Talmud
BabylonianJerusalem
Seder Zeraim(Agriculture)
Berakhot
Blessings and prayers, focusing on Shema and the Amidah.
Seder Moed(Holidays)
Shabbat
Creative work prohibited on Shabbat and other laws that preserve the sanctity of the day.
Eruvin
Enclosures that legally expand the areas in which one can carry and travel on Shabbat.
Pesachim
Passover: ridding of chametz, the Paschal lamb offering, matzah, maror, and the Seder.
Rosh Hashanah
The four Jewish New Years, the process of sanctifying a new month, and laws of blowing the shofar.
Yoma
Yom Kippur: the High Priest’s preparation, the Temple service, the fast, and repentance.
Sukkah
The structure of and obligation to dwell in the sukkah, the four species, and celebrating the holiday in the Temple.
Beitzah
Holiday laws governing which objects can be used, how food is prepared, and what labor is permitted.
Taanit
Praying for rain, fasting in times of drought, and annual fast days marking Jerusalem’s destruction.
Megillah
Reading the scroll of Esther on Purim, expansions on the Esther story, synagogue rituals, and treatment of sacred objects.
Moed Katan
Chol HaMoed (the intermediate days of Passover and Sukkot), mourning and ex-communication.
Chagigah
Sacrifices offered on pilgrimage to Jerusalem on the Festivals, ritual purity, and esoteric discussions of creation.
Seder Nashim(Family law)
Yevamot
The mandated marriage of a widow to the brother of her childless husband and the alternative rite discharging that obligation.
Ketubot
The marital contract (Ketubah) and obligations between husband and wife.
Nedarim
Vows taken voluntarily, particularly those which forbid specific actions or objects.
Nazir
The Nazirite, or one who vows abstinence from wine, haircuts, and ritual impurity generated from contact with corpses.
Sotah
A woman suspected of adultery, the ritual determining her culpability, and other rituals involving recitation.
Gittin
Laws relating to divorce, focusing on the get (bill of divorce) and its delivery.
Kiddushin
Betrothal, marriage, acquisitions, and lineage.
Seder Nezikin(Damages)
Bava Kamma
Liability and compensation for damages inflicted on people or property.
Bava Metzia
Disputed property, returning lost objects, guarding, renting, borrowing, and responsibilities of workers and employers.
Bava Batra
Relationships between neighbors, land ownership, sales, and inheritance.
Sanhedrin
The judicial system, forming the court, accepting testimony, and executing capital punishment.
Makkot
Court-administered lashing, false witnesses, and cities of refuge for inadvertent murderers.
Shevuot
Oaths and the process of atoning for entering the Temple or eating from a sacrifice while impure.
Avodah Zarah
Disassociating from idolatry, regulations on business interactions between Jews and idolaters.
Horayot
Atoning for erroneous rulings of the court and inadvertent sins of leaders.
Seder Kodashim(Sacrifices)
Zevachim
Animal and bird sacrifices in the Temple.
Menachot
Flour offerings, usually mixed with oil, wine libations, and bread loaf offerings in the Temple.
Chullin
Slaughter of animals and birds for non-consecrated purposes, other aspects of kashrut.
Bekhorot
Transfer of first-born kosher animals to a priest, redemption of first-born donkeys and people.
Arakhin
Vowing to donate a person’s prescribed value delineated in the Torah to the Temple, donations of land to the Temple.
Temurah
The sanctity of animals dedicated for sacrifice and the prohibition of exchanging them for others.
Keritot
Karet, divinely-issued severance from the Jewish people, and sacrifices for unintentional sin.
Meilah
Prohibited benefit from Temple property, the sacrifice and restitution offered as atonement.
Tamid
The daily Temple service, including the burnt-offerings brought every morning and afternoon.
Seder Tahorot(Purity)
Niddah
The ritual impurity of a woman in her menstrual cycle or experiencing particular discharges.
Minor Tractates
Tractates not included in the canonizations of the Mishnah and the Talmud.
Avot D'Rabbi Natan
Companion volume to Pirkei Avot with maxims of wisdom alongside explanations and stories.
Tractate Avadim
Slaves and indentured servants; their sale, acquisition, working conditions, and liberation process.
Tractate Derekh Eretz Rabbah
Ethics and morals, proper etiquette and conduct in daily life.
Tractate Derekh Eretz Zuta
Characteristics of a scholar, teachings about the messianic age, and a chapter extolling peace.
Tractate Gerim
Converts to Judaism, the conversion process, and non-Jewish residents of Israel who observe the seven laws of Noah.
