http://www.acs.ucalgary.ca/~elsegal/TalmudMap/Gemara.html

http://www.acs.ucalgary.ca/~elsegal/TalmudPage.html

Tannaim

• “Repeaters” of Torah + tradition.

• Collected in Mishnah

http://www.acs.ucalgary.ca/~elsegal/TalmudMap/Mishnah.html

MISHNAH: continued to attract commentaries:

Now traditional to print the MISHNAH along with respected commentaries made in Middle Ages.

Mishnah

• Discusses “HALACHAH” Jewish Law.

• HEBREW

• Uses Bible, but does not discuss it directly.

• NOT essays, but discussions.

Mishnah: 2 uses

• Mishnah: A collection of discussions

• mishnah: each discrete discussion

• The Mishnah is made up of all the mishnahs…

First mishnah “When to recite Evening Shema?”

R. Eliezer, “From when the priests enter to eat offerings, until end of first watch”

Sages, “Until Midnight”

R. Gamaliel, “Until dawn”

Resolution

Gamaliel, “If it is not dawn yet, you must

recite Shema, even if Sages say you have

only until Midnight.”

Why did sages say until Midnight?

• “To keep a man far from sin.”

• “Fence around the Torah”

2. When to recite the morning Shema?

• When you can tell apart blue and white.

• R. Eliezer says, “Blue and Green, and do it before sunrise”.

• R. Joshua says, “within 3 hours of sunrise: like reading Torah”.– NO RESOLUTION. First option preferable

3. Recline, or stand for shema?• Shammai: evening you must recline

morning you must stand

• “When you lie down and when you rise up.” (Deut. 6:7)

• Hillel: However you want

• “And as you go about your way”

If Hillel is right, then why does Bible say

“when you lie down… rise up”

Majority position: since Shema-time is about the time people go to bed and wake up.

Very simple answer, but it needs to be said.

R. Tarfon

• Recites according to Shammai

• Moral: following Shammai is dangerous…

• But Hillel’s position is not binding on everyone.

4. Number of blessings

• “They” say no changes to the custom.

• “Seal off a blessing” No description of what this means.

5. Exodus at night?

• Unclear references.

Issue:

Mishnah not final word

more questions raised than answered

Interpretation.

• Mishnah requires study, interpretation.

• Rabbinic interpreters recorded their work over the centuries.

Tannaim

• “Repeaters” of Torah + tradition.

• Collected in Mishnah

Mishnah Discussed by the

AMORAIM

Famous discussions rememberedOthers hypothetical

“R. So-&-so would have said…”

DiscussionsGemara = “Traditions”

of the Amoraim

concerning Mishnah

Gemara collected

• Gemara discussions on particular mishnah paragraphs are collected with the Mishnah quotations.

New Tradition:

TalmudDiscussions stemming from Mishnah.

MISHNAH +

GEMARA ----------------TALMUD

On handout diagram, A & B sections are the Talmud properSurrounding sections are later additions by medieval commentators, etc.

2 Talmuds

• JERUSALEM BABYLONIAN

• 4th c. CE 6th c. CE.

• Yerushalmi Bavli

Bavli

• Longer

• More Authoritative

• Better edited

• “THE Talmud” usually refers to Bavli.

Extent

More than ½ Mishnah discussed

Each mishnah followed by Gemara

Gemara on short mishnahs can go on for pages…

Gemara onMishnah Berakhot 1.

• T: When to recite evening Shema?

• G. Where is the Tanna standing? Why start with evening? Start with the Morning!

G. Answer

Tanna stands on scripture: “When you lie down … rise up”

Amora adds: he can also argue from creation: “Evening and morning”

(Gen. 1:5)

Proof-text

• Reference to a passage to prove a halakhic opinion.

• Bible

• Early Rabbinic discussions outside Mishnah– Tosefta – Midrash

Amora:

• Troubled by lack of concern for proof by the Tanna.

• Assumes Tanna MUST have had a biblical reason for his opinion, so Amora fills the need.

Goal of Talmud:

• Mishnah and Written Torah MUST be shown to be inter-related.

• Show Mishnah to be consistent.

Problem• Mishnah puts:

Evening first in 1.1.

Morning first in 1.4.

Amora in Gemara first proved 1.1 based on Torah, now 1.4 disregards the principle!

Solution:• Simple, but must be made clear:

• Tanna spoke of evening then morning, but continued to talk of morning since he was on the subject… Then returned to the evening

• “CHIASTIC” structure.

G. Question: When is it evening?

• Tanna mentioned the offerings?

• Why?

• Amora assumes that Tanna knew: evening was when the time the stars come out.

• Answer: to teach something else: the time of the priests ate the offerings.

Digression:

• Ritual impurity

• Does the coming of evening remove some impurity?

• Yes

Back to the point…

• Mishnah refers to offerings

• A baraita refers to a poor mans evening meal.

• Solution: both events were simultaneous.