What Makes the Gemara So Special?

There is something in the Jewish genome related to education, sharpness, and brilliant analytical ability. Some argue it's an innate skill, while others believe the best exercise for the intellect is the Talmud, or its more common Aramaic name—the Gemara.

The Gemara is actually an extensive commentary on the Mishnah, which is the Oral Torah. There were two main centers of Torah at the time—one in the Land of Israel and the other in Babylonia—and each developed its own Talmud. Therefore, we have the Jerusalem Talmud and the Babylonian Talmud, the latter being the more prevalent and influential. The Talmud includes disputes between Amoraim, Midrashim, dialectics, and narratives (not in the modern sense of "stories"), all of which are summaries of debates held in study halls. A significant portion of the Talmud is in Aramaic, and understanding the text (beyond its Aramaic) is very complex, requiring assistance from various commentators—Rashi, Tosafot, and others.

Thus we explore in this article: Why is learning Gemara considered the most intellectual and dialectic? What is it in the Talmudic text that sharpens the mind so effectively? And in contrast to the past, today laws are not decided directly from the Gemara but according to the Shulchan Aruch. So why delve deeply into its arguments and laws, many of which are not directly applicable according to contemporary halakhic rulings?

"The Gemara states that one who desires to become wise should engage in monetary laws, as they are like a flowing spring," says Rabbi Pinchas Badush. "Generally speaking, all Torah literature is built upon the Gemara. The Gemara allows one to get to the depth of matters and understand them from their roots. If I only read the final halachic ruling, I might receive the bottom line and conclusions. It's like examining a doctor's diagnosis. But if I want to truly understand, I must learn from the root through all the dialectics, disputes, and opinions until the practical halacha.

"If all the great halachic authorities learned only the final ruling, no one could delve deeply into the Torah. One cannot develop in a Torah sense without the Gemara. Its content is very relevant, even today. In every halachic question that arises, we must go to the foundation to see the opinion on which we are to rule. Some say, Why do I need all this? I'll just go for the conclusions. But they don't know how those conclusions were reached. Today, for example, there are contemporary issues already appearing in the Talmud. To analogize law to law and thing to thing, one must be exposed to the breadth of all Torah literature.

"The Gemara is composed of everything, bringing all arguments and sides in every matter. It teaches how to examine every issue not just from two sides but also from above and below and from directions we hadn't thought of. It has been proven throughout generations that the infinite divine wisdom is in the Gemara and in its fascinating axioms. The Gemara contains the most complex questions, and if one delves into them, they can reach very deep insights."

Give an example of this.

"For instance, a person throws another's item—say a plasma TV—from the fifth floor. The neighbor on the third floor caught it with a baseball bat in hand and smashed it mid-air. The question then arises: who should pay for the damage to the plasma TV—the one who threw it or the one who smashed it in the air? Such questions have practical implications even in our day. Additionally, it greatly develops thinking capabilities. Just as without exercise muscles atrophy, so does the brain without mental workouts. When the mind struggles to understand a concept and tries to grasp the subtle difference between one case and another, it can discern things, understanding one thing from another, which is the eternal wisdom of the Jewish people, relevant across all generations. To this day, great rabbis advise businesspeople because the Gemara gives them discerning skills and subtleties that ordinary people might not necessarily detect.

"People think the Torah is summed up in 'And Hashem spoke to Moses, saying,' but the Torah is so rich that people study it from age 0 to 100, reaching infinite depths, and still not covering everything. Therefore, the Talmud has earned the nickname 'the sea of Talmud,' because it contains all the breadth and depth that no matter your age—you certainly haven't been through it all."

Rabbi Yitzchak Gabai adds, "Another testimony to the importance of studying Gemara is found in the rulings of the sages, which state that one should study Gemara before delving into Kabbalah. Why? Because without deep study of Gemara, a person won't have the analysis and depth required in studying the mystical parts of the Torah. We see it in practice: the true Kabbalists were those who first studied Gemara for most of their lives. But Kabbalists who don't come from a Torah background reside in very shallow places." On a more internal level, the reason is more elevated. The purpose of Torah wisdom is not like other wisdoms—to find a profession, to become educated, etc. The purpose of studying Torah is to learn for the sake of the learning itself. The purpose is higher when learning, as it were, isn't fully practical for our everyday lives. In the Talmudic discussions of an ox goring a cow, although the results lead to laws, in practice it's not something that happens in our daily lives."

Rabbi Chaim Navon addresses an equally important point related to studying Gemara: "Unlike other texts that only summarize halachic conclusions, the Gemara reveals the discussions themselves. Through the Gemara, we can understand the thinking and discussion methods of the Sages. The Gemara is full of discussions of wisdom and Torah, and through it, one can enter the vast world of Oral Torah—and even be a partner in it by creating new arguments.

"Studying Gemara has a unique combination of creativity with acceptance of obligation. Those who study the Oral Torah—Gemara, early and later authorities—are exposed to intellectual creativity of astonishing power and are even invited to take part in it. Alongside this, the subject of discussion is always—what Hashem commands us to do. This combination of power and submission gives the study of Gemara a special charm and a distinctive influence on one's personality. My teacher and mentor, Rabbi Yehuda Amital, of blessed memory, used to say: Every Jewish community that didn't study Gemara in depth eventually weakened spiritually."