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79-692: The Mishnah and Talmud go to great lengths to carefully define and precisely determine the observance of the Sabbath. The tractate is thus one of the longest in terms of chapters in the Mishnah, and folio pages in the Talmud. It comprises 24 chapters and has a Gemara – rabbinical analysis of and commentary on the Mishnah – in both the Babylonian Talmud and all but the last four chapters of the Jerusalem Talmud . There

158-514: A Babylonian amora (3rd C.). Later editions of the Talmud frequently substitute for the word "Gemara" the Aramaic abbreviation for "the six orders of the Mishnah," pronunced as "Shas," which has become a popular designation for the Babylonian Talmud. 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

237-501: A bulwark for the preservation of the Jewish people. The Mishna and the Gemara define the rituals that continue to be observed by traditional Jewish communities until modern times, with some elaboration, to both "remember" and "keep" the Sabbath and to sanctify it at home and in the synagogue. In addition to refraining from creative work, the sanctification of the day through blessings over wine ,

316-619: A conclusion from a prooftext is often logically complex and indirect. "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." This analysis has been described as "mathematical" in approach; Adin Steinsaltz makes the analogy of the Amoraim as scientists investigating the Halakha , where

395-467: A designation of the Talmud. 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 ,

474-485: A parable of wise and foolish people invited to a royal feast. The Torah is extolled in an aggadic passage which says that God specified that the world would return to primordial chaos unless Israel accepted the Torah, that Israel accepted it joyfully and Moses fought to obtain it, in appreciation of an understanding that God's kingdom on earth can be established only after struggle. The Gemara also elucidates that hatred of

553-565: A particular law. See Talmudic hermeneutics and Oral Torah § The interplay of the Oral and Written Law . [REDACTED]  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain :  Singer, Isidore ; et al., eds. (1901–1906). " Talmud ". The Jewish Encyclopedia . New York: Funk & Wagnalls. Book of Proverbs The Book of Proverbs ( Hebrew : מִשְלֵי , Mišlê ; Greek : Παροιμίαι ; Latin : Liber Proverbiorum , "Proverbs (of Solomon)")

632-505: A statement is true, and what qualifications are permissible. All statements are examined for internal consistency. See: List of Talmudic principles and Category:Talmud concepts and terminology Resolving contradictions, perceived or actual, between different statements in the Mishnah , or between the Mishnah and other traditions; e.g., by stating that: two conflicting sources are dealing with differing circumstances; or that they represent

711-423: A superscription to the effect that the following proverbs were transcribed "by the men of Hezekiah", indicating at face value that they were collected in the reign of Hezekiah in the late 8th century BCE. Chapters 30 and 31 (the "words of Agur," the "words of Lemuel," and the description of the ideal woman) are a set of appendices, quite different in style and emphasis from the previous chapters. The "wisdom" genre

790-487: A transmissible human craft, until with 30:1–14, the "words of Agur," we return once more to the idea that God alone possesses wisdom. "The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom" (Proverbs 9:10 – the phrase implies submission to God's will). Wisdom is praised for her role in creation ("God by wisdom founded the earth; by understanding, he established the heavens" – Proverbs 3:19). God acquired her before all else, and through her, he gave order to chaos ("When [God] established

869-466: A virtuous woman, a wife of noble character. It is impossible to offer precise dates for the sayings in Proverbs, a "collection of collections" relating to a pattern of life which lasted for more than a millennium. The phrase conventionally used for the title is taken from chapter 1:1, mishley shelomoh , Proverbs of Solomon (the phrase is repeated at 10:1 and 25:1), and is likely more concerned with labeling

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948-522: Is a sugya ( סוגיא ‎; plural sugyot ). A sugya will typically comprise a detailed proof-based elaboration of the Mishna . Every aspect of the Mishnaic text is treated as a subject of close investigation. This analysis is aimed at an exhaustive understanding of the Mishna's full meaning. In the Talmud, a sugya is presented as a series of responsive hypotheses and questions – with

