The Jerusalem Talmud (, often for short), also known as the Talmud of the Land of Israel or Palestinian Talmud, is a collection of rabbinic commentary on the Mishnah, a codification of Jewish oral traditions ("Oral Torah") believed to have been revealed by Moses alongside the Written Torah. Since this Talmud originated in Galilee, in the Byzantine province Palaestina Secunda, rather than in Jerusalem (where Jews were prohibited from living since the time of Hadrian), many prefer calling it the Palestinian Talmud.
The Jerusalem Talmud predates its counterpart, the Babylonian Talmud (known in Hebrew as the ), by about a century. It was written primarily in Galilean Aramaic. It was compiled between the late fourth century to the first half of the fifth century. Both versions of the Talmud have two parts, the Mishnah (of which there is only one version), which was finalized by Judah the Prince around the year 200 CE, and the respective commentary tradition on the Mishnah from each region, known as a Gemara. The Gemara is what differentiates the Jerusalem Talmud from its Babylonian counterpart. The Jerusalem Gemara contains the written discussions of generations of rabbis of the Talmudic academies in Syria Palaestina at Tiberias and Caesarea.
Name This Talmud is commonly known as the Jerusalem Talmud or the Palestinian Talmud. Academics prefer to speak of the "Palestinian Talmud" because of the texts origins mainly from the Galilee region of Palestine (or the Land of Israel) in the Byzantine province, Palaestina Secunda, rather than from Jerusalem.
Both names were being used in the geonim period (6th–11th century CE), alongside other names such as "Talmud of the Land of Israel", "Talmud of the West", and "Talmud of the Western Lands".
Origins and historical context The Jerusalem Talmud probably originated in Tiberias in the School of Johanan bar Nappaha as a compilation of teachings of the schools of Tiberias, Caesarea, and Sepphoris. It is written largely in Galilean Aramaic, a Western Aramaic dialect that differs from its Babylonian counterpart.Harry Gersh, The Sacred Books of the Jews, 1968, Stein and Day, New York, p. 123:"The two versions also use different dialects, the Palestinian being written in a mixture of Hebrew and west-Aramaic, the Babylonian in a mixture of Hebrew and east-Aramaic."
This Talmud is a commentary on the Mishnah. Before being compiled, this commentary tradition on the Mishnah grew for nearly 200 years among the Talmudic academies in Syria Palaestina (principally those of Tiberias and Caesarea).
Manuscripts The Leiden Jerusalem Talmud (Or. 4720) is today the only surviving complete manuscript of the Jerusalem Talmud. It was copied in 1289 by the Jewish scholar Jehiel ben Jekuthiel Anav and shows elements of a later recension. Today, it is held at Leiden University Libraries. The manuscript has biblical glosses which are absent from the Yemeni fragments of the same tractates (perhaps owing to the isolation of the Yemenite community).Yehuda Levi Nahum, Hasifat Genuzim Miteman (Revelation of Ancient Yemenite Treasures), Holon (Israel) 1971, pp. 19–29 (article: "Fragment of Mishnah and Jerusalem Talmud Shevi'it (chapter 7), by Prof. Zvi Meir Rabinowitz).
The Leiden manuscript is important in that it preserves some earlier variants to textual readings, such as in Tractate Pesachim 10:3 (70a), which brings down the old Hebrew word for charoset (the sweet relish eaten at Passover), viz. dūkeh (), instead of rūbeh/rabah (), saying with a play on words: "The members of Isse's household would say in the name of Isse: Why is it called dūkeh? It is because she pounds [the spiced ingredients] with him." The Hebrew word for "pound" is dakh (), which rules out the spelling of rabah (), as found in the printed editions. Yemenite Jews still call it dūkeh.Yehuda Ratzaby, Dictionary of the Hebrew Language used by Yemenite Jews (אוצר לשון הקדש שלבני תימן), Tel-Aviv 1978, s.v. דּוּכֵּהּ (p. 54).
Leiden University Libraries has digitised both volumes of the manuscript and made it available in its Digital Collections.
