Questions tagged [talmud-gemara]
The Talmud is a central text of Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, metaphorical stories, customs, and history.
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If giving tzedakah money to parents is a "disrespectful matter" (Talmud, Kiddushin 32a), is giving tzedakah to other relatives a bad idea as well?
My question is going to be a bit complicated so stay with me before you mark it as a duplicate. In my previous question Is giving money to parents considered a tzedaka?, I received answers that it's ...
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Why isn't a divorced woman mentioned in the first mishna of Maseches Kesuvos?
Maseches Kesuvos 2a begins with:
בתולה נשאת ליום הרביעי ואלמנה ליום החמישי
A virgin is married on Wednesday and a widow on Thursday.
The ensuing dafim tell us the reasons why these days were ...
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Davening to change nature
In Mashcehes Brachos (Bavli) 60 the Gemara states that one should not pray that his unborn baby be a boy if it's after the time the baby has formed already in the womb. However, in Masheches Brachos ...
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Does Amorayim read berayta in Gemara rather than recite it
I noticed a very atypical expression on Yevamot 40a:
יתיב ר' חנינא קרא קמיה דר' ינאי ויתיב וקאמר הלכה כר' יהודה א"ל פוק קרי קרייך לברא אין הלכה כר' יהודה תני תנא קמיה דרב נחמן אין הלכה כר' יהודה ...
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Is there anything in the Tanakh or Talmud about co-wives helping raise the child of other co-wives upon widowhood (or absence of husband)?
I just met an Israeli woman, who said that she became a widow when her first and only child was five years old.
She said that if it wasn't for her husband having more than one wife, with whom she ...
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What do these phrases mean, "come as one" and "teach a precedent"?
What do these phrases mean, "come as one" and "teach a precedent"?
I think "come as one" means, they "are both the same" (?), but I am not sure this is the meaning of this in the phrase quoted below.
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Anti-altering measures of the Oral Torah
The Oral Torah was [presumably] forbidden to be written down.
The Gemmorah clearly shows that even in a span of 100 years there were huge differences in recalling the Mishnaic formulas. For example "...
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What is a "Chosson Shas"?
My community has a local email list where people post items that they want or items for sale, etc.
This morning, I saw a post requesting an Oz Vehadar Chosson Shas.
I must be an early-aged "A.K." ...
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"Whose opinion is this mishna?": a question on Ketubot 49a
In Ketubot 49a, the mishna presents the opinion that a man is not legally obligated to support his daughters. The gemara then goes on to determine whose opinion this is: first it excludes Rabbis Meir, ...
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“Teiku” (תיקו): why Eliyahu and not Moshe Rabbeinu to resolve unanswered Talmudic questions?
Sometimes in the Talmud when there's a difficult question, the Talmud concludes with "תיקו".
Usually "Teiku" is translated to mean "let it stand" but another suggestion ...
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Is there a specific reason/ common theme why we ONLY rule like Abaye in the "יע"ל קג"ם" (Yaal Kigam)? [duplicate]
We pasken like Abaye in 6 places in Shas:
1) "יאוש שלא מדעת" (Bava Metzia 21b) whether despair of recovering a lost item that one didn't know about is considered a conscious feeling
אביי אמר לא ...
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Why did the Savoraim only emend certain parts of the Talmud?
I remember learning that Savoraim added certain parts to the Talmud- ex: the beginning of Kiddushin (2a-3a) & parts of Bava Metzia.
(feel free to add additional examples)
Any idea why they ...
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Which Mesivta volumes contain appendixes?
I’d like to compile a list of the various features found at the end of select Mesivta volumes. They usually provide extra help with Gemara study using fancy charts and the like.
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Do angels make requests of G-d?
Do angels make any requests of G-d besides praising and thanking Him?
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Even though "ayn shliach l'dvar aveirah" does the person who sent him also get a punishment?
The Mishnah in Bava Kamma 59a tells us that if Reuven sent a חרש שוטה וקטן (a person who does not understand the repercussions of his actions or under Bar Mitzva) to do a destructive action e.g ...
