{"id":5118,"date":"2024-07-08T22:11:06","date_gmt":"2024-07-09T05:11:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/trmarvin.org\/?p=5118"},"modified":"2024-07-08T22:11:06","modified_gmt":"2024-07-09T05:11:06","slug":"how-to-start-learning-talmud","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/?p=5118","title":{"rendered":"How to Start Learning Talmud"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In traditional Jewish learning, we often refer to the &ldquo;sea of <a href=\"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/?encyclopedia=talmud\" target=\"_self\" title=\"Commonly refers to the Talmud Bavli, meaning the Mishnah (redacted Oral Law) with the Gemara (commentary) as redacted in Bavel (Babylon). It is also called by the acronym Shas, referring to the six orders (sedarim, sing. seder) into which the tractates (massekhtot, sing. massekhet) of the Mishnah and Gemara on it are divided. Today, there&hellip;\" class=\"encyclopedia\">Talmud<\/a>.&rdquo;<span id=\"easy-footnote-1-5118\" class=\"easy-footnote-margin-adjust\"><\/span><span class=\"easy-footnote\"><a href=\"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/?p=5118#easy-footnote-bottom-1-5118\" title=\"This expression does not itself occur in the Talmud, although already in Tanach, Torah is compared to the sea (see Yeshayahu 11:9 and Iyov 11:9), and there is a hint of the phrase in Yerushalmi Sotah 8:3. One of the earliest Rishonim to use the phrase &#1497;&#1501; &#1492;&#1514;&#1500;&#1502;&#1493;&#1491; is R. Yitzchak Aboab in the introduction to &lt;em&gt;Menorat ha-Maor&lt;\/em&gt;, written c. 1300.\"><sup>1<\/sup><\/a><\/span> This is not merely a picturesque metaphor; it expresses a key characteristic of the <a href=\"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/?encyclopedia=talmud\" target=\"_self\" title=\"Commonly refers to the Talmud Bavli, meaning the Mishnah (redacted Oral Law) with the Gemara (commentary) as redacted in Bavel (Babylon). It is also called by the acronym Shas, referring to the six orders (sedarim, sing. seder) into which the tractates (massekhtot, sing. massekhet) of the Mishnah and Gemara on it are divided. Today, there&hellip;\" class=\"encyclopedia\">Talmud<\/a>. Dipping into it is like entering a vast sea: there is no beginning or end, and all of it connected to the other parts and to its depths. This means that no matter where you start, including the first word of the first volume of the first order (pictured above), you are entering the story in the middle, and you probably don&rsquo;t have all the background knowledge and context you need. Fortunately, you have centuries&rsquo; worth of tools to help you navigate. Here is what I have learned about getting started with <a href=\"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/?encyclopedia=talmud\" target=\"_self\" title=\"Commonly refers to the Talmud Bavli, meaning the Mishnah (redacted Oral Law) with the Gemara (commentary) as redacted in Bavel (Babylon). It is also called by the acronym Shas, referring to the six orders (sedarim, sing. seder) into which the tractates (massekhtot, sing. massekhet) of the Mishnah and Gemara on it are divided. Today, there&hellip;\" class=\"encyclopedia\">Talmud<\/a>, after years of study, both in yeshiva and academic settings.<\/p>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"simpletoc-title\">Table of Contents<\/h2>\n<ul class=\"simpletoc-list\">\n<li><a href=\"#1-getting-started-the-basics\">1. Getting Started: The Basics<\/a>\n\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"#what-is-the-talmud\">What is the Talmud?<\/a>\n<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#navigating-a-page-of-talmud\">Navigating a Page of Talmud<\/a>\n<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#in-which-tractate-to-start\">In Which Tractate to Start?<\/a>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#2-learning-how-to-learn\">2. Learning How to Learn<\/a>\n\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"#using-translations-effectively-or-not\">Using Translations Effectively (or Not)<\/a>\n<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#deciphering-peshat-hatalmud-the-simple-meaning-of-the-text\">Deciphering Peshat ha-Talmud (the Simple Meaning of the Text)<\/a>\n\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"#learning-the-expressions-of-the-talmud\">Learning the Expressions of the Talmud<\/a>\n<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#about-baraitot-memrot-and-other-sources\">About Baraitot, Memrot, and Other Sources<\/a>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#delving-into-parshanut-hatalmud-interpretation-of-the-text\">Delving into Parshanut ha-Talmud (Interpretation of the Text)<\/a>\n<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#bekiut-vs-iyun-covering-territory-or-learning-in-depth\">Bekiut vs. Iyun: Covering Territory or Learning In Depth?<\/a>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#3-texts-and-tools-for-learning-talmud\">3. Texts and Tools for Learning Talmud<\/a>\n\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"#sefer-or-digital\">Sefer or Digital?<\/a>\n<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#daf-yomi-and-other-learning-programs\">Daf Yomi and Other Learning Programs<\/a>\n<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#recommended-reference-books-for-learning-talmud\">Recommended Reference Books for Learning Talmud<\/a>\n<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#recommended-online-resources-for-learning-talmud\">Recommended Online Resources for Learning Talmud<\/a>\n\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"#websites\">Websites<\/a>\n<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#apps\">Apps<\/a>\n<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#podcasts-amp-shiurim-in-english\">Podcasts &amp; Shiurim in English<\/a>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n<h2 id=\"1-getting-started-the-basics\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">1. Getting Started: The Basics<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When I started learning <a href=\"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/?encyclopedia=talmud\" target=\"_self\" title=\"Commonly refers to the Talmud Bavli, meaning the Mishnah (redacted Oral Law) with the Gemara (commentary) as redacted in Bavel (Babylon). It is also called by the acronym Shas, referring to the six orders (sedarim, sing. seder) into which the tractates (massekhtot, sing. massekhet) of the Mishnah and Gemara on it are divided. Today, there&hellip;\" class=\"encyclopedia\">Talmud<\/a>, I searched for a guide that would help me get my bearings. There is no such guide, and for good reason: it&rsquo;s impossible to get your bearings in <a href=\"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/?encyclopedia=talmud\" target=\"_self\" title=\"Commonly refers to the Talmud Bavli, meaning the Mishnah (redacted Oral Law) with the Gemara (commentary) as redacted in Bavel (Babylon). It is also called by the acronym Shas, referring to the six orders (sedarim, sing. seder) into which the tractates (massekhtot, sing. massekhet) of the Mishnah and Gemara on it are divided. Today, there&hellip;\" class=\"encyclopedia\">Talmud<\/a> without encountering the text (you&rsquo;ll need plenty of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.oed.com\/dictionary\/sitzfleisch_n?tl=true\">sitzfleisch<\/a>!) There <em>are<\/em> helpful reference works, on which, see below. This might be the most important thing I could tell any beginner approaching <a href=\"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/?encyclopedia=talmud\" target=\"_self\" title=\"Commonly refers to the Talmud Bavli, meaning the Mishnah (redacted Oral Law) with the Gemara (commentary) as redacted in Bavel (Babylon). It is also called by the acronym Shas, referring to the six orders (sedarim, sing. seder) into which the tractates (massekhtot, sing. massekhet) of the Mishnah and Gemara on it are divided. Today, there&hellip;\" class=\"encyclopedia\">Talmud<\/a> for the first time: you can&rsquo;t do it without doing it, and only sitting down and reading lots of <a href=\"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/?encyclopedia=talmud\" target=\"_self\" title=\"Commonly refers to the Talmud Bavli, meaning the Mishnah (redacted Oral Law) with the Gemara (commentary) as redacted in Bavel (Babylon). It is also called by the acronym Shas, referring to the six orders (sedarim, sing. seder) into which the tractates (massekhtot, sing. massekhet) of the Mishnah and Gemara on it are divided. Today, there&hellip;\" class=\"encyclopedia\">Talmud<\/a> will allow you to understand how the <a href=\"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/?encyclopedia=talmud\" target=\"_self\" title=\"Commonly refers to the Talmud Bavli, meaning the Mishnah (redacted Oral Law) with the Gemara (commentary) as redacted in Bavel (Babylon). It is also called by the acronym Shas, referring to the six orders (sedarim, sing. seder) into which the tractates (massekhtot, sing. massekhet) of the Mishnah and Gemara on it are divided. Today, there&hellip;\" class=\"encyclopedia\">Talmud<\/a> &ldquo;works.&rdquo; This can be frustrating for whole-to-parts learners (like myself), who need to see the big picture before examining the details, but the <a href=\"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/?encyclopedia=talmud\" target=\"_self\" title=\"Commonly refers to the Talmud Bavli, meaning the Mishnah (redacted Oral Law) with the Gemara (commentary) as redacted in Bavel (Babylon). It is also called by the acronym Shas, referring to the six orders (sedarim, sing. seder) into which the tractates (massekhtot, sing. massekhet) of the Mishnah and Gemara on it are divided. Today, there&hellip;\" class=\"encyclopedia\">Talmud<\/a> is decidedly a parts-to-whole enterprise. You must start with the small details and only then can you see the big picture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">You are supposed to be confused at first, up to a point&mdash;you should know foundational halachic concepts, or you&rsquo;ll be too lost. For example, if you have no idea what teruma is, you will be too confused by the first sentence of the <a href=\"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/?encyclopedia=talmud\" target=\"_self\" title=\"Commonly refers to the Talmud Bavli, meaning the Mishnah (redacted Oral Law) with the Gemara (commentary) as redacted in Bavel (Babylon). It is also called by the acronym Shas, referring to the six orders (sedarim, sing. seder) into which the tractates (massekhtot, sing. massekhet) of the Mishnah and Gemara on it are divided. Today, there&hellip;\" class=\"encyclopedia\">Talmud<\/a> to make much of it. If you don&rsquo;t know a basic term or concept, take your time to look it up (Google works great, though better in Hebrew than in English, and AI chatbots can be good as well&mdash;as an example from that first sentence, you might search for &ldquo;teruma,&rdquo; then read just enough to understand that teruma is specially tithed produce that kohanim (Temple priests) are allowed to eat under certain conditions of ritual purity). As I work through the entire <a href=\"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/?encyclopedia=talmud\" target=\"_self\" title=\"Commonly refers to the Talmud Bavli, meaning the Mishnah (redacted Oral Law) with the Gemara (commentary) as redacted in Bavel (Babylon). It is also called by the acronym Shas, referring to the six orders (sedarim, sing. seder) into which the tractates (massekhtot, sing. massekhet) of the Mishnah and Gemara on it are divided. Today, there&hellip;\" class=\"encyclopedia\">Talmud<\/a>, I am slowly writing background information in my <a href=\"https:\/\/trmarvin.org\/talmud-guides\/\">Talmud Guides<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"what-is-the-talmud\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">What <em>is<\/em> the Talmud?