1027-467: Is a Tosefta of 18 chapters on this tractate. As its name implies, the tractate deals primarily with the laws and regulations for observing the Sabbath, which is the fourth of the Ten Commandments and one of the central religious practices of Judaism . As such, it is dealt with at length in the Mishnah and the Gemara, and many subsequent commentaries have also been written on this tractate, from

1106-693: Is a book in the third section (called Ketuvim ) of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament traditionally ascribed to King Solomon and his students. When translated into Greek and Latin, the title took on different forms: in the Greek Septuagint (LXX), it became Παροιμίαι ( Paroimiai , "Proverbs"); in the Latin Vulgate , the title was Proverbia —from which the English name

1185-619: Is as close as biblical literature comes to Greek philosophy, of which it was a contemporary; it shares with the Greeks an inquiry into values and reflections on the human condition, although there is no discussion of ontology , epistemology , metaphysics , and the other abstract issues raised by the Greeks. The rabbinic college almost excluded the Book of Proverbs from the Bible in the late first century. They did this because of its contradictions (the result of

1264-399: Is derived. Proverbs is not merely an anthology but a "collection of collections" relating to a pattern of life that lasted for more than a millennium. It is an example of Biblical wisdom literature and raises questions about values, moral behavior, the meaning of human life, and right conduct, and its theological foundation is that "the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom." Wisdom

1343-452: Is merely silly or playful (though see the words of Agur for a "fool" who has wisdom and could be seen as playful). For the most part, Proverbs offers a simplistic view of life with few grey areas: a life lived according to the rules brings reward, and life in violation of them is certain to bring disaster. In contrast, Job and Ecclesiastes appear to be direct contradictions of the simplicities of Proverbs, each in its own way all but dismissing

1422-412: Is organized into six sedarim , or "orders," which include Zeraim, Moed, Nashim, Nezikin, Kodshim, and Taharot. In 1923, Polish Rabbi Meir Shapiro introduced a contemporary practice called " Daf Yomi ," or "daily page," wherein participants study one page of the Talmud daily in cycles lasting seven and a half years each. This initiative ensures that both scholars and laypeople across the globe engage in

1501-410: Is personified and praised for her role in creation; God acquired her before all else and gave order to chaos through her. As humans have life and prosperity by conforming to the order of creation, seeking wisdom is the essence and goal of life. The book of Proverbs is divided into sections: the initial invitation to acquire wisdom, another section focused mainly on contrasting the wise and the fool, and

1580-628: Is recited during the Kabbalat Shabbat service on Friday evenings in both the Ashkenazi and Sefardi liturgies. The recitation of this chapter referenced the disagreement with the Sadducees and Karaites , who rejected the Oral Tradition codified in the Mishnah, and held that the commandment "Do not light a fire in any of your dwellings on the Sabbath day" ( Exodus 35:3 ) meant that the use of any light

1659-455: Is the tradition that two angels accompany a Jew home from the synagogue on Friday evening after the evening service. The tractate consists of 24 chapters and 138 paragraphs ( mishnayot ) and has a Gemara – rabbinical analysis of and commentary on the Mishnah – in both the Babylonian Talmud and all but the last four chapters of the Jerusalem Talmud . There is also a Tosefta of 18 chapters for this tractate. In standard printed editions of

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1738-499: Is to be observed. This concern was a reflection of its importance in the Biblical sources, in which there are more reminders about Sabbath observance than about any other matter, with the possible exception of the prohibitions against idolatry . Biblical passages concerning the topics discussed in this tractate include references to the foundational concept of the Sabbath in Genesis 2:2–3 ,

1817-436: 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. "taking and throwing"). In each sugya , either participant may cite scriptural, Mishnaic and Amoraic proof to build a logical support for their respective opinions. The process of deduction required to derive

1896-509: The 39 categories of activity prohibited on Shabbat include the following: The morning service in both the Ashkenazi and Sefardi liturgy begins with recital of blessings over the Torah, followed by brief selections from the Hebrew Bible, Mishna and Gemara, in accordance with a statement in the Talmud ( Kiddushin 30a) that Torah learning comprises these three elements. The biblical text are

