Introduction to Mishnah and Talmud

The Talmud is the Mishnah and the Gemara. Gemara means Completion. The Gemara is the completion of the Mishnah. The Mishnah is written with an extreme brevity of language; its statements are highly-terse and compact, requiring it to be unpacked and expanded in order to fully understand.

The Sages of the Mishnah began their tradition long before the writing the the Talmud as we know it today (these sages are referred to as "Tanna'im"), which consists of the redaction of the Mishnah and the much lengthier Gemara, which comprises the overwhelming bulk of the text of the Talmud.

The Gemara is the accumulated documentation of a period of intense Torah scholarship that lasted for well over 300 years. The scholars whose debates and inquiries are recorded in the Gemara are known as the "Amora'im".

There are in fact two Talmuds: Talmud Yerushalmi and Talmud Bavli. The Talmud Yerushalmi was begun slightly earlier than the Bavli. The Yerushalmi was written in Eretz Yisrael while the Bavli was written in Babylonia.

Talmud Yerushalmi contains a Gemara for every Tractate until the end of the Fourth Order of the Mishnah. The Sages of Yisrael were unable to complete the redaction of the Gemara for all Six Orders of the Mishnah. Talmud Bavli contains a Gemara for almost every Tractate for the Second through the Fifth Order of the Mishnah.

So for neither the Yerushalmi or the Bavli were the Sages able to finish the Gemara. The major missing component of both Talmuds is therefore the Sixth Order of the Mishnah, the Order of Purities.

The result of this analysis proves that the Sixth Order of the Mishnah remains the most elusive and difficult to understand of all the Orders of the Mishnah.

Talmud Yerushalmi on Keeping a Torah Scroll in the House

"If one sells a Torah scroll he inherited from his father, he will never see a sign of blessing. But whoever keeps a Torah scroll in his house, about him scripture states, 'Wealth and riches are in his house, and his righteousness endures forever' (Psalms 112:3)."

-- Talmud Yerushalmi, Bikkurim 26b


"A continuous fire shall burn upon the altar; it shall not go out." 

-- Leviticus 6:6

Talmud Yerushalmi on The Death of the Sons of Aaron and Yom Kippur

"Rabbi Chiyah bar Ba says: The sons of Aaron died on the first day of Nissan, which was the eighth day of the miluim. So why does the Torah mention their deaths in the passage about the Yom Kippur service? To teach you that just as Yom Kippur atones for the sins of Israel, so do the deaths of righteous people atone for the sins of Israel."

-- Talmud Yerushalmi, Yoma 2b

Talmud Yerushalmi Berachot on the Kohanic Blessing

"Rabbi Huna said: Regarding one who is in the presence of the Kohanim when they impart the three Kohanic blessings in the synagoge - when they recite the first blessing, he should say the verse 'Bless YHVH, O His angels, the strong warriors who do His bidding, to obey the voice of His word' (Psalms 103:20). When they recite the second blessing, he should say the verse 'Bless YHVH, all His legions, His servants who do His will' (Psalms 103:21). When they recite the third blessing, he should say the verse 'Bless YHVH, all His works, in all the places of His dominion; bless YHVH, O my soul' (Psalms 103:22).

-- Talmud Yerushalmi, Berachot 5a