Tractate Berakhot of the Talmud of Eretz-Israel: 0001

This is an experiment. I don't think anyone has ever tried to learn or teach Yerushalmi in this way, so the format may have to change as we go along, and I shall depend on your feedback. Many people have signed up for this study group, which is gratifying. But, if you come to realise that this is not for you, please don't hesitate to send me an email asking to be dropped from the list.

Like its Babylonian counterpart, the Talmud Yerushalmi represents the discussions of the sages on the Mishnah. The Babylonian Talmud ('Bavli') presents the discussions as they took place in the great Yeshivot in Babylon — Sura, Pumbedita, Naresh etc. The Talmud of Eretz-Israel presents the discussions as they took place in the Batey Midrash of Eretz-Israel — mainly in Tiberias.

You will recall that the Mishnah was edited and published in its present form by Rabbi Yehudah, the President of the Sanhedrin, at the very beginning of the 3rd century CE. The discussions on the Mishnah presented in the Talmud of Eretz-Israel began almost immediately after the publication of the Mishnah. Some of these discussions were compiled into their present form towards the end of the 4th century or the beginning of the 5th century. The Yerushalmi is an uncompleted work. It is uncompleted because several of the tractates of the Mishnah are not dealt with at all (even though they must have been discussed by the sages in the Batey Midrash); it is uncompleted because, unlike the Bavli, it shows clear signs of only minor editing; it is uncompleted because very rarely is a topic closed with a clear indication of halakhah.

The name "Talmud Yerushalmi" is a complete misnomer! It was not complied in Jerusalem, but in the towns of Galilee, mainly in the city of Tiberias. That is why I prefer to call it the Talmud of Eretz-Israel. Often in the Bavli it is referred to as the Talmud of the Westerners [תלמודא דבני מערבא]; but that is only because Babylon (Iraq) lies to the east of Eretz-Israel.

Both the Babylonian Talmud and the Talmud of Eretz-Israel are written mainly in Aramaic. But the differences between the dialect of Babylon and the dialect of Galilee are enormous. In studying the Talmud of Eretz-Israel one has to enter a thought process different from that of the Babylonian Talmud; one has to get used to using different 'technical terms', and to a different language of expression.

For the sake of clarity let me explain how I intend to present the material before you. Some of my readers are rabbis and scholars well-versed in the study of the Babylonian Talmud. For them I shall present the text of the Talmud of Eretz-Israel in the original language, paragraph by paragraph. After that I shall present a readable (i.e. not literal) translation of the paragraph into English. Then will come the explanations. I shall try not only to explain the thoughts and arguments, but also to explain the technical terms of deliberation (for the benefit of those readers who are au fait with the Bavli so that they can begin to swim in the sea of the Yerushalmi unaided). Wherever necessary (and wherever known) I shall also give a short biography of the sages taking part in the discussions.

I have decided to offer Tractate Berakhot, for two main reasons: it is a tractate often studied in the Babylonian Talmud, so some people will be able to make comparisons; and also because the topics discussed are familiar to most people: Shema, Amida, Birkat ha-Mazon, benedictions in general and so forth. I shall not explain the Mishnah itself nor present the text of the original mishnah. The text is available here for reference and explanations are available here (though I don't think we shall need to refer to them).

I shall, God willing, send out these shiurim as regularly as possible, but it may not be more than one a week. Each shiur will deal with one sugya [element of discussion]; so sometimes the shiur will be inordinately long and sometimes it will be very short indeed. Without more ado let us begin our study of Tractate Berakhot in the Talmud of Eretz-Israel.

1:
The first task that the Gemara sets itself is to ascertain the precise meaning of the first clause of the mishnah: what does the mishnah mean when it says that the time from which the Shema may be read in the evening is 'from the time when priests go in to eat their terumah'?

