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105-521: Two reasons are given for the name of the tractate Pesachim being in the plural: either because the tractate originally comprised two parts, one dealing with the Passover sacrifice, and the second with the other aspects of the holiday, before they were combined into a single tractate named Pesachim during the Geonic period (by 1040 CE ), or, because the tractate deals with the two occasions for offering

210-670: A Gemara – rabbinical analysis of and commentary on the Mishnah – in both the Babylonian and Jerusalem Talmud . There is also a Tosefta for this tractate. Apart from the Passover sacrifice , the Jewish religious laws derived from this tractate regarding Passover have continued to be observed, with minor variations according the interpretations of later halakhic authorities , by traditional Jewish communities since ancient times until

315-520: A compilation by Zechariah Aghmati called Sefer ha-Ner . The Tosafot are collected commentaries by various medieval Ashkenazic rabbis on the Talmud (known as Tosafists or Ba'alei Tosafot ). One of the main goals of the Tosafot is to explain and interpret contradictory statements in the Talmud. Unlike Rashi, the Tosafot is not a running commentary, but rather comments on selected matters. Often

420-522: A consensus view. The rabbis recorded in the Mishnah are known as the Tannaim (literally, "repeaters", or "teachers"). These tannaim—rabbis of the second century CE--"who produced the Mishnah and other tannaic works, must be distinguished from the rabbis of the third to fifth centuries, known as amoraim (literally, "speakers"), who produced the two Talmudim and other amoraic works". Since it sequences its laws by subject matter instead of by biblical context,

525-604: A lower boundary on the dating of the Babylonian Talmud, it must post-date the early 5th century given its reliance on the Jerusalem Talmud . From the time of its completion, the Talmud became integral to Jewish scholarship. A maxim in Pirkei Avot advocates its study from the age of 15. This section outlines some of the major areas of Talmudic study. One area of Talmudic scholarship developed out of

630-570: A question from Tunisia. Some of the responsa that have survived are in their original form, while others are extant only as quotations in later works. Many have been found in the Cairo Genizah . Examples of responsa collections are: Individual Geonim often composed treatises and commentaries. Three handbooks on Jewish law are: The most notable author among the Geonim was Saadia Gaon , who wrote Biblical commentaries and many other works: he

735-496: A self-contained, edited passage known as a sugya . Much of the Gemara is legal in nature. Each analysis begins with a Mishnaic legal statement. With each sugya, the statement may be analyzed and compared with other statements. This process can be framed as an exchange between two (often anonymous, possibly metaphorical) disputants, termed the makshan (questioner) and tartzan (answerer). Gemara also commonly tries to find

840-664: A sole for one's foot. Despite its incomplete state, the Jerusalem Talmud remains an indispensable source of knowledge of the development of the Jewish Law in the Holy Land. It was also an important primary source for the study of the Babylonian Talmud by the Kairouan school of Chananel ben Chushiel and Nissim ben Jacob , with the result that opinions ultimately based on the Jerusalem Talmud found their way into both

945-559: A title of a Babylonian college president it meant something like "His Excellency". The Geonim played a prominent and decisive role in the transmission and teaching of Torah and Jewish law . They taught Talmud and decided on issues on which no ruling had been rendered during the period of the Talmud. The period of the Geonim began in 589 CE ( Hebrew date : 4349), after the period of the Sevora'im , and ended in 1038 (Hebrew date: 4798). The first gaon of Sura, according to Sherira Gaon ,

1050-512: Is best known for the philosophical work Emunoth ve-Deoth . Two months of the year were denoted as yarchei kallah , or "months of the bride" (referring to the Talmud ) – the Hebrew months of Adar and Elul . During this time, foreign students assembled in the academy for common study. During the first three weeks of the yarchei kallah the scholars seated in the first row reported on

1155-568: Is during this period that rabbinic discourse began to be recorded in writing. In antiquity, the two major centres of Jewish scholarship were located in Galilee and Babylonia . A Talmud was compiled in each of these regional centres. The earlier of the two compilations took place in Galilee, either in the late fourth or early fifth century, and it came to be known as the Jerusalem Talmud (or Talmud Yerushalmi ). Later on, and likely some time in

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1260-852: Is largely in Jewish Babylonian Aramaic , although quotations in the Gemara of the Mishnah, the Baraitas and Tanakh appear in Mishnaic or Biblical Hebrew. Some other dialects of Aramaic occur in quotations of other older works, like the Megillat Taanit . The reason why earlier texts occur in Hebrew, and later texts in Aramaic, is because of the adoption of the latter (which was the spoken vernacular) by rabbinic circles during

1365-480: Is of course not implied here: that did not exist in Babylonia, only a solemn nomination taking place.) Gaon Ẓemaḥ refers in a responsum to "the ancient scholars of the first row, who take the place of the great sanhedrin". The seven masters, or "allufim" and the "ḥaberim", the three most prominent among the other members of the college, sat in the first of the seven rows. Nine sanhedrists were subordinated to each of