1975-601: The Mishnah and presented in 63 books. The term is derived from the Aramaic word גמרא ‎ and rooted in the Semitic word ג-מ-ר (gamar), which means "to finish" or "complete". Initially, the Gemara was transmitted orally and not permitted to be written down. However, after Judah the Prince compiled the Mishnah around 200 CE, rabbis from Babylonia and the Land of Israel extensively studied

2054-511: 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? If a statement is not clear enough, the Gemara seeks to clarify the Mishna's intention. Exploring

2133-526: The proselyte ) in the verses of the song, is based on the statement in this tractate (118a) that the best food should be prepared for the Sabbath, for "one who delights in the Sabbath is granted their heart's desires". 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

2212-413: The semantic disagreements between Tannaim and Amoraim . Some of these debates were actually conducted by the Amoraim , though many of them are hypothetically reconstructed by the Talmud's redactors. (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

2291-561: The Amoraim, recorded as gemara , is thus focused on clarifying the positions, views, and word choice of the Tannaim. Because there are two Gemaras, as mentioned above, there are in fact two Talmuds: the Jerusalem Talmud (Hebrew: תלמוד ירושלמי ‎, "Talmud Yerushalmi"), and the Babylonian Talmud (Hebrew: תלמוד בבלי ‎, "Talmud Bavli"), corresponding to the Jerusalem Gemara and

2370-740: The Babylonian Gemara; both share the same Mishnah. The Gemara is mostly written in Aramaic , the Jerusalem Gemara in Western Aramaic and the Babylonian in Eastern Aramaic , but both contain portions in Hebrew . Sometimes the language changes in the middle of a story. In a narrow sense, the word gemara refers to the mastery and transmission of existing tradition, as opposed to sevara , which means

2449-507: The Babylonian Talmud, the Gemara contains 157 folio (double-sided) pages and is the longest tractate by page count after Baba Batra , which has 176 folio pages. There are 92 folio pages of Gemara in the Jerusalem Talmud. In the Jerusalem Talmud, the Gemara for the last four chapters of the Mishna no longer exist. It is likely that handwritten manuscripts of these four chapters existed before

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2528-570: The Colossians calls Jesus "...image of the invisible God, first-born of all creation...", while the Gospel of John identifies him with the creative word ("In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God"). In the 4th century, when Christianity was caught up in heresies and still developing the creeds which would define its beliefs, Proverbs 8:22 was used both to support and refute

2607-534: The Hebrew canon. The third unit, 22:17–24:22, is headed "bend your ear and hear the words of the wise". A large part of this section is a recasting of a second-millennium BCE Egyptian work, the Instruction of Amenemope , and may have reached the Hebrew author(s) through an Aramaic translation. Chapter 24:23 begins a new section and source with the declaration, "these too are from the wise". The next section at chapter 25:1 has

2686-529: The Jewish people is a religious animosity dating from the time when the Revelation at Sinai gave the people of Israel a faith which differentiated it from other nations. In relation to the Sabbath, the primary theme of this tractate, an aggadah relates that the Sages found the spiritual significance of the sanctity of the Sabbath in the desire to be at harmony with God as the core and essence of Judaism. Also recounted

2765-519: The Lord!"), wisdom appeals to human reason and observation. The pre-Exilic (i.e. pre-586 BC) Old Testament allowed no equals to YHWH in heaven, despite the continued existence of an assembly of subordinate servant-deities . The post-Exilic writers of the Wisdom tradition developed the idea that Wisdom existed before creation and was used by God to create the universe: "Present from the beginning, Wisdom assumes

2844-479: The Mishna were appropriate for ancient Israel 's largely rural society whose economic base was farming. As Jewish society evolved in the Land of Israel , and then also in the Roman and Persian Empires , particularly Babylonia , the Gemara and subsequent legal literature elaborated on the basic foundations and principles laid out in the Mishnah to address new and different circumstances than those originally encountered in

2923-544: The Roman conquerors and rulers of the Land of Israel . The gentleness of the sage Hillel contrasted with the severity of Shammai is illustrated by several examples. Among the sayings and ethical teachings are Hillel's famous distillation of Judaism — "What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor." Other aggadic sayings cited are: ' Truth' is the seal of God ; and "Repent one day before your death" – meaning always be ready to appear before God, an idea also illustrated by

