1.
Talmud
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The Talmud is a central text of Rabbinic Judaism. It is also referred to as Shas, a Hebrew abbreviation of shisha sedarim, the six orders. Talmud translates literally as instruction in Hebrew, and the term may refer to either the Gemara alone, or the Mishnah, the entire Talmud consists of 63 tractates, and in standard print is over 6,200 pages long. The Talmud is the basis for all codes of Jewish law, Rabbis expounded and debated the Torah and discussed the Tanakh without the benefit of written works, though some may have made private notes, for example of court decisions. It is during this period that rabbinic discourse began to be recorded in writing, the earliest recorded oral Torah may have been of the midrashic form, in which halakhic discussion is structured as exegetical commentary on the Pentateuch. But an alternative form, organized by subject matter instead of by biblical verse, became dominant about the year 200 CE, the Oral Torah was far from monolithic, rather, it varied among various schools. The most famous two were the School of Shammai and the School of Hillel, in general, all valid opinions, even the non-normative ones, were recorded in the Talmud. The oldest full manuscript of the Talmud, known as the Munich Talmud, each tractate is divided into chapters,517 in total, that are both numbered according to the Hebrew alphabet and given names, usually using the first one or two words in the first mishnah. A perek may continue over several pages, each perek will contain several mishnayot with their accompanying exchanges that form the building-blocks of the Gemara, the name for a passage of gemara is a sugya. A sugya, including baraita or tosefta, will comprise a detailed proof-based elaboration of a Mishnaic statement. A sugya may, and often does, range widely off the subject of the mishnah, in a given sugya, scriptural, Tannaic and Amoraic statements are cited to support the various opinions. In so doing, the Gemara will highlight semantic disagreements between Tannaim and Amoraim, and compare the Mishnaic views with passages from the Baraita. Rarely are debates formally closed, in instances, the final word determines the practical law. There is a literature on the procedural principles to be used in settling the practical law when disagreements exist, see under #Logic. The Mishnah is a compilation of legal opinions and debates, statements in the Mishnah are typically terse, recording brief opinions of the rabbis debating a subject, or recording only an unattributed ruling, apparently representing a consensus view. The rabbis recorded in the Mishnah are known as the Tannaim, the Mishnahs topical organization thus became the framework of the Talmud as a whole. But not every tractate in the Mishnah has a corresponding Gemara, also, the order of the tractates in the Talmud differs in some cases from that in the Mishnah. In addition to the Mishnah, other tannaitic teachings were current at about the time or shortly thereafter
2.
Torah
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The Torah is the central reference of Judaism. It has a range of meanings and it can most specifically mean the first five books of the twenty-four books of the Tanakh, and it usually includes the rabbinic commentaries. In rabbinic literature the word Torah denotes both the five books and the Oral Torah, the Oral Torah consists of interpretations and amplifications which according to rabbinic tradition have been handed down from generation to generation and are now embodied in the Talmud and Midrash. According to the Midrash, the Torah was created prior to the creation of the world, traditionally, the words of the Torah are written on a scroll by a scribe in Hebrew. A Torah portion is read publicly at least once every three days in the presence of a congregation, reading the Torah publicly is one of the bases for Jewish communal life. The word Torah in Hebrew is derived from the root ירה, the meaning of the word is therefore teaching, doctrine, or instruction, the commonly accepted law gives a wrong impression. Other translational contexts in the English language include custom, theory, guidance, the earliest name for the first part of the Bible seems to have been The Torah of Moses. This title, however, is neither in the Torah itself. It appears in Joshua and Kings, but it cannot be said to refer there to the entire corpus, in contrast, there is every likelihood that its use in the post-Exilic works was intended to be comprehensive. Other early titles were The Book of Moses and The Book of the Torah, Christian scholars usually refer to the first five books of the Hebrew Bible as the Pentateuch, a term first used in the Hellenistic Judaism of Alexandria, meaning five books, or as the Law. The Torah starts from the beginning of Gods creating the world, through the beginnings of the people of Israel, their descent into Egypt, and it ends with the death of Moses, just before the people of Israel cross to the promised land of Canaan. Interspersed in the narrative are the teachings given explicitly or implicitly embedded in the narrative. This is followed by the story of the three patriarchs, Joseph and the four matriarchs, God gives to the patriarchs a promise of the land of Canaan, but at the end of Genesis the sons of Jacob end up leaving Canaan for Egypt due to a regional famine. They had heard there was a grain storage and distribution facility in Egypt. Exodus begins the story of Gods revelation to his people of Israel through Moses, Moses receives the Torah from God, and teaches His laws and Covenant to the people of Israel. It also talks about the first violation of the covenant when the Golden Calf was constructed, Exodus includes the instructions on building the Tabernacle and concludes with its actual construction. Leviticus begins with instructions to the Israelites on how to use the Tabernacle, leviticus 26 provides a detailed list of rewards for following Gods commandments and a detailed list of punishments for not following them. Numbers tells how Israel consolidated itself as a community at Sinai, set out from Sinai to move towards Canaan, even Moses sins and is told he would not live to enter the land
3.