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When we talk about &ldquo;the&rdquo; <a href=\"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/?encyclopedia=talmud\" target=\"_self\" title=\"Commonly refers to the Talmud Bavli, meaning the Mishnah (redacted Oral Law) with the Gemara (commentary) as redacted in Bavel (Babylon). It is also called by the acronym Shas, referring to the six orders (sedarim, sing. seder) into which the tractates (massekhtot, sing. massekhet) of the Mishnah and Gemara on it are divided. Today, there&hellip;\" class=\"encyclopedia\">Talmud<\/a>, we are referring to the <a href=\"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/?encyclopedia=talmud\" target=\"_self\" title=\"Commonly refers to the Talmud Bavli, meaning the Mishnah (redacted Oral Law) with the Gemara (commentary) as redacted in Bavel (Babylon). It is also called by the acronym Shas, referring to the six orders (sedarim, sing. seder) into which the tractates (massekhtot, sing. massekhet) of the Mishnah and Gemara on it are divided. Today, there&hellip;\" class=\"encyclopedia\">Talmud<\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/?encyclopedia=bavli-2\" target=\"_self\" title=\"The Babylonian Talmud, referring to the Gemara as redacted in Bavel, the major Jewish community of antiquity outside of Eretz Yisrael. Also refered to as Shas.\" class=\"encyclopedia\">Bavli<\/a> (Babylonian <a href=\"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/?encyclopedia=talmud\" target=\"_self\" title=\"Commonly refers to the Talmud Bavli, meaning the Mishnah (redacted Oral Law) with the Gemara (commentary) as redacted in Bavel (Babylon). It is also called by the acronym Shas, referring to the six orders (sedarim, sing. seder) into which the tractates (massekhtot, sing. massekhet) of the Mishnah and Gemara on it are divided. Today, there&hellip;\" class=\"encyclopedia\">Talmud<\/a>). The <a href=\"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/?encyclopedia=bavli-2\" target=\"_self\" title=\"The Babylonian Talmud, referring to the Gemara as redacted in Bavel, the major Jewish community of antiquity outside of Eretz Yisrael. Also refered to as Shas.\" class=\"encyclopedia\">Bavli<\/a> was redacted in approximately the years 200 to 500 CE in Sasanian Persia, which the Jews of the period still called <a href=\"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/?encyclopedia=bavel\" target=\"_self\" title=\"Bavel - &#1489;&#1489;&#1500; (Babylonia) is what Jews called the region of present-day Iraq. In the Talmudic period it included Persia and was ruled in Sasanians. Later, in the period of the Geonim, by the Abbasid Muslim caliphate.\" class=\"encyclopedia\">Bavel<\/a> (Babylonia) after the ancient empire, and which is today mostly Iraq&mdash;that is, a diaspora community residing outside the Land of Israel. There is also another <a href=\"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/?encyclopedia=talmud\" target=\"_self\" title=\"Commonly refers to the Talmud Bavli, meaning the Mishnah (redacted Oral Law) with the Gemara (commentary) as redacted in Bavel (Babylon). It is also called by the acronym Shas, referring to the six orders (sedarim, sing. seder) into which the tractates (massekhtot, sing. massekhet) of the Mishnah and Gemara on it are divided. Today, there&hellip;\" class=\"encyclopedia\">Talmud<\/a>, the <a href=\"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/?encyclopedia=talmud\" target=\"_self\" title=\"Commonly refers to the Talmud Bavli, meaning the Mishnah (redacted Oral Law) with the Gemara (commentary) as redacted in Bavel (Babylon). It is also called by the acronym Shas, referring to the six orders (sedarim, sing. seder) into which the tractates (massekhtot, sing. massekhet) of the Mishnah and Gemara on it are divided. Today, there&hellip;\" class=\"encyclopedia\">Talmud<\/a> Yerushalmi (Jerusalem <a href=\"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/?encyclopedia=talmud\" target=\"_self\" title=\"Commonly refers to the Talmud Bavli, meaning the Mishnah (redacted Oral Law) with the Gemara (commentary) as redacted in Bavel (Babylon). It is also called by the acronym Shas, referring to the six orders (sedarim, sing. seder) into which the tractates (massekhtot, sing. massekhet) of the Mishnah and Gemara on it are divided. Today, there&hellip;\" class=\"encyclopedia\">Talmud<\/a>), which was redacted in Eretz Yisrael from approximately 200 to 400 CE. In comparison to the <a href=\"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/?encyclopedia=bavli-2\" target=\"_self\" title=\"The Babylonian Talmud, referring to the Gemara as redacted in Bavel, the major Jewish community of antiquity outside of Eretz Yisrael. Also refered to as Shas.\" class=\"encyclopedia\">Bavli<\/a>, the Yerushalmi, which was actually written not in Jerusalem but elsewhere in the Land of Israel, is shorter, less edited, and generally displays an earlier stage in the development of the text. This is because of the difficult political conditions in the Land of Israel in late antiquity. As a result, the <a href=\"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/?encyclopedia=bavli-2\" target=\"_self\" title=\"The Babylonian Talmud, referring to the Gemara as redacted in Bavel, the major Jewish community of antiquity outside of Eretz Yisrael. Also refered to as Shas.\" class=\"encyclopedia\">Bavli<\/a>, composed in somewhat rosier political conditions, is our &ldquo;main&rdquo; <a href=\"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/?encyclopedia=talmud\" target=\"_self\" title=\"Commonly refers to the Talmud Bavli, meaning the Mishnah (redacted Oral Law) with the Gemara (commentary) as redacted in Bavel (Babylon). It is also called by the acronym Shas, referring to the six orders (sedarim, sing. seder) into which the tractates (massekhtot, sing. massekhet) of the Mishnah and Gemara on it are divided. Today, there&hellip;\" class=\"encyclopedia\">Talmud<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Both <a href=\"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/?encyclopedia=talmud\" target=\"_self\" title=\"Commonly refers to the Talmud Bavli, meaning the Mishnah (redacted Oral Law) with the Gemara (commentary) as redacted in Bavel (Babylon). It is also called by the acronym Shas, referring to the six orders (sedarim, sing. seder) into which the tractates (massekhtot, sing. massekhet) of the Mishnah and Gemara on it are divided. Today, there&hellip;\" class=\"encyclopedia\">Talmud<\/a>s contain two texts: the Mishna and the Gemara, a commentary on the Mishna. The Mishna was a definitive formulation of the Oral Law, the tradition that was passed down alongside the Written Torah, made by Rabbi Yehuda ha-Nasi (usually referred to simply as &ldquo;Rabbi&rdquo;), c. 200 CE.<span id=\"easy-footnote-2-5118\" class=\"easy-footnote-margin-adjust\"><\/span><span class=\"easy-footnote\"><a href=\"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/?p=5118#easy-footnote-bottom-2-5118\" title=\"There is also a vast library of rabbinic literature from the period of the Tannaim and Amoraim, including Midrash Halacha which interprets the the legal portions of the Torah and Midrash Aggada which interprets that narrative portions of the Tanach.\"><sup>2<\/sup><\/a><\/span> Initially, it was forbidden to write down the Oral Torah, but the extreme persecution of Jews in Roman times made it permissible, in order that the Oral Torah not be forgotten (see Rambam&rsquo;s introduction to his <em>Commentary on the Mishna<\/em>). The Mishna is written in clear rabbinic Hebrew, also called Mishnaic Hebrew. It is declarative, straightforwardly stating the halacha&mdash;scholars call this <em>apodictic<\/em>&mdash;often along with different positions of various rabbis. The Gemara, which is a wide-ranging commentary on the Mishna, is, in contrast, dialectical&mdash;written in the manner of a back-and-forth conversation. It uses cases, often edge cases, to probe the parameters of the law and often gets into conceptual analysis, though it is not systematic in the manner of Western philosophy. The Gemara includes, along with the legal analysis that is its mainstay, plenty of <em>aggadeta<\/em>, or narrative stories about the rabbis. The Gemara of the Yerushalmi is written in Galilean Aramaic, a dialect of Western Aramaic, while the <a href=\"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/?encyclopedia=bavli-2\" target=\"_self\" title=\"The Babylonian Talmud, referring to the Gemara as redacted in Bavel, the major Jewish community of antiquity outside of Eretz Yisrael. Also refered to as Shas.\" class=\"encyclopedia\">Bavli<\/a> is written in a dialect of Eastern Aramaic, which are distinct dialects, though mutually intelligible. These were the spoken vernaculars at the time of the writing of the Gemara.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The rabbis of the Mishna are called Tannaim (&ldquo;teachers&rdquo;),<span id=\"easy-footnote-3-5118\" class=\"easy-footnote-margin-adjust\"><\/span><span class=\"easy-footnote\"><a href=\"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/?p=5118#easy-footnote-bottom-3-5118\" title=\"There was also a position in later academies which we might call &amp;#8220;lower-case-t&amp;#8221; tannaim or &amp;#8220;reciters,&amp;#8221; who were experts in certain tractates and could recite them from memory on command, as needed by teachers and students.\"><sup>3<\/sup><\/a><\/span> and there are, traditionally, seven generations of Tannaim. The rabbis of the Gemara are called Amoraim (&ldquo;sayers&rdquo;) and there are traditionally seven generations of Amoraim as well. Both the Mishna and the Gemara, then, are comprised of multiple layers of rabbinic discussion from many different time periods, but which are juxtaposed by the text as if they are having a continuous conversation with each other. As a general rule, Tannaim have higher authority than Amoraim, being closer to the revelation at Sinai, and an Amora cannot argue with a Tanna, though he can argue with a fellow Amora (as a Tanna can argue with a fellow Tanna). <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"navigating-a-page-of-talmud\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Navigating a Page of Talmud<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Below is a the Vilna daf, a page of the <a href=\"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/?encyclopedia=talmud\" target=\"_self\" title=\"Commonly refers to the Talmud Bavli, meaning the Mishnah (redacted Oral Law) with the Gemara (commentary) as redacted in Bavel (Babylon). It is also called by the acronym Shas, referring to the six orders (sedarim, sing. seder) into which the tractates (massekhtot, sing. massekhet) of the Mishnah and Gemara on it are divided. Today, there&hellip;\" class=\"encyclopedia\">Talmud<\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/?encyclopedia=bavli-2\" target=\"_self\" title=\"The Babylonian Talmud, referring to the Gemara as redacted in Bavel, the major Jewish community of antiquity outside of Eretz Yisrael. Also refered to as Shas.\" class=\"encyclopedia\">Bavli<\/a>. <em>Daf<\/em> means folio page in Hebrew, i.e., a double-sided page (a single side is called an <em>amud<\/em>). It&rsquo;s called the Vilna daf because it was first printed this way in Vilna (Vilnius), Lithuania between 1835 and 1854 by the Press of the Widow and Romm Brothers, based upon the first printings of the <a href=\"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/?encyclopedia=talmud\" target=\"_self\" title=\"Commonly refers to the Talmud Bavli, meaning the Mishnah (redacted Oral Law) with the Gemara (commentary) as redacted in Bavel (Babylon). It is also called by the acronym Shas, referring to the six orders (sedarim, sing. seder) into which the tractates (massekhtot, sing. massekhet) of the Mishnah and Gemara on it are divided. Today, there&hellip;\" class=\"encyclopedia\">Talmud<\/a> by Yehoshua Shlomo Soncino in the fifteenth century, adopted in the first complete <a href=\"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/?encyclopedia=talmud\" target=\"_self\" title=\"Commonly refers to the Talmud Bavli, meaning the Mishnah (redacted Oral Law) with the Gemara (commentary) as redacted in Bavel (Babylon). It is also called by the acronym Shas, referring to the six orders (sedarim, sing. seder) into which the tractates (massekhtot, sing. massekhet) of the Mishnah and Gemara on it are divided. Today, there&hellip;\" class=\"encyclopedia\">Talmud<\/a> printed by the Daniel Bomberg in Venice in the early sixteenth century. The printed form of a page of a <em>sefer <\/em>(Jewish book) is known as <em>tzurat ha-daf<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><a href=\"https:\/\/trmarvin.