th century when the associates of the Inquisition attempted to defame Jews and their religion [see Yitzchak Baer, ''A History of Jews in Christian Spain'', vol. I pp. 150-185]. The early material compiled by hateful preachers like Raymond Martini and Nicholas Donin remain the basis of all subsequent accusations against the Talmud. Some are true, most are false and based on quotations taken out of context, and some are total fabrications [see Baer, ch. 4 f. 54, 82 that it has been proven that Raymond Martini forged quotations]. On the Internet today we can find many of these old accusations being rehashed...</blockquote>
 
  
 
== Translations ==
 
== Translations ==
=== Translations of Talmud Bavli ===
+
=== Talmud Bavli ===
 
There are five contemporary translations of the Talmud into English:
 
There are five contemporary translations of the Talmud into English:
* ''The Schottenstein Edition of the Talmud'', [[Artscroll|Mesorah Publications]]. In this translation, each English page faces the Aramaic/Hebrew page. The English pages are elucidated and heavily annotated; each Aramaic/Hebrew page of Talmud typically requires three English pages of translation. See also: [http://www.artscroll.com/Talmud1.htm Mesorah Talmud site].
+
* ''Tractate Beitzah: The Schottenstein Edition of the Talmud''. In this translation, each English page faces the Aramaic/Hebrew page. The English pages are elucidated and heavily annotated; each Aramaic/Hebrew page of Talmud typically requires three [[English language|English]] pages of translation.<ref> Ysiroel Reisman, ''Tractate Beitzah: The Schottenstein Edition'' (Mesorah Publications, 1992, ISBN 9780899067308).</ref>
* ''The Soncino Talmud'' [[Isidore Epstein]], Soncino Press. 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 also exists on CD-ROM.
+
* ''The Soncino Talmud'', [[Isidore Epstein]]. 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 also exists on CD-ROM.<ref> Isidore Epstein (ed.), ''Soncino Hebrew/English Babylonian Talmud'' (Bnpublishing.com; CD-ROM edition, 2005, ISBN 9568351140).</ref>
* ''The Talmud of Babylonia. An American Translation'', [[Jacob Neusner]], Tzvee Zahavy, others. Atlanta: 1984-1995: Scholars Press for Brown Judaic Studies. Complete.
+
* ''The Talmud of Babylonia. An American Translation'', [[Jacob Neusner]], Tzvee Zahavy, others. Scholars Press, 1984. ISBN 9780891307396
* ''The Talmud: The Steinsaltz Edition'' [[Adin Steinsaltz]], Random House (incomplete). This work is in fact a translation of Rabbi Steinsaltz' [[Hebrew language]] translation of and commentary on the entire Talmud. See also: [http://www.steinsaltz.org/dynamic/content.asp?id=17 Steinsaltz Talmud site].
+
* ''The Talmud: The Steinsaltz Edition'', [[Adin Steinsaltz]]. This work is in fact a translation of Rabbi Steinsaltz' [[Hebrew language]] translation of and commentary on the entire Talmud.<ref> Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz, ''The Talmud, The Steinsaltz Edition''  (Random House, 1999, ISBN 9780375503504).</ref>
* ''The Babylonian Talmud'', translated by [[Michael L. Rodkinson]] (incomplete). This ten volume translation (1918) is also available on the internet. http://www.sacred-texts.com/jud/talmud.htm
+
* ''The Babylonian Talmud'', translated by [[Michael L. Rodkinson]], Randon House (incomplete). This ten volume translation (1918) is also available on the internet.<ref>Michael L. Rodkinson (trans.), [https://www.sacred-texts.com/jud/talmud.htm The Babylonian Talmud] [1918]. ''Internet Sacred Text Archive''. Retrieved August 27, 2020.</ref> A more current version also available.<ref> Michael L. Rodkinson, ''The Babylonian Talmud: Tract Sanhedrin '' (Kessinger Publishing, 2004, ISBN 1419153420).</ref>
  
=== Translations of Talmud Yerushalmi ===
+
=== Talmud Yerushalmi ===
''Talmud of the Land of Israel: A Preliminary Translation and Explanation'' [[Jacob Neusner]], Tzvee Zahavy, others. University of Chicago Press. This translation uses a form-analytical presentation which makes the logical units of discourse easier to identify and follow. This work has received many positive reviews. However, some consider Neusner's translation methodology idiosyncratic. One volume was negatively reviewed by [[Saul Lieberman]] of the Jewish Theological Seminary.
+
*''The Yerushalmi—The Talmud of the Land of Israel: A Preliminary Translation and Explanation'', [[Jacob Neusner]].<ref>Jacob Neusner, ''The Yerushalmi—The Talmud of the Land of Israel: An Introduction'' (Jason Aronson Press, 1994, ISBN 9780876688120).</ref>
  
