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Understanding Written and Oral Traditions in Judaism
Part 3: Gemorah
The Gemora ("Completion") was compiled by the generation of Jewish scholars called the Amoraim between 200 CE and 400 CE. Unlike the Mishnah, which was
written in Hebrew, Gemora is written in Aramaic with a mixture of Hebrew. It is an enormous amplification of the Mishnah carried out by scholars in Babylon and Palestine. The combination of Mishnah
and Gemora is call the Talmud. All total, there are 5,894 folio pages printed in 12 large volumes, the pagination of which is kept uniform in all editions. Of the 63 tractates of Mishnah, 36 are included
and interpreted in the Babylonian Talmud. A separate Jerusalem Talmud was also published, this one dealing far more extensively with the rules and regulations of living in Eretz Yisrael.
A Talmud test is unique in the scholarship of humankind. Each page has a unique "design." It is not written like pages in books today. Each
page has a center portion defined by a border. This central portion is the Mishnah reference. Starting beneath the Mishnah comes the discussion the Amoraim. Along the outside and bottom borders of
the page are commentaries by Jewish scholars spanning centuries. Each commentary has a border of white page surrounding it as well. The way the central text and the commentaries are arranged is different
for each page. It was believed to be easier for Talmud students to remember a specific text when it was identified with a unique page design. Another interesting feature of Talmud is that it has no
punctuation or separation of phrases, clauses or sentences. It is also interesting to note that every Talmud begins with page bet or 2. This is not a mistake. This practice reflects the
philosophical belief that no matter how many times one learns the Talmud, there is always something still to be learned. Ultimately, one cannot learn it all.
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