The formation and character of the Jerusalem Talmud

Abstract

The Jerusalem Talmud, which is more accurately known as the Palestinian Talmud (PT), is the Mishnah commentary produced in the Palestinian rabbinical academies during the third and fourth centuries CE. Most prominent among the PT's literary sources is the Mishnah. A second major literary source used by the PT is halachic baraitot which closely parallel the Mishnah. Such baraitot are often quite similar to those in the Tosefta, although the PT's baraitot are rarely identical to their toseftan parallels. The most important component of the PT is the halachic comments and discussions of the amoraim. Possible evidence for the existence of earlier Talmudim or redacted units of Talmudic discourse which preceded the final redaction of the PT is provided by the rare but significant phenomenon of nested sugyot. Babylonian teachings cited in the PT frequently differ from their parallels in the Babylonian Talmud in wording, attribution, and content.