Top Document: soc.culture.jewish FAQ: Torah and Halachic Authority (3/12) Previous Document: Question 3.16: What is Talmud Yerushalmi (Jerusalem Talmud)? Next Document: Question 3.18: What is Rashi's Commentary on the Talmud? See reader questions & answers on this topic! - Help others by sharing your knowledge Answer: The Talmud Bavli (BT) is the Mishna plus the Babylonian gemara. It is much more complete than the Talmud Yerushalmi (JT), and the redaction is much more careful and precise. Still, it is by no means complete. The gemara only exists for 37 out of the 63 tractates of the Mishna. Why did these tractates remain without gemara in the BT? The traditional answer is that the laws of Zeraim and Toharot (except Niddah) had no practical relevance: * The agricultural laws were tied only to the land of Israel. In the diaspora these laws simply were of no use. * The purity laws (except for family purity) were no longer applicable, because there was no longer a Temple and sacrificial system. One might think then that there would be no BT gemara on Qodashim... but there is. This is probably because the study of the sacrificial regulations is generally thought of as being on par with actually performing sacrifices. In the usual printed editions, the BT comprises the full Mishna, the 37 gemaras, and the extra-canonical (minor) tractates. Typically, this comprises 5,894 pages, and is much more extensive than the JT. The overall character of BT is encyclopedic. Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz states in The Essential Talmud (Basic Books, Inc., New York, 1976): The Talmud is the repository of thousands of years of Jewish wisdom. And the Oral Law, which is as ancient and significant as the Written Law (Torah), finds expression therein. It is a conglomerate of law, legend, and philosophy, a blend of unique logic and shrewd pragmatism, of history and science, anecdote and humor. User Contributions:Top Document: soc.culture.jewish FAQ: Torah and Halachic Authority (3/12) Previous Document: Question 3.16: What is Talmud Yerushalmi (Jerusalem Talmud)? Next Document: Question 3.18: What is Rashi's Commentary on the Talmud? Single Page [ Usenet FAQs | Web FAQs | Documents | RFC Index ] Send corrections/additions to the FAQ Maintainer: SCJ FAQ Maintainer <maintainer@scjfaq.org>
Last Update March 27 2014 @ 02:11 PM
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