''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).  [http://www.artscroll.com/Books/ytal.html Mesorah/Artscroll's website for the Schottenstein Edition of the Yerushalmi Talmud]
+
*''Schottenstein Edition of the Yerushalmi Talmud'' Mesorah/Artscroll. This translation is the counterpart to Mesorah/Artscroll's Schottenstein Edition of the Babylonian Talmud). <ref> Rabbi Nosson Scherman and Rabbi Meir Zlotowitz (eds.), ''Schottenstein Edition Talmud Yerushalmi: Tractate Berachos'' (Mesorah Publications, 2005, ISBN 9781422602348).</ref>
 
 
==See also==
 
{{wikisource}}
 
*[[Jerusalem Talmud]]
 
*[[Mishnah]]
 
*[[Minor Tractates]]
 
*[[Tosefta]]
 
*[[Beraita]]
 
*[[Gemara]]
 
*[[Ein Yaakov]]
 
*[[Rabbinic literature]]
 
*[[Yeshiva]]
 
  
 
==Notes==
 
==Notes==
Line 232: Line 162:
  
 
==References==
 
==References==
===General===
+
* Carmell, Aryeh. ''Aiding Talmud Study''. Feldheim, 5th ed., 1986. ISBN 978-0873064286
* [[Maimonides]] ''Introduction to the [[Mishneh Torah]]'' ([http://www.mechon-mamre.org/e/e0000.htm English translation])
+
* Herford, R. Travers. ''Christianity in Talmud and Midrash''. Ktav Pub. Inc., 1975. ISBN 0870684833
* [[Maimonides]] ''Introduction to the [[Maimonides#Works and bibliography|Commentary on the Mishnah]]'' ([http://www.daat.ac.il/daat/mahshevt/hakdama/tohen-m-2.htm Hebrew Fulltext]), transl. Zvi Lampel (Judaica Press, 1998). ISBN 1-880582-28-7
+
* Lampel, Zvi. ''[[Maimonides]]' Introduction to the [[Maimonides#Works and bibliography|Commentary on the Mishnah]]''. Judaica Press, 1998. ISBN 1880582287
* [[Adin Steinsaltz]] ''The Essential Talmud: Thirtieth Anniversary Edition'' (Basic Books, 2006). ISBN 0-465-08273-4. Read more [http://www.steinsaltz.org/dynamic/book_details.asp?id=22 here]. See also [http://www.steinsaltz.org/dynamic/essay_details.asp?id=6&sub=1 here].
+
* Landesman, D. ''A Practical Guide to Torah Learning''. Jason Aronson, 1995. ISBN 1568213204
* [[Adin Steinsaltz]] ''The Talmud: A Reference Guide'' (Random House, 1996). ISBN 0-679-77367-3
+
* Neusner, Jacob. ''Sources and Traditions: Types of Compositions in the Talmud of Babylonia''. University of South Florida, 1992. ISBN 1555406750
* [[Zvi Hirsch Chajes]] ''"Mevo Hatalmud"'', transl. Jacob Shachter: ''The Students' Guide Through The Talmud'' (Yashar Books, 2005). ISBN 1-933143-05-3
+
* Parry, Aaron. ''The Complete Idiot's Guide to The Talmud''. Alpha Books, 2004. ISBN 1592572022
*[[Shmuel Hanaggid]] ''Introduction to the Talmud'', in Aryeh Carmell ''Aiding Talmud Study'' (Philipp Feldheim, 1986). ISBN 0-87306-428-3
+
* Steinsaltz, Adin. ''The Talmud, The Steinsaltz Edition: A Reference Guide''. Random House, 1996. ISBN 0679773673
* Nathan T. Lopes Cardozo ''The Infinite Chain : Torah, Masorah, and Man'' (Philipp Feldheim, 1989). ISBN 0-944070-15-9
 
* D. Landesman ''A Practical Guide to Torah Learning'' ([[Jason Aronson]], 1995). ISBN 1-56821-320-4
 
* Aaron Parry ''The Complete Idiot's Guide to The Talmud'' (Alpha Books, 2004). ISBN 1-59257-202-2
 
* R. Travers Herford ''Christianity in Talmud and Midrash'' (Ktav Pub Inc, 1975). ISBN 0-87068-483-3
 
 
 
=== On Mishnah and Talmud===
 
*Y. N. Epstein, ''Mevo-ot le-Sifrut haTalmudim''
 
*Hanoch Albeck, ''Mavo la-talmudim''
 
*[[Louis Jacobs]], "How Much of the Babylonian Talmud is Pseudepigraphic?" Journal of Jewish Studies 28, No. 1 (1977), pp. 46-59
 
*[[Saul Lieberman]] ''Hellenism in Jewish Palestine'' (New York: Jewish Theological Seminary, 1950)
 
*[[Jacob Neusner]] ''Sources and Traditions: Types of Compositions in the Talmud of Babylonia'' (Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1992).
 