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Daf-Guide-enlarged-max-scaled.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/trmarvin.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Daf-Guide-enlarged-max-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-5138\"><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Click to enlarge, then click again on the image with the magnifying glass. <a href=\"https:\/\/trmarvin.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Daf-Guide-PDF.pdf\">PDF version here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The most important elements to focus on for beginners are the center column of text (Mishna and Gemara) and <a href=\"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/?encyclopedia=rashi\" target=\"_self\" title=\"Rashi - R. Shlomo Yitzchaki | &#1512;&#1513;&quot;&#1497; - &#1512;' &#1513;&#1500;&#1502;&#1492; &#1497;&#1510;&#1495;&#1511;&#1497; (c. 1040-1105, Troyes, northern France) is among the foremost Talmud and Tanach commentators, ushering in the classical period of line commentaries on foundational texts. He studied in the yeshivot of the Rhineland Valley (Mainz and Worms), the first centers of Jewish life in medieval&hellip;\" class=\"encyclopedia\">Rashi<\/a>&rsquo;s commentary, which provides context, gives definitions, explains difficult words, and also much more, such as giving halachic positions, which you&rsquo;ll see more as you become more experienced in learning <a href=\"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/?encyclopedia=talmud\" target=\"_self\" title=\"Commonly refers to the Talmud Bavli, meaning the Mishnah (redacted Oral Law) with the Gemara (commentary) as redacted in Bavel (Babylon). It is also called by the acronym Shas, referring to the six orders (sedarim, sing. seder) into which the tractates (massekhtot, sing. massekhet) of the Mishnah and Gemara on it are divided. Today, there&hellip;\" class=\"encyclopedia\">Talmud<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"in-which-tractate-to-start\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">In Which Tractate to Start?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There is no wrong or right way to start learning <a href=\"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/?encyclopedia=talmud\" target=\"_self\" title=\"Commonly refers to the Talmud Bavli, meaning the Mishnah (redacted Oral Law) with the Gemara (commentary) as redacted in Bavel (Babylon). It is also called by the acronym Shas, referring to the six orders (sedarim, sing. seder) into which the tractates (massekhtot, sing. massekhet) of the Mishnah and Gemara on it are divided. Today, there&hellip;\" class=\"encyclopedia\">Talmud<\/a>. It&rsquo;s great to start right at the beginning with Masechet Berachot, especially because the subject matter is engaging right off the bat. If you are less familiar with Jewish prayer, though, you might want to start elsewhere. Sukkah, Rosh Hashana, Megilla (on Purim), and Taanit (on fast days) are smaller tractates that are eminently doable and may deal with topics you are more familiar with. A classic place to start is with the second chapter of Bava Metzia, which deals with the laws of returning lost objects. Bava Kama, the first tractate of Seder Nezikin, is likewise a good example of clear-cut legal rules having to do with damages, like what happens if you dig a pit in the public domain and someone falls inside it. If you like history, you might enjoy starting with Sanhedrin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"2-learning-how-to-learn\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">2. Learning How to Learn<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Methods of learning <a href=\"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/?encyclopedia=talmud\" target=\"_self\" title=\"Commonly refers to the Talmud Bavli, meaning the Mishnah (redacted Oral Law) with the Gemara (commentary) as redacted in Bavel (Babylon). It is also called by the acronym Shas, referring to the six orders (sedarim, sing. seder) into which the tractates (massekhtot, sing. massekhet) of the Mishnah and Gemara on it are divided. Today, there&hellip;\" class=\"encyclopedia\">Talmud<\/a> (<em>darchei ha-limud<\/em>) have existed since the <a href=\"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/?encyclopedia=talmud\" target=\"_self\" title=\"Commonly refers to the Talmud Bavli, meaning the Mishnah (redacted Oral Law) with the Gemara (commentary) as redacted in Bavel (Babylon). It is also called by the acronym Shas, referring to the six orders (sedarim, sing. seder) into which the tractates (massekhtot, sing. massekhet) of the Mishnah and Gemara on it are divided. Today, there&hellip;\" class=\"encyclopedia\">Talmud<\/a> itself, and began to be articulated in the period of the early <a href=\"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/?encyclopedia=rishonim\" target=\"_self\" title='&#1512;&#1488;&#1513;&#1493;&#1504;&#1497;&#1501; - \"Former authorities\" (c. 1000-1550), meaning Torah scholars who lived in the medieval period. According to traditional Jewish periodization, the era of the Rishonim begins in 1038 CE, at the conclusion of the period of the Geonim. The era of the Rishonim ends roughly with the compilation of the Shulchan Aruch, the definitive code&hellip;' class=\"encyclopedia\">Rishonim<\/a> (medieval period). These may become interesting to you later on as you gain experience with <a href=\"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/?encyclopedia=talmud\" target=\"_self\" title=\"Commonly refers to the Talmud Bavli, meaning the Mishnah (redacted Oral Law) with the Gemara (commentary) as redacted in Bavel (Babylon). It is also called by the acronym Shas, referring to the six orders (sedarim, sing. seder) into which the tractates (massekhtot, sing. massekhet) of the Mishnah and Gemara on it are divided. Today, there&hellip;\" class=\"encyclopedia\">Talmud<\/a>, but your first task is to learn how to decode the <em>peshat<\/em>, or straightforward meaning, of the text.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"using-translations-effectively-or-not\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Using Translations Effectively (or Not)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The availability of English translations has opened up the world of Gemara to many people, a wonder, but I really encourage you to begin by learning the original text, even if you have to go very slowly line by line and look up half the words. Doing three lines in the original is more effective in terms of learning how to learn than an entire daf in translation. You can always check your understanding by revealing the translation when you&rsquo;ve given the original a good shot first. For this I recommend using <a href=\"https:\/\/alhatorah.org\/\">Al HaTorah<\/a>, where you can easily toggle the English on and off for each phrase, and leave it off by default. You could also use Sefaria and set it to Hebrew only in the language options.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I do not think it&rsquo;s possible to understand the &ldquo;mind&rdquo; of the Gemara by reading the English with its extensive interpolations, even though many of them derive from <a href=\"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/?encyclopedia=rashi\" target=\"_self\" title=\"Rashi - R. Shlomo Yitzchaki | &#1512;&#1513;&quot;&#1497; - &#1512;' &#1513;&#1500;&#1502;&#1492; &#1497;&#1510;&#1495;&#1511;&#1497; (c. 1040-1105, Troyes, northern France) is among the foremost Talmud and Tanach commentators, ushering in the classical period of line commentaries on foundational texts. He studied in the yeshivot of the Rhineland Valley (Mainz and Worms), the first centers of Jewish life in medieval&hellip;\" class=\"encyclopedia\">Rashi<\/a> and other classic sources, but which fundamentally alter the process of decoding the text. The text of the Gemara is extremely sparse and formulaic, and it requires work to unpack. It&rsquo;s so much more enriching and satisfying to do that work yourself, with some traditional help from <a href=\"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/?encyclopedia=rashi\" target=\"_self\" title=\"Rashi - R. Shlomo Yitzchaki | &#1512;&#1513;&quot;&#1497; - &#1512;' &#1513;&#1500;&#1502;&#1492; &#1497;&#1510;&#1495;&#1511;&#1497; (c. 1040-1105, Troyes, northern France) is among the foremost Talmud and Tanach commentators, ushering in the classical period of line commentaries on foundational texts. He studied in the yeshivot of the Rhineland Valley (Mainz and Worms), the first centers of Jewish life in medieval&hellip;\" class=\"encyclopedia\">Rashi<\/a>. Give yourself the opportunity to struggle with it and emerge with understanding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There are two major options for English translations of the <a href=\"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/?encyclopedia=talmud\" target=\"_self\" title=\"Commonly refers to the Talmud Bavli, meaning the Mishnah (redacted Oral Law) with the Gemara (commentary) as redacted in Bavel (Babylon). It is also called by the acronym Shas, referring to the six orders (sedarim, sing. seder) into which the tractates (massekhtot, sing. massekhet) of the Mishnah and Gemara on it are divided. Today, there&hellip;\" class=\"encyclopedia\">Talmud<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.artscroll.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Artscroll<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/korenpub.com\/collections\/the-noe-edition-koren-talmud-bavli-1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Koren<\/a> (these are the names of the publishers of the translations; the Artscroll was made by a team while the Koren is by <a href=\"https:\/\/steinsaltz.org\/bio\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">R. Adin Even-Israel (Steinsaltz)<\/a>). Both are more than translations: they, by necessity of the extreme terseness of the Aramaic, include supplementary and explanatory phrases. These are distinguished by being unbolded, while the direct translation is bolded. The Koren also includes illustrations, biographies of the sages, and other tools. The Artscroll is available to purchase in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.artscroll.com\/talmud1.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">printed volumes<\/a> or in <a href=\"https:\/\/appstore.artscroll.