‫בס"ד‬
5777 ‫כסלו‬
A TEACHER'S GUIDE TO THE GEMARA CARD
Yitzhak Frank
The Gemara Card is fairly self-explanatory, but its value would be enhanced were it to be used by a competent teacher who is
familiar with the six-page laminated Card and its salient features – which will be described below.
The Card contains five distinct sections: a three-page Glossary, a page of Abbreviations, a page of Babylonian Aramaic Grammar,
and another page that is shared by Talmudic Sages and Talmudic Measures.
1. The Glossary
Most of our students are quite aware of the existence of ready-made translations of the Gemara they are learning, e.g., the Art Scroll
(Schottenstein) and Koren (Rav Steinsaltz) editions, and there is no denying that they are useful since they quickly provide the learner
with the flow of the Talmudic discussion. Talmudic translations, however, have their drawbacks:
A) Individual words and phrases are sometimes not translated literally and, occasionally, not accurately.
B) Over-dependence upon even the best of running translations can impede – or even cripple – one's development in learning,
especially one's ability to decipher a text.
On the other hand, the student who becomes accustomed to working out a text, word by word, will gradually develop the skills and
vocabulary that will prepare him/her to learn Gemara/Talmud and its commentaries independently.
The Glossary section comprises half of the Card. Its 720 words and terms were selected primarily because of the frequency of their
occurrence in the Babylonian Talmud, but with some "positive discrimination" in favor of terms that are important in the ‫שָקָלָא וָטָרָיָא‬
)Talmudic debates). Most of them are Aramaic, but more than twenty are Hebrew (and are marked as such with a superscript H). The
Glossary provides a concise (and usually precise) English translation; when space limitations permit, the literal translation is
supplemented by a word (or more), added (within parentheses) to fit the Talmudic context. For example, see the entry ‫אִ יכאָבֵּינייהו‬,
and its translation, there is (a difference) between them.
NOTE: Some Glossary entry items feature two different spellings of the same word, separated by a slash (/), e.g., ‫אִ פכא‬/‫אִ יפכא‬. But
when the difference in spelling is significant – a semi-colon appears between them, e.g., in the gender distinction between the
masculineָ‫ תלתא‬and the feminine ‫תלת‬, and the distinction in person and number between the formsָ‫אשכח‬, he found, and ‫אשכחן‬, we
found.
The student who seeks fuller explanations, replete with examples, should consult a dictionary, e.g., The Practical Talmud Dictionary. (If
the teacher has a more academic inclination and is interested in etymologies, manuscripts and comparisons to other Semitic languages,
Michael Sokoloff's Dictionary of Babylonian Aramaic, Ramat Gan-Baltimore 2002, will provide him additional information about Aramaic
words.)
Experience has proven that vocabulary is most efficiently mastered in context. When using the Card as a teaching aid, the rebbi or
teacher should focus on those Glossary words that appear in the text he is teaching: Perhaps he should consider presenting a few
crucial words or expressions before the shiur/lesson or, alternatively, afterwards, as part of a review. Furthermore, a program of "the
Aramaic word of the day" may work, perhaps in conjunction with periodic quizzes.
2. Abbreviations and Acronyms
The entry items on this page, i.e., the abbreviations and acronyms, are printed in their original Aramaic (or Hebrew), and their
resolutions/explanations are in the same language. Some of the explanations are themselves entries in the Glossary, and they have
been colored BLUE, referring the learner to the Glossary section where he can easily locate them and their English translations.
3. Aramaic Grammar
As is well known, student interest in grammar – let alone Babylonian Aramaic grammar – is almost infinitesimal. In the page that has
been allotted for the subject, we would like to familiarize the learner with the basic aspects of the Aramaic verb, the most crucial and
confusing part of speech in the language.
The verbal systems of Hebrew and Aramaic are similar but not identical.
A) The learner with even a basic knowledge of the Hebrew verb knows that the past tense is characterized by suffixes, e.g.,
‫כָּתַ בתִ י‬, and that prefixes predominate in the future, e.g., ‫אָכת ֹּב‬. The same structure prevails in Aramaic, but there is one
striking difference with regard to the prefixes: In Babylonian Aramaic, the prefix in the 3rd-person-masculine of the "future"
tense is usually lamed, sometimes nun, e.g., ‫ לִָיכתֹוב‬or ‫ ִָניכתֹוב‬, let him write – but only in certain cases do we encounter
a yod prefix, which mimics the standard Hebrew form, e.g., ‫)יאמַ ר =( יֵָּימָּ א‬, let him say.