*[[David Weiss Halivni]] ''Mekorot u-Mesorot: Eruvin-Pesahim'' (Jerusalem: Jewish Theological Seminary, 1982)
 
*Yaakov Elman, "Order, Sequence, and Selection: The Mishnah’s Anthological Choices,” in David Stern, ed. ''The Anthology in Jewish Literature'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004) 53-80
 
*Strack, Herman L. and Stemberger, Gunter, ''Introduction to the Talmud and Midrash'', tr. Markus Bockmuehl: repr. 1992, hardback ISBN-10: 0567095096, ISBN-13: 978-0567095091, paperback ISBN-10: 0800625242, ISBN-13: 978-0800625245 
 
*Mielziner, Moses, ''Introduction to the Talmud'': repr. 1997, hardback ISBN-10: 0819701564, ISBN-13: 978-0819701565, paperback ISBN-10: 0819700150, ISBN-13: 978-0819700155
 
*Carmell, Aryeh, ''Aiding Talmud Study'': Feldheim, 5th ed. 1986 ISBN-10: 0873064283, ISBN-13: 978-0873064286
 
 
 
===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-Erez Yisrael (Jerusalem: Yad Yizhak Ben-Zvi, 1985), (=The Rabbinic Class of Roman Palestine in Late Antiquity)
 
*[[Saul Lieberman]] ''Hellenism in Jewish Palestine'' (New York: Jewish Theological Seminary, 1950)
 
*[[John W. McGinley]]  " 'The Written' as the Vocation of Conceiving Jewishly."  ISBN 0-595-40488-X
 
*David Bigman, [http://www.edah.org/backend/coldfusion/displayissue.cfm?volume=2&issue=1 Finding A Home for Critical Talmud Study]
 
  
 
==External links==
 
==External links==
{{wikiquote}}
+
All links retrieved February 26, 2023.
 
+
*[http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/14213-talmud Talmud] ''Jewish Encyclopedia''
===General===
+
*[http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/14214-talmud-commentaries Talmud Commentaries] ''Jewish Encyclopedia''
*[http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=32&letter=T Talmud], jewishencyclopedia.com
+
*[https://www.aish.com/jl/h/48948646.html Judaism History: Talmud]  
*[http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=33&letter=T Talmud Commentaries], jewishencyclopedia.com
+
*[https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/the-oral-law-talmud-and-mishna Judaism: The Oral Law -Talmud & Mishna] ''Jewish Virtual Library''
*[http://www.aish.com/literacy/jewishhistory/Crash_Course_in_Jewish_History_Part_39_-_Talmud.asp Jewish History: Talmud], aish.com
+
*[https://people.ucalgary.ca/~elsegal/TalmudPage.html A Page from the Babylonian Talmud]  
*[http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Judaism/talmud_&_mishna.html Talmud/Mishnah/Gemara], jewishvirtuallibrary.org
+
*[http://freemasonry.bcy.ca/anti-masonry/van_hyning.html Falsifiers of the Talmud]  
*[http://library.law.miami.edu/jewishlaw/jewishguide.html Jewish Law Research Guide], [[University of Miami]] Law Library
 
*[http://ohr.edu/judaism/survey/survey.htm A survey of rabbinic literature], [[Ohr Somayach]]
 
 
 
===Full text resources===
 
*[http://www.mechon-mamre.org/b/h/h0.htm Mishnah]
 
*[http://www.mechon-mamre.org/b/f/f0.htm Tosefta]
 
*[http://www.mechon-mamre.org/b/r/r0.htm Talmud Yerushalmi]
 
*[http://www.mechon-mamre.org/b/l/l0.htm Talmud Bavli]
 
*[http://www.sacred-texts.com/jud/talmud.htm Rodkinson English translation] (1903, contains all of the tractates in the Orders of ''Mo'ed''/Festivals and ''Nezikin''/Damages, plus some additional material related to these Orders).
 
*[http://www.e-daf.com Images of each page of the Babylonian Talmud].
 
 
 
=== Manuscripts ===
 
 
 
*[http://jnul.huji.ac.il/dl/talmud/ Treasury of Talmudic Manuscripts, Jewish National and University]
 
 
 
===Talmudic layout===
 
*[http://www.acs.ucalgary.ca/~elsegal/TalmudPage.html "A Page from the Babylonian Talmud"] [[image map]] from Prof. Eliezer Segal
 
*[http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/rs/2/Judaism/talmud.html Talmud and its Shape: colour coded ''daf''], upenn.edu
 
*[http://www.steinsaltz.org/dynamic/content.asp?id=17 A Tour of the English-language Steinsaltz Edition of the Talmud page]
 
*[http://www.shemayisrael.co.il/dafyomi2/today.htm point by point summary and discussion by ''daf'']
 
 
 
===Pertaining to the "Daf Yomi" program===
 
*[http://www.dailygemara.com/ Sephardic Rabbi Eli Mansour's Daily Gemara Page - Daf Yomi]
 
*[http://www.dafyomi.org/ A general resource for Daf Yomi]
 
*[http://www.shemayisrael.co.il/dafyomi2/calendars/calendar.htm Calendar for this Daf Yomi cycle]
 
*[http://www.DafAWeek.com Daf-A-Week: A project to study a daf per week]
 
*[http://www.steinsaltz.org/dynamic/content.asp?id=20 Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz's Daily Insights on Daf Yomi]
 
 
 
=== Refutation of allegations concerning the Talmud ===
 
*[http://www.adl.org/presrele/asus_12/the_talmud.pdf The Talmud in Anti-Semitic Polemics], [[Anti-Defamation League]].
 