3002-534: The Sabbath as a day of eating and drinking was meant, according to some scholars, to counteract the ascetic tendencies of the Essenes . Among traditional Jewish communities, and in the modern State of Israel , where the Sabbath is the official day of rest, contemporary responsa , based on the application of the principles of the Mishnah, as interpreted by the Gemara, and subsequently expounded upon by halakhic authorities , focus mostly on technological advances in terms of

3081-414: The Sabbath eve before nightfall, to ensure one is not carrying anything, and Rabbi Yosef commenting that this is an important law about the Sabbath, as it is easy to forget and accidentally violate the sanctity of the day of rest. The Sabbath hymn Yom Zeh M’khubad ("this day is the most precious of all days"), composed by an unidentified poet whose name appears in the acrostic as Yisrael Ha’Ger (Israel

3160-401: The Sages considered excluding the books of Ezekiel , Ecclesiastes and Proverbs from the canon of the Hebrew Bible ; however, once interpretations and explanations for the passages that appear contradictory were provided, decided that they should be included. Also discussed is Rabbi Simeon bar Yohai , who was forced to flee and lived in a cave for twelve years following his criticism of

3239-529: The Shabbat candles , discussing the oils and wicks that may be used for the Sabbath lights; it goes on to discuss matters concerning food on the Sabbath such as which food may be stored for the Sabbath, and keeping food hot for the Shabbat meals by leaving it on top of a stove from before Shabbat and insulating hot food before the beginning of Shabbat; and then continues to discuss the laws of carrying, mentioned first at

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3318-521: The Talmudic text as a record of each step in the process of reasoning and derivation. The Gemara thus takes the form of a dialectical exchange (by contrast, the Mishnah states concluded legal opinions – and often differences in opinion between the Tannaim . There is little dialogue). The disputants here are termed the makshan (questioner, "one who raises a difficulty") and tartzan (answerer, "one who puts straight"). The Gemara records

3397-433: The Torah, and rabbinic rulings designed to safeguard or enhance the practices of the cessation of labor and Sabbath rest, are as follows: In addition to the legal discussions and analysis of the Mishnah, the Gemara in this tractate contains a considerable amount of Aggadah , including narratives and historical stories, as well as moral tales, exegetical interpretations, and sayings. A significant narrative section describes

3476-552: The academies of Sura , Pumbedita , and Nehardea , is the more commonly cited version when referring to the "Gemara" or "Talmud" without further qualification. The main compilers of the Babylonian Talmud were Ravina and Rav Ashi . The Jerusalem Talmud, also known as the Palestinian Talmud, was compiled by Jewish scholars in the Land of Israel, primarily from the academies of Tiberias and Caesarea , around 350–400 CE. The Talmud

3555-683: The age of printing but that all the copies were destroyed in periodic acts of antisemitic violence, as well as by acts of deliberate destruction and suppression of the Talmud, such as at the Disputation of Paris . The mishnayot in the tractate are arranged in a sequential order, apart from the first one, which addresses the topic of carrying, but which can, however, be relevant right at the beginning of Shabbat. The tractate then continues to discuss what may not be done on Friday afternoon, and goes on to topics relevant to actions and preparations immediately before Shabbat. The tractate then deals with lighting

3634-564: The assumptions of the "wise". Noteworthy also is the fact that the "mighty acts of God" ( the Exodus , the giving of the Torah at Sinai, the Covenant between God and Israel, etc.) which make up Israel's history are completely or almost completely absent from Proverbs and the other Wisdom books: in contrast to the other books of the Hebrew Bible, which appeal to divine revelation for their authority ("Thus says

3713-551: The author of a comprehensive commentary on the Talmud, and the Tosafot , the collected "additional" commentaries of numerous rabbis from the 12th to the mid-15th centuries in France and Germany. The Rambam , Maimonides ' Commentary on the Mishnah composed in c.1158−c.1168, provides a running commentary on the entire Mishnah, and often includes a halakhic ruling based on the Talmud's conclusion. Commentaries of other early Rishonim include

