Ten Differences Between the Jerusalem Talmud and the Babylonian Talmud

1. The Babylonian Talmud was written between the third and fifth centuries CE in Babylon, in the cities of Sura and Pumbedita. The Jerusalem Talmud was written mainly in the city of Tiberias, and it was completed and edited toward the end of the fourth century.

2. Both Talmuds are written in Aramaic, each in a different local dialect. The Jerusalem Talmud is written in Galilean Aramaic – a western dialect, and the Babylonian Talmud is written in Babylonian Aramaic – an eastern dialect.

3. Because the methods of study in Babylon and the Land of Israel were different, topics are presented differently in the two texts. In the Jerusalem Talmud, topics are presented briefly, and the discussion is concise, while the Babylonian Talmud will often include pilpul (dialectical reasoning) and analyze the question from every possible angle. Naturally, this extends the presentation of the topic.

4. Although there are six sedarim (orders) of Mishnah, the Babylonian Talmud covers only four of them: Moed (Festivals), Nashim (Women), Nezikin (Damages), and Kodshim (Holy Things), as well as the tractate of Berachot from the order of Zeraim and the tractate of Niddah that appears in the order of Taharot. The Jerusalem Talmud also only covers four sedarim : Zeraim, Moed, Nashim, and Nezikin, as well as a few chapters from the tractate of Niddah. It is unclear why the Talmud only covers these sedarim. Perhaps the sages of Babylon and Israel simply did not study the other tractates, or perhaps we simply do not have copies of these volumes. 

5. Even when the Babylonian and Jerusalem Talmuds address the same issues, the scope is often very different. For example, tractates Bava Kamma, Bava Metzia, and Bava Batra comprise about 420 pages in the Babylonian Talmud and only 88 pages in the Jerusalem Talmud.

6. The text of the Jerusalem Talmud was not edited as tightly as the Babylonian Talmud, and it isn't as polished and organized. In light of the difficult living conditions that prevailed in the land of Israel, the sages of the Jerusalem Talmud spent far less time editing the text than their Babylonian counterparts. In Israel, the Jews suffered from persecution and poor economic conