Amoraim

The rabbinic sages of the centuries after the Mishnah’s compilation whose discussions and interpretations form the Gemara of the Talmud.

Mishnah: A Hebrew compilation of Jewish oral law edited around the beginning of the third century CE. Its concise rulings and disputes supplied the principal text the Amoraim interpreted.
Talmud: A foundational rabbinic work comprising the Mishnah and its Gemara, in Babylonian and Jerusalem editions. The Amoraim’s discussions make up the Gemara at the heart of both Talmuds.
Land of Israel: The historical region in which Jewish communities and rabbinic centers developed in antiquity. Its rabbinic centers produced the tradition preserved in the Jerusalem Talmud.
Yohanan bar Nappaha: A leading third-century rabbi of the Land of Israel associated with the Tiberian academy. He became a central authority in the Palestinian Amoraic tradition.
Tannaim: The earlier rabbinic sages whose teachings are recorded chiefly in the Mishnah and related works. They belong to the generation before the Amoraim and supplied much of their textual inheritance.
Halakha: The collective body of Jewish law and practice derived from scripture and rabbinic interpretation. Amoraic debate examined how Mishnah rulings should govern legal questions.
Babylonia: An ancient Mesopotamian region that became a major center of Jewish scholarship after the Babylonian exile. Its academies and sages generated the tradition preserved in the Babylonian Talmud.
Resh Lakish: A third-century rabbi of the Land of Israel known for his debates with Yohanan bar Nappaha. Their recorded disagreements exemplify collaborative argument among Palestinian Amoraim.
Gemara: Rabbinic discussion and interpretation of the Mishnah, preserved in the two Talmuds. It records the arguments and interpretations associated with the Amoraim.
Midrash: A rabbinic mode of interpreting scripture that develops meanings through close reading and exposition. Amoraic interpretation drew on scriptural reasoning as well as Mishnah commentary.

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