Note: Our translations of the prefixed verbal forms cited above illustrate another difference between the Aramaic of the Talmud
Bavli and Hebrew. The Aramaic conjugation – parallel to the Hebrew "future tense" – often functions in the Talmud as a jussive mood
(expressing a mild command) and is rendered into English as let (him).
B) There are also important distinctions between the two languages with regard to the infinitive forms:
The infinitive in binyan ‫( קַ ל‬often with a -‫ ל‬prefix, meaning to) that the student recognizes from Hebrew is ‫)ל)כָתָב‬, to write. In
(Babylonian) Aramaic, however, a standard -‫ מ‬prefix is an integral part of the ‫ קַ ל‬infinitive, e.g., in ‫(ל)מִ כתב‬, to write. Although no
standard prefix appears in the other binyanim, there is a distinctive ending: Usually, a full holam vowel is inserted between the
2nd and 3rd root-letters and the suffix ‫י‬-ֵ is added, forming the combination ‫י‬-ֵ ֵ‫ו‬-. Thus, in binyan ‫ – פָעֵָּל‬which is parallel to the
Hebrew binyan ‫ – פִָעֵָּל‬the infinitive is ‫קָבֹולֵָּי‬, and in binyan ‫ – ַאפָעֵָּל‬which is parallel to ‫ – הִָפָעִָיל‬the infinitive is ‫אָשָלֹומֵָּי‬.
C) Another significant distinction between the Hebrew with which your students are familiar and the Aramaic of the Talmud
involves the present tense. The Aramaic forms that are labelled "participle" in our charts are often combined with a first or
second-person pronoun in such forms as ‫אֲ נָּא =( בָּעֵ ינָּא‬+‫)בָּעֵ י‬, I want. Some students may recognize this construction from one
of its rare occurrences in Mishnaic and Modern Hebrew, e.g., ‫אֲ ני=) חֹוששַ ני‬+‫(חֹושֵ ש‬, I fear; I suspect. Similarly, the plural
participle (not listed in our charts) is often combined with the first-person plural pronoun in the very common form ‫ָאמרינַן‬
(=‫אֲ נַן‬+‫)ָאמרי‬, we say.
D) Some of the entries in the three-page Glossary are verbs that appear in the tables on the Grammar page. Their root letters
have been colored RED in the Glossary in order to refer the learner to the relevant conjugation on the Grammar page where
one can see how that verbal form fits into the pattern. Grammar for Gemara, republished by Koren in 2016, may be of further
assistance – especially to teachers. (Those who are interested in a more scholarly approach – especially if they have
background in linguistics – would do well to consult Elitzur A. Bar-Asher Siegal's Introduction to the Grammar of Jewish
Babylonian Aramaic, Munster 2013.)
4. The Sages
My partner, Dave Sachs, insisted on the production of this section since, as a new Gemara student, he had discovered that one needs
to be aware of the relationships between the tannaim and/or amoraim engaged in the Talmudic dialectic. Our charts will help the learner
discern whether the sages in the Talmud are citing their predecessors or their contemporaries.
The names of the Sages have been color-coded (in blue, red and black) to indicate whether they were active in Eretz Yisrael or
Babylonia or in both countries.
NOTE: Because of space limitations, we were able to include only a fraction of several hundred Tannaim and Amoraim who appear in
the Mishna and/or the Babylonian Talmud. We selected those sages who seem to have been most important (107 names) – usually on
the basis of their being mentioned most frequently. For further information about the Talmudic sages – both those whose names have
been recorded in the Card and many others – see: M. Margulies, Encyclopedia leHakhmei haTalmud vehaGe'onim, ed. Y. Eisenberg,
Yavneh, Tel Aviv 2000 and A. Hyman, Toledot Tannaim vaAmoraim, Kirya Ne'emana, Jerusalem 5724.
5. Talmudic Measures
This section too came to fruition because of student demand, since the various measurements appear in many discussions in the
Talmud. The rebbi / teacher may refer his students to this section to clarify the relationships between the measures in a specific table.
We have also included conversions of the Talmudic measures into contemporary data – according to both the system that is currently in
use in the United States and into the metric system which prevails in most countries, including Israel. As noted in the Card itself, we
found it convenient to base these equivalencies upon the book, ‫הידוריָהמידות‬, by Rabbi Hadar Margolin, which contains a useful chapter
in English – even though we know full well that there is a wide variety of halakhic opinions with regard to some of these conversions.
Since this Card is not intended to be a vehicle to decide halakha – when practical questions arise, students (and even teachers) are
advised to consult their own halakhic authorities.
We welcome feed-back (especially criticism) from administrators, teachers and students.
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