1470-461: Is often criticized as being a modern-day version of pilpul . Nevertheless, the influence of the Brisker method is great. Most modern-day Yeshivot study the Talmud using the Brisker method in some form. One feature of this method is the use of Maimonides ' Mishneh Torah as a guide to Talmudic interpretation, as distinct from its use as a source of practical halakha . Rival methods were those of

1575-627: Is primarily because the prestige of the Jewish community of Israel steadily declined in contrast with the Babylonian community in the years after the redaction of the Talmud and continuing until the Gaonic era. Maimonides claims that all Jewish communities in the Gaonic period formally accepted the Babylonian Talmud as binding, and that in any areas where the two Talmuds conflict, deference is given to

1680-443: Is regarded as more comprehensive. The structure of the Talmud follows that of the Mishnah, in which six orders ( sedarim ; singular: seder ) of general subject matter are divided into 60 or 63 tractates ( masekhtot ; singular: masekhet ) of more focused subject compilations, though not all tractates have Gemara. Each tractate is divided into chapters ( perakim ; singular: perek ), 517 in total, that are both numbered according to

1785-570: Is written largely in Jewish Palestinian Aramaic , a Western Aramaic language that differs from its Babylonian counterpart . The eye and the heart are two abettors to the crime. The final redaction of the text was in the late fourth or early fifth century, once Christianity had become the state religion of the Roman Empire and Jerusalem. Just as wisdom has made a crown for one's head, so, too, humility has made

1890-692: The Talmuda de-Eretz Yisrael ("Talmud of the Land of Israel"). Prior to being written down, it was transmitted orally for centuries and represents a compilation of scholastic teachings and analyses on the Mishnah (especially those concerning agricultural laws) found across regional centres of the Land of Israel now known as the Academies in Galilee (principally those of Tiberias , Sepphoris , and Caesarea ). It

1995-739: The Abbasid Caliphate . They were generally accepted as the spiritual leaders of the Jewish community worldwide in the early medieval era, in contrast to the Resh Galuta ( exilarch ) who wielded secular authority over the Jews in Islamic lands. Geonim is the plural of גאון ‎ ( Ga'on ) [ɡaˈ(ʔ)on] , which means "pride" or "splendor" in Biblical Hebrew and since the 19th century "genius" as in modern Hebrew . As

2100-458: The Aggadic material from the Talmud. It was intended to familiarize the public with the ethical parts of the Talmud and to dispute many of the accusations surrounding its contents. Geonic -era (6th-11th centuries) commentaries have largely been lost, but are known to exist from partial quotations in later medieval and early modern texts. Because of this, it is known that now-lost commentaries on

2205-468: The Babylonian Talmud and 71 folio pages in the Jerusalem Talmud . There is a Tosefta of ten chapters on this tractate. Tractate Pesahim can be divided into three sections: The first four chapters dealing primarily with laws concerning the removal of leaven ( chametz ); the next five chapters dealing with the Passover sacrifice and the tenth and final chapter describing the procedure for

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2310-572: The Gemara ( גמרא , c. 500 CE), a commentary of the Mishnah and related Tannaitic writings whose greater goal is to systematically understand the Hebrew Bible . Sometimes, the term "Talmud" is only used for the Gemara. As a whole, the traditions of the Talmud emerged in a literary tradition that occurred between the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE and the Arab conquest in

2415-401: The Hebrew Bible , the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law ( halakha ) and Jewish theology . Until the advent of modernity , in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the centerpiece of Jewish cultural life and was foundational to "all Jewish thought and aspirations", serving also as "the guide for the daily life" of Jews. Above all,

2520-446: The Hebrew alphabet and given names, usually using the first one or two words in the first Mishnah. A perek may continue over several (up to tens of) pages . Each perek will contain several mishnayot . 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

2625-511: The Land of Israel ; this year we are slaves, next year may we be free people", encapsulating an essential theme of the Seder’s message. The text of Ma Nishtana ("How is this night different") and now known as "The Four Questions" originates in the Mishnah (Pesachim 10:4) as a set of statements said after the meal and not before it, by the father rather than the child ( Talmud , b. Pesachim 116a ). It passed through several stages, notably after

2730-506: The Mir and Telz yeshivas . See Chaim Rabinowitz § Telshe and Yeshiva Ohel Torah-Baranovich § Style of learning . The text of the Talmud has been subject to some level of critical scrutiny throughout its history. Rabbinic tradition holds that the people cited in both Talmuds did not have a hand in its writings; rather, their teachings were edited into a rough form around 450 CE (Talmud Yerushalmi) and 550 CE (Talmud Bavli.) The text of

2835-562: The Mishnah and the Babylonian Gemara, the latter representing the culmination of more than 300 years of analysis of the Mishnah in the Talmudic Academies in Babylonia. The foundations of this process of analysis were laid by Abba Arika (175–247), a disciple of Judah ha-Nasi . Tradition ascribes the compilation of the Babylonian Talmud in its present form to two Babylonian sages, Rav Ashi and Ravina II . Rav Ashi