3792-444: The beginning of the tractate, for transferring from one domain to another . The Mishnah then lists the 39 principal categories of work , derived from the Torah and known as melakhot , and these are discussed in detail in the subsequent chapters. After that, the tractate covers several subjects, including those actions which are rabbinical injunctions, such as shevut and muktzeh . The tractate concludes with laws applicable at

3871-562: The book is made up of "sayings" of this type, while the other half consists of longer poetic units of various types. These include "instructions" formulated as advice from a teacher or parent addressed to a student or child, dramatic personifications of both Wisdom and Folly, and the "words of the wise" sayings, which are longer than the Solomonic "sayings" but shorter and more diverse than the "instructions." The first section ( chapters 1–9 ) comprises an initial invitation to young men to take up

3950-447: The book's origins as not just an anthology but an anthology of anthologies). The reader is told, for example, both to "not answer a fool according to his folly," according to 26:4, and to "answer a fool according to his folly", as 26:5 advises. More pervasively, the recurring theme of the initial unit (chapters 1–9) is that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, but the following units are much less theological, presenting wisdom as

4029-671: The claims of the Arians . The Arians, assuming that Christ could be equated with the "Wisdom of God" (1 Corinthians 1:24), argued that the Son, like Wisdom, was "created", and therefore subordinate to the Creator; their opponents, who argued that the relevant Hebrew word should be translated as "begot", won the debate, and the Nicene Creed declared that the Son was "begotten, not made", meaning that God and Christ were consubstantial . Online translations of

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4108-555: The comprehensive study of the entire Talmud. The Gemara and the Mishnah together make up the Talmud . The Talmud thus comprises two components: the Mishnah – the core text; and the Gemara – analysis and commentary which "completes" the Talmud (see Structure of the Talmud ). Maimonides describes the Gemara component as: understanding and conceptualizing the ultimate derivation of a concept from its roots, inferring one concept from another and comparing concepts, understanding [the Law] based on

4187-558: The correct practice according to Jewish law. Examples of these issues include a wide variety of subjects, such as using electricity , how crossing the International Date Line affects the observance of Sabbaths and festivals, the use of elevators , and medical questions ranging from whether hearing aids may be worn on the Sabbath to driving a vehicle on Shabbat for an emergency. The primary commentators on this tractate are Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki, known as Rashi (1040 – 1105),

4266-406: The course of wisdom, ten "instructions", and five poems on personified Woman Wisdom. Verses 1:1-7 constitute an introduction to the whole of this section. Proverbs 10:1–22:16, with 375 sayings, consists of two parts, the first part (10–14) contrasting the wise man and the fool (or the righteous and the wicked), the second (15–22:16) addressing wise and foolish speech. Verse 22:17 opens ‘the words of

4345-420: The deriving of new results by logic. Both activities are represented in the Gemara as one literary work. The Aramaic noun gemar (and gemara ) was formed from the verb that means "learn." This substantive noun thus designates what was learned, and the learning transmitted to scholars by tradition, though it connotes in a more limited sense to exposition of the Mishnah. The word therefore gained currency as

4424-407: The early Middle Ages until the present. In the Babylonian Talmud, the Gemara also contains a discussion of the laws of Hanukkah . The Jewish religious laws detailed in this tractate, and the subsequent legal codes based on it continue to be followed by observant and traditional Jewish communities in modern Israel and throughout the world. Six days you shall labor and do all your work; but on

4503-527: The end of the Shabbat, such as walking to the furthest extent of the Shabbat border to get an early start on a journey, and the laws of taking care of animals on Shabbat. An overview of the chapters is as follows: The Mishna was composed towards the end of the Mishnaic period ( c. 30 BCE - 200 CE ) in the Roman province of Judaea and forms an early part in the lengthy development of Jewish law regarding Sabbath observance. The categories of work defined in