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How was it decided when the period of Tannaim ended and the period of Amoraim began? [duplicate]
The era of the Tannaim was from 10-220 CE
The era of the Amoraim was from 200 to 500 CE
A couple questions:
1) Who or what flipped the switch to determine that one era was ending and another was ...
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Formal Logic and Gemara
I've recently tried to fuse my background in programming with my Gemara learning, resulting in what I now call computational gemara. You can read more about the idea here. An older article I wrote ...
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When why and how was the Talmud sealed
Throughout my life I've heard that the Talmud is sealed and rabbinic enactment can't be repealed. But from where do we know this? Why was it done? HOW was it done? A gzeirah? A minhag?
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Rav or Rebbi Acha Sar HaBirah?
R' Acha Sar HaBirah is mentioned in a few places in shas. Rashi tells us that 'Sar HaBirah' was his nickname. However, in some places his title is רב, while in other places he is mentioned as רבי. ...
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Giving credit where credit is due [duplicate]
-The Talmud says, in two places, "He who reports a saying in the name of its author brings deliverance to the world." [Megillah 15a; Chullin 104b]
-The Talmud is very careful to always attribute its ...
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How did they learn Torah before everything was taught in its entirety?
Halachos are spread throughout the Torah. Many times the Gemara uses pesukim that are scattered all around to figure out the true application of pesukim. So if, for example, we only had the section ...
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Chapters of Tanach present in Talmud Yerushalmi
Chapters of Tanach present in Talmud Bavli asks:
I heard there is a style of Talmud study somewhere, where as a verse presents itself in the Talmud, the student would learn the entire chapter from תנ״...
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Why do Yeshivos learn Talmud Bavli so extensively?
Most Yeshivos (from 5th Grade-End of High school) Learn Talmud Bavli.
My question is: Why? What is the point of learning Talmud Bavli so extensively?
I know that it is Hashem's Word, but there are ...
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Why learn either Rambam or Shas?
Why learn either Rambam or Shas being that we don't pasken straight from a Gemara nor do we Ashkenazim from the Rambam? And being that the Rambam says in his introduction that his work (Yad Chazakah) ...
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Gemara word for QED
I'm trying to remember the Gemara word for the equivalent of QED, when an argument would be settled between competing opinions and nothing more would be said about the issue.
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How do we understand Talmudic predictions of Moshiach?
There are some predictions in the Talmud for when Moshiach/Messiah will come.
Avoda Zara 9b brings a Beraisa and Rabbi Chanina that say when Moshiach will come (the opinions are a few years apart), ...
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Mishnayot not in Bavli
Does anyone know of a list of all Mishnayot to which there is no Gemara in Talmud Bavli? I.e., those Mishnayot that are not quoted at the head of a section of their own Gemara.
Apologies if this ...
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How did Rambam eliminate "ben gilo" from the halacha?
The gemara in Elu Metzios (Bava Metzia 30b) says:
אמר מר (אשר) ילכו - זה ביקור חולים. היינו
גמילות חסדים! לא נצרכה אלא לבן גילו
,דאמר מר בן גילו נוטל אחד מששים בחליו
,ואפי' הכי מבעי ליה ...
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Missing line in Tractate Megillah
At Sefaria there is a kind of commentary on Talmud called ‘Daf Shevui’. Commenting on Meg. 15b the author writes:
The Attribute of Justice argues before God—why do you give this reward to righteous ...
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List of easiest mesachtos according to Chazal
Is there a source anywhere that show us in any way what Chazal thought were the easiest to hardest Talmud Bavli tractates?
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What does it mean to "know Shas"? [closed]
I've seen many sefarim that talk about finishing Shas, simply put, going through the sugyos and understanding them, even if you forget it. But what does it mean to "know Shas"? Does that mean I know ...
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Are these statements about the Babylonian Talmud true?
Recently, I came across a website with a Q&A about whether there was any record of Jesus' miracles in non-Christian historical documents. The site claimed certain passages in the Babylonian Talmud ...
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What does the talmud/rabbinic writing have to say about Yeshu ha-Notzri (Jesus)?
