Judaism (340-20300 & 344-20300) Spring 2006

A PAGE OF TALMUD glossary

For a very interesting website on the Talmud and its commentaries (from which I got some of this information), see Eliezer Segal’s site (he teaches Jewish Studies at the University of Calgary, Calgary, and received his Ph.D. from Talmud from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 1982): http://www.acs.ucalgary.ca/~elsegal/TalmudPage.html#Page.

His general website: http://www.acs.ucalgary.ca/~elsegal.

Chapter 7 of Masekhet Sanhedrin (“courts”), page 49b

in the center of the page:

1. Mishnah (on top) – digest of legal discussions by rabbis of the first and second centuries CE. It was edited and redacted by about 200 C.E.; traditionally ascribed to the Patriarch, Judah ha-Nasi.

2. Gemara (below it) – commentary on the Mishnah that attempts to relate the mishnaic text to the biblical text and continues the legal discussions of the Mishnah; also contains much aggadah both in the form of scriptural exegesis and legendary stories about the rabbis. There are two different versions of the Talmud, one edited in Palestine, the second in Babylonia.

just to the left of the center column

3. Torah Or – biblical citations

on the left hand side of the page (though beginning on the top right)

4. Rashi’s commentary (Rabbi Shlomo Yitzhaki, 1040-1105, in Troyes, northern France).

on the outer left hand side of the page

5. Mesoret ha-Shas – cross-references to other parts of the Talmud (authored by Rabbi Joshua Boaz Mevorakh, who was a Spanish exile living in Italy, initially written 1546-51).

on the inner right hand side of the page

6. Tosafot (“additions”) – responds to Rashi’s commentary, written by the students and grandsons of Rashi, Some of the Tosafot were:

• Rabbi Jacob ben Meir ("Rabbenu Tam"), c. 1100 - 1171, grandson of Rashi, lived in the French town of Ramerupt.
• Rabbi Samuel ben Meir (RaShBa”M), c. 1080 - c. 1158, was also a grandson of Rashi and the brother of Rabbenu Tam.
• Rabbi Isaac of Dampierre (R"I): A nephew of Rabbenu Tam and the Rashbam, he lived in France during the 12th century, and was one of the most prolific of the Tosafists.
• Rabbi Samson [ben Abraham] of Sens: He lived in France during the latter 12th and early 13th centuries, and eventually moved to Jerusalem. He was the most important disciple of Rabbi Isaac of Dampierre.
• Rabbi Meir [ben Barukh] of Rothenburg was born in Worms, Germany, around 1225, and died in 1293 while being held for ransom by the Emperor Rudolph.

on the extreme right hand side of the page

7. Ayn Mishpat Ner Torah (top) – places in halakhic (legal) literature that incorporate the legal ruling of the Mishnah or Talmud, it usually cites the Mishneh Torah of Maimonides and the Shulchan Aruch of Joseph Caro.

On the right hand of the page, under Ayn Mishpat

8. Rabbi Hananel ben Hushiel, commentator on the Talmud (c. 990-1050, Kairowan, Tunisia).

under Mesoret ha-Shas on the outer left-hand side

9. Gilyon Ha-Sha"S (“in the margins of the Talmud”), by Rabbi Akiva Eger (1761-1837): cryptically concise references to relevant passages in the Talmud and commentaries.

Last revised January 12, 2006