The Talmud is composed in a mixture of Hebrew and Aramaic (the latter was the spoken vernacular of Babylonian Jews). In general, formal statements by the Amora'im are formulated in Hebrew, whereas the explanations and discussions of those statements are worded in Aramaic.
Official Rabbinic ordination could only be granted in the Land of Israel. Therefore most of the Babylonian sages did not bear the title "Rabbi," but were called by the lesser honorific Rav.
Some of the most prominent Babylonian Amora'im were:
A passage in the Talmud (Bava Mesi'a) speaks of Rav Ashi and Ravina as "the end of instruction" (Hebrew: "sof hora'ah"), in a context that compares them with Rabbi Judah the Prince as "the end of Mishnah." Because Rabbi Judah is generally regarded as the redactor of the Mishnah, it became common to speak of Rav Ashi as the redactor of the Babylonian Talmud. (The name "Ravina" is a recurring one during the Talmudic era, and there was a figure of that name who was Rav Ashi's contemporary).
Since Rav Ashi died in 427, and several later generations are represented in the Talmud's pages, it is clear that we cannot speak of him as the Talmud's final redactor, though there is considerable evidence that indicates that he was involved in some sort of preliminary redaction and organization of the traditions--still in an oral, memorized form.
In 987, the medieval authority Rav Sherira Ga'on, leader of the Pumbedita academy (then situated in Baghdad), composed an important study ("Epistle") on issues of Talmudic literature and chronology. Although Rav Sherira accepts that the Talmudic "end of instruction" is a reference to a final redaction, he applies the expression not to the famous Amora Rav Ashi(to whom he attributes only the beginnings of the process), but to a lesser known figure, Rav Yose, and to his contemporary Ravina, who were active at the close of the fifth century.
Modern scholarship, basing itself on careful internal analysis of Talmudic passages, prefers to see the redaction as a prolonged process that may have extended over several centuries. The anonymous Aramaic discussions that hold the work together and give its it much of its distinctive dialectical character are often attributed to the "Savora'im," or "Rabbanan Sabora'ei" the anonymous Babylonian scholars who were active in Babylonian during the sixth century, perhaps until the Muslim conquest.
Place
Babylonia was situated in the area that is presently occupied by Iraq and was known to the ancient Greeks as "Mesopotamia" ("Between the Rivers") The agricultural and economic lives of the populace were determined by the Tigris and Euphrates rivers and the intricate network of canals emanating from them.
During most the Talmudic era, Babylonia was ruled by a Persian dynasty, the Sasanians.
Description
The Talmud as a Commentary on the Mishnah
As a commentary, it deals with many aspects of the Mishnah, often going far beyond mere explanation. Some of the items involved in the Talmud's commentary include:
- demonstrating how the Mishnah's rulings or disputes, derive from interpretations of Biblical texts.
- exploring the logical principles underlying the Mishnah's statements, and showing how different understandings of the Mishnah's reasons could lead to differences in their practical application.
- resolving contradictions, perceived or actual, between different statements in the Mishnah, or between the Mishnah and other traditions; e.g., by stating that:
- two conflicting sources are dealing with differing circumstances; or
- they represent the views of different Rabbis.
Talmudic Debate and Dialectic
The process of deduction required to derive a conclusion from a prooftext is often logically complex and indirect. Every effort is made to uphold the correctnesss (i.e., the logical consistency) of the opinions ascribed to the Rabbis, though this often requires forced and unconvincing intepretations of the evidence.
Extent
- The Talmud covers almost all of the tractates in the Mishnah's orders "Mo'ed" (about Sabbath and festivals), "Nashim" (about family law) and "Qodashim" (about the Temple and its sacrificial worship).
- Of the Mishnah's order Zera'im," concerned with agricultural regulations, the only tractate included in the Talmud is Berakhot, dealing with blessings and prayers.
This situation is usually ascribed to the fact that most of the agricultural laws were not considered binding outside the Land of Israel.
- Similarly, the Mishnah's order "Tohorot" (about rules of purity) is not included in the Talmud. Most of the laws found there could not be observed following the destruction of the Second Temple in the year 70 C.E.
The single exception is the tractate "Niddah" which discusses the impurity of menstruating women. Several of these laws were still of practical relevance.
The standard Vilna editions of the Talmud consist of twenty large folio volumes, including many commentaries and supplementary texts.
Sources Used by the Talmud
These include:
- Teachings by the Rabbis of the Mishnah (Tanna'im) that were not included in the Mishnah. Such sources are designated "external mishnahs," or in Aramaic: Baraita.
There are several different types of baraita. These include:
- Tanna'itic (or: Halakhic) Midrash:
These follow the text of the Torah, especially its legal sections, explaining it in close detail. Many of the midrashic baraitas in the Talmud are identical or similar to known midrashic collections (works such as the "Mekhilta"s to Exodus, "Sifra" (="Torat Kohanim") to Leviticus, or "Sifre" to Numbers and Deuteronomy), stemming from the Schools of Rabbis Akiva and Ishmael. Others are known only from the Talmud itself.
- Baraitas attached to the Mishnah. Many of these are similar or identical to the Tosefta, a Tanna'itic work arranged according to the order of the Mishnah, that provides explanations and supplementary material.
- Tanna'itic sources known only from the Babylonian Talmud.
- Teachings of the Palestinian Amora'im:
The Land of Israel continued to be the most important centre of Torah study, and the Rabbis there also studied the Mishnah in the same ways as their Babylonian counterparts. Their scholarly activities culminated in the production of the Palestinian (or: "Jerusalem") Talmud.
Many traditions of the Palestinian Amora'im were cited and incorporated in the Babylonian Talmud.
- Aggadah, the non-legal component of Rabbinic teaching.
Included in this category are: - interpretations of the Bible, often taken from synagogue preaching
- moralistic teachings and maxims
- anecdotes about the Rabbis
- folklore, especially magical and medical recipes
- Records of legal rulings by the Rabbis.
It must be emphasized that during the era of the Talmud's development, the Jewish "Oral Tradition" was not allowed to be set down in writing, and therefore all the sources mentioned here, except for the Bible, were edited and transmitted by memory and recitation. They did not exist as written books.
Type: Text
Sample Text in Translation
(GM') printed in large bold letters.