1.
Tosafot
–
The Tosafot or Tosafos are medieval commentaries on the Talmud. They take the form of critical and explanatory glosses, printed, in almost all Talmud editions, on the outer margin, the authors of the Tosafot are known as Tosafists, for a listing see List of Tosafists. The word tosafot literally means additions, the reason for the title is a matter of dispute among modern scholars. Many of them, including Heinrich Graetz, think the glosses are so-called as additions to Rashis commentary on the Talmud, others, especially Isaac Hirsch Weiss, object that many tosafot — particularly those of Isaiah di Trani — have no reference to Rashi. Weiss, followed by scholars, asserts that tosafot means additions to the Talmud. For just as the Gemara is a critical and analytical commentary on the Mishnah, further, the term tosafot was not applied for the first time to the glosses of Rashis continuators, but to the Tosefta, the additions to the Mishnah compiled by Judah ha-Nasi I. Tosefta is a Babylonian term, which in Jerusalem writings is replaced by tosafot, the chief characteristic of the Tosafot is that in spite of the great respect in which Rashi was held by the Tosafists, the latter freely corrected him. Single sentences are explained by quotations which are taken from other Talmudic treatises, on the other hand, sentences which seem to be related and interdependent are separated and embodied in different treatises. It must be added that the Tosafot can be only by those who are well advanced in the study of the Talmud. Glosses explaining the meaning of a word or containing a grammatical observation are very rare, the Tosafot may be considered from the point of view of a methodology of the Talmud. Neither are they stated in fixed terms, an accepted rule is followed by This is the way of the Talmud or The Talmud usually declares. Sometimes the negative expression is found, This is not the way of the Talmud, a frequently recurring rule is indicated by some such formula as We find many like this. With regard to method, it should be said that the Tosafot of Touques concern particularly the casuistic interpretation of the traditional law, but do not touch halakic decisions. The chief home of literature was incontestably France, for it began with Rashis pupils. It is true that, practically, tosafot began to be written in Germany at the time as in France. The first tosafot recorded are those written by Rashis two sons-in-law, Meïr b, Samuel of Ramerupt and Judah ben Nathan, and by a certain R. Joseph. But their tosafot not being known, the actual father of the tosafot in France was undoubtedly Jacob b. Meïr, known colloquially as Rabbeinu Tam, whose style was adopted by his successors
2.
Adolf Behrman
–
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
3.
Mishnah
–
The Mishnah or Mishna is the first major written redaction of the Jewish oral traditions known as the Oral Torah. It is also the first major work of Rabbinic literature, most of the Mishnah is written in Mishnaic Hebrew, while some parts are Aramaic. The Mishnah consists of six orders, each containing 7–12 tractates,63 in total, the word Mishnah can also indicate a single paragraph or a verse of the work itself, i. e. the smallest unit of structure in the Mishnah. For this reason the work is sometimes called by the plural. The term Mishnah originally referred to a method of teaching by presenting topics in an order, as contrasted with Midrash. The Mishnah consists of six orders, each containing 7–12 tractates,63 in total, each masechet is divided into chapters and then paragraphs. In this last context, the word means a single paragraph of the work, i. e. the smallest unit of structure, leading to the use of the plural, Mishnayot. Because of the division into six orders, the Mishnah is sometimes called Shas, in each order, tractates are arranged from biggest to smallest. A popular mnemonic consists of the acronym ZMaN NaKaT, the Babylonian Talmud states that there were either six hundred or seven hundred orders of the Mishnah. Hillel the Elder organized them into six orders to make it easier to remember, the historical accuracy of this tradition is disputed. There is also a tradition that Ezra the scribe dictated from memory not only the 24 books of the Tanakh but 60 esoteric books. It is not known whether this is a reference to the Mishnah, interestingly, Reuvein Margolies posited that there were originally seven orders of Mishnah, citing a Gaonic tradition on the existence of a seventh order containing the laws of Stam and Berachot. A number of important laws are not elaborated upon in the Mishnah and these include the laws of tzitzit, tefillin, mezuzot, the holiday of Hanukkah, and the laws of conversion to Judaism. These were later discussed in the minor tractates, nissim ben Jacobs Hakdamah Lemafteach Hatalmud argued that it was unnecessary for Judah the Prince to discuss them as many of these laws were so well known. Rabbinic commentaries on the Mishnah from the four centuries, done in the Land of Israel. In themselves they are known as Gemara, the books which set out the Mishnah in its original structure, together with the associated Gemara, are known as Talmuds. Two Talmuds were compiled, the Babylonian Talmud and the Jerusalem Talmud, unlike the Hebrew Mishnah, the Gemara is written primarily in Aramaic. The Mishnah does not claim to be the development of new laws, the term Mishnah is related to the verb shanah, to teach or repeat, and to the adjectives sheni and mishneh, meaning second
4.
Amoraim
–
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
5.
Gemara
–
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
6.
Jerusalem Talmud
–
The Jerusalem Talmud, also known as the Palestinian Talmud or Talmuda de-Eretz Yisrael, is a collection of Rabbinic notes on the second-century Jewish oral tradition known as the Mishnah. Naming this version of the Talmud after Palestine or Land of Israel rather than Jerusalem is considered accurate by some because, while the work was certainly composed in the West. The Jerusalem Talmud predates its counterpart, the Babylonian Talmud, by about 200 years, the word Talmud itself is often defined as instruction. Both versions of the Talmud comprise two parts, the Mishnah, which was finalized by Judah the Prince around the year 200 CE, the Gemara is what differentiates the Jerusalem Talmud from its Babylonian counterpart. The Jerusalem Gemara contains the discussions of generations of rabbis in the Land of Israel. 350-400 CE into a series of books, the Babylonian Gemara, which is the second recension of the Mishnah, was compiled by the scholars of Babylonia, and was completed c. The Babylonian Talmud is often seen as authoritative and is studied much more than the Jerusalem Talmud. In general, the terms Gemara or Talmud, without further qualification, the remaining scholars who lived in the Galilee area decided to continue their teaching activity in the learning centers that had existed since Mishnaic times. The Jerusalem Talmud probably originated in Tiberias in the School of Johanan bar Nappaha and it is a compilation of teachings of the schools of Tiberias, Sepphoris and Caesarea. It is written largely in Jewish Palestinian Aramaic, a Western Aramaic variety that differs from its Babylonian counterpart and this Talmud is a synopsis of the analysis of the Mishnah that was developed over the course of nearly 200 years by the Talmudic Academies in Syria Palaestina. Because of their location, the sages of these Academies devoted considerable attention to analysis of the laws of the Land of Israel. Traditionally, the redaction of this Talmud was thought to have brought to an abrupt end around 425. In recent years scholars have come to doubt the causal link between the abolition of the Nasi and the seeming incompletion of the final redaction. According to the Jewish Encyclopedia, Yerushalmi has not been preserved in its entirety, large portions of it were entirely lost at an early date, while other parts exist only in fragments. Of the four used for this first edition, only one is now in existence. Of the six orders of the Mishnah, the fifth, Ḳodashim, is missing entirely from the Palestinian Talmud, while the sixth, Ṭohorot, the Leiden Jerusalem Talmud is today the only extant complete manuscript of the Jerusalem Talmud. It was copied in 1289 by Rabbi Yechiel ben Yekutiel the Physician of Rome, dūkeh, instead of rūbeh/rabah, saying with a play on words, “The members of Isses household would say in the name of Isse, Why is it called dūkeh. It is because she pounds with him. ”The Hebrew word for pound is dakh, yemenite Jews still call it dūkeh
7.
Talmud
–
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