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">digital form<\/a>, and the Koren is available in <a href=\"https:\/\/korenpub.com\/collections\/the-noe-edition-koren-talmud-bavli-1\">printed volumes<\/a>, as <a href=\"https:\/\/korenpub.com\/collections\/digital-editions-1\">purchasable pdfs<\/a>, or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sefaria.org.il\/texts\/Talmud\">free on Sefaria<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"deciphering-peshat-hatalmud-the-simple-meaning-of-the-text\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Deciphering <em>Peshat ha-Talmud<\/em> (the Simple Meaning of the Text)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Your first task is just to understand the words on the page. Go slowly and make sure you know what each word means in a language you know well. At this stage, a dictionary will be your best friend (see below for digital tools that make looking up words much faster). Once you can translate the phrase for yourself, you&rsquo;ll want to understand the argument that it&rsquo;s making. Is it a statement, a question, or an answer? <a href=\"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/?encyclopedia=rashi\" target=\"_self\" title=\"Rashi - R. Shlomo Yitzchaki | &#1512;&#1513;&quot;&#1497; - &#1512;' &#1513;&#1500;&#1502;&#1492; &#1497;&#1510;&#1495;&#1511;&#1497; (c. 1040-1105, Troyes, northern France) is among the foremost Talmud and Tanach commentators, ushering in the classical period of line commentaries on foundational texts. He studied in the yeshivot of the Rhineland Valley (Mainz and Worms), the first centers of Jewish life in medieval&hellip;\" class=\"encyclopedia\">Rashi<\/a> can be very helpful in decoding the basic meaning of the text, if you are able to read his commentary in the original (or you can use a translation, which generally relies on <a href=\"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/?encyclopedia=rashi\" target=\"_self\" title=\"Rashi - R. Shlomo Yitzchaki | &#1512;&#1513;&quot;&#1497; - &#1512;' &#1513;&#1500;&#1502;&#1492; &#1497;&#1510;&#1495;&#1511;&#1497; (c. 1040-1105, Troyes, northern France) is among the foremost Talmud and Tanach commentators, ushering in the classical period of line commentaries on foundational texts. He studied in the yeshivot of the Rhineland Valley (Mainz and Worms), the first centers of Jewish life in medieval&hellip;\" class=\"encyclopedia\">Rashi<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 id=\"learning-the-expressions-of-the-talmud\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Learning the Expressions of the Talmud<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Some introductions to <a href=\"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/?encyclopedia=talmud\" target=\"_self\" title=\"Commonly refers to the Talmud Bavli, meaning the Mishnah (redacted Oral Law) with the Gemara (commentary) as redacted in Bavel (Babylon). It is also called by the acronym Shas, referring to the six orders (sedarim, sing. seder) into which the tractates (massekhtot, sing. massekhet) of the Mishnah and Gemara on it are divided. Today, there&hellip;\" class=\"encyclopedia\">Talmud<\/a> try to teach you the formal mechanics of <a href=\"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/?encyclopedia=talmud\" target=\"_self\" title=\"Commonly refers to the Talmud Bavli, meaning the Mishnah (redacted Oral Law) with the Gemara (commentary) as redacted in Bavel (Babylon). It is also called by the acronym Shas, referring to the six orders (sedarim, sing. seder) into which the tractates (massekhtot, sing. massekhet) of the Mishnah and Gemara on it are divided. Today, there&hellip;\" class=\"encyclopedia\">Talmud<\/a>ic expressions, like the way &#1502;&#1497;&#1514;&#1497;&#1489;&#1497; literally means &ldquo;they respond,&rdquo; but always functions as &ldquo;they raise a difficulty,&rdquo; specifically when introducing a statement by a Tanna that seems to contradict a statement of an Amora. I think it&rsquo;s easy to get overwhelmed trying to memorize these expressions and their technical functions before you even begin. On the other hand, it&rsquo;s natural to pick them up as you spend more time with the text.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A few starting expressions that I do think are helpful to know:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>&#1502;&#1514;&#1504;&#1497;&#1514;&#1497;&#1503;<\/strong> (&ldquo;our Mishnah&rdquo;), often abbreviated, indicates the beginning of a direct citation of a Mishna which will then be examined, while <strong>&#1490;&#1502;&#1512;&#1488;<\/strong> indicates the beginning of <a href=\"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/?encyclopedia=amoraic\" target=\"_self\" title=\"Belonging to the era of the Amoraim (sing. Amora - &#1488;&#1502;&#1493;&#1512;&#1488;)&#8288;. The Amoraim are the rabbis who formulated and transmitted the Gemara, or commentary on the Mishnah known collectively as Talmud, in the 3rd through 5th centuries CE. Amoraim lived in both Eretz Yisrael and Bavel (Babylonia, which is how Jews referred to Sassanian Persia&hellip;\" class=\"encyclopedia\">Amoraic<\/a> commentary on that Mishna.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>&#1514;&#1504;&#1503;<\/strong> (&ldquo;we teach&rdquo;) introduces an quotation from a Mishna.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>&#1514;&#1504;&#1497;&#1488;, &#1514;&#1504;&#1493; &#1512;&#1489;&#1504;&#1503;<\/strong> (&ldquo;it was taught,&rdquo; &ldquo;the rabbis taught&rdquo;) indicates the beginning of a baraita, a <a href=\"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/?encyclopedia=tannaitic-2\" target=\"_self\" title=\"Belonging to the era of the Tannaim (sing. Tanna - &#1514;&#1504;&#1488;), the rabbis who formulated and transmitted the Oral Law that became the Mishnah in the 1st to 3rd centuries CE. There are seven generations of Tannaim.\" class=\"encyclopedia\">Tannaitic<\/a> source not included in the Mishna.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>&#1488;&#1502;&#1512;<\/strong> (&ldquo;he said&rdquo;) indicates the beginning of a memra, an <a href=\"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/?encyclopedia=amoraic\" target=\"_self\" title=\"Belonging to the era of the Amoraim (sing. Amora - &#1488;&#1502;&#1493;&#1512;&#1488;)&#8288;. The Amoraim are the rabbis who formulated and transmitted the Gemara, or commentary on the Mishnah known collectively as Talmud, in the 3rd through 5th centuries CE. Amoraim lived in both Eretz Yisrael and Bavel (Babylonia, which is how Jews referred to Sassanian Persia&hellip;\" class=\"encyclopedia\">Amoraic<\/a> statement.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h4 id=\"about-baraitot-memrot-and-other-sources\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">About Baraitot, Memrot, and Other Sources<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As mentioned above, our Mishna is a compilation of Oral Law made by Rabbi (Yehuda ha-Nasi), the head (<em>nasi<\/em>) of the Sanhedrin, the court of seventy that made decisive and binding rulings for the Jewish people, around the year 200 CE. Rabbi&rsquo;s Mishna is definitive, but it was not the only version of the Oral Law that existed. Other <a href=\"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/?encyclopedia=tannaitic-2\" target=\"_self\" title=\"Belonging to the era of the Tannaim (sing. Tanna - &#1514;&#1504;&#1488;), the rabbis who formulated and transmitted the Oral Law that became the Mishnah in the 1st to 3rd centuries CE. There are seven generations of Tannaim.\" class=\"encyclopedia\">Tannaitic<\/a> teachings were preserved, some orally and others in writing, such as the collection known as Tosefta (&ldquo;Additions&rdquo;) which collects traditions in the same order as Rabbi&rsquo;s Mishna. The Tosefta is the major extant collection of <a href=\"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/?encyclopedia=tannaitic-2\" target=\"_self\" title=\"Belonging to the era of the Tannaim (sing. Tanna - &#1514;&#1504;&#1488;), the rabbis who formulated and transmitted the Oral Law that became the Mishnah in the 1st to 3rd centuries CE. There are seven generations of Tannaim.\" class=\"encyclopedia\">Tannaitic<\/a> statements from outside the Mishna, each known as a <strong>baraita (plural: baraitot)<\/strong>, meaning &ldquo;outside one.&rdquo; However, more collections of baraitot circulated orally, many of which are cited by the <a href=\"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/?encyclopedia=talmud\" target=\"_self\" title=\"Commonly refers to the Talmud Bavli, meaning the Mishnah (redacted Oral Law) with the Gemara (commentary) as redacted in Bavel (Babylon). It is also called by the acronym Shas, referring to the six orders (sedarim, sing. seder) into which the tractates (massekhtot, sing. massekhet) of the Mishnah and Gemara on it are divided. Today, there&hellip;\" class=\"encyclopedia\">Talmud<\/a>s. Each baraita carries the authority of the Tannaim, just as do our Mishnayot. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Other major sources of <a href=\"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/?encyclopedia=tannaitic-2\" target=\"_self\" title=\"Belonging to the era of the Tannaim (sing. Tanna - &#1514;&#1504;&#1488;), the rabbis who formulated and transmitted the Oral Law that became the Mishnah in the 1st to 3rd centuries CE. There are seven generations of Tannaim.\" class=\"encyclopedia\">Tannaitic<\/a> statement that exist in writing are the Midrashei Halacha (legal midrash), especially the <em>Mechilta de-Rabbi Yishmael<\/em>, the <em>Sifra<\/em>, and the <em>Sifre<\/em>. It is helpful to identify when a baraita is being cited by the Gemara, because it tells you what layer of authority you&rsquo;re working with. A statement of a Tanna can only be contradicted by another statement of a Tanna, not by that of an Amora, which must defer to it. When an Amora makes a statement, which as we&rsquo;ve seen is generally introduced by the term <em>amar<\/em>, it is called a <strong>Memra<em>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"delving-into-parshanut-hatalmud-interpretation-of-the-text\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Delving into <em>Parshanut ha-Talmud<\/em> (Interpretation of the Text)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Once you have a solid grasp of the plain meaning of the Gemara, you can begin to analyze it conceptually. How does the argument work? What does each position mean for the halachic concept in question? What are different valid positions on the issue, and which one do we follow? What are your own questions about the Mishna, or on the Gemara?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At this stage, few of the <em>mefarshei ha-<a href=\"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/?encyclopedia=talmud\" target=\"_self\" title=\"Commonly refers to the Talmud Bavli, meaning the Mishnah (redacted Oral Law) with the Gemara (commentary) as redacted in Bavel (Babylon). It is also called by the acronym Shas, referring to the six orders (sedarim, sing. seder) into which the tractates (massekhtot, sing. massekhet) of the Mishnah and Gemara on it are divided. Today, there&hellip;\" class=\"encyclopedia\">Talmud<\/a><\/em> (interpreters of <a href=\"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/?encyclopedia=talmud\" target=\"_self\" title=\"Commonly refers to the Talmud Bavli, meaning the Mishnah (redacted Oral Law) with the Gemara (commentary) as redacted in Bavel (Babylon). It is also called by the acronym Shas, referring to the six orders (sedarim, sing. seder) into which the tractates (massekhtot, sing. massekhet) of the Mishnah and Gemara on it are divided. Today, there&hellip;\" class=\"encyclopedia\">Talmud<\/a>) are available in English, and most of them are written in a rabbinic mix of Hebrew and Aramaic, like the language of the Gemara itself (If your Hebrew is strong, dig in!). However, both Artscroll and Koren are working on English translations of <em>Tosafot<\/em>, which is the running dialectical commentary printed alongside the Gemara on the daf. <em>Tosafot<\/em> are an edited compilation of the work of many hands, and many alternate versions of Tosafot exist. The version we have in our <a href=\"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/?encyclopedia=talmud\" target=\"_self\" title=\"Commonly refers to the Talmud Bavli, meaning the Mishnah (redacted Oral Law) with the Gemara (commentary) as redacted in Bavel (Babylon). It is also called by the acronym Shas, referring to the six orders (sedarim, sing. seder) into which the tractates (massekhtot, sing. massekhet) of the Mishnah and Gemara on it are divided. Today, there&hellip;\" class=\"encyclopedia\">Talmud<\/a>s is based on the selection of early modern printers and their editors. <em>Tosafot<\/em> are just one of many medieval commentaries on the <a href=\"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/?encyclopedia=talmud\" target=\"_self\" title=\"Commonly refers to the Talmud Bavli, meaning the Mishnah (redacted Oral Law) with the Gemara (commentary) as redacted in Bavel (Babylon). It is also called by the acronym Shas, referring to the six orders (sedarim, sing. seder) into which the tractates (massekhtot, sing. massekhet) of the Mishnah and Gemara on it are divided. Today, there&hellip;\" class=\"encyclopedia\">Talmud<\/a>, but due to their centrality on the daf, they have become a definitive commentary that is usually studied after <a href=\"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/?encyclopedia=rashi\" target=\"_self\" title=\"Rashi - R. Shlomo Yitzchaki | &#1512;&#1513;&quot;&#1497; - &#1512;' &#1513;&#1500;&#1502;&#1492; &#1497;&#1510;&#1495;&#1511;&#1497; (c. 1040-1105, Troyes, northern France) is