*[http://talmud.faithweb.com/ The Real Truth about the Talmud]
 
*[http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Cyprus/8815/ Talmud Exposed]
 
*[http://freemasonry.bcy.ca/anti-masonry/van_hyning.html Falsifiers of the Talmud]
 
 
 
===Audio===
 
*[http://www.mp3shiur.com/viewCat.asp?catID=7 Shiurim on the Talmud], mp3shiur.com
 
*[http://www.ravkaplan.dafyomireview.com/ MP3 Talmud Shiurim by Rav Nissan Kaplan of Mir Yeshiva, Jerusalem]
 
 
 
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Latest revision as of 03:57, 27 February 2023

The Babylonian Talmud

The Talmud (Hebrew: תלמוד) is a record of rabbinical discussions pertaining to Jewish law, biblical interpretation, ethics, customs, and history. It is the basis for all codes of rabbinical law and is much quoted in other Jewish literature.

The Talmud has two basic components: the Mishnah (c. 200 C.E.), the first written compendium of Judaism's Oral Law; and the Gemara (c. 500 C.E.), a rabbinical discussion of the Mishnah and related writings that often ventures into other subjects and expounds broadly on the Hebrew Bible. Printed editions of the Talmud also contain later commentaries from rabbinical authorities through the Middle Ages. The terms Talmud and Gemara are often used interchangeably.

There are two versions of the Talmud—the Babylonian Talmud and the Jerusalem Talmud—each containing basically the same Mishnah but a different Gemara. Of these, the Babylonian Talmud is larger, better edited, and more influential. Other commentaries were also added to later editions of the Talmud.

In European history, the Talmud was sometimes suppressed by the Catholic Church, and it became a source of anti-semitic literature in modern times, when excerpts from it were quoted to "prove" ideas of Jewish arrogance and hatred toward Gentiles. In fact, the Talmud contains the opinions of hundreds of rabbis, often including strong disagreements on many subjects. Like the Bible itself, it can be used to support varying positions on many subjects.

Did you know?
The Talmud contains the opinions of hundreds of rabbis, often including strong disagreements on many subjects. Like the Bible itself, it can be used to support varying positions on many subjects.

History

According to Jewish tradition, God revealed the Oral Law to Moses at Sinai, as well as the Written Law. The Talmud is the expression of the Oral Law.

Oral Law

Rabbinical tradition holds that the Talmud expresses a sacred Oral Torah, equally authoritative to the Written Law given to Moses at Sinai. Originally, Jewish legal and biblical scholarship was also oral. This situation changed drastically, however, mainly as the result of the defeat of the Jewish Revolt against Rome in the year 70 C.E. and the consequent upheaval of Jewish social and legal norms. As the rabbis were required to face a new reality—especially the fact of Judaism without a Temple—there was a flurry of legal discourse and the tradition of oral scholarship was committed to writing.

The earliest recorded Oral Law may have been of the midrashic form, in which Jewish legal discussion was structured as exegetical commentary on the Pentateuch. An alternative form, organized by subject matter instead of by biblical verse, became dominant about the year 200 C.E., when Rabbi Judah ha-Nasi redacted the Mishnah.

Mishnah

The Mishnah forms the core of the Talmud. It is a compilation of legal opinions and debates of leading rabbis of the second century. The rabbis of the Mishnah are known as tannaim, meaning roughly "sages." Since it sequences its laws by subject matter instead of by biblical context, the Mishnah discusses individual subjects more thoroughly than the Midrash, and it includes a much broader selection of halakhic (legal) subjects than the Midrash. The Mishnah's topical organization thus became the framework of the Talmud as a whole.

In addition to the Mishnah, other rabbinical works were recorded at about the same time or shortly thereafter. The Talmud frequently refers to these tannaic statements in order to compare them to those contained in the Mishnah and to support or refute the propositions of various rabbinical authorities. All such non-Mishnaic sources of the tannaim are termed baraitot (lit. outside material, "Works external to the Mishnah"; sing. baraita ברייתא).

A page of the Vilna Edition of the Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Berachot, folio 2a, featuring a Mishnah passage in the center and the Gemara and other commentaries surrounding it

Gemara

In the three centuries following the redaction of the Mishnah, rabbis throughout Palestine and Babylonia analyzed, debated and discussed that work. These discussions form the Gemara (גמרא). The rabbis of the Gemara are known as amoraim (sing. amora אמורא). Gemara means “completion,” from gamar גמר : Hebrew to complete; Aramaic to study.

