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Glossary of Text Terms Aggadah: Nonlegal interpretive material; includes stories, parables, and legends to illustrate some underlying concept or principle. Amora'im (singular, Amora): Jewish teachers and scholars in Palestine and Babylonia who wrote the Gemara from the third to the sixth centuries. Apocrypha: A collection of books written from 300 b.c.e.- 70 b.c.e. that were not included in the canonized Hebrew Scriptures. Beraita (pl. Beraitot): Tannaitic material not included in the Mishnah. Code : A work containing Jewish rules and law, arranged systematically for easy reference. Documentary Hypothesis: A theory first proposed during the nineteenth century that refuted the notion of Mosaic authorship of the Torah. It argued that the Torah is composed of four basic levels or documents developed over a long period of time, much later than when Moses was thought to have lived. Ga' on (plural, Gaonim): The title of the head of a Jewish academy of learning in Babylonia, approximately 6th- 10th centuries. Gemara (plural, Gemarot): Commentary on the Mishnah. We have two Gemarot, one produced in Babylonia, the other in Palestine. Halachah : Jewish law. Kabbalah : A form of Jewish mysticism. Ketuvim : The Writings (Hagiographa), the third major division of the Bible. Massechet or Massechta (pl. Massechot) : Term for a tractate of the Mishnah. Masorah : The study of biblical grammar and lexicology. Masoretes : Schools of scholars in Palestine and Babylonia, who, from the seventh through the tenth centuries, studied Masorah and established the authoritative vocalization, punctuation, cantillation, and divisions of the Bible. Midrash : An interpretative method through which the deeper meaning of texts can be extracted; covers both aggadic and halachic subject matter. Mishnah : The name of the earliest major rabbinic work, written by the tanna' im and completed by approximately 200 C.E., contains the first level of the Oral Law and is divided into six main sections or orders. Mikra'ot Gedolot : A book containing major commentaries on the Bible. Nevi'im : The Prophets; the second major division of the Bible. Pentateuch: The Torah; the first major division of the Bible, containing the Five Books of Moses: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. Pseudepigrapha : A collection of Jewish and early Christian books written between 200 B.C.E and 200 C.E. Piyut (plural, piyutim) : A form of poetry written primarily by Palestinian Jews. Responsum (plural, Responsa): A written rabbinic decision answering a halachic question. Seder (plural, sedarim) : Hebrew for order; the Mishnah is divided into six major sedarim. Sefer haZohar: The Book of Splendor. The primary mystical book produced by the Kabbalists, written by Moses de Leon in the late thirteenth century. Siddur: The Jewish prayer book. Talmud: The compendium of Jewish lore and law. We have two Talmuds: (1) the Mishnah plus the Jerusalem Gemara, known as the Jerusalem, or Palestinian, Talmud, and (2) the Mishnah plus the Babylonian Talmud. The second is larger and has a much wider following. Tanach: The Bible. The name is made of the initial letters of the three sections of the Bible: Torah, Nevi' im, and Ketuvim. Tanna'im (singular, Tanna) : The scholars and sages (first century B.C.C. through third century C.E.) who compiled the Mishnah. Torah Shebe'al peh: Oral Torah, sometimes translated as Oral Law. Tradition taught that the Oral Torah was given to Moses on Sinai along with the Written Torah. The Oral Torah was transmitted by word of mouth until it was set down in writing in the Talmud and the Midrash. Torah Shebichtav: Written Torah, the Five Books of Moses (Pentateuch). Sometimes translated as the Written Law.
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