Tractate Kallah
Marriage, intercourse, and proper sexual behavior.
Tractate Kallah Rabbati
Aramaic elaboration on parts of tractates Kallah, Derekh Eretz Rabbah, and Derekh Eretz Zuta.
Tractate Kutim
The religious status of Samaritans, permitted and prohibited interactions with them.
Tractate Mezuzah
Writing the mezuzah, a scroll of parchment containing the Shema, and hanging it on the doorpost.
Tractate Sefer Torah
Writing and treatment of a Torah scroll; almost identical to the beginning of Tractate Soferim.
Tractate Semachot
Laws and customs relating to death: the moment of death, burial, mourning, and cemetery conduct.
Tractate Soferim
Writing Torah scrolls and other holy books, the public reading of biblical texts.
Tractate Tefillin
Preparing and wearing Tefillin, leather boxes containing biblical passages written on parchment.
Tractate Tzitzit
Fringes tied to garments with four corners.
Guides
Darkhei HaTalmud
Short 15th-century guide with practical instructions for studying the Talmud and its commentaries.
Introductions to the Babylonian Talmud
20th-century introductions by Rabbi Adin Even-Israel Steinsaltz explaining the content and themes of each tractate.
Mevo HaTalmud (Chajes)
19th-century introduction to the Babylonian and Jerusalem Talmuds describing talmudic methodology and the development of oral law.
Rishonim on Talmud
Commentators who lived in the 11th through 16th centuries.
Rashi
Classic 11th-century commentary known for its concise and clear explanations and considered a key resource in studying Talmud.
Ramban
Influential 13th-century analytic commentary incorporating approaches from a wide range of earlier commentators.
Tosafot
Analytic commentary addressing textual difficulties and harmonizing conflicting passages, composed throughout the 12th and 13th centuries.
Rif
11th-century code that presents practical legal conclusions of talmudic passages and served later authorities as a basis for determining law.
Chidushei HaRa'ah on Berakhot
13th-century commentary on the Rif by a student of the Ramban and grandson of the Baal Hameor.
Commentary of the Rosh
13th or 14th-century commentary of Rabbi Asher ben Yechiel on tractates Nedarim, Nazir, and Tamid.
Ktav Yad Rashi
Manuscript of Rashi’s 11th-century commentary on tractates Menachot and Bekhorot, included in printed editions of the Talmud.
Mefaresh on Tamid
Anonymous commentary on tractate Tamid printed in the Vilna edition in place of Rashi.
Meiri
13th-century commentary with digest-like summaries of the Talmud’s conclusions and earlier interpretations.
Mordechai on Bava Batra
13th-century commentary summarizing legal conclusions from the Talmud based on earlier authorities, considered a central work of Ashkenazi law.
Piskei Tosafot
Medieval work summarizing the bottom-line legal conclusions that emerge from the Tosafists’ Talmud commentary.
Rabbeinu Chananel
First extensive Talmud commentary, compiled in the 11th-century, paraphrasing legal passages and noting their conclusions.
Rabbeinu Gershom
10th or 11th-century commentary on Ta’anit, Bava Batra, and the tractates of Seder Kodashim, among the earliest of Ashkenazi talmudic interpretations.
Ran
14th-century commentary on tractate Nedarim, printed alongside the text of the Talmud and considered the foremost commentary on the tractate.
Rashba
13th-century commentary by Rabbi Shlomo ibn Aderet, a student of the Ramban who largely followed the methodology of his teacher.
Rashbam
12th-century commentary by Rashi’s grandson, printed in place of Rashi’s commentary on most of Bava Batra and alongside Rashi on the last chapter of Pesachim.
Rav Nissim Gaon
11th-century commentary by a teacher of the Rif and rosh yeshiva in Kairouan, printed alongside the Talmud in tractates Berakhot, Shabbat, and Eruvin.
Ritva
14th-century commentary by Rabbi Yom Tov ben Avraham Assevilli, a student of the Rashba and the Re’ah.
Rosh
Influential 14th-century code presenting practical legal conclusions of talmudic passages, based on the work of the Rif.
Tosafot Chad Mikamei on Yevamot
Medieval commentary by an unknown Tosafist, printed alongside the talmudic text in the Vilna edition of the Talmud.
Tosafot HaRosh
14th-century commentary of Rabbi Asher ben Yechiel, based in large part on commentaries of the Tosafists.