2940-399: The Talmud treatise assigned for study during the preceding months; in the fourth week the other scholars and also some of the pupils were called upon. Discussions followed, and difficult passages were laid before the gaon, who also took a prominent part in the debates, and freely reproved any member of the college who was not up to the standard of scholarship. At the end of the yarchei kallah

3045-484: The Talmud , and while the Saboraim definitively edited it, the Geonim's task was to interpret it; for them it became the subject of study and instruction, and they gave religio-legal decisions in agreement with its teachings. During the geonic period the Babylonian schools were the chief centers of Jewish learning; the Geonim, the heads of these schools, were recognized as the highest authorities in Jewish law . Despite

3150-465: The Tosafot and the Mishneh Torah of Maimonides . Ethical maxims contained in the Jerusalem Talmud are scattered and interspersed in the legal discussions throughout the several treatises, many of which differ from those in the Babylonian Talmud. The Babylonian Talmud ( Talmud Bavli ) consists of documents compiled over the period of late antiquity (3rd to 6th centuries). During this time,

3255-427: The " second Pesach " on the 14th of Iyar was instituted a month after Passover for those who were unable to offer the Passover sacrifice on the eve of the holiday on 14th of the month of Nisan , in accordance with Leviticus 9:6-12. Accordingly, the title of the tractate in the plural recognizes this, although the Mishnah almost entirely concerns the first or "Great" Passover. The subject matter of this tractate covers

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3360-400: The "small sanhedrin". In front of the presiding gaon and facing him were seated seventy members of the academy in seven rows of ten persons each, each person in the seat assigned to him, and the whole forming, with the gaon, the so-called "great sanhedrin". Gaon Amram calls them in a responsum the "ordained scholars who take the place of the great sanhedrin". (A regular ordination (" semichah ")

3465-472: The 15th and 16th centuries, a new intensive form of Talmud study arose. Complicated logical arguments were used to explain minor points of contradiction within the Talmud. The term pilpul was applied to this type of study. Usage of pilpul in this sense (that of "sharp analysis") harks back to the Talmudic era and refers to the intellectual sharpness this method demanded. Pilpul practitioners posited that

3570-498: The 15th century on, some authorities sought to apply the methods of Aristotelian logic , as reformulated by Averroes . This method was first recorded, though without explicit reference to Aristotle, by Isaac Campanton (d. Spain, 1463) in his Darkhei ha-Talmud ("The Ways of the Talmud"), and is also found in the works of Moses Chaim Luzzatto . According to the present-day Sephardi scholar José Faur , traditional Sephardic Talmud study could take place on any of three levels. In

3675-473: The 18th century, pilpul study waned. Other styles of learning such as that of the school of Elijah b. Solomon, the Vilna Gaon , became popular. The term "pilpul" was increasingly applied derogatorily to novellae deemed casuistic and hairsplitting. Authors referred to their own commentaries as "al derekh ha-peshat" (by the simple method) to contrast them with pilpul. Among Sephardi and Italian Jews from

3780-462: The 5th century by Rav Ashi and Ravina II . There is also an earlier collection known as the Jerusalem Talmud ( Talmud Yerushalmi ). It may also traditionally be called Shas ( ש״ס ), a Hebrew abbreviation of shisha sedarim , or the "six orders" of the Mishnah . The Talmud has two components: the Mishnah ( משנה , c. 200 CE), a written compendium of the Oral Torah ; and

3885-596: The Babylonian Talmud may draw upon the Mishnah, the Jerusalem Talmud, midrash, and other sources. The traditions that the Gemara comments on are not limited to what is found in the Mishnah, but the Baraita as well (a term that broadly designates Oral Torah traditions that did not end up in the Mishnah). The baraitot cited in the Gemara are often quotations from the Tosefta (a tannaitic compendium of halakha parallel to

3990-592: The Babylonian opinion. Neither covers the entire Mishnah. For example, the Babylonian commentary only covers 37 of 63 Mishnaic tractates. In particular: The Babylonian Talmud records the opinions of the rabbis of the Ma'arava (the West, meaning Israel) as well as of those of Babylonia, while the Jerusalem Talmud seldom cites the Babylonian rabbis. The Babylonian version also contains the opinions of more generations because of its later date of completion. For both these reasons, it

4095-681: The Haggadah, after the Kiddush that is recited at all holiday meals, is a declaration in Aramaic that appears to have been added to the Seder liturgy after the destruction of the Temple , commencing with the words ha lahma anya ("this is the bread of affliction") describing the matzo, and inviting the poor to join the meal. It ends with the declaration "This year we are here; next year may we be in

4200-510: The Haggadah, but the debate is cited in the Mishnah (Berachot 1: 5) and in the Midrash , and a similar story is found in Tosefta of this tractate (Pesachim 10:12). Following the ruling prescribed in the Mishnah "that according to the understanding of the child, the father instructs him" (Pesachim 10:4), the Haggadah liturgy includes the section of The Four Sons from the Jerusalem Talmud and

