The Talmud. 



which means to complete, or to complement. The Gemara is, so to 

 say, the commentary of the Mishnah. It attaches its discussions uni- 

 formly to the words of the Mishnah, explains terms and things 

 wherever necessary, seeks to elucidate difficulties and to verify and 

 fortify the ordinances of the Mishnah by adducing proofs. It en- 

 deavors to harmonize discrepant statements, and to refer anonymous 

 decisions to their proper authors. At times it takes occasion to trace 

 the plan adopted by the Mishnah in arranging and grouping its con- 

 tents. Though clinging to the Mishnah it never loses sight of extra- 

 Mishnaic compilations, made before or after R. Jehudah Ha-nassi, 

 in which the same subject is treated, and it discusses at length, 

 whether and to what extent both may be brought into agreement. 

 Then it formulates new ordinances, these being in part based upon 

 previous decisions, in part distinct and independent productions. 

 Finally, it reports in full the harmonious or divergent opinions and 

 controversies that took place in the academies in respect to all these 

 and kindred subjects. Thus the Gemara is a vast and comprehensive 

 commentary on the Mishnah. But it is still more. It has sedulously 

 gathered, without any reference to their connection with the Mish- 

 nah, all the utterances, wise or otherwise, which for centuries, had 

 dropped from the lips of the great masters; whatever traditions were 

 preserved concerning their life and actions; whatever bears directly or 

 remotely upon the great subjects of religion and ethics. Thus it con- 

 tains legal enactments, homiletical exegesis of Scripture, apothegms, 

 moral maxims, popular proverbs, parables, fables, tales, accounts of 

 manners and customs, both of the Jews and other nations. Beside 

 these, there are also numerous medical, mathematical, astronomical, 

 scientific and historical data. 



All this was, at first, taught and handed down from one generation 

 to the other orally only, until at length, when its vastness had become 

 almost crushing to the memory, and when at the same time adverse 

 political circumstances thinned out the schools, it was deemed advis- 

 able to write down the Gemara as well as the Mishnah. In Palestine 

 the political horizon darkened first and, therefore, the urgency of 

 securing the traditional treasures by writing them down, was felt 

 sooner than in Babylon. Toward the end of the fourth and the begin- 

 ning of the fifth century, the academy of Tiberias, founded by R. 

 Jochanan, was busily engaged in collecting and writing down the dis- 

 cussions, i. e., the Gemara, of the Palestinian schools, together with the 

 Mishnah. Both combined were called the Talmud. The word Tal- 

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