Pirke De-Rabbi Eliezer
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Pirke de-Rabbi Eliezer is an aggadic-midrashic work on the Torah containing exegesis and retellings of biblical stories. The composition enjoyed widespread circulation and recognition throughout Jewish history, leopold Zunz has suggested that the book has had interpolations made to copies owned by private citizens in the 8th century. Isaak Jost first noticed the inclusion of 8th century interpolations, the topic of chapters one and two of the composition is the beginnings of Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrkanus, it is due to them that medieval sages attributed the entire work to him. However, Zunz conclusively proved that this traditional ascription is not historically accurate and this is further proved by one manuscript which places the title “Pirkei R. Eliezer ben Hyrkanus” and begins the chapter numbering only after chapter two. Nevertheless, it is critical to note that both chapters are found in all manuscripts of the composition, which increases the likelihood that they have always been part of the composition. Furthermore, examination of the language of these chapters also points to the fact that these chapters are considered part of the composition. PRE contains distinct literary phrases which appear and reappear throughout the entire work, there is a complex problem about the completeness of the composition. Zunz detected two literary structures around which the author of PRE has organized his composition, but which are not complete in the composition as it is known to us today. A) At the beginning of chapter fourteen there is a list of ten times that God descended into the world and these “descents” are expounded upon in various places throughout the work. However, the last descent to appear is the eighth, the two are missing. B) From chapter twenty-six and onwards, several chapters conclude with a blessing from the Shemoneh Esreh prayer, alongside this possibility, Zunz raised the possibility that the work was at one point complete, but that parts of it were lost in its early period. This suggestion has found acceptance among scholars, who are in almost complete agreement that the composition as it is in our hands is missing pieces that were once in existence. However, subsequent analysis by Treitl has usually demonstrated that the ascription of these pieces of works to a more original PRE is without basis. No textual witness includes the blessing for forgiveness or redemption, chapter ten concludes with a reference to the blessing for converts, making it clearly out of place within the larger composition, which only begins referring to the blessings in chapter twenty-six. It seems therefore likely that the author of the work never succeeded in weaving all of the various blessings into the work in their correct order, the passage that concludes the composition in all of the complete manuscripts may be interpreted as referring to this situation. In this passage the author praises Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the text itself attributes the authorship of the text to Tannaim Rabbis. This would place the text, minus any interpolations or additions. If a statement in ch. xxviii, the work is ascribed to R. Eliezer, although he was a tanna, while the book itself the Pirḳe Abot is quoted
4.