4305-487: The Mishnah discusses individual subjects more thoroughly than the Midrash , and it includes a much broader selection of halakhic subjects than the Midrash. The Mishnah's 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 . The Gemara constitutes

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4410-409: The Mishnah) and the Midrash halakha (specifically Mekhilta, Sifra and Sifre ). Some baraitot , however, are known only through traditions cited in the Gemara, and are not part of any other collection. In addition to the six Orders, the Talmud contains a series of short treatises of a later date, usually printed at the end of Seder Nezikin. These are not divided into Mishnah and Gemara. The work

4515-710: The Passover sacrifice, namely, the 14th of the month of Nisan on the eve of the holiday, and one month later, the " second Pesach " on the 14th of Iyar for those who were unable to offer the sacrifice on the original date. The basis for the laws included in this tractate are derived from the Torah , largely from the Book of Exodus , in Exodus 12:1-29, Leviticus 23:5-8, Exodus 13:3-10 and Exodus 23:15-18, as well as Leviticus 23:5-8, Numbers 9:2-14 and Numbers 28:16-25, and Deuteronomy 16:1-8. The tractate consists of ten chapters and has

4620-428: The Passover sacrifice, the matzah, and the bitter herbs (Pesachim 10:5), are included in the Haggadah. These were formulated into a question and answer arrangement in the text of the Haggadah after the Talmudic period. From the same Mishnah, a fundamental passage of the Haggadah, "Every person in every generation must regard themselves as having been personally freed from Egypt…" is also quoted directly. The text concluding

4725-508: The Roman destruction of the Jewish commonwealth and the Second Temple in the year 70 and the consequent upheaval of Jewish social and legal norms. As the rabbis were required to face a new reality—mainly Judaism without a Temple (to serve as the center of teaching and study) and total Roman control over Judaea , without at least partial autonomy—there was a flurry of legal discourse and the old system of oral scholarship could not be maintained. It

4830-517: The Seder , the meal on the first night of the Passover festival. An overview of the topics of the chapters is as follows: And thou shalt tell your child in that day, saying: It is because of that which the Lord did for me when I came forth out of Egypt. The Mishna was composed towards the end of the Mishnaic period ( c. 30 BCE - 200 CE ) in the Roman province of Judea and forms an early part in

4935-442: The Seder during the period of the Second Temple when the Passover lamb was sacrificed as an offering and roasted and eaten at the home celebrations. After the destruction of the Temple, the question concerning leaning was substituted for the one about the roast offering, which had by then lost its immediate relevance to the evening’s ceremonial meal. The question about bitter herbs was also a later addition. The annual retelling of

5040-770: The Talmud after the end of the Amoraic period, known as the Savoraim or Rabbanan Savora'e (meaning "reasoners" or "considerers"). Unlike the Western Aramaic dialect of the Jerusalm Talmud, the Babylonian Talmud has a Babylonian Aramaic dialect. The Jerusalem is also more fragmentary (and difficult to read) due to a less complete redactional process . Legally, the two differ minimally. The Babylonian Talmud has received significantly more interest and coverage from commentators. This significantly greater influence

5145-507: The Talmud could contain no redundancy or contradiction whatsoever. New categories and distinctions ( hillukim ) were therefore created, resolving seeming contradictions within the Talmud by novel logical means. In the Ashkenazi world the founders of pilpul are generally considered to be Jacob Pollak (1460–1541) and Shalom Shachna . This kind of study reached its height in the 16th and 17th centuries when expertise in pilpulistic analysis

5250-439: The Talmud is a commentary on the Mishnah , primarily written in Jewish Babylonian Aramaic . It contains the teachings and opinions of thousands of rabbis on a variety of subjects, including halakha , Jewish ethics , philosophy , customs , history , and folklore , and many other topics. The term Talmud normally refers to the collection of writings named specifically the Babylonian Talmud ( Talmud Bavli ), compiled in

5355-614: The Talmud was compiled appears to have been forgotten at least by the second half of the Middle Ages, when estimates between the 3rd century BCE to the 9th century CE are suggested in the Wikkuah , a text that records the debates that took place in the Disputation of Paris (also known as the "Trial of the Talmud") which took place in 1240. A wide range of dates have been proposed for the Babylonian Talmud by historians. The text

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5460-402: The Talmud were written by Paltoi Gaon, Sherira , Hai Gaon , and Saadya (though in this case, Saadiya is not likely to be the true author). Of these, the commentary of Paltoi ben Abaye ( c. 840) is the earliest. His son, Zemah ben Paltoi paraphrased and explained the passages which he quoted; and he composed, as an aid to the study of the Talmud, a lexicon which Abraham Zacuto consulted in

5565-485: The Talmud, and who could on occasion visit the Jewish academies in Babylon. A literature of questions and answers developed, known as the responsa literature. The questions were usually limited to one or more specific cases, while the responsum to such a query gave a ruling, a concise reason for it, together with supporting citations from the Talmud, and often a refutation of any possible objection. More discursive were

