Гемара: Компонент Талмуда и его изучение

Component of the Talmud

The Gemara (also transliterated Gemarah, or in Yiddish Gemore) is an essential component of the Talmud, comprising a collection of rabbinical analyses and commentaries on the Mishnah and presented in 63 books. The term is derived from the Aramaic word גמרא and rooted in the Semitic word ג מ ר (gamar), which means "to finish" or "complete". Initially, the Gemara was transmitted orally and not permitted to be written down. However, after Judah the Prince compiled the Mishnah around 200 CE, rabbis from Babylonia and the Land of Israel extensively studied the work. Their discussions were eventually documented in a series of books, which would come to be known as the Gemara. The Gemara, when combined with the Mishnah, forms the full Talmud. There are two versions of the Gemara: the Babylonian Talmud (Talmud Bavli) and the Jerusalem Talmud (Talmud Yerushalmi). The Babylonian Talmud, compiled by scholars in Babylonia around 500 CE and primarily from the academies of Sura, Pumbedita, and Nehardea, is the more commonly cited version when referring to the "Gemara" or "Talmud" without further qualification. The main compilers of the Babylonian Talmud were Ravina and Rav Ashi. The Jerusalem Talmud, also known as the Palestinian Talmud, was compiled by Jewish scholars in the Land of Israel, primarily from the academies of Tiberias and Caesarea, around 350–400 CE. The Talmud is organized into six sedarim, or "orders," which include Zeraim, Moed, Nashim, Nezikin, Kodshim, and Taharot.

In a narrow sense, the word refers to the mastery and transmission of existing tradition, as opposed to , which means the deriving of new results by logic. Both activities are represented in the as one literary work.

The analysis of the Amoraim is generally focused on clarifying the positions, words and views of the Tannaim. These debates and exchanges form the "building blocks" of the ; the name for such a passage of Gemara is a (סוגיא; plural ). A will typically comprise a detailed proof based elaboration of the Every aspect of the text is treated as a subject of close investigation. This analysis is aimed at an exhaustive understanding of the full meaning. In the Talmud, a is presented as a series of responsive hypotheses and questions – with the Talmudic text as a record of each step in the process of reasoning and derivation. The thus takes the form of a dialectical exchange (by contrast, the states concluded legal opinions – and often differences in opinion between the Tannaim. There is little dialogue). The disputants here are termed the (questioner, "one who raises a difficulty") and (answerer, "one who puts straight"). The records the semantic disagreements between Tannaim and Amoraim. Some of these debates were actually conducted by the Amoraim, though many of them are hypothetically reconstructed by the Talmud's redactors. (Often imputing a view to an earlier authority as to how he may have answered a question: "This is what Rabbi X could have argued ") Only rarely are debates formally closed.

Why does the use one word rather than another? If a statement is not clear enough, the seeks to clarify the intention.

Resolving contradictions, perceived or actual, between different statements in the , or between the and other traditions; e. g., by stating that: two conflicting sources are dealing with differing circumstances; or that they represent the views of different rabbis. Do certain authorities differ or not? If they do, why do they differ? If a principle is presented as a generalization, the clarifies how much is included; if an exception, how much is excluded.

Demonstrating how the rulings or disputes derive from interpretations of Biblical texts, the will often ask where in the Torah the derives a particular law. See Talmudic hermeneutics and Oral Torah #The interplay of the Oral and Written Law.