Gemara
In the three centuries following the redaction of the Mishnah, rabbis throughout Palestine and Babylonia analyzed, debated, and discussed that work. These discussions form the Gemara (גמרא). Gemara means “completion” (from the Hebrew gamar גמר: "to complete") or "learning" ( from the Aramaic: "to study"). The Gemara mainly focuses on elucidating and elaborating the opinions of the Tannaim. The rabbis of the Gemara are known as Amoraim (sing. Amora אמורא).
Much of the Gemara consists of legal analysis. The starting point for the analysis is usually a legal statement found in a Mishnah. The statement is then analyzed and compared with other statements used in different approaches to Biblical exegesis in rabbinic Judaism (or - simpler - interpretation of text in Torah study) exchanges between two (frequently anonymous and sometimes metaphorical) disputants, termed the makshan (questioner) and tartzan (answerer). Another important function of Gemara is to identify the correct Biblical basis for a given law presented in the Mishnah and the logical process connecting one with the other: this activity was known as talmud long before the existence of the "Talmud" as a text.
Read more about this topic: Talmudists, Structure
Other articles related to "gemara, gemaras":
... He concludes that to a large extent, the Stamma'im essentially wrote the Gemara (the discussions in the Talmud about the Mishna) ... Halivni posits that during the time of Ravina and Rav Ashi, they compiled a Gemara that was much smaller than the Gemara known today, and which likely was similar to the Mishna and to the Tosefta ... He sees this proto-Gemara as a compilation of rulings that probably had little record of discussions ...
... The two Gemaras contain, in addition to the explanations of individual mishnayot, a wealth of haggadic sayings, as well as many narratives and legends ... The following sayings from the Babylonian Gemara may be cited here "Why is learning compared to a fire? Because, as many chips burn better together than singly, so learning is promoted when it is pursued by many ... in Talmud Yerushalmi (the Palestinian Gemara, Talmud of the Land of Israel) is the account of the three scrolls of the Law which were in the Temple in Jerusalem and which differed from one another in ...
... Demonstrating how the Mishnah's rulings or disputes, derive from interpretations of Biblical texts ... The Gemara will often ask where in the Torah the Mishnah derives a particular law ...
... The Gemara is the teachings passed down by the rabbis in the centuries following the destruction of Second Temple, and forms the core of what has come to be known as rabbinic Judaism ... as the Talmud, which has two parts Mishna and Gemara ...
Famous quotes containing the word gemara:
“Instruct
Your son, whirling between two wars,
In the Gemara of your gentleness,”
—Stanley Jasspon Kunitz (b. 1905)