5670-460: The Talmud, has become a classic. Sections in the commentary covering a few tractates (Pes, BB and Mak) were completed by his students, especially Judah ben Nathan , and a sections dealing with specific tractates (Ned, Naz, Hor and MQ) of the commentary that appear in some print editions of Rashi's commentary today were not composed by him. In the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, a genre of rabbinic literature emerged surrounding Rashi's commentary, with

5775-513: The commentary portion of the Talmud. The Mishnah, and its commentary (the Gemara), together constitute the Talmud. This commentary arises from a longstanding tradition of rabbis analyzing, debating, and discussing the Mishnah ever since it had been published. The rabbis who participated in the process that produced this commentarial tradition are known as the Amoraim . Each discussion is presented in

5880-603: The complete text of the Babylonian Talmud, known as the Munich Codex , the current tenth chapter appears as the fourth, so that the chapters concerning the practical observances of the festival follow one another consecutively. The early medieval Jewish commentators, known as the Rishonim , also refer to the first part of the tractate as " Pesach Rishon ", and the second part about the sacrifices as " Pesach Sheni ". The Meiri (1249–1315) states clearly in his introduction to

5985-409: The correct biblical basis for a given law in the Mishnah as well as the logical process that connects the biblical to the Mishnaic tradition. This process was known as talmud , long before the "Talmud" itself became a text. In addition, the Gemara contains a wide range of narratives, homiletical or exegetical passages, sayings, and other non-legal content, termed aggadah . A story told in a sugya of

6090-468: The destruction of the Temple, when the statements were posed as questions designed to maintain the attention of the children during the telling of the Passover story which now took place before the meal; the statement about the roast offering was replaced by the one concerning reclining, and the question about bitter herbs was added. The passage Avadim Hayinu ("We were slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt") begins

6195-472: The difficulties which hampered the irregular communications of the period, Jews who lived even in most distant countries sent their inquiries concerning religion and law to these officials in Babylonia. In the latter centuries of the geonic period, from the middle of the tenth to the middle of the eleventh, their supremacy lessened, as the study of the Talmud received care in other lands. The inhabitants of these regions gradually began to submit their questions to

6300-520: The early seventh century. In all, the Talmud is divided into 63 tractates , with each tractate systematically discussing one general subject or theme. In the standard print of the Talmud (the Vilna Shas ), the Talmud runs to a length of 2,711 double-sided folios . Talmud translates as "instruction, learning", from the Semitic root lmd , meaning "teach, study". Originally, Jewish scholarship

6405-458: The eating of matza and the recitation of the Hallel prayer . The name of the tractate Pesachim is the Hebrew plural of the name of the Passover festival Pesach , and there are two explanations given for this: Firstly, the tractate contains two distinct parts, which were originally separate, until combined into a single tractate during the Geonic period (by 1040 CE ). Until then, the tractate

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6510-577: The eating of matzah, and the Seder on Passover night. The second part, now chapters five to nine, concern the laws of how the Passover sacrifice was offered and eaten at the Temple in Jerusalem while it existed. This part is more relevant thematically to Seder Kodashim , the order of the Mishna concerned mainly with the sacrificial offerings in the Temple. In the only surviving manuscript that contains

6615-410: The explanations of Tosafot differ from those of Rashi. Among the founders of the Tosafist school were Rabbeinu Tam , who was a grandson of Rashi, and, Rabbenu Tam's nephew, Isaac ben Samuel . The Tosafot commentaries were collected in different editions in the various schools. The benchmark collection of Tosafot for Northern France was that of Eliezer of Touques . The standard collection for Spain

6720-426: The fifteenth century. Saadia Gaon is said to have composed commentaries on the Talmud, aside from his Arabic commentaries on the Mishnah. The first surviving commentary on the entire Talmud is that of Chananel ben Chushiel . Many medieval authors also composed commentaries focusing on the content of specific tractates, including Nissim ben Jacob and Gershom ben Judah . The commentary of Rashi , covering most of

6825-454: The formal telling of the story of the exodus from Egypt, following the Mishnah’s directive to "begin with the shame and end with the praise" (Pesachim 10:4). The Talmud records the views of two third-century Talmudic sages , Rav and Shmuel , regarding the starting point and content of the narrative ( Talmud , b. Pesachim 116a ), either "We were slaves..." or "In the beginning our ancestors were idol worshippers..." At different times one or

6930-413: The gaon designated the Talmudic treatise which the members of the assembly were obliged to study in the months intervening until the next gathering took place. The students who were not given seats were exempt from this task, being free to choose a subject for study according to their needs. During the yarchei kallah , the gaon laid before the assembly a number of the questions that had been sent in during

7035-450: The heads of the schools in their own countries. Eventually they virtually ceased sending their questions to Babylonian Geonim. The title gaon came to be applied to the heads of the two Babylonian academies of Sura and Pumbedita, although it did not displace the original title of Rosh Yeshivah Ge'on Ya'akov ( Hebrew , head of the academy, pride of Jacob). The Aramaic term used was Resh metivta. The title gaon properly designated