2:
The Gemara notes that Rabbi Ḥiyya had two differing definitions of the time from which the Evening Shema may be recited. Ḥiyya was a very popular name in Eretz-Israel and several sages bear this name. The Rabbi Ḥiyya mentioned in the Gemara here is a very important figure from the first half of the 2nd century CE. He was born in Babylon, but made aliyyah to Eretz-Israel to study with Rabbi Yehudah, the president of the Sanhedrin. With him came his wife, twin sons, two daughters and two nephews. One of these nephews, Abba ben Aivo, was later to become one of the most illustrious sages of Babylon in the first generation of Amoraim, with the sobriquet 'Rav', a contraction of 'Rabbi Abba'. These two sages, Rabbi and Rabbi Ḥiyya, greatly respected each other, and Rabbi Ḥiyya assisted Rabbi in the compilation of the Mishnah. This is why his differing definitions of the time from which the Evening Shema may be recited, presented here in the Gemara, are important: they are further 'definitions' which had survived from earlier times. (Lest so many of such variant traditions which had been rejected by Rabbi when compiling his Mishnah be lost entirely to posterity, Rabbi Ḥiyya — together with Rabbi Oshaya — assembled many of them in the collection known as the Tosefta.) Such traditions became known as matnita barayta, or just barayta: mishnahs that Rabbi did not include in his Mishnah. Unlike the Talmud of Babylonian Jewry, the Talmud of Eretz-Israel uses the same technical term, תְּנֵי, to indicate both mishnah and barayta, because they were both 'mishnahs'.

3:
Rabbi Ḥiyya's first definition is to all intents and purposes identical to the one offered by our mishnah: 'from the time when priests enter to eat their terumah'. But Rabbi Ḥiyya's second definition is 'from the time when it is customary for people to eat their bread on Sabbath Eves'. Concerning these two definitions we learn also that it was held that 'they are near to being identical'. (From the text as it now stands it is not clear whether this comment on both definitions is to be attributed to Rabbi Ḥiyya himself or to some anonymous Tanna. But that is immaterial to the discussion.) The Gemara immediately points out the problem with this: it is known that the priests eat their terumah around the time when day is fading into night as the stars begin to appear; but people usually eat their Shabbat meal on Friday nights an hour or two into the night. So how can it be held that these two definitions 'are near to being identical'? There is a discrepancy of a couple of hours!

4:
Rabbi Yosé suggests a resolution of this discrepancy. We must be very careful not to confuse this Rabbi Yosé, an Amora, with the Tanna Rabbi Yosé ben-Ḥalafta. There are many sages of Eretz-Israel called Yosé, but 'Rabbi Yosé' in the Talmud of Eretz-Israel without any further clarification is usually the sage of that name who was active in Eretz-Israel during the latter part of the 4th century CE, Rabbi Yosé ben-Bon. (On the few occasions when this sage is quoted in the Bavli he is called Rabbi Yosé ben Avin.) His opinion is quoted very often in the Yerushalmi, nearly always as the last opinion presented on any issue. Thus it is more than probable that he was responsible for the format of the text of the Talmud of Eretz-Israel as we now have it.

5:
Rabbi Yosé says that the 'people' referred to in the second definition of Rabbi Ḥiyya are country folk who live in small villages and lead a simple life. Their work day ends around sunset, and their simple meals are already prepared; so on Fridays they are able to eat their Shabbat repast at the start of nightfall, which is more or less the same as the time time priests enter to eat their terumah. So, according to Rabbi Ḥiyya the time when the priests enter to eat their terumah and the time when country folk begin their Shabbat meal on Friday nights is more or less the same: at the end of the day when the stars begin to appear. (This time, 'when the stars appear', will be discussed in greater detail by the Gemara later on.)

6:
Terumah is a donative or gift, which had to be given by the farmer from his crop to a priest (any priest). The amount given was dependent on the farmer's generosity, but 2% of the crop was considered usual. The priests had to be in a state of ritual cleanliness in order to eat the terumah which had been given to them, so it was usual for priests to visit the mikveh as daylight waned into night so as to be able to eat food (usually bread) made from any terumah that had been given to them.

Because of the incidence of Israel's Independence Day the next shiur in this series will be on May 17th, God willing.