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 in a dialectical exchange between two (frequently anonymous and sometimes metaphorical) disputants, termed the makshan (questioner) and tartzan (answerer).

These exchanges form the "building-blocks" of the Gemara; the name for a passage of Gemara is a sugya (סוגיא; plural sugyot). A Sugya will typically be comprised of a detailed proof-based elaboration of a mishnaic statement.

In a given sugya, scriptural, tannaic and amoraic statements are brought to support the various opinions. In so doing, the Gemara will often include disagreements between tannaim and amoraim, and compare the mishnaic views with passages from the Beraita. Rarely are debates formally closed; in many instances, the final word determines the practical law, although there are many exceptions to this principle.

Halakha and Aggadah

The Talmud contains a vast amount of material and touches on a great many subjects. Traditionally talmudic statements can be classified into two broad categories: halakhic and agaddic. Halakhic statements are those which directly relate to questions of Jewish law and practice (Halakha). Aggadic statements are those which are not legally related, but rather are exegetical, homiletical, ethical, or historical in nature (Aggadah).

Babylon and Jerusalem

The process of Gemara proceeded in the two major centers of Jewish scholarship, Palestine and Babylonia. Correspondingly, two bodies of analysis developed, and two works of the Talmud were created. The older compilation is called the Jerusalem Talmud or the Talmud Yerushalmi. It was compiled sometime during the fourth century in Palestine. The Babylonian Talmud was compiled about the year 500 C.E., although it continued to be edited later. The word "Talmud," when used without qualification, usually refers to the Babylonian Talmud, which is the better known of the two editions.

The Jerusalem Talmud

A page of a medieval Jerusalem Talmud manuscript, from the Cairo Genizah

The Jerusalem Talmud originated in Tiberias in the School of Johanan ben Nappaha. It is a compilation of teachings of the rabbinical schools of Tiberias, Sepphoris and Caesarea. It is written in both Hebrew and a western Aramaic dialect that differs from its Babylonian counterpart.

Its final redaction probably belongs to the end of the fourth century, but the individual scholars who brought it to its present form cannot be fixed with assurance. By this time Christianity had become the state religion of the Roman Empire and Jerusalem, the holy city of Christendom. The text is evidently incomplete and is not easy to follow. Any further work on the Jerusalem Talmud probably came to an abrupt end in 425 C.E., when Theodosius II suppressed the Jewish Patriarchate and put an end to the practice of formal scholarly ordination in the Jewish community.

Despite this, the Jerusalem Talmud remains an indispensable source of knowledge regarding the development of the Jewish Law in the Holy Land. Opinions based on the Jerusalem Talmud ultimately found their way into both the Tosafot and the Mishneh Torah of Maimonides.

The Babylonian Talmud

Volumes of the Babylonian Talmud

Since the Babylonian Exile of 586 B.C.E., Jews had been living in settlements outside of Judea, and most of the captives did not return home to Jerusalem when this was finally allowed. After the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 C.E. and the later failure of the Bar Kochba revolt, many more Jews moved east. The most important of the Jewish centers were Nehardea, Nisibis, Mahoza, Pumbeditha and Sura.

Talmud Bavli (the "Babylonian Talmud") includes the Mishnah and the Babylonian Gemara. This Gemara is a synopsis of more than 300 years of analysis of the Mishnah in the Babylonian academies.

The man who laid the foundations for the Babylonian Talmud was known simply as Rab, a disciple of Rabbi Judah ha-Nasi, the compiler of the Mishnah. Rabbi Ashi was president of the Sura academy from 375 to 427 C.E. The work begun by Ashi was completed by Rabina. According to ancient tradition, Rabina was the final amoraic expounder. His death in 499 C.E. marked the completion of the redaction of the Talmud.

The question as to when the Gemara was finally put into its present form is not settled among modern scholars. Some of the text did not reach its final form until around 700 C.E.

Comparing the two Talmuds

There are significant differences between the two Talmud compilations. The language of the Jerusalem Talmud is primarily a western Aramaic dialect which differs from that of the Babylonian. The Talmud Yerushalmi is also 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.

In the Bavli, however, Gemara exists only for 37 out of the 63 tractates of the Mishnah. Many agricultural ritual purity laws having to do with the Temple had little practical relevance in Babylonia and were therefore not included. The Yerushalmi, though, covers a number of these chapters.

The influence of the Babylonian Talmud has been far greater than that of the Yerushalmi. This is mainly because the influence and prestige of the Jewish community of Palestine steadily declined in contrast with the Babylonian community in the years after the redaction of the Talmud, as Jews in the Islamic lands received much better treatment than they did in the later Christian Empire.

Commentary and study

From the time of its completion, the Talmud became integral to Jewish scholarship. The earliest post-Gemara Talmud commentaries were written by the Gaonim—the presidents of the rabbinical academies—(approximately 800-1000 C.E.) in Babylonia.