among the foremost Talmud and Tanach commentators, ushering in the classical period of line commentaries on foundational texts. He studied in the yeshivot of the Rhineland Valley (Mainz and Worms), the first centers of Jewish life in medieval&hellip;\" class=\"encyclopedia\">Rashi<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On the outer margins and at the &ldquo;back of the book&rdquo; (literally for printed volumes), you will find additional commentaries. Some of the most important are the <a href=\"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/?encyclopedia=rabbenu-chananel\" target=\"_self\" title=\"Rabbenu Chananel ben Chushiel - &#1512;&#1489;&#1504;&#1493; &#1495;&#1504;&#1504;&#1488;&#1500; &#1489;&#1503; &#1495;&#1493;&#1513;&#1497;&#1488;&#1500; (d. 1055\/56) was the first Talmud commentator in the Sefardi tradition. His commentary was widely used and admired, and is today printed on the outer margin of the standard Vilna Shas. Name(s)Rabbenu Chananel ben Chushiel&#1512;&#1489;&#1504;&#1493; &#1495;&#1504;&#1504;&#1488;&#1500; &#1489;&#1503; &#1495;&#1493;&#1513;&#1497;&#1488;&#1500;Datesdied 1055\/56RegionSefardi - Tunisia - Kairouan (al-Qayraw&#257;n)Teachers\/InfluencesHai GaonStudents\/FollowersRabbenu Nissim&hellip;\" class=\"encyclopedia\">Rabbenu Chananel<\/a>, Rabbenu Nissim <a href=\"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/?encyclopedia=gaon\" target=\"_self\" title='&#1490;&#1488;&#1493;&#1503; - pl. &#1490;&#1488;&#1493;&#1504;&#1497;&#1501; - Geonim - \"excellency,\" the formal title of the head of one of the academies of Bavel (Babylon, or present-day Iraq), and later Israel, Baghdad, Damascus, and Egypt. It is apparently shortened from the phrase gaon Yaakov, \"pride of Jacob,\" found in Amos 6:8, 8:7, Nachum 2:3, and Tehillim 47:5. In&hellip;' class=\"encyclopedia\">Gaon<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/?encyclopedia=rif\" target=\"_self\" title=\"Rav Yitzchak Alfasi - &#1512;' &#1497;&#1510;&#1495;&#1511; &#1488;&#1500;&#1508;&#1505;(&#1497;) - known as the Rif (1013&ndash;1103), author of the immensely important Halachot ha-Rif, a proto-code and abridgement of the legal portions of the Talmud. The Rif was born in Algeria, studying in Qayrawan (Kairouan), and established himself in Fez, though he was impelled to flee and made his&hellip;\" class=\"encyclopedia\">Rif<\/a>, Ramban, Rosh, <a href=\"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/?encyclopedia=rashba\" target=\"_self\" title=\"&#1512;&#1513;&#1489;&quot;&#1488; - &#1512;' &#1513;&#1500;&#1502;&#1492; &#1489;&#1503; &#1488;&#1489;&#1512;&#1492;&#1501; &#1488;&#1489;&#1503; &#1488;&#1491;&#1512;&#1514; - R. Shlomo b. Avraham Ibn Adret (c. 1235 to c. 1310, Barcelona), was a major Sefardi posek (decisor), the successor of Ramban, with whom he studied, although his principal teacher was Rabbenu Yonah (b. Avraham Gerondi). Rashba was himself the teacher of celebrated pupils, including the&hellip;\" class=\"encyclopedia\">Rashba<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/?encyclopedia=ritva\" target=\"_self\" title=\"R. Yom Tov ben Avraham Ishvili (&quot;of Seville&quot;) - &#1512;&#1497;&#1496;&#1489;&quot;&#1488; - &#1512;' &#1497;&#1493;&#1501; &#1496;&#1493;&#1489; &#1489;&#1503; &#1488;&#1489;&#1512;&#1492;&#1501; &#1488;&#1513;&#1489;&#1497;&#1500;&#1497; (c. 1250&ndash;1330) is one of the foremost Sefardi commentators on the Talmud. Life Though his family was apparently from Seville in southern Spain, Ritva is associated with Zaragoza (Saragossa) in Aragon, where he was a dayan (rabbinical court&hellip;\" class=\"encyclopedia\">Ritva<\/a>, and Ran (Ran is formally a commentary on the <a href=\"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/?encyclopedia=rif\" target=\"_self\" title=\"Rav Yitzchak Alfasi - &#1512;' &#1497;&#1510;&#1495;&#1511; &#1488;&#1500;&#1508;&#1505;(&#1497;) - known as the Rif (1013&ndash;1103), author of the immensely important Halachot ha-Rif, a proto-code and abridgement of the legal portions of the Talmud. The Rif was born in Algeria, studying in Qayrawan (Kairouan), and established himself in Fez, though he was impelled to flee and made his&hellip;\" class=\"encyclopedia\">Rif<\/a>). With the exception of the first three, these are longer even than <em>Tosafot<\/em>, written in whole paragraphs, and present an analysis of the sugya (unit of Gemara). There are also whole books devoted to halachic subjects that discuss in further detail aspects of the sugyot. It can also be interesting and instructive to see how the sugyot are used in the codes, such as Rambam&rsquo;s <em>Mishneh Torah<\/em> and the <em>Tur\/Beit Yosef\/<a href=\"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/?encyclopedia=shulchan-aruch\" target=\"_self\" title=\"&#1513;&#1500;&#1495;&#1503; &#1506;&#1512;&#1493;&#1498; (&quot;The Set Table&quot;) - A code of Jewish law, written in 1563 by R. Yosef Karo, a Sefardi rabbi, which became accepted as authoritative and normative with the addition of glosses incorporating Ashkenazi practice by Rema. Shulchan Aruch is actually a summary of Karo's important, and much larger, halachic work, the Beit Yosef.&hellip;\" class=\"encyclopedia\">Shulchan Aruch<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"bekiut-vs-iyun-covering-territory-or-learning-in-depth\" class=\"wp-block-heading\"><em>Bekiut <\/em>vs. <em>Iyun<\/em>: Covering Territory or Learning In Depth?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There are two basic modes of <a href=\"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/?encyclopedia=talmud\" target=\"_self\" title=\"Commonly refers to the Talmud Bavli, meaning the Mishnah (redacted Oral Law) with the Gemara (commentary) as redacted in Bavel (Babylon). It is also called by the acronym Shas, referring to the six orders (sedarim, sing. seder) into which the tractates (massekhtot, sing. massekhet) of the Mishnah and Gemara on it are divided. Today, there&hellip;\" class=\"encyclopedia\">Talmud<\/a> learning, <em>bekiut,<\/em> or general knowledge, and <em>iyun<\/em>, or in-depth learning. Both are incredibly valuable and you don&rsquo;t have to choose; you can do both, alternating or at the same time. It&rsquo;s a good idea to decide which approach you&rsquo;re going to take for a given tractate or study session and set your learning goals accordingly. If you choose the <em>bekiut<\/em> route, you want to figure out just enough to move forward as fast as you can, so you can cover the most ground and gain familiarity with large amounts of texts. If you&rsquo;re doing <em>iyun<\/em>, feel free to move slowly, ask the text all your questions, and delve into commentaries. For <em>iyun<\/em>, a good unit might be as small as a sugya on one Mishna on a topic you&rsquo;re interested in, or as large as a whole perek, but probably not more than that at a time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"3-texts-and-tools-for-learning-talmud\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">3. Texts and Tools for Learning Talmud<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There are a wealth of tools available to you to support your <a href=\"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/?encyclopedia=talmud\" target=\"_self\" title=\"Commonly refers to the Talmud Bavli, meaning the Mishnah (redacted Oral Law) with the Gemara (commentary) as redacted in Bavel (Babylon). It is also called by the acronym Shas, referring to the six orders (sedarim, sing. seder) into which the tractates (massekhtot, sing. massekhet) of the Mishnah and Gemara on it are divided. Today, there&hellip;\" class=\"encyclopedia\">Talmud<\/a> learning, many of them for free. Below, I go through the ones I think are most valuable, especially for beginners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"sefer-or-digital\" class=\"wp-block-heading\"><em>Sefer<\/em> or Digital?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The choice of paper book vs. digital text is very much down to personal preference and circumstances. Each has positives to recommend it, as well as drawbacks. For example, many digital texts lose the traditional page layout, <em>tzurat ha-daf<\/em>, which may or may matter to you, while printed books are expensive and most printed Gemaras don&rsquo;t have <em>nikud<\/em> (vowel dots). You also don&rsquo;t have to be exclusive: for bekiut, I use digital texts; for iyun, I will sometimes use a printed <a href=\"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/?encyclopedia=shas\" target=\"_self\" title='&#1513;\"&#1505; - An acronym for the Talmud, from shishah sedarim (&#1513;&#1497;&#1513;&#1492; &#1505;&#1491;&#1512;&#1497;&#1501;), the six orders into which both Mishnah and the Gemara on it are divided. Each order of the Mishnah contains multiple massekhtot (tractates, sing. massekhet), not all of which have commentary (Gemara) on them.' class=\"encyclopedia\">Shas<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Here are my personal recommendations for print and digital Gemaras:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>My favorite printed edition of the <a href=\"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/?encyclopedia=bavli-2\" target=\"_self\" title=\"The Babylonian Talmud, referring to the Gemara as redacted in Bavel, the major Jewish community of antiquity outside of Eretz Yisrael. Also refered to as Shas.\" class=\"encyclopedia\">Bavli<\/a> is <a href=\"https:\/\/ozvehadar.us\/talmud-bavli-shas-beinini-the-regular-edition\/\">Oz VeHadar<\/a> (the regular one with the brown cover, although the <a href=\"https:\/\/ozvehadar.us\/talmud\/talmud-bavli\/gemara-mesvita\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Metivta Shas edition<\/a> is a favorite of many people).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>I highly recommend <a href=\"https:\/\/shas.alhatorah.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Al HaTorah<\/a> for learning <a href=\"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/?encyclopedia=talmud\" target=\"_self\" title=\"Commonly refers to the Talmud Bavli, meaning the Mishnah (redacted Oral Law) with the Gemara (commentary) as redacted in Bavel (Babylon). It is also called by the acronym Shas, referring to the six orders (sedarim, sing. seder) into which the tractates (massekhtot, sing. massekhet) of the Mishnah and Gemara on it are divided. Today, there&hellip;\" class=\"encyclopedia\">Talmud<\/a> digitally. Its layout is more like reading a daf to me and as I mentioned above, I like that you can toggle translations easily (and can ignore them if you prefer). However, there are two great features that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sefaria.org.il\/texts\/Talmud\">Sefaria<\/a> offers: the ability to look up any word simply by highlighting it with your mouse, and the in-text pop-up info on the rabbis mentioned in the Mishna and Gemara. Both sites also have Mishna, Tosefta, and Yerushalmi, all with commentaries, if you get into learning those.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>If you want <em>tzurat ha-daf<\/em>, the best digital version is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.themercava.com\/app\/\">Mercava<\/a>, which also has helpful tools, such as toggling nikud on and off and automatically highlighting the text by function (question, answer, rebuttal, contradiction, etc.)