Among the Hebrew manuscripts held in the Vatican Library is a late 13th-century – early 14th-century copy of Tractate Sotah and the complete Zeraim for the Jerusalem Talmud (Vat. ebr. 133): Berakhot, Peah, Demai, Kilayim, Sheviit, Terumot, Maaserot, Maaser Sheni, Ḥallah and Orlah (without the Mishnah for the Tractates, excepting only the Mishnah to the 2nd chapter of Berakhot).Vatican Library - Vat. ebr. 133, Sotah (ff. 1r–21r), Berakhot (ff. 22r–50v), Pe'ah (ff. 50v–66r), Demai (ff. 66r–80r), Kilayim (ff. 80r–94v), Shevi'it (ff. 94v–107v), Terumot (ff. 107v–125v), Ma'aserot (ff. 126r–135r), Ma'aser Sheni (ff. 135r–144v), Ḥallah (ff. 144v–148v) and Orlah (ff.148v–151v). Several sources have printed the variant readings from this manuscript (L. Ginzberg, Fragments of the Yerushalmi (New York 1909), pp. 347–372 and in the end of Saul Lieberman's essay ʿAl ha-Yerushalmi (Hebrew), Jerusalem 1929). Both editors noted that this manuscript is full of gross errors but also retains some valuable readings.
Dating
Premodern estimates Traditionally, the redaction of this Talmud was thought to have been brought to an abrupt end around 425, when Theodosius II suppressed the Nasi of the Sanhedrin and put an end to the practice of semikhah (formal scholarly ordination). The redaction of the Jerusalem Talmud was done to codify the laws of the Sanhedrin as the redaction of the Mishnah had similarly done during the time of Judah ha-Nasi. It was thought that the compilers of the Jerusalem Talmud worked to collect the rulings of the Sanhedrin and lacked the time to produce a work of the quality they had intended and that this is the reason why the Gemara do not comment upon the whole Mishnah, or that certain sections were lost.
Modern estimates Current perspectives on the dating of the closure of the text of the Palestinian Talmud rely on an understanding of activity of rabbinic scholarship and literary production, identifying datable historical datapoints mentioned by the text, and its reliance on and citation by other datable (or roughly datable) texts. Broadly, the Palestinian Talmud is dated at some time from the second half of the fourth century to the first half of the fifth century.
Christine Hayes has argued that a lack of evidence for Amoraim activity in Syria Palaestina after the 370s implies that the text was closed by around 370. However, reference to historical events from around or even slightly after 370 may push the earliest possible date to the late 4th century. For example, the Roman general Ursicinus, who had a public role between 351 and 359, is mentioned several times in a legendary context, suggesting that these references are somewhat later than his public career. Furthermore, there is also a reference to the Persian campaign of the Roman emperor Julian from 363. While less clear, there is also confidence that the Roman official "Proclus" named by the Palestinian Talmud corresponds to a Roman official also named Proclus, who became the governor of Palestine around 380 and eventually climbed to the position of praefectus urbi Constantinopolis (Prefect of Constantinople) which he held between 388 and 392. The final generation of rabbis whose opinions are found in the text belong to the second half of the fourth century. The time of the editing and compilation of these opinions would likely have occurred in the generation of their disciples, again leading to a date of the text during the late fourth or the early fifth century.
The dating of the Palestinian Talmud is definitively prior to that of the Babylonian Talmud, which relies heavily on it. The Babylonian Talmud was composed at some time between the mid-sixth century to the early-seventh century, but prior to the onset of the Arab conquests. This provides an upper absolute boundary as to when the Palestinian Talmud could have been compiled. To further push down the upper boundary, some lines (Demai 2:1; Shevi'it 6:1) of the Palestinian Talmud are also extant in the Tel Rehov inscription which dates to the 6th or 7th century.