Early commentators such as Rabbi Isaac Alfasi (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 and later served as a basis for the creation of halakhic codes. Another influential medieval halakhic commentary was that of Rabbi Asher ben Yechiel (d. 1327). A fifteenth-century Spanish rabbi, Jacob ibn Habib (d. 1516), composed the En Yaaqob. En Yaaqob (or Ein Yaaqov) extracts nearly all the aggadic 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.

Besides halakhic studies, another major area of talmudic scholarship developed in order to explain these passages and words. Some early commentators such as Rabbenu Gershom of Mainz (tenth century) and Rabbenu Hananel (early eleventh 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-Mafteach (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 referring to parallel passages where the same thought is expressed in full. Using a different style, Rabbi Nathan b. Jechiel created a lexicon called the Arukh in the eleventh century in order to translate difficult words.

Sixteenth-century woodcut of Rashi

By far the most well known commentary on the Babylonian Talmud is that of Rashi (Rabbi Solomon ben Isaac, 1040-1105). Rashi's commentary is comprehensive, covering almost the entire Talmud. It is considered indispensable to students of the Talmud and is included as a running commentary in modern editions. Maimonides' commentary on the Mishnah, though limited in scope compared to Rahsi's, exerted a similarly great influence.

Medieval Ashkenazic Jewry produced another major commentary known as Tosafot ("additions" or "supplements"). The Tosafot are collected commentaries by various medieval Ashkenazic rabbis on the Talmud. 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.

Over time, the approach of the tosafists spread to other Jewish communities, particularly that of the Sephardic communities in Spain. This led to the composition of many other commentaries in similar styles. Among these are the commentaries of Ramban, Rashba, Ritva, Ran, Yad Ramah, and Meiri.

In later centuries, focus partially shifted from direct talmudic interpretation to the analysis of previously written talmudic commentaries. These later commentaries include "Maharshal" (Solomon Luria), "Maharam" (Meir Lublin) and "Maharsha" (Samuel Edels).

Printing

The first complete edition of the Babylonian Talmud was printed in Italy by Daniel Bomberg during the sixteenth century. In addition to the Mishnah and Gemara, Bomberg's edition contained the Tosafot, the commentaries of Rashi. Almost all printings since Bomberg have followed the same pagination. In 1835, a new edition of the Talmud was printed by Menachem Romm of Vilna (Vilnius, Lithuania). Known as the Vilna Shas, this edition (and later ones printed by his widow and sons) have become an unofficial standard for Talmud editions. In the Vilna edition of the Talmud there are 5,894 folio pages.

Pilpul

During the fifteenth and sixteenth 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, which means "pepper" in Hebrew and was applied to this type of study, which hearkens 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 were therefore created, resolving seeming contradictions within the Talmud by novel logical means.

Pilpul study reached its height in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries when expertise in pilpulistic analysis was considered an art form and became a goal in and of itself within the yeshivot (schools) of Poland and Lithuania. However, many sixteenth- and seventeenth-century rabbis were also critical of pilpul. Among them may be noted Judah Loew b. Bezalel (the Maharal), Isaiah Horowitz, and Jair Hayyim Bacharach.

By the eighteenth century, pilpul study waned. Instead, other styles of learning such as that of the school of Elijah b. Solomon, the Vilna Gaon, became popular.

Brisker method

In the late nineteenth century another trend in Talmud study arose. Rabbi Hayyim Soloveitchik (1853-1918) of Brisk (Brest-Litovsk) developed and refined this style of study. The Brisker method involves the analysis of rabbinic arguments within the Talmud, 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 the Pilpul. Nevertheless, the influence of the Brisker method is great. Most modern day yeshivot (Hebrew schools) study the Talmud using the Brisker method in some form. And it is through this method that Maimonides' famous Mishneh Torah began to be read not only as a halakhic work but also as a work of general talmudic interpretation.

Critical method

The text of the Talmud has been subject to some level of critical scrutiny throughout its history.[1] In general, however, traditional commentaries shied away from textual criticism of talmudic passages. In the late eighteenth century, liberalization of social restrictions against Jews resulted in Judaism undergoing enormous upheaval and transformation. Such movements as Reform Judaism and other secularizing and assimilating trends emerged. During this time, modern methods of textual and historical analysis were applied to the Talmud.

Leaders of the Reform movement, such as Abraham Geiger and Samuel Holdheim, subjected the Talmud to severe scrutiny as part of an effort to break with traditional rabbinic Judaism. In reaction, Orthodox leaders such as Moses Sofer and Samson Raphael Hirsch rejected modern critical methods of Talmud study. The methods and manner of Talmud study were thus caught in the debate between the Reformers and Orthodoxy. A middle ground was developed by scholars who believed that, while tampering with Jewish law should be avoided, traditional Jewish sources such as the Talmud should be subject to academic inquiry and critical analysis. Exponents of this view were Zecharias Frankel, Leopold Zunz and Solomon Judah Leib Rappaport.

Because the modern method of historical study had its origins in the era of religious reform, the method was immediately controversial within the Orthodox world. Still, many of the nineteenth century's strongest critics of Reform, including strictly Orthodox rabbis, utilized this new scientific method. Notable among them were Nachman Krochmal and Zvi Hirsch Chajes.