Adolf Behrman
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Abraham Adolf Behrman was a Jewish-Polish-born painter of interwar Poland best known for his outdoor paintings of Jewish shtetl life as well as landscapes and group portraits. He spent most of his life in Łódź and died during the liquidation of the Białystok Ghetto in the Holocaust, Behrmans place of birth is uncertain. He was born either in the town of Tukkum near Mitawa, or in Riga, the son of Róża and Markus Behrman, Adolf studied art under Jakub Kacenbogen at his private Drawing School in Łódź before the 1900s. He continued his studies in Munich in 1900–1904, first privately and his paintings inspired the art critic Zygmunt Bomberg-Batowski to write, Their diverse themes, the depiction - those are always picturesque. This modest artist always thoroughly and lovingly considers any issues brought by a particular theme and he lived there, studied at the Academy and worked for the next five years. From 1924 to 1927, Behrman traveled to Palestine, Egypt and his landscapes originating from that period have become the most known part of his work. Behrmans palette became brighter in that period with the introduction of impressionist tones, in the 1930s, he returned to Poland and went to Kazimierz Dolny for the first time. There, he created one of his most important works, Interior of the Synagogue in Kazimierz Dolny, Behrman was a painter of scenes from daily life of the Polish Jews and views of Jewish quarters. His last major exhibit took place in 1935 in Łódź, after the Nazi German and Soviet invasion of Poland, Behrman escaped to Białystok in the Russian zone of occupation. He was killed in 1943 by the Nazis in the Białystok Ghetto around the time of the perilous Białystok Ghetto Uprising, many of Behrmans paintings were destroyed in World War II. Some of his paintings can be found at the Historical Museum of Kraków, dr. Waldemar Odorowski, In Kazimierz the Vistula River spoke to them in Yiddish. com, Abraham Behrmann, Past Auction Results Behrmans works in Central Jewish Library
5.
Targum Onkelos
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Targum Onkelos, תרגום אונקלוס, is the official eastern targum to the Torah. However, its origins may have been western, in Israel. Its authorship is attributed to Onkelos, a convert to Judaism in Tannaic times. According to Jewish tradition, the content of Targum Onkelos was originally conveyed by God to Moses at Mount Sinai, however, it was later forgotten by the masses, and rerecorded by Onkelos. The translator is unique in that he avoids any type of personification, samuel David Luzzatto suggests that the translation was originally meant for the simple people. This view was rebutted by Nathan Marcus Adler in his introduction to his commentary to Targum Onkelos Netinah La-Ger. The Talmud states that a person should complete his portions of scripture along with the community, reading the scripture twice and this passage is taken by many to refer to Targum Onkelos. S. D. Luzzatto Oheiv Ha-Ger N. Adler Netinah La-Ger N. Samet, The Distinction Between Holy and Profane in Targum Onkelos, Megadim 43, pp. 73-86. The Targum appears as text in two different user-friendly versions, The Aramaic targum text with vowels can be viewed in its entirety on its own. The Aramaic targum can be viewed verse-by-verse parallel to the Hebrew text, the index to both versions is here, there is also an older version without vowels
6.