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"daf-yomi-and-other-learning-programs\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Daf Yomi and Other Learning Programs<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Daf Yomi is a project started in 1923 by R. Meir Shapiro (after being proposed in 1920 by R. Moshe Menachem Mendel Spivak), which is a program for learning <a href=\"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/?encyclopedia=talmud\" target=\"_self\" title=\"Commonly refers to the Talmud Bavli, meaning the Mishnah (redacted Oral Law) with the Gemara (commentary) as redacted in Bavel (Babylon). It is also called by the acronym Shas, referring to the six orders (sedarim, sing. seder) into which the tractates (massekhtot, sing. massekhet) of the Mishnah and Gemara on it are divided. Today, there&hellip;\" class=\"encyclopedia\">Talmud<\/a> one daf at a time, completing it in a cycle of seven and a half years. A huge plus of daf yomi is that it gets people on the same page, literally: you can follow along with thousands of Jews from around the world. It&rsquo;s become very popular and there are many resources built around daf yomi. It works very well for many people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I tend to think that daf yomi is not a good fit for new learners, however (and maybe not for experienced learners, either). The pace of daf yomi is fairly rapid, so it essentially requires beginners to rely on translations or interpolations. As I&rsquo;ve said, I think this deprives you of gaining text skills and independence. Something I personally dislike about daf yomi is that it breaks up the text in an arbitrary way, rather than by the internal organization of the text. I like learning the Gemara on an entire Mishna as a unit, breaking it up logically by topics within the sugyot. I would recommend setting a learning goal of a chapter (or a masechet if you want a bigger challenge) as a starting place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"recommended-reference-books-for-learning-talmud\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Recommended Reference Books for Learning Talmud<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-media-text has-media-on-the-right is-stacked-on-mobile is-vertically-aligned-top\" style=\"grid-template-columns:auto 33%\"><div class=\"wp-block-media-text__content\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>R. Yitzchak Frank&rsquo;s <em><a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3XVd6U1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Practical Talmud Dictionary<\/a><\/em> (new ed., Maggid, 2016)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This indispensable study aid translates phrases rather than words, both into Hebrew and English (though its longer definitions are only in English). It gives details about how the phrase functions in the text.<\/p>\n<\/div><figure class=\"wp-block-media-text__media\"><a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3XVd6U1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"284\" height=\"445\" src=\"https:\/\/trmarvin.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Frank-Practical-Talmud-Dictionary.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-5151 size-full\" srcset=\"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Frank-Practical-Talmud-Dictionary.jpg 284w, http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Frank-Practical-Talmud-Dictionary-191x300.jpg 191w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 284px) 100vw, 284px\"><\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-media-text has-media-on-the-right is-stacked-on-mobile is-vertically-aligned-top\" style=\"grid-template-columns:auto 33%\"><div class=\"wp-block-media-text__content\">\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>R. Yitzchak Frank&rsquo;s <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3W7RJx7\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Gemara Card<\/a> (new version, Maggid, 2016)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This isn&rsquo;t even a book, it&rsquo;s a lamented t<a href=\"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/?encyclopedia=rif\" target=\"_self\" title=\"Rav Yitzchak Alfasi - &#1512;' &#1497;&#1510;&#1495;&#1511; &#1488;&#1500;&#1508;&#1505;(&#1497;) - known as the Rif (1013&ndash;1103), author of the immensely important Halachot ha-Rif, a proto-code and abridgement of the legal portions of the Talmud. The Rif was born in Algeria, studying in Qayrawan (Kairouan), and established himself in Fez, though he was impelled to flee and made his&hellip;\" class=\"encyclopedia\">rif<\/a>old card that is absolutely chock-full of the most important information you need at your fingertips as you learn Gemara, including a lexicon of the most commonly used words and phrases, another of common abbreviations (<em>rashei tevot<\/em>), a chart of major sages and their generations\/locations (Eeretz Yisrael or <a href=\"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/?encyclopedia=bavel\" target=\"_self\" title=\"Bavel - &#1489;&#1489;&#1500; (Babylonia) is what Jews called the region of present-day Iraq. In the Talmudic period it included Persia and was ruled in Sasanians. Later, in the period of the Geonim, by the Abbasid Muslim caliphate.\" class=\"encyclopedia\">Bavel<\/a>), a basic Aramaic grammar, and weights and measures used in the <a href=\"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/?encyclopedia=talmud\" target=\"_self\" title=\"Commonly refers to the Talmud Bavli, meaning the Mishnah (redacted Oral Law) with the Gemara (commentary) as redacted in Bavel (Babylon). It is also called by the acronym Shas, referring to the six orders (sedarim, sing. seder) into which the tractates (massekhtot, sing. massekhet) of the Mishnah and Gemara on it are divided. Today, there&hellip;\" class=\"encyclopedia\">Talmud<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div><figure class=\"wp-block-media-text__media\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"345\" height=\"466\" src=\"https:\/\/trmarvin.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Frank-Gemara-Card.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-5153 size-full\" srcset=\"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Frank-Gemara-Card.jpg 345w, http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Frank-Gemara-Card-222x300.jpg 222w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 345px) 100vw, 345px\"><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-media-text has-media-on-the-right is-stacked-on-mobile is-vertically-aligned-top\" style=\"grid-template-columns:auto 33%\"><div class=\"wp-block-media-text__content\">\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>R. Adin Even-Israel (Steinsaltz),<\/strong> <strong><em><a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3L74yBM\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Reference Guide to the Talmud<\/a><\/em><\/strong> (rev. ed., Koren, 2014) [<a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/4cPO5Of\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Kindle version here<\/a>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This comprehensive and eminently usable reference is great to have on your shelf for the many questions that come up in the course of learning <a href=\"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/?encyclopedia=talmud\" target=\"_self\" title=\"Commonly refers to the Talmud Bavli, meaning the Mishnah (redacted Oral Law) with the Gemara (commentary) as redacted in Bavel (Babylon). It is also called by the acronym Shas, referring to the six orders (sedarim, sing. seder) into which the tractates (massekhtot, sing. massekhet) of the Mishnah and Gemara on it are divided. Today, there&hellip;\" class=\"encyclopedia\">Talmud<\/a>. <\/p>\n<\/div><figure class=\"wp-block-media-text__media\"><a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/4eRPVzK\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"326\" height=\"466\" src=\"https:\/\/trmarvin.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Steinsaltz-Ref-Guide-to-Talmud.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-5166 size-full\" srcset=\"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Steinsaltz-Ref-Guide-to-Talmud.jpg 326w, http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Steinsaltz-Ref-Guide-to-Talmud-210x300.jpg 210w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 326px) 100vw, 326px\"><\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-media-text has-media-on-the-right is-stacked-on-mobile is-vertically-aligned-top\" style=\"grid-template-columns:auto 33%\"><div class=\"wp-block-media-text__content\">\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><em><a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3W85cVJ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Introduction to the Talmud<\/a><\/em> (Artscroll, 2019)<\/strong> [<a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3XNWHAs\">Hebrew version here<\/a>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This introduction, written from a traditional perspective, is more of a narrative introduction and sourcebook than a reference volume, though it also works in that capacity. <\/p>\n<\/div><figure class=\"wp-block-media-text__media\"><a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3W85cVJ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"466\" height=\"466\" src=\"https:\/\/trmarvin.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Intro-to-Talmud-Artscroll.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-5168 size-full\" srcset=\"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Intro-to-Talmud-Artscroll.jpg 466w, http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Intro-to-Talmud-Artscroll-300x300.jpg 300w, http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Intro-to-Talmud-Artscroll-150x150.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 466px) 100vw, 466px\"><\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-media-text has-media-on-the-right is-stacked-on-mobile is-vertically-aligned-top\" style=\"grid-template-columns:auto 33%\"><div class=\"wp-block-media-text__content\">\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>R. Yitzchak Frank;s <em><a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3W7SaHL\">Grammar for Gemara and Targum Onkelos: An Introduction to Aramaic<\/a><\/em> (new expanded ed., Maggid, 2016)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If you want to get a better grasp of Aramaic, R. Frank&rsquo;s expert teaching methods work great for Aramaic grammar as well. You may get more out of this book once you have a bit of Aramaic experience in the text first, but if you&rsquo;re an analytic type, it can help to read it first, then read it again later.<\/p>\n<\/div><figure class=\"wp-block-media-text__media\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"367\" height=\"557\" src=\"https:\/\/trmarvin.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Frank-Grammar-for-Gemara-and-Targum.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-5165 size-full\" srcset=\"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Frank-Grammar-for-Gemara-and-Targum.png 367w, http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Frank-Grammar-for-Gemara-and-Targum-198x300.png 198w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 367px) 100vw, 367px\"><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-media-text has-media-on-the-right is-stacked-on-mobile is-vertically-aligned-top\" style=\"grid-template-columns:auto 33%\"><div class=\"wp-block-media-text__content\">\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>R. Joshua Kulp<\/strong> <strong>and Jason Rogoff, <em><a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/45Zh0Nl\">Reconstructing the Talmud<\/a><\/em><\/strong> <strong>(Hadar, 2017)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For an introduction to academic methods of studying the <a href=\"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/?encyclopedia=talmud\" target=\"_self\" title=\"Commonly refers to the Talmud Bavli, meaning the Mishnah (redacted Oral Law) with the Gemara (commentary) as redacted in Bavel (Babylon). It is also called by the acronym Shas, referring to the six orders (sedarim, sing. seder) into which the tractates (massekhtot, sing. massekhet) of the Mishnah and Gemara on it are divided. Today, there&hellip;\" class=\"encyclopedia\">Talmud<\/a> and teasing apart its historical layers and development, I highly recommend <em><a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/45Zh0Nl\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Reconstructing the Talmud<\/a><\/em>. It is also full of detailed examples from the text of the <a href=\"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/?encyclopedia=talmud\" target=\"_self\" title=\"Commonly refers to the Talmud Bavli, meaning the Mishnah (redacted Oral Law) with the Gemara (commentary) as redacted in Bavel (Babylon). It is also called by the acronym Shas, referring to the six orders (sedarim, sing. seder) into which the tractates (massekhtot, sing. massekhet) of the Mishnah and Gemara on it are divided. Today, there&hellip;\" class=\"encyclopedia\">Talmud<\/a> that walk you through the concepts. (There&rsquo;s also a <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/45U05fj\">Volume 2<\/a> if you want more.)