External attacks

Suppression

The burning of the Talmud

The history of the Talmud reflects in part the history of Judaism persisting in a world of hostility and persecution. The charge against the Talmud brought by the convert Nicholas Donin in 1244 led to the first burning of copies of the Talmud in Paris. The Talmud was likewise the subject of a disputation at Barcelona in 1263 between Nahmanides (Rabbi Moses ben Nahman) and the convert Pablo Christiani. Criticizing the Talmud's Oral Law tradition as a heresy against the Bible, Christiani's attacks also resulted in a papal bull against the Talmud and in the Dominican censorship commission, which ordered the cancellation of passages reprehensible from a Christian perspective (1264).

At the disputation of Tortosa in 1413, Geronimo de Santa Fé brought forward a number of accusations, including the fateful assertion that the condemnations of pagans and apostates found in the Talmud referred in reality to Christians. Two years later, Pope Martin V, who had convened this disputation, issued a bull forbidding the Jews to read the Talmud, and ordering the destruction of all copies of it. Thankfully, this order was not implemented. Far more important were the charges made in the early part of the sixteenth century by the convert Johannes Pfefferkorn, the agent of the Dominicans whose efforts succeeded in forcing the Jews in several areas to surrender the talmudic books in their possession.

Pfefferkorn (standing) disputes with his adversary, Johannes Reuchlin. Woodcut, Cologne, 1521

The affair resulted in an investigation which proved some of Pfefferkorn's allegations to be irresponsible. Under the protection of a papal privilege, the complete printed edition of the Babylonian Talmud was issued in 1520 by Daniel Bomberg in Venice. Three years later, in 1523, Bomberg published the first edition of the Jerusalem Talmud. Yet, 30 years after the Vatican permitted the Talmud to appear in print, it undertook a campaign of destruction against it. On September 9, 1553, copies of the Talmud which had been confiscated in compliance with a decree of the Inquisition were burned in Rome; and similar burnings took place in other Italian cities, as at Cremona 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 Vatican's list of forbidden books. Pope Pius IV commanded in 1565 that the Talmud be deprived of its very name.

The first edition of the expurgated Talmud, on which most subsequent editions were based, appeared at Basel (1578-1581) with the omission of passages considered inimical to Christianity, together with modifications of certain phrases. A fresh attack on the Talmud was decreed by Pope Gregory XIII (1575-85), and in 1593 Clement VIII renewed the old interdiction against reading or owning it. However, the increasing study of the Talmud in Poland led to the issue of a complete edition (Kraków, 1602-5), with a restoration of the original text. In 1707, copies of the Talmud were confiscated in the province of Brandenburg, but were restored to their owners by command of Frederick, the first king of Prussia. The last attack on the Talmud took place in Poland in 1757, when Bishop Dembowski convened a public disputation at Kamenetz-Podolsk, and ordered all copies of the work found in his bishopric to be confiscated and burned by the hangman.

Anti-Jewish criticism

The external history of attacks against the Talmud also includes the literary attacks made upon it by Christian theologians after the Reformation. Martin Luther and other Reformation theologians harshly criticized Jews and Judaism, and many of these attacks were based on the Talmud.

Later, 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 either for their refusal to recognize Jesus as the Messiah or for their possession of the Talmud. In the same year the Abbé Luigi Chiarini published in Paris a voluminous work entitled Théorie du Judaïsme, advocating for the first time that the Talmud should be generally accessible, not to serve the Jewish community, but to serve for attacks on Judaism. In a like spirit, modern anti-Semitic agitators have urged that a translation be made. The Talmud and the "Talmud Jew" thus became objects of anti-Semitic attacks, although, on the other hand, they were defended by many Christian students of the Talmud.

In fact, the Talmud makes little mention of Jesus directly or the early Christians. There are a number of derogatory quotes about individuals named Yeshu that once existed in editions of the Talmud; these quotes were long ago removed from the main text due to accusations that they referred to Jesus, and are no longer used in Talmud study. However, these removed quotes were preserved through rare printings of lists of errata, known as Hashmatot Hashass ("Omissions of the Talmud"). 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 alternate print.

Role of the Talmud in Judaism

The Talmud is the written record of an oral tradition. It became the basis for many rabbinic legal codes and customs. Not all Jews, in the past and present, have accepted the Talmud as having religious authority. This section briefly outlines such movements.

Sadducees

The Sadducees were a Jewish sect which flourished during the second temple period. One of their main arguments with the Pharisees (the precursors of Rabbinic Judaism) was over their rejection of an Oral Law. The Sadducees rejected the idea of the Oral Torah and insisted that only the five Books of Moses were authoritative. They also were less likely to accept the authority of some of the prophets and other biblical writings, especially those dealing with such topics as the resurrection of the dead. Because they were largely associated with the Temple priesthood, the Sadducees influence rapidly diminished after the destruction of the Temple in 70 C.E.

