Gemara

The Gemara (also transliterated Gemarah, or in Yiddish Gemore) is an essential component of the Talmud, comprising a collection of rabbinical analyses and commentaries on the Mishnah and presented in 63 books.

However, after Judah the Prince compiled the Mishnah around 200 CE, rabbis from Babylonia and the Land of Israel extensively studied the work.

The analysis of the Amoraim, recorded as gemara, is thus focused on clarifying the positions, views, and word choice of the Tannaim.

In a narrow sense, the word gemara refers to the mastery and transmission of existing tradition, as opposed to sevara, which means the deriving of new results by logic.

[5] In the modern editions, the term gemara occurs frequently in this sense—but in nearly every case it was substituted at a later time for the objectionable word talmud, which was prohibited by the Christian censors.

The only passage in which gemara occurs with the meaning of "Talmud" in the strict sense, and not censored, is Eruvin 32b, where it is used by Rav Nahman, a Babylonian amora (3rd C.).

[5] The building block of gemara is known as a sugya, "a self-contained basic unit of Talmudic discussion" (p. 203) that often centers on a statement from the mishnah, the amoraic rabbis (memra), or simply independent of these.

(Often imputing a view to an earlier authority as to how he may have answered a question: "This is what Rabbi X could have argued ...") Only rarely are debates formally closed.

The distinctive character of the gemara derives largely from the intricate use of argumentation and debate, described above; these "back and forth" analytics are characterized by the Talmudic phrase shakla v'tarya (שקלא וטריא; lit.

In each sugya, either participant may cite scriptural, Mishnaic and Amoraic proof to build a logical support for their respective opinions.

"Confronted with a statement on any subject, the Talmudic student will proceed to raise a series of questions before he satisfies himself of having understood its full meaning.

"[7] This analysis has been described as "mathematical" in approach; Adin Steinsaltz makes the analogy of the Amoraim as scientists investigating the Halakha, where the Tanakh, Mishnah, Tosefta and midrash are the phenomena studied.

Prooftexts quoted to corroborate or disprove the respective opinions and theories will include: The actual debate will usually centre on the following categories: Why does the Mishna use one word rather than another?