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Talmud

(Encyclopedia)Talmud tălˈməd [key] [Aramaic from Heb.,=learning], in Judaism, vast compilation of the Oral Law with rabbinical elucidations, elaborations, and commentaries, in contradistinction to the Scriptures...

Gemara

(Encyclopedia)Gemara: see Talmud.

Amoraim

(Encyclopedia)Amoraim äˈmōräˈĭm [key] [Heb. amar=to interpret], in Judaism, term referring to those scholars, predominantly at Caesarea and Tiberias in Palestine (c.a.d. 220–c.a.d. 375) and in Babylonia (c....

Al-Fasi, Isaac ben Jacob ha-Kohen

(Encyclopedia)Al-Fasi, Isaac ben Jacob ha-Kohen äl-fäˈsē [key], 1013–1103, prominent Jewish Talmudic scholar of the very late Gaonic period, b. near Fès, N Africa. He headed the rabbinical school at Fès unt...

Jastrow, Marcus

(Encyclopedia)Jastrow, Marcus yäsˈtrō, jăsˈ– [key], 1829–1903, American rabbi and Talmudic scholar, b. Poland. He was a rabbi (1866–92) in Philadelphia, editor of the Talmud material of The Jewish Encycl...

Aha of Shabcha

(Encyclopedia)Aha of Shabcha äˈkhī [key], c.680–c.762, Babylonian rabbi. He settled (c.752) in Palestine after being passed over for appointment as head of the rabbinic academy of Pumbedita for political reaso...

Midrash

(Encyclopedia)Midrash mĭdˈräsh [key] [Heb.,=to examine, to investigate], verse by verse interpretation of Hebrew Scriptures, consisting of homily and exegesis, by Jewish teachers since about 400 b.c. Distinction...

Saboraim

(Encyclopedia)Saboraim säbōräˈĭm [key] [Heb.,=expositors], in Judaism, title given to the Jewish scholars of the Babylonian academies in the period (6th–7th cent. a.d.) immediately following the Amoraim and ...

Rashi

(Encyclopedia)Rashi räˈshē [key], 1040–1105, Jewish exegete, grammarian, and legal authority, b. Troyes, France. The name he is known by is an acronym of Rabbi Solomon bar Isaac. He studied in Worms and Mainz,...

Soloveitchik, Joseph

(Encyclopedia)Soloveitchik, Joseph sŏˌləvāˈchĭk [key], 1903–93, Jewish Talmudist and philosopher. Born into a rabbinic family in Poland, he was educated according to his grandfather's analytical method of T...

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