7140-405: The late 19th century another trend in Talmud study arose. Hayyim Soloveitchik (1853–1918) of Brisk (Brest-Litovsk) developed and refined this style of study. Brisker method involves a reductionistic analysis of rabbinic arguments within the Talmud or among the Rishonim , explaining the differing opinions by placing them within a categorical structure. The Brisker method is highly analytical and

7245-418: The later geonim were often essays on Talmudic themes, and since a single letter often answered many questions, it frequently became book-length in size. Two important examples of such books are the Siddur of Amram Gaon , addressed to the Jews of Spain in response to a question about the laws of prayer, and the Epistle of Sherira Gaon , which sets out the history of the Mishnah and the Talmud in response to

7350-434: The lengthy development of Jewish law regarding the observance of the Passover holiday . The Passover holiday was a central pilgrimage festival of the Jews when the Temple in Jerusalem still stood. Passover was a unique combination of a home and Temple holiday — although the paschal lamb was slaughtered in the Temple, it was not consumed by the priests but rather by groups of Jews called havurot — fellowship groups, and

7455-402: The liturgical selections used at the Seder were defined during the period of the Mishnah, and with some minor variations, came to comprise the traditional Haggadah that is used by Jewish communities to this day. The Talmudic passages of this tractate formed the basis for one of the earliest known partial texts of the Haggadah, included by Amram Gaon ( c. 850 C.E.) in his daily prayer book, and

7560-415: The midrashic Mekhilta de-Rabbi Ishmael . Although there are differences between the versions in the Talmud and the Haggadah, the text incorporates the four biblical verses describing the Exodus (Ex. 12:26, 13:8, 13:14, and Deut. 6:20) and associates them with four archetypical children who are to be instructed according to their temperaments. The statements of Rabban Gamaliel explaining the significance of

7665-584: The most important of the Jewish centres in Mesopotamia , a region called " Babylonia " in Jewish sources (see Talmudic academies in Babylonia ) and later known as Iraq , were Nehardea , Nisibis (modern Nusaybin ), Mahoza ( al-Mada'in , just to the south of what is now Baghdad ), Pumbedita (near present-day al Anbar Governorate ), and the Sura Academy , probably located about 60 km (37 mi) south of Baghdad. The Babylonian Talmud comprises

7770-431: The narration of the story and introducing the first part of the Hallel thanksgiving prayer, beginning "Therefore it is our duty to thank…" is also directly quoted from this Mishnah. Geonic period Geonim ( Hebrew : גאונים ; Hebrew: [ɡe(ʔ)oˈnim] ; also transliterated Gaonim , singular Gaon ) were the presidents of the two great Babylonian Talmudic Academies of Sura and Pumbedita , in

7875-483: The need to ascertain the Halakha (Jewish rabbinical law). Early commentators such as Isaac Alfasi (North Africa, 1013–1103) attempted to extract and determine the binding legal opinions from the vast corpus of the Talmud. Alfasi's work was highly influential, attracted several commentaries in its own right and later served as a basis for the creation of halakhic codes. Another influential medieval Halakhic work following

7980-435: The office of head of the academy. The title became popular in use around the end of the 6th century. As the academies of Sura and Pumbedita were invested with judicial authority, the gaon officiated as supreme judge. The organization of the Babylonian academies recalled the ancient Sanhedrin . In many responsa of the Geonim, members of the schools are mentioned who belonged to the "great sanhedrin", and others who belonged to

8085-607: The order of the Babylonian Talmud, and to some extent modelled on Alfasi, was "the Mordechai ", a compilation by Mordechai ben Hillel ( c. 1250–1298). A third such work was that of Asher ben Yechiel (d. 1327). All these works and their commentaries are printed in the Vilna and many subsequent editions of the Talmud. A 15th-century Spanish rabbi, Jacob ibn Habib (d. 1516), compiled the Ein Yaakov , which extracts nearly all

8190-456: The other introduction was used, but both views were finally accommodated in the Haggadah, beginning with the answer according to Shmuel. The account in the Haggadah of five leading sages of the Mishnah the second century C.E., Rabbis Eliezer , Joshua , Eleazar ben Azariah , Akiba and Tarfon , who spent the entire night in Bnei Brak talking about the Exodus from Egypt, is found only in

8295-603: The period of the Amoraim (rabbis cited in the Gemara) beginning around the year 200. A second Aramaic dialect is used in Nedarim , Nazir , Temurah , Keritot , and Me'ilah ; the second is closer in style to the Targum . The oldest full manuscript of the Talmud, known as the Munich Talmud (Codex Hebraicus 95), dates from 1342 and is available online. Manuscripts of the Talmud are as follows: The exact date at which

