Talmud Bavli and Yerushalmi – differences and distinctions.
There are several differences and distinctions between the two different talmuds or “gemaras”.
Where they were written, the language, the Rabanim that are quoted… Etc. I will attempt to
explain the differences and distinctions between the two, as well as some of the practical
ramifications as well.
1. A brief history of the Talmud.
Originally, Jewish learning was meant to stay oral forever. Rabbis expounded and debated the
Torah and the Tanach without any written works other than the Tanach itself, though some may
have made private notes, what’s refered to as megillot setarim, for example of court decisions.
This situation changed mainly as the result of the destruction of the Jewish state and the Second
Temple in the year 70 CE and the consequent upheaval of Jewish social and legal norms. As the
Rabbis were required to face a new reality, mainly Judaism without a Temple and Judea without
at least partial autonomy, there was a flurry of legal discourse and the old system of oral
scholarship could not be maintained.
The Oral Torah varied among various schools. The most famous two were the School
of Shammai and the School of Hillel. In general, all valid opinions, even the non-normative ones,
were recorded in the Talmud.
The Gemara is a part of the Talmud made up of rabbinical analysis of and commentary on
the Mishnah. After the Mishnah was published by Judah HaNasi (c. 200 CE), the work was
studied exhaustively by generation after generation of rabbis in Babylonia and the Land of Israel.
Their discussions were written down in books that became the Gemara, which when combined
with the Mishnah constituted the Talmud.
There are two versions of the Gemara. The Yerushalmi, also known as the Palestinian, was
compiled by scholars of Israel, primarily of the academies of Tiberias and Caesarea, which was
published between about 350–400 CE. The Bavli was published about 500 CE by scholars of
Babylonia, primarily of the academies of Sura, Pumbedita, and Mata Mehasia. By convention, a
reference to the “Gemara” or “Talmud,” without further qualification, refers to the Babylonian
version.
2. Talmud Yerushalmi.
The Jerusalem Talmud was created before the babylonian Talmud and is written in
both Hebrew and “Jewish Palestinian Aramaic”. It includes the core component, the Mishna,
finalized by Rabbi Judah the Prince (c. 200 CE) along with the written discussions of generations
of rabbis in the Land of Israel which primarily include the academies of Tiberias and Caesarea.
The written discussions were compiled century 350-400 CE into the books that became
the Gemara. (Gemara comes from the Hebrew word gamar, which means to complete in Hebrew
or to study in Aramaic). The Babylonian Talmud is often seen as more authoritative and is
studied much more than the Jerusalem Talmud. We will discuss the reasons why that is later on.
The Jerusalem Talmud originated in Tiberias in the School of Johanan ben Nappaha. It is written
largely in Jewish Palestinian Aramaic, a Western Aramaic dialect that differs from its Babylonian
counterpart.
This Talmud is a synopsis of the analysis of the Mishnah that was developed over the course of
nearly 200 years by the Talmudic Academies in the Land of Israel (principally those of Tiberias
and Caesarea). Because of their location, the sages of these Academies devoted considerable
attention to analysis of the agricultural laws of the Land of Israel. Traditionally, the redaction of
this Talmud was thought to have been brought to an abrupt end around 425 C.E.,
when Theodosius II suppressed the Patriarchate and put an end to the practice of formal
scholarly ordination. It was thought that the compilers of the Jerusalem Talmud lacked the time
to produce a work of the quality they had intended, and that this is the reason why