<\/p>\n<\/div><figure class=\"wp-block-media-text__media\"><a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/45Zh0Nl\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/trmarvin.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Kulp-and-Rogoff-Reconstructing-the-Talmud.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1504 size-full\"><\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"recommended-online-resources-for-learning-talmud\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Recommended Online Resources for Learning Talmud<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<h4 id=\"websites\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Websites<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In addition to the digital texts mentioned above, a few websites that are great for <a href=\"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/?encyclopedia=talmud\" target=\"_self\" title=\"Commonly refers to the Talmud Bavli, meaning the Mishnah (redacted Oral Law) with the Gemara (commentary) as redacted in Bavel (Babylon). It is also called by the acronym Shas, referring to the six orders (sedarim, sing. seder) into which the tractates (massekhtot, sing. massekhet) of the Mishnah and Gemara on it are divided. Today, there&hellip;\" class=\"encyclopedia\">Talmud<\/a> beginners are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The <a href=\"https:\/\/daf-yomi.com\/AramicDictionary.aspx\">Aramaic-Hebrew dictionary tool<\/a> on <a href=\"https:\/\/daf-yomi.com\/\">Daf Yomi Portal<\/a> (there is also a Daf Yomi Portal app [Android | iOS], though I like using the website version of the dictionary). The &ldquo;distance&rdquo; between Hebrew and Aramaic is less than that between English and Aramaic, so this tool was a game changer for me in terms of retaining Aramaic vocabulary.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>For all things related to the Jewish calendar (which come up a lot in the <a href=\"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/?encyclopedia=talmud\" target=\"_self\" title=\"Commonly refers to the Talmud Bavli, meaning the Mishnah (redacted Oral Law) with the Gemara (commentary) as redacted in Bavel (Babylon). It is also called by the acronym Shas, referring to the six orders (sedarim, sing. seder) into which the tractates (massekhtot, sing. massekhet) of the Mishnah and Gemara on it are divided. Today, there&hellip;\" class=\"encyclopedia\">Talmud<\/a>), <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hebcal.com\/\">Hebcal<\/a> is your best friend. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.torahcalc.com\/\">TorahCalc<\/a> lets you quickly calculate tons of Jewish things, such as <a href=\"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/?encyclopedia=talmud\" target=\"_self\" title=\"Commonly refers to the Talmud Bavli, meaning the Mishnah (redacted Oral Law) with the Gemara (commentary) as redacted in Bavel (Babylon). It is also called by the acronym Shas, referring to the six orders (sedarim, sing. seder) into which the tractates (massekhtot, sing. massekhet) of the Mishnah and Gemara on it are divided. Today, there&hellip;\" class=\"encyclopedia\">Talmud<\/a>ic units of measure.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dafyomi.co.il\/\">Dafyomi.co.il<\/a> looks like it&rsquo;s straight out of 2004, but it is full of point-by-point daf summaries <em>and<\/em> Tosafot summaries in English. It can be really helpful for beginners as a way to check your understanding.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.webshas.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">WebShas<\/a> is a no-frills but valuable index of topics in the <a href=\"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/?encyclopedia=talmud\" target=\"_self\" title=\"Commonly refers to the Talmud Bavli, meaning the Mishnah (redacted Oral Law) with the Gemara (commentary) as redacted in Bavel (Babylon). It is also called by the acronym Shas, referring to the six orders (sedarim, sing. seder) into which the tractates (massekhtot, sing. massekhet) of the Mishnah and Gemara on it are divided. Today, there&hellip;\" class=\"encyclopedia\">Talmud<\/a>, made by a rabbi, as opposed to AI or other automation (for an app that does similar duty, see below, Hamafteach).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h4 id=\"apps\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Apps<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-media-text has-media-on-the-right is-stacked-on-mobile is-vertically-aligned-top\" style=\"grid-template-columns:auto 33%\"><div class=\"wp-block-media-text__content\">\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>TES <a href=\"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/?encyclopedia=talmud\" target=\"_self\" title=\"Commonly refers to the Talmud Bavli, meaning the Mishnah (redacted Oral Law) with the Gemara (commentary) as redacted in Bavel (Babylon). It is also called by the acronym Shas, referring to the six orders (sedarim, sing. seder) into which the tractates (massekhtot, sing. massekhet) of the Mishnah and Gemara on it are divided. Today, there&hellip;\" class=\"encyclopedia\">Talmud<\/a> Dictionary [Android | <a href=\"https:\/\/apps.apple.com\/us\/app\/talmud-dictionary-concordan\/id389529677\">iOS<\/a>]<\/strong>, $14.99<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The classic, and still indispensable, <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3VOVJkU\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Jastrow dictionary<\/a>, app-ified. If you just want access to Jastrow and don&rsquo;t need a dedicated app, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sefaria.org.il\/Jastrow?tab=contents\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Jastrow is also available freely on Sefaria<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div><figure class=\"wp-block-media-text__media\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"259\" height=\"261\" src=\"https:\/\/trmarvin.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/TES-Talmud-Dictionary.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-5171 size-full\" srcset=\"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/TES-Talmud-Dictionary.jpg 259w, http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/TES-Talmud-Dictionary-150x150.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 259px) 100vw, 259px\"><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-media-text has-media-on-the-right is-stacked-on-mobile is-vertically-aligned-top\" style=\"grid-template-columns:auto 33%\"><div class=\"wp-block-media-text__content\">\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Kehati App [<a href=\"https:\/\/play.google.com\/store\/apps\/details?id=com.nocker.kehati\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Android<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/apps.apple.com\/us\/app\/kehati\/id1059791961\">iOS<\/a>]<\/strong>, free<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It can be helpful to learn all the Mishnayot on a perek or masechet before starting the Gemara, and the modern Kehati commentary on the Mishna is a brilliant guide. It&rsquo;s now available free of charge through the Kehati app, both in Hebrew and in English translation (in the same app).<\/p>\n<\/div><figure class=\"wp-block-media-text__media\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"263\" height=\"264\" src=\"https:\/\/trmarvin.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Kehati-app-logo.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-5187 size-full\" srcset=\"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Kehati-app-logo.png 263w, http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Kehati-app-logo-150x150.png 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 263px) 100vw, 263px\"><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-media-text has-media-on-the-right is-stacked-on-mobile is-vertically-aligned-top\" style=\"grid-template-columns:auto 33%\"><div class=\"wp-block-media-text__content\">\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>HaMafteach [<a href=\"https:\/\/apps.apple.com\/us\/app\/hamafteach\/id1097860566\">iOS<\/a> only]<\/strong>, free<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I&rsquo;m not much of an Apple person, but this app is worth getting an iPad for, honestly. It&rsquo;s a powerful digital index of <a href=\"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/?encyclopedia=talmud\" target=\"_self\" title=\"Commonly refers to the Talmud Bavli, meaning the Mishnah (redacted Oral Law) with the Gemara (commentary) as redacted in Bavel (Babylon). It is also called by the acronym Shas, referring to the six orders (sedarim, sing. seder) into which the tractates (massekhtot, sing. massekhet) of the Mishnah and Gemara on it are divided. Today, there&hellip;\" class=\"encyclopedia\">Talmud<\/a> topics. I forget to use it as often as I should!<\/p>\n<\/div><figure class=\"wp-block-media-text__media\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"251\" height=\"249\" src=\"https:\/\/trmarvin.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/HaMafteach-app.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-5185 size-full\" srcset=\"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/HaMafteach-app.png 251w, http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/HaMafteach-app-150x150.png 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 251px) 100vw, 251px\"><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-media-text has-media-on-the-right is-stacked-on-mobile is-vertically-aligned-top\" style=\"grid-template-columns:auto 33%\"><div class=\"wp-block-media-text__content\">\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Steinsaltz Daily Study [<a href=\"https:\/\/play.google.com\/store\/apps\/details?id=app.steinsaltz.study\">Android<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/apps.apple.com\/us\/app\/steinsaltz-daily-study\/id1543235117\">iOS<\/a>]<\/strong>, free<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I&rsquo;ve tried hopping onto Daf Yomi twice before ultimately deciding it wasn&rsquo;t for me, but this was my favorite learning app for Daf Yomi during those trials. Even if you don&rsquo;t use the Steinsaltz tools, it&rsquo;s got a great layout for keeping up with daily learning and built-in trackers for accountability and keeping track.<\/p>\n<\/div><figure class=\"wp-block-media-text__media\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"258\" height=\"263\" src=\"https:\/\/trmarvin.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Steinsaltz-Daily-Study.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-5183 size-full\"><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-media-text has-media-on-the-right is-stacked-on-mobile is-vertically-aligned-top\" style=\"grid-template-columns:auto 33%\"><div class=\"wp-block-media-text__content\">\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/?encyclopedia=shas\" target=\"_self\" title='&#1513;\"&#1505; - An acronym for the Talmud, from shishah sedarim (&#1513;&#1497;&#1513;&#1492; &#1505;&#1491;&#1512;&#1497;&#1501;), the six orders into which both Mishnah and the Gemara on it are divided. Each order of the Mishnah contains multiple massekhtot (tractates, sing. massekhet), not all of which have commentary (Gemara) on them.' class=\"encyclopedia\">Shas<\/a> Chabura<\/strong> <strong>[<a href=\"https:\/\/play.google.com\/store\/apps\/details?id=com.shaschabura.app\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Android<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/apps.apple.com\/us\/app\/shas-chabura\/id1491142748\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">iOS<\/a>]<\/strong>, free<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/?encyclopedia=shas\" target=\"_self\" title='&#1513;\"&#1505; - An acronym for the Talmud, from shishah sedarim (&#1513;&#1497;&#1513;&#1492; &#1505;&#1491;&#1512;&#1497;&#1501;), the six orders into which both Mishnah and the Gemara on it are divided. Each order of the Mishnah contains multiple massekhtot (tractates, sing. massekhet), not all of which have commentary (Gemara) on them.' class=\"encyclopedia\">Shas<\/a> Chabura is a tracking app for daily study. It&rsquo;s not totally customizable, but it does offer more flexibility than I&rsquo;ve found in any other Daf Yomi-style app. If you just want to keep track of your learning, whether in a sefer or somewhere online rather than in a dedicated app, this might be the right fit.