8400-482: The prayer book of Saadia Gaon (10th century) presents the earliest complete text of the Haggadah, although it begins differently from today's version. By the 11th century, the version in Mahzor Vitry is almost the same as that in use today. By the time Maimonides (1135-1204) published it in his Mishneh Torah , the text of the Haggadah was essentially the same as the one in present use. The opening words of

8505-526: The present. The observances include the prohibitions on eating, benefiting from or possessing any leaven, and the sale or search for and removal of leaven from the house before Passover; the practices of the Seder night, including eating matza and bitter herbs , drinking four cups of wine , and reciting the Haggadah recalling the Exodus from Egypt ; as well as the observances of the entire holiday, including

8610-691: The purpose of supplementing it and addressing internal contradictions via the technique of pilpul . This genre of commentary is known as the Tosafot and focuses on specific passages instead of a running continuous commentary across the entire Talmud. Many Talmudic passages are difficult to understand, sometimes owing to the use of Greek or Persian loanwords whose meaning had become obscure. A major area of Talmudic scholarship developed to explain these passages and words. Some early commentators such as Rabbenu Gershom of Mainz (10th century) and Rabbenu Ḥananel (early 11th century) produced running commentaries to various tractates. These commentaries could be read with

8715-402: The respective Geonim without consulting the kallah assemblies convened in the spring. Chananel Ben Chushiel (Rabbeinu Chananel) (990–1053) and Nissim Gaon (990–1062) of Kairouan , though not holders of the office of Gaon, are often ranked among the Geonim. Others, perhaps more logically, consider them as constituting the first generation of Rishonim . Maimonides (1135–1204) sometimes uses

8820-508: The responsa of the later geonim after the first half of the 9th century, when questions began to be sent from more distant regions, where the inhabitants were less familiar with the Talmud, and were less able to visit the Babylonian academies, then the only seats of Talmudic learning. The later geonim did not restrict themselves to the Mishnah and Talmud, but used the decisions and responsa of their predecessors, whose sayings and traditions were generally regarded as authoritative. These responsa of

8925-412: The rules of composition for these groups are detailed in the tractate. The tenth chapter of the tractate, containing the descriptions and instructions for the Seder , as it became known in the post-Talmudic period, has been of continued importance from the time of its composition in antiquity, describing as it does one of the most carefully observed rituals of all Jewish communities until modern times. By

9030-413: The sacrifice was to be eaten, during the ritual meal on Passover night, known as the Seder , with which the tractate concludes. The topics discussed in this tractate are derived from the Torah in the Book of Exodus , Exodus 12:1-29, Exodus 12:43-49, Exodus 13:3-10 and Exodus 23:15-18, as well as Leviticus 23:5-8, Numbers 9:2-14 and Numbers 28:16-25, and Deuteronomy 16:1-8. Other Biblical references to

9135-466: The seven allufim, who probably supervised the instruction given during the entire year by their subordinates. The members of the academy who were not ordained sat behind the seven rows of sanhedrists. Early in the Geonic era, the majority of the questions asked them were sent from Babylonia and the neighboring lands. Jewish communities in these regions had religious leaders who were somewhat acquainted with

9240-479: The sixth century, the Babylonian Talmud was compiled. This later Talmud is usually what is being referred to when the word "Talmud" is used without qualification. The two Talmuds were likely written independently of one another. The Jerusalem Talmud ( Talmud Yerushalmi ) is known by several other names, including the Palestinian Talmud (which is more accurate, as it was not compiled in Jerusalem ), or

9345-459: The story of the redemption from Egypt , as prescribed by the Mishnah, formed an ongoing reiteration of the Jewish belief in God’s past and ongoing protection. Throughout history, the story of the Exodus continued to capture the imagination of Jews, and non-Jews, who drew inspiration from it to strive for their freedom and the connection of their history to the future. The structure and content of most of

9450-466: The subject matter are found in Joshua 5:10-11, 2 Kings 23:21-23, Ezekiel 45:21-24, Ezra 6:19-22, 2 Chronicles 30:1-5, and 2 Chronicles 35:1-19. In all the editions of the Mishnah, Pesachim is the third tractate of the order Mo'ed. The tractate comprises ten chapters and 89 paragraphs ( mishnayot ). It has a Gemara – rabbinical analysis of and commentary on the Mishnah, of 121 folio (double-sided) pages in

9555-401: The term "Geonim" in an extended sense, to mean "leading authorities", regardless of what country they lived in. General collections of Geonic material, including but not limited to responsa: Talmud The Talmud ( / ˈ t ɑː l m ʊ d , - m ə d , ˈ t æ l -/ ; Hebrew : תַּלְמוּד ‎ , romanized :  Talmūḏ , lit.   'teaching') is, after

9660-480: The text likely trace to this time regardless of the date of the final redaction/compilation. Additional external evidence for a latest possible date for the composition of the Babylonian Talmud are the uses of it by external sources, including the Letter of Baboi (mid-8th century), Seder Tannaim veAmoraim (9th century) and a 10th-century letter by Sherira Gaon addressing the formation of the Babylonian Talmud. As for