Contents and pagination
In the initial Venice edition, the Jerusalem Talmud was published in four volumes, corresponding to separate sedarim of the Mishnah. Page numbers are by volume as follows:
Zeraim: Berakhot (2a–14d); Pe'ah (15a–21b); Demai (21c–26c); Kilayim (26d–32d); Sheviit (33a–39d); Terumot (40a–48b); Maasrot (48c–52a); Maaser Sheni (52b–58d); Hallah (57a–60b); Orlah (60c–63b); Bikkurim (63c–65d). Moed: Shabbat (2a–18a); Eruvin (18a–26d); Pesachim (27a–37d); Yoma (38a–45c); Shekalim (45c–51b); Sukkah (51c–55d); Rosh ha-Shanah (56a–59d); Beẓah (59d–63b), Ta'anit (63c–69c); Megillah (69d–75d); Ḥagigah (75d–79d); Mo'ed Ḳaṭan (80a–83d). Nashim: Yebamot (2a–15a); Sotah (15a–24c); Ketuvot (24c–36b); Nedarim (36c–42d); Gittin (43a–50d); Nazir (51a–58a); Kiddushin (58a–66d). Nezikin (and Tohorot): Bava Kamma (2a–7c); Bava Metziah (7c–12c); Bava Batra (12d–17d); Sanhedrin (17d–30c); Makkot (30d–32b); Shevuot (32c–38d); Avodah Zarah (39a–45b); Horayot (45c–48c); Niddah (48d–51b).
Each page was printed as a folio, thus it contains four sub-pages (i.e., 7a, 7b, 7c, 7d), in contrast to the Babylonian Talmud which only has two sub-pages (7a, 7b).
In addition, each chapter of the Jerusalem Talmud (paralleling a chapter of Mishnah) is divided into "halachot"; each "halacha" is the commentary on a single short passage of Mishnah. Passages in the Jerusalem Talmud are generally references by a combination of chapter and halacha (i.e., Yerushalmi Sotah 1:1), by a page in the Venice edition (i.e., Yerushalmi Sotah 15a), or both (Yerushalmi Sotah 1:1 15a).
Missing sections
In addition to the sedarim of Tohorot (except part of Niddah) and Kodashim, several tractates and parts of tractates are missing from the Jerusalem Talmud. The last four chapters of Shabbat, and the last chapter of Makkot, are missing. Niddah ends abruptly after the first lines of chapter 4.
The Mishnaic tractates Avot and Eduyot have no commentary in either the Babylonian Talmud or the Jerusalem/Palestinian Talmud. Tractate Shekalim has no Babylonian commentary. For this reason, the standard printed editions of the Babylonian Talmud include the Jerusalem Talmud's commentary on Shekalim instead.
According to the Jewish Encyclopedia,
Missing passages Occasionally, the rishonim quote passages from the "Yerushalmi" which are not found in extant versions of the Jerusalem Talmud. Proposed explanations for this include the following: The current Jerusalem Talmud has been truncated from its original version by the scribes who copied it.Avigdor Aptowitzer, ציטוטי ירושלמי שאינם בתלמוד הירושלמי (Netuim 20:275-280) For these rishonim, "Yerushalmi" was a collective term which included any work of midrash from the Land of Israel, and not necessarily a reference to the Jerusalem Talmud proper.Zvi Hirsch Chajes, Imrei Binah 2 (Kol Sifrei, 2:891). Text: דע ידידִי! כי הקדמונים היו רגילים לכנות כל המדרשים ופסיקתות וילמדנו, אשר נתחברו בא"י, בשם "ירושלמי". ולא דקדקו בלשונם. ומי יודע באיזה מדרש מן המדרשים אשר נאבד מאתנו? A separate text, summarizing the Jerusalem Talmud, was composed at some stage and the rishonim quote this work rather than the Jerusalem Talmud proper.
Comparison to Babylonian Talmud There are significant differences between the two Talmud compilations.
The two Talmuds were written in different languages: The language of the Jerusalem Talmud is Galilean Aramaic, whereas the language of the Babylonian Talmud is Jewish Babylonian Aramaic. While both are a commentary on the Mishnah, there are many different interpretations between them.Amrei Bemaarava (2010); Darkhei Hatalmudim (2021)