<\/p>\n<\/div><figure class=\"wp-block-media-text__media\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"261\" height=\"264\" src=\"https:\/\/trmarvin.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Shas-Chabura-app.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-5182 size-full\"><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-media-text has-media-on-the-right is-stacked-on-mobile is-vertically-aligned-top\" style=\"grid-template-columns:auto 33%\"><div class=\"wp-block-media-text__content\">\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/?encyclopedia=talmud\" target=\"_self\" title=\"Commonly refers to the Talmud Bavli, meaning the Mishnah (redacted Oral Law) with the Gemara (commentary) as redacted in Bavel (Babylon). It is also called by the acronym Shas, referring to the six orders (sedarim, sing. seder) into which the tractates (massekhtot, sing. massekhet) of the Mishnah and Gemara on it are divided. Today, there&hellip;\" class=\"encyclopedia\">Talmud<\/a> Quest [<a href=\"https:\/\/play.google.com\/store\/apps\/details?id=com.chaim.talmudquest\">Android<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/apps.apple.com\/us\/app\/talmud-quest\/id857860136?ls=1\">iOS<\/a>]<\/strong>, free<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This lightweight app quizzes you in a smart way about Gemara words and terms. It has beginner, intermediate, and advanced levels.<\/p>\n<\/div><figure class=\"wp-block-media-text__media\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"255\" height=\"265\" src=\"https:\/\/trmarvin.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Talmud-Quest-app.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-5181 size-full\"><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h4 id=\"podcasts-amp-shiurim-in-english\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Podcasts &amp; Shiurim in English<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Most <a href=\"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/?encyclopedia=talmud\" target=\"_self\" title=\"Commonly refers to the Talmud Bavli, meaning the Mishnah (redacted Oral Law) with the Gemara (commentary) as redacted in Bavel (Babylon). It is also called by the acronym Shas, referring to the six orders (sedarim, sing. seder) into which the tractates (massekhtot, sing. massekhet) of the Mishnah and Gemara on it are divided. Today, there&hellip;\" class=\"encyclopedia\">Talmud<\/a> podcasts are done daf yomi style, that is, daf by daf. Even if you don&rsquo;t learn by the daf, it can be helpful to look up a podcast for a given daf you happen to be on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-media-text has-media-on-the-right is-stacked-on-mobile is-vertically-aligned-top\" style=\"grid-template-columns:auto 33%\"><div class=\"wp-block-media-text__content\">\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/hadran.org.il\/daf-yomi\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Daf Yomi for Women<\/a> <\/strong>(and everyone!)<strong> by <a href=\"https:\/\/hadran.org.il\/\">Hadran.org.il<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Hosted by Rabbanit Michelle Farber, this is my hands-down favorite overview of the daf. I often listen to old episodes on something I&rsquo;m currently learning.<\/p>\n<\/div><figure class=\"wp-block-media-text__media\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"344\" height=\"344\" src=\"https:\/\/trmarvin.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Daf-Yomi-for-Women.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-5189 size-full\" srcset=\"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Daf-Yomi-for-Women.png 344w, http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Daf-Yomi-for-Women-300x300.png 300w, http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Daf-Yomi-for-Women-150x150.png 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 344px) 100vw, 344px\"><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-media-text has-media-on-the-right is-stacked-on-mobile is-vertically-aligned-top\" style=\"grid-template-columns:auto 33%\"><div class=\"wp-block-media-text__content\">\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.yutorah.org\/daf\/\">YU on the Daf<\/a><\/strong> (and<a href=\"https:\/\/www.yutorah.org\/\"> in general<\/a>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Yeshiva University offers tons of audio shiurim, including on the daf. You can also listen (and select your favorite speakers\/series) on their dedicated app [<a href=\"https:\/\/play.google.com\/store\/apps\/details?id=org.yutorah.app&amp;hl=en_US\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Android<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/apps.apple.com\/us\/app\/yutorah\/id501079063\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">iOS<\/a>].<\/p>\n<\/div><figure class=\"wp-block-media-text__media\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"234\" height=\"230\" src=\"https:\/\/trmarvin.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/YU-Torah-app.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-5190 size-full\"><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-media-text has-media-on-the-right is-stacked-on-mobile is-vertically-aligned-top\" style=\"grid-template-columns:auto 33%\"><div class=\"wp-block-media-text__content\">\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/yourtorah-886b7992.simplecast.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">YourTorah<\/a> <\/strong>on the Mishna<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This podcast is on the Mishna, not the <a href=\"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/?encyclopedia=talmud\" target=\"_self\" title=\"Commonly refers to the Talmud Bavli, meaning the Mishnah (redacted Oral Law) with the Gemara (commentary) as redacted in Bavel (Babylon). It is also called by the acronym Shas, referring to the six orders (sedarim, sing. seder) into which the tractates (massekhtot, sing. massekhet) of the Mishnah and Gemara on it are divided. Today, there&hellip;\" class=\"encyclopedia\">Talmud<\/a>, but it&rsquo;s an incredible introduction to the sixty-three tractates that make up the backbone of the <a href=\"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/?encyclopedia=talmud\" target=\"_self\" title=\"Commonly refers to the Talmud Bavli, meaning the Mishnah (redacted Oral Law) with the Gemara (commentary) as redacted in Bavel (Babylon). It is also called by the acronym Shas, referring to the six orders (sedarim, sing. seder) into which the tractates (massekhtot, sing. massekhet) of the Mishnah and Gemara on it are divided. Today, there&hellip;\" class=\"encyclopedia\">Talmud<\/a>, each in 18-minute episodes.<\/p>\n<\/div><figure class=\"wp-block-media-text__media\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"552\" height=\"546\" src=\"https:\/\/trmarvin.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/YourTorah-podcast.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-5191 size-full\" srcset=\"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/YourTorah-podcast.png 552w, http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/YourTorah-podcast-300x297.png 300w, http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/YourTorah-podcast-500x495.png 500w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 552px) 100vw, 552px\"><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-media-text has-media-on-the-right is-stacked-on-mobile is-vertically-aligned-top\" style=\"grid-template-columns:auto 33%\"><div class=\"wp-block-media-text__content\">\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dafhachaim.org\/\">Daf HaChaim<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If you enjoy visuals and diagrams to help your learning, Daf HaChaim specializes in them. Also available as an app [<a href=\"https:\/\/play.google.com\/store\/apps\/details?id=org.dafhachaim&amp;hl=en_US\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Android<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/apps.apple.com\/us\/app\/daf-hachaim\/id554805753\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">iOS<\/a>]<\/p>\n<\/div><figure class=\"wp-block-media-text__media\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"259\" height=\"259\" src=\"https:\/\/trmarvin.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Daf-HcChaim-app.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-5192 size-full\" srcset=\"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Daf-HcChaim-app.png 259w, http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Daf-HcChaim-app-150x150.png 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 259px) 100vw, 259px\"><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-media-text has-media-on-the-right is-stacked-on-mobile is-vertically-aligned-top\" style=\"grid-template-columns:auto 33%\"><div class=\"wp-block-media-text__content\">\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.realcleardaf.com\/\">Real Clear Daf<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Another great (and yes, very clear) overview of the daily daf for Daf Yomi is Real Clear Daf. Also available as an app [<a href=\"https:\/\/play.google.com\/store\/apps\/details?id=com.realcleardaf.mobile&amp;hl=en_US\">Android<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/apps.apple.com\/us\/app\/real-clear-daf\/id904872089?ls=1\">iOS<\/a>].<\/p>\n<\/div><figure class=\"wp-block-media-text__media\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"262\" height=\"264\" src=\"https:\/\/trmarvin.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Real-Clear-Daf-app.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-5193 size-full\" srcset=\"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Real-Clear-Daf-app.png 262w, http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Real-Clear-Daf-app-150x150.png 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 262px) 100vw, 262px\"><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Here&rsquo;s wishing you many moments of discovery and learning in the great sea of <a href=\"http:\/\/trmarvin.org\/?encyclopedia=talmud\" target=\"_self\" title=\"Commonly refers to the Talmud Bavli, meaning the Mishnah (redacted Oral Law) with the Gemara (commentary) as redacted in Bavel (Babylon). It is also called by the acronym Shas, referring to the six orders (sedarim, sing. seder) into which the tractates (massekhtot, sing. massekhet) of the Mishnah and Gemara on it are divided. Today, there&hellip;\" class=\"encyclopedia\">Talmud<\/a>!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In traditional Jewish learning, we often refer to the &#8220;sea of Talmud.&#8221; This is not merely a picturesque metaphor; it expresses a key characteristic of the Talmud. Dipping into it is like entering a vast sea: there is no beginning or end, and all of it connected to the other parts and to its depths. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2994,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_vp_format_video_url":"","_vp_image_focal_point":[],"webmentions_disabled_pings":false,"webmentions_disabled":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[110],"class_list":["post-5118","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-recources","tag-talmud-"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>How to Start Learning Talmud - Tamar Marvin<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"This might be the most important thing I could tell any beginner approaching Talmud for the first time: you can&#039;t do it without doing it. 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