9765-618: The text of the Talmud and would help explain the meaning of the text. Another important work is the Sefer ha-Mafteaḥ (Book of the Key) by Nissim Gaon , which contains a preface explaining the different forms of Talmudic argumentation and then explains abbreviated passages in the Talmud by cross-referring to parallel passages where the same thought is expressed in full. Commentaries ( ḥiddushim ) by Joseph ibn Migash on two tractates, Bava Batra and Shevuot, based on Ḥananel and Alfasi, also survive, as does

9870-430: The time the Mishnah was compiled in the second century C.E., significant parts of the Haggadah , the traditional Passover narrative, were already formulated and in use as they are today. What are now the " Four Questions " originate in the Mishnah (Pesahim 10:4), and includes the question "On all other nights we eat meat roasted, stewed, or cooked; why on this night only roast meat?" The "Questions" were thus already part of

9975-535: The tractate that during the immediately preceding Geonic period , Pesachim was divided into two tractates. This distinction is also marked explicitly in the Vilna edition in the Hadran at the end of the fourth chapter ( Talmud , b. Pesachim 57b ) and ninth chapter ( Talmud , b. Pesachim 99a ) of the tractate. A second reason given for the plural name of the tractate is that there are, in fact, two Passovers:

10080-399: The various laws of all the aspects of the Passover holiday . The Mishna follows a mostly sequential order, beginning with the search for chametz (leaven) on the evening of the thirteenth of Nisan, the day before Passover, and the prohibition of leaven in all its aspects; the details of the Passover sacrifice on the eve of the holiday; and the laws of matzah and bitter herbs with which

10185-475: The year from all parts of the Diaspora. The requisite answers were discussed, and were finally recorded by the secretary of the academy according to the directions of the gaon. At the end of the yarchei kallah the questions, together with the answers, were read to the assembly, and the answers were signed by the gaon. A large number of the geonic responsa originated in this way; but many of them were written by

10290-557: Was Mar Rab Mar , who assumed office in 689. The last gaon of Sura was Samuel ben Ḥofni , who died in 1034 CE; the last gaon of Pumbedita was Hezekiah Gaon , who was tortured to death by zealots of the Buyid dynasty in 1040; hence the activity of the Geonim covers a period of nearly 450 years. There were two major Geonic academies, one in Sura and the other in Pumbedita. The Sura Academy

10395-430: Was Rabbenu Asher 's Tosefot haRosh. The Tosafot that are printed in the standard Vilna edition of the Talmud are an edited version compiled from the various medieval collections, predominantly that of Touques. A recent project, Halacha Brura , founded by Abraham Isaac Kook , presents the Talmud and a summary of the halachic codes side by side, so as to enable the "collation" of Talmud with resultant Halacha. During

10500-620: Was oral and transferred from one generation to the next. Rabbis expounded and debated the Torah (the written Torah expressed in the Hebrew Bible) and discussed the Tanakh without the benefit of written works (other than the Biblical books themselves), though some may have made private notes ( megillot setarim ), for example, of court decisions. This situation changed drastically due to

10605-679: Was considered an art form and became a goal in and of itself within the yeshivot of Poland and Lithuania. But the popular new method of Talmud study was not without critics; already in the 15th century, the ethical tract Orhot Zaddikim ("Paths of the Righteous" in Hebrew) criticized pilpul for an overemphasis on intellectual acuity. Many 16th- and 17th-century rabbis were also critical of pilpul. Among them are Judah Loew ben Bezalel (the Maharal of Prague), Isaiah Horowitz , and Yair Bacharach . By

10710-401: Was divided into two parts called Pesaḥ Rishon ("First Passover" or "Passover I") and Pesaḥ Sheni ("Second Passover" or "Passover II"). After the two parts were combined, the tractate was called Pesachim , in the plural. One part, now comprising chapters one to four and chapter ten, addresses the laws of Passover that apply always and everywhere, such as the removal of chametz from the home,

10815-435: Was most likely completed, however, in the 6th century, or prior to the early Muslim conquests in 643–636 CE at the latest, on the basis that the Talmud lacks loanwords or syntax deriving from Arabic . Recently, it has been extensively argued that Talmud is an expression and product of Sasanian culture, as well as other Greek - Roman , Middle Persian , and Syriac sources up to the same period of time. The contents of

10920-576: Was originally dominant, but its authority waned towards the end of the Geonic period and the Pumbedita Gaonate gained ascendancy ( Louis Ginzberg in Geonica ). The Geonim officiated, in the last place, as directors of the academies , continuing as such the educational activity of the Amoraim and Saboraim . For while the Amoraim, through their interpretation of the Mishnah , gave rise to

11025-486: Was president of the Sura Academy from 375 to 427. The work begun by Rav Ashi was completed by Ravina, who is traditionally regarded as the final Amoraic expounder. Accordingly, traditionalists argue that Ravina's death in 475 is the latest possible date for the completion of the redaction of the Talmud. However, even on the most traditional view, a few passages are regarded as the work of a group of rabbis who edited

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