Amoraim
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Amoraim refers to the Jewish scholars of the period from about 200 to 500 CE, who said or told over the teachings of the Oral Torah. They were concentrated in Babylonia and the Land of Israel and their legal discussions and debates were eventually codified in the Gemara. The Amoraim followed the Tannaim in the sequence of ancient Jewish scholars, the Tannaim were direct transmitters of uncodified oral tradition, the Amoraim expounded upon and clarified the oral law after its initial codification. The first Babylonian Amoraim were Abba Arika, respectfully referred to as Rav, among the earliest Amoraim in Israel were Rabbi Yochanan and Shimon ben Lakish. Traditionally, the Amoraic period is reckoned as seven or eight generations, the last Amoraim are generally considered to be Ravina I and Rav Ashi, and Ravina II, nephew of Ravina I, who codified the Babylonian Talmud around 500 CE. In total,761 amoraim are mentioned by name in the Jerusalem,367 of them were active in the land of Israel from around 200-350 CE, while the other 394 lived in Babylonia during 200-500 CE. The following is a listing of the most prominent of the Amoraim mentioned in the Talmud. More complete listings may be provided by some of the links below. Abba Arika, known as Rav, last Tanna, first Amora, moved from Eretz Yisrael to Babylonia. Founder and Dean of the Yeshiva at Sura, Shmuel, disciple of Judah haNasis students and others. Dean of the Yeshiva at Nehardea, joshua ben Levi, headed the school of Lod. Bar Kappara Rav Huna, disciple of Rav and Shmuel, Dean of the Yeshiva at Sura. Rav Yehudah, disciple of Rav and Shmuel, Dean of the Yeshiva at Pumbedita. Adda bar Ahavah, disciple of Rav, hillel, son of Gamaliel III, disciple and grandson of Judah haNasi, and younger brother of Judah II. Judah II, disciple and grandson of Judah haNasi, and son, sometimes called Rabbi Judah Nesiah, and occasionally Rebbi like his grandfather. Resh Lakish, disciple of Judah haNasi, Rabbi Yannai and others, Rabbi Yochanan, disciple of Judah haNasi and Rabbi Yannai. Dean of the Yeshiva at Tiberias, primary author of the Jerusalem Talmud. Samuel ben Nahman Shila of Kefar Tamarta Isaac Nappaha Rabbah, disciple of Rav Huna, Dean of the Yeshiva at Pumbedita
7.
Gemara
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The Gemara is the component of the Talmud comprising rabbinical analysis of and commentary on the Mishnah. After the Mishnah was published by Judah HaNasi, the work was studied exhaustively by generation after generation of rabbis in Babylonia and their discussions were written down in a series of books that became the Gemara, which when combined with the Mishnah constituted the Talmud. There are two versions of the Gemara, the Jerusalem Talmud was compiled by scholars of the Land of Israel, primarily of the academies of Tiberias and Caesarea, and was published between about 350–400 CE. The Talmud Bavli was published about 500 CE by scholars of Babylonia, primarily of the academies of Sura, Pumbedita, by convention, a reference to the Gemara or Talmud, without further qualification, refers to the Babylonian version. The main compilers were Revina and Rav Ashi, the Gemara and the Mishnah together make up the Talmud. The Talmud thus comprises two components, the Mishnah – the core text, and the Gemara – analysis and commentary which completes the Talmud, the rabbis of the Mishnah are known as Tannaim. The rabbis of the Gemara are referred to as Amoraim, the Gemara is mostly written in Aramaic, the Jerusalem Gemara in Western Aramaic and the Babylonian in Eastern Aramaic, but both contain portions in Hebrew. Sometimes the language changes in the middle of a story, in a narrow sense, the word Gemara refers to the mastery and transmission of existing tradition, as opposed to sevara, which means the deriving of new results by logic. Both activities are represented in the Gemara as a 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 gemara, the name for such a passage of gemara is a sugya, a sugya will typically comprise a detailed proof-based elaboration of the Mishna. Every aspect of the Mishnaic text is treated as a subject of close investigation and this analysis is aimed at an exhaustive understanding of the Mishnas full meaning. In the Talmud, a sugya is presented as a series of hypotheses and questions – with the Talmudic text as a record of each step in the process of reasoning. The Gemara thus takes the form of a dialectical exchange, the disputants here are termed the makshan and tartzan. The gemara 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 Talmuds redactors. The distinctive character of the gemara derives largely from the use of argumentation and debate. In each sugya, either participant may cite scriptural, Mishnaic and Amoraic proof to build a support for their respective opinions. The process of deduction required to derive a conclusion from a prooftext is often logically complex, confronted with a statement on any subject, the Talmudic student will proceed to raise a series of questions before he satisfies himself of having understood its full meaning. The actual debate will usually centre on the categories, Why does the Mishna use one word rather than another
8.