Tosafot Ri HaZaken
Commentary on tractate Kiddushin erroneously published under the name of a 12th-century French Tosafist, but in fact the work of 14th-century Rabbi Avraham min Hahar.
Tosafot Rid
13th-century commentary by a prominent Italian Tosafist, who compiled several editions to some tractates and often critiqued his own earlier positions.
Tosafot Shantz
13th-century commentary attributed to the French Tosafist Rabbi Shimshon of Sens, printed alongside the text of tractate Sotah.
Tosafot Yeshanim
Additional commentary of the Tosafists, traditionally printed alongside the text of the Talmud in several tractates.
Yad Ramah
13th-century commentary of Rabbi Meir Abulafia, known by his acronym “Ramah,” a leading rabbinic figure in medieval Spain.
Acharonim on Talmud
Commentators who lived in the 16th through 19th centuries.
Ben Yehoyada
19th-century commentary on aggadic portions of the Talmud by the Ben Ish Chai, incorporating analytic and kabbalistic interpretations.
Benayahu
19th-century follow-up work by the Ben Ish Chai to his commentary Ben Yehoyada, with additional interpretations on aggadic portions of the Talmud.
Chiddushei Rabbi Akiva Eiger
19th-century anthology of Rabbi Akiva Eiger’s commentary, known for its sharp analytic questions.
Chidushei Agadot
17th-century commentary by the Maharsha analyzing aggadic talmudic passages, printed together with his Chidushei Halakhot in the back of the Vilna Talmud.
Chidushei Chatam Sofer
19th-century commentary by Rabbi Moshe Sofer, a leading rabbi of European Jewry.
Chidushei Halachot
17th-century work by the Maharsha analyzing the commentaries of Rashi and Tosafot, as well as legal parts of the Talmud.
Chokhmat Shlomo
16th-century glosses by the Maharshal focused on establishing the correct text of the Talmud.
Ein Ayah
20th-century commentary by Rav Avraham Yitzchak HaKohen Kook on Ein Yaakov, a compilation of aggadic material in the Talmud.
Gilyon HaShas
19th-century notes of Rabbi Akiva Eiger on the margins of the the Talmud.
Haflaah on Ketubot
18th-century commentary by Rabbi Pinchas Horowitz of Frankfurt, with a focus on analyzing the Talmud through the method of pilpul.
Maharam
17th-century work by Rabbi Meir of Lublin with concise interpretations of the talmudic text and the commentaries of Rashi and Tosafot.
Maharam Schiff
17th-century commentary by Rabbi Meir ben Yaakov Schiff, based on classes he delivered in a yeshiva in Germany.
Marit HaAyin
19th-century commentary by the Chida on aggadic sections of the Talmud, based largely on letter schemes and kabbalistic teachings.
Penei Yehoshua
Widely-studied 18th-century commentary by Rabbi Yaaov Yehoshua Falk, largely focused on resolving questions posed by Tosafot on Rashi.
Petach Einayim
18th-century commentary by the Chida, mainly on aggadic parts of the Talmud with some legal discussion as well.
Rashash
19th-century annotations based on classes that the author, Rabbi Shmuel Strashun, delivered in a synagogue in Lithuania.
Shita Mekubetzet
Collection of earlier talmudic commentaries compiled in the 16th century by Rabbi Bezalel Ashkenazi.
Modern Commentary on Talmud
Beur Reuven on Bava Kamma
20th-century commentary on the Talmud, Rashi, and Tosafot by Rabbi Reuven Agushewitz.
Daf Shevui
21st-century English commentary meant to be accessible for beginners by Dr. Joshua Kulp, rosh yeshiva of the Conservative Yeshiva in Jerusalem.
Rereading the Rabbis; A Woman's Voice
21st-century commentary analyzing the Talmud through a feminist lens by Dr. Judith Hauptman, professor of Talmud at The Jewish Theological Seminary.
Reshimot Shiurim
20th-century notes of Talmud classes taught by Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik, recorded by his student, Rabbi Hershel Reichman.
Steinsaltz
20th-century translation of the Talmud into modern Hebrew with accompanying explanations by Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz.
Commentary on Minor Tractates
About Talmud
The Talmud is the textual record of generations of rabbinic debate about law, philosophy, and biblical interpretation, compiled between the 3rd and 8th centuries and structured as commentary on the Mishnah with stories interwoven. The Talmud exists in two versions: the more commonly studied Babylonian Talmud was compiled in present-day Iraq, while the Jerusalem Talmud was compiled in Israel.Daily Learning
Daf Yomi
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