Karaism

Another movement which rejected the Oral Law was Karaism. It arose within two centuries of 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—and therefore of rabbinical authority—as embodied in the Talmud, in favor of a strict adherence to the Written Law only. Karaism was once a major movement, but has diminished in recent centuries, declining from a high of nearly 10 percent of the Jewish population to a current estimated .002 percent.

Reform Judaism

With the rise of Reform Judaism, during the nineteenth century, the authority of the Talmud was again questioned. The Talmud was seen (together with the Written Law as well) as being a product of antiquity and of having limited relevance to modern Jews. Reform Judaism does not emphasize the study of Talmud to nearly the same degree in their Hebrew schools as do other forms of contemporary Judaism, but the Talmud is indeed studied in Reform rabbinical seminaries.

Orthodox Judaism

A nineteenth century Talmud teacher and young students, probably his own children

Orthodox Judaism continues to stress the importance of Talmud study and it is a central component of Yeshiva curriculum. The regular study of the Talmud among laymen has been popularized by the Daf Yomi, a daily course of Talmud study initiated by Rabbi Meir Shapiro in 1923. Traditional rabbinic education continues to lay heavy emphasis on the knowledge of Talmud.

Conservative Judaism

Conservative Judaism similarly emphasizes the study of Talmud within its religious and rabbinic education. Generally, however, the Talmud is studied as a historical source-text for Halakha. The Conservative approach to legal decision-making emphasizes placing classic texts and prior decisions in historical and cultural context, and examining the historical development of Halakha. This approach has resulted in greater practical flexibility than that of the Orthodox.

Secular Judaism

Many Jews today define themselves as Jews only in an ethnic or cultural sense. These Jews reject the tenets of Jewish religion outright, defining themselves either as agnostics or atheists. Included in the latter category are Jewish Marxists and Marxist-Leninists, who take a militantly atheistic stance, believing that religion itself is primarily a tool of economic oppression.

Translations

Talmud Bavli

There are five contemporary translations of the Talmud into English:

  • Tractate Beitzah: The Schottenstein Edition of the Talmud. In this translation, each English page faces the Aramaic/Hebrew page. The English pages are elucidated and heavily annotated; each Aramaic/Hebrew page of Talmud typically requires three English pages of translation.[2]
  • The Soncino Talmud, Isidore Epstein. 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 also exists on CD-ROM.[3]
  • The Talmud of Babylonia. An American Translation, Jacob Neusner, Tzvee Zahavy, others. Scholars Press, 1984. ISBN 9780891307396
  • The Talmud: The Steinsaltz Edition, Adin Steinsaltz. This work is in fact a translation of Rabbi Steinsaltz' Hebrew language translation of and commentary on the entire Talmud.[4]
  • The Babylonian Talmud, translated by Michael L. Rodkinson, Randon House (incomplete). This ten volume translation (1918) is also available on the internet.[5] A more current version also available.[6]

Talmud Yerushalmi

  • The Yerushalmi—The Talmud of the Land of Israel: A Preliminary Translation and Explanation, Jacob Neusner.[7]
  • Schottenstein Edition of the Yerushalmi Talmud Mesorah/Artscroll. This translation is the counterpart to Mesorah/Artscroll's Schottenstein Edition of the Babylonian Talmud). [8]

Notes

  1. One of Rashi's major accomplishments was textual correction. Some tosafists, too, amended the talmudic text (for example, Baba Kamma 83b s.v. af haka'ah ha'amurah or Gittin 32a s.v. mevutelet) as did many other medieval commentators (for example, R. Shlomo ben Adrat, Hidushei ha-Rashb"a al ha-Sha"s to Baba Kamma 83b, or Rabbenu Nissim's commentary to Alfasi on Gittin 32a).
  2. Ysiroel Reisman, Tractate Beitzah: The Schottenstein Edition (Mesorah Publications, 1992, ISBN 9780899067308).
  3. Isidore Epstein (ed.), Soncino Hebrew/English Babylonian Talmud (Bnpublishing.com; CD-ROM edition, 2005, ISBN 9568351140).
  4. Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz, The Talmud, The Steinsaltz Edition (Random House, 1999, ISBN 9780375503504).
  5. Michael L. Rodkinson (trans.), The Babylonian Talmud [1918]. Internet Sacred Text Archive. Retrieved August 27, 2020.
  6. Michael L. Rodkinson, The Babylonian Talmud: Tract Sanhedrin (Kessinger Publishing, 2004, ISBN 1419153420).
  7. Jacob Neusner, The Yerushalmi—The Talmud of the Land of Israel: An Introduction (Jason Aronson Press, 1994, ISBN 9780876688120).
  8. Rabbi Nosson Scherman and Rabbi Meir Zlotowitz (eds.), Schottenstein Edition Talmud Yerushalmi: Tractate Berachos (Mesorah Publications, 2005, ISBN 9781422602348).

References
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External links

All links retrieved February 26, 2023.

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