4582-485: The following: Sefer ha'Mafte'ach and Megilat Setarim and the commentary of Rabeinu Chananel were reprinted from manuscripts, with footnotes by rabbi David Metzger, in Jerusalem in 1990. Sefer ha'Yashar was reprinted in 1980 in Jerusalem, based on two original manuscripts, with footnotes by Rabbi Shimon Schlesinger. Commentaries of Rishonim who lived in the medieval kingdoms of Aragon , Provence and Narvona include

4661-474: The following: Commentaries of Rishonim who lived in medieval France, Germany and other locations include the following: There are many commentaries by the Acharonim ("later scholars") on tractate Shabbat. Some of the classic works include the following: Anthologies on the tractate include the following: Halakhic discussions of the issues of the tractate include the following: Works focused particularly on

4740-510: The heavens… when he drew a circle on the face of the Deeps … when he marked out the foundations of the earth, then I was beside him" – Proverbs 8:27–31). Since humans have life and prosperity by conforming to the order of creation, seeking wisdom is the essence and goal of the religious life. Wisdom, or the wise person, is compared and contrasted with foolishness or the fool, meaning one who is lacking in wisdom and uninterested in instruction, not one who

4819-445: The logical principles underlying the Mishnah's statements, and showing how different understandings of the Mishnah's reasons could lead to differences in their practical application. What underlying principle is entailed in a statement of fact or in a specific instance brought as an illustration? If a statement appears obvious, the Gemara seeks the logical reason for its necessity. It seeks to answer under which circumstances

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4898-459: The material than ascribing authorship. The book is an anthology made up of six discrete units. The Proverbs of Solomon section, chapters 1–9, was probably the last to be composed, in the Persian or Hellenistic periods. This section has parallels to prior cuneiform writings. The second, chapters 10–22:16, carries the superscription "the proverbs of Solomon", which may have encouraged its inclusion in

4977-413: The mishnah, the amoraic rabbis (memra), or simply independent of these. They vary in size and complexity and, though self-contained, may mention or assume knowledge of other sugiyot. The analysis of the Amoraim is generally focused on clarifying the positions, words and views of the Tannaim . These debates and exchanges form the "building-blocks" of the Gemara ; the name for such a passage of Gemara

5056-656: The origin of Hanukkah , relating that when the Hasmoneans defeated the Seleucid overlords and purified the Temple in Jerusalem , they found only one small jar of pure oil sealed with the High Priest 's seal and apparently sufficient for a single day only; but by a miracle it lasted for eight days, so that the Festival of Hanukkah is celebrated for eight days. Other narratives describe how

5135-431: The other examples of the biblical wisdom tradition – Job and Ecclesiastes and some other writings – Proverbs raises questions of values, moral behavior, the meaning of human life, and righteous conduct. The three retain an ongoing relevance for both religious and secular readers, Job and Ecclesiastes through the boldness of their dissent from received tradition, Proverbs in its worldliness and satiric shrewdness. Wisdom

5214-427: The preparation of special Sabbath meals , and engaging in prayer and Torah study were required as an active part of Shabbat observance to promote intellectual activity and spiritual regeneration on the day of rest from physical creation. The Talmud states that the best food should be prepared for the Sabbath, for "one who delights in the Sabbath is granted their heart's desires" ( BT , Shabbat 118a-b). The emphasis on

5293-415: The principles of Torah exegesis , until one appreciates the essence of those principles and how the prohibitions and the other decisions which one received according to the oral tradition (i.e. Mishnah) can be derived using them.... The rabbis of the Mishnah are known as Tannaim (sing. Tanna תנא ‎). The rabbis of the Gemara are referred to as Amoraim (sing. Amora אמורא). The analysis of

5372-450: The role of master builder while God establishes the heavens, restricts the chaotic waters, and shapes the mountains and fields." Borrowing ideas from Greek philosophers who held that reason bound the universe together, the Wisdom tradition taught that God's Wisdom, Word and Spirit were the ground of cosmic unity. Christianity in turn adopted these ideas and applied them to Jesus: the Epistle to

