Gemara and Talmud

Essential vocabulary for understanding the Talmud.

The grandson of Rashi and leader of medieval French Jewry.

A guide to the major sages and scholars known for their work on this canonical text.

Monotheism and the sanctification of the trivial

How the Talmud came to occupy its place in the canon of authoritative Jewish texts as the "Oral Torah"

The beloved Torah commentator also wrote a much-used commentary on the Talmud.

How the sages' debates across many generations became the monumental works known as the Babylonian and Jerusalem Talmuds

The two versions of the Talmud developed simultaneously in the two major Jewish communities of the rabbinic era.

The Tosafists continued the conversation with their glosses on the text of the Talmud.

Together with the Mishnah, these texts make up what is known as Rabbinic Judaism.