Megillat Antiochus
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Megillat Antiochus recounts the story of Hanukkah and the history of the victory of the Maccabees over the Seleucid Empire. Early texts of the work exist in both Aramaic and Hebrew, but the Hebrew version is a translation from the Aramaic original. In 1557 it was first published in Mantua, in northern Italy, the Hebrew text, with an English translation, can be found in the Siddur of Philip Birnbaum. The first known printed text is found in a Siddur from Salonika, then part of the Ottoman Empire, the original Aramaic text can also be found in old Yemenite Baladi-rite Prayer Book from the 17th century. There are several theories as to the works authorship, some scholars date Megillat Antiochus to somewhere between the 2nd and 5th centuries, with the greater likelihood of it being composed in the 2nd Century. The scroll is first mentioned by Simeon Kayyara in Halakhot Gedolot, wherein he claims that the scroll was compiled by the elders of the School of Shammai and the elders School of Hillel. Another opinion is that of Saadia Gaon who holds that the Scroll of Antiochus was composed in the Chaldaic language by the Hasmonaeans themselves and he translated it into Arabic in the 9th Century. Hakham Moses Gaster argued for a 1st-century BCE date, the Mahzor of the Kaffa Rite from the year 1735 gives the order to read the Megillat Antiochus in the Mincha of Shabbat Hanukkah. It still forms part of the liturgy of the Yemenite Jews, the Books of the Maccabees are entirely different from this work. The rest of the books bear this name because other heroic deeds are recounted there, moreover, 1-4 Maccabees survives only in Greek. 1 Maccabees was probably composed in Hebrew, the other three books of the Maccabees were originally written in Greek. There was in it to light for one day, but the God of heaven whose name dwells there put therein his blessing and they were able to light from it eight days. In them, it is not permitted to mourn, neither to decree a fast, and anyone who has a vow to perform, let him perform it. ”
9.
Alphabet of Sirach
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The Alphabet of ben Sirach is an anonymous medieval text inspired by the Wisdom of Sirach. It is dated to anywhere between 700 and 1000 CE and it is a compilation of two lists of proverbs,22 in Aramaic and 22 in Hebrew, both arranged as alphabetic acrostics. Each proverb is followed by an Haggadic commentary, the work has been characterized as satirical, and it contains references to masturbation, incest and flatulence. The text has been translated into Latin, Yiddish, Judeo-Spanish, French, a partial English translation appeared in Stern and Mirsky. The Aramaic proverbs are the far part of the book. Five of them can be traced to Talmudic-Midrashic literature, the Hebrew commentary, illustrating the proverbs with fables, is much younger. In the reading of Ginzberg, Honor the Ethiop before thou hast need of him, If a son do not conduct himself like a son, gnaw the bone that falls to thy lot whether it be good or bad. Gold must be hammered, and the child must be beaten, be good and refuse not thy portion of good. Woe to the man and woe to his companions. Cast thy bread upon the waters and upon the land, for thou shalt find it after many days Hast thou seen a black ass. it was neither black nor white, bestow no good upon that which is evil, and no evil will befall thee. Restrain not thy hand from doing good, the bride enters the bridal chamber and, nevertheless, knows not what will befall her. A nod to the wise is sufficient, the fool requires a blow and he who honors them that despise him is like an ass. Rise quickly from the table and thou wilt avoid disputes, in thy business deal only with the upright. If the goods are near at hand, the owner consumes them, do not disavow an old friend. Thou mayest have sixty counselors, but do not give up thy own opinion He that was first satisfied and then hungry will offer thee his hand, the 22 Hebrew proverbs are quite different in character from the Aramaic ones, and much more recent. Half of the proverbs are borrowed from the Talmud, and are only a pretext for the presentation of a number of legends surrounding Ben Sira, Ben Sira is presented as the son of Jeremiah. Ben Siras fame reached Nebuchadnezzar, who called him to his court, Nebuchadnezzar sets forth various ordeals for Ben Sira, who responds with 22 stories. Some of the fables of the collection are indebted to Christian legend, the text is best known because of its reference to Lilith, and it is the fifth of Ben Siras responses to King Nebuchadnezzar