5451-412: The seventh day, which is a Sabbath in honor of the Lord your God, you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your cattle, nor the stranger who is within your gates. This tractate primarily covers the laws of observing Shabbat , the weekly day of rest. It provides comprehensive explanations of the types of activities prohibited on Shabbat ,

5530-472: The sources in the Torah for these prohibitions, the details of the laws, and the rabbinic rulings connected with them. It also deals with matters concerning other mitzvot that apply on Shabbat. In addition, the main discussion about the laws of Hanukkah are included in the Babylonian Talmud. The Sabbath is one of the most important religious practices of Judaism, and the Mishnah and Talmud go to great lengths to carefully define and precisely determine how it

5609-434: The third being moral discourses on various topics. Chapters 25–29 discuss justice, the wicked, and the rich and poor; chapter 30 introduces the " sayings of Agur " on creation and divine power. The superscriptions divide the collections as follows: "Proverb" is a translation of the Hebrew word mashal , but "mashal" has a wider range of meanings than the short, catchy saying implied by the English word. Thus, roughly half

5688-485: The three verses of the Priestly Blessing , the Mishna is from tractate Peah , about commandments that have no fixed measures, including the mitzvah of Peah, and of learning Torah ), and the passage from the Gemara is from this tractate, BT Shabbat 127a, about the reward for good deeds in this world and the next. The second chapter of the Mishna of this tractate, called Ba'meh Madlikin ("With what may we light?"),

5767-553: The time of the Mishnah. As one of the distinguishing features of Jewish society from ancient times, the Talmud views Shabbat observance as an institution upholding basic teachings of Judaism – belief in God's acts of creation , God's role in history, and God's covenant with Israel – and after the loss of Jewish sovereignty and the destruction of the Temple by the Romans in the first century CE , as

5846-535: The two iterations of the Fourth Commandment prohibiting creative work in Exodus 20:7–10 and Deut 5:12–14 , other actions such as desisting from weekday pursuits ( Isaiah 58:13–14 ) or carrying ( Jeremiah 17:21–22 ), and numerous other references. Jewish law relating to Shabbat and the activities prohibited on Shabbat in particular, are the primary subject matter of this tractate. Prohibited actions derived from

5925-419: The views of different rabbis. Do certain authorities differ or not? If they do, why do they differ? If a principle is presented as a generalization, the Gemara clarifies how much is included; if an exception, how much is excluded. Demonstrating how the Mishnah's rulings or disputes derive from interpretations of Biblical texts, the Gemara will often ask where in the Torah the Mishnah derives

6004-521: The wise’, until verse 24:22, with short moral discourses on various subjects. An additional section of sayings which "also belong to the wise" follows in verses 24:23-34. Chapters 25–29, attributed to the editorial activity of "the men of Hezekiah ", contrast the just and the wicked and broach the topic of rich and poor. Chapter 30:1-4, the "sayings of Agur", introduces creation, divine power, and human ignorance. Chapter 31, "the sayings of King Lemuel — an inspired utterance his mother taught him", describes

6083-506: The work. Their discussions were eventually documented in a series of books, which would come to be known as the Gemara. The Gemara, when combined with the Mishnah, forms the full Talmud. There are two versions of the Gemara: the Babylonian Talmud (Talmud Bavli) and the Jerusalem Talmud (Talmud Yerushalmi). The Babylonian Talmud, compiled by scholars in Babylonia around 500 CE and primarily from

6162-609: Was forbidden, while the followers of Rabbinic Judaism , who accepted the authority of the Oral Tradition, held that the verse excluded kindling on the Sabbath but not the use of a light that had been lit before the Sabbath began. Immediately following this chapter, in the Ashkenazi liturgy, but not the Sephardi, additional passages from the Babylonian Talmud are recited, including a paragraph from tractate Shabbat (12a), quoting Rabbi Haninah saying that one should examine one's clothing on

6241-430: Was widespread throughout the ancient Near East , and reading Proverbs alongside the examples recovered from Egypt and Mesopotamia reveals the common ground shared by international wisdom. The wisdom literature of Israel may have been developed in the family, the royal court, and houses of learning and instruction; nevertheless, the overwhelming impression is of instruction within the family in small villages. Along with

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