I understand that the name Jesus was not uncommon 2000 years ago, and Jewish writings about the person of historical interest to the Christian Church call him "Yeshu ha-Notzri" = "Jesus the Nazarene". ...
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Not to marry a divorcée
I remember hearing in a daf yomo shiur (and I want to find where is it written)
something similar to this: it is preferable not to marry a divorced woman (if her ex-husband is still alive) because it ...
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How to understand this Tosfos in Megila 5b
This is a Tosfos from Megilah 5b which is talking about lessening the different type of work(s) of simcha on Purim. However, I'm a bit troubled on understanding the last 6 words. What does Tosfos mean?...
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Talmud Statistics
How many letters are in the Talmud?*
How many words are in the Talmud?
How many dafim are in the Talmud?
How many tractates are in the Talmud?
How many letters, words, and dafim are in every ...
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Insults in the gemarah
Why do tanaim and amoraim use disparaging terms (bavlai tipshai, for instance) or insults when talking with one another. If there is something positive to be learned from this behavior why is it no ...
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Should we be acting like the Amoraim in the Gemara? [duplicate]
Babylonian Talmud, as well as Yerushalmi Shas, are the source to all the Halachos and many Minhagim. Although I have a question, there are some times throughout Shas that we find one Amora saying to ...
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Is it important to learn Mishnah before Talmud?
I have recently started learning Talmud / Gemara recently, and though I am enjoying the experience greatly, something tells me that it would be helpful if I actually went about learning Mishnayot ...
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R' Chanina B"T's strange behavior at his execution (Kalah 5, 4)
We all know the heroic story of R' Chanina Ben Tardion in its version in Avodah Zarah 18b as he was wrapped in Sefer Torah and burned alive.
Interestingly, Masechet Kalah 5, 4 (sorry couldn't find a ...
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Source for quote - "Wherever you look there’s something to be seen"
In the film Anger Management, Dr. Buddy Rydell (Jack Nicholson) says: “the Talmud says ‘wherever you look there’s something to be seen’”.
Any ideas what passage this quote is in reference to?
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Where do we learn that students are like offspring?
Is there a quote in the Talmud that says something like "anyone who teaches a child Torah is like he is his parent?"
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Chapters of Tanach present in Talmud Bavli
I heard there is a style of Talmud study somewhere, where as a verse presents itself in the Talmud, the student would learn the entire chapter from תנ״ך.
With that, were one to complete the entire ...
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What does "the Talmud" mean in the Talmud?
The G'mara Bavli says in Shabas 63:
אמר רב כהנא, "כד הוינא בר תמני סרי שנין, והוה גמירנא ליה לכוליה תלמודא, ולא הוה ידענא דאין מקרא יוצא מידי פשוטו..."
Rav Kahana said, "When I was 18 ...
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Segulos pertaining to individual Gemara Mesechtos
Are there certain segulos for learning certain Gemara Mesechtos (Bavli or Yerushalmi)?
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Why aren't people named after the rabbis from the Talmud? [duplicate]
Besides a couple names (ex: Akiva, Ashi) you don't really see many people over the course of history who have names that originated from the Talmud- ie "Huna", "Abaye", "Zevid", "Puppa" etc.
Why do ...
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A compendium of Shas Concepts?
Is there a sefer, a website, or an app with all the concepts in Shas?
Halachic Concepts such as - "Women are exempt from time-bound commandments".
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A good beginner study Talmud for a student
I am looking to begin studying the Talmud. I have grown up a reform Jew and know most of the basic principles of Judaism, but I am looking to go deeper into the religion, ultimately with the goal of ...
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The testimony of former minors - a question on Ketubot 28a
The Mishna (Ketubot 2:10, 28a) states that there are certain people who are trusted to deliver testimony that relates to something that they witnessed as minors. Included within that list are those ...
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Parshas HaGet used as a Get?
Tosfos in מסכת גיטין (Tosfos 20A "אי''... Tosfos 24A "כל הגט") keeps on repeating the concept of using a Sefer Torah for גירושין...
Tosfos uses phrases such as... "ספר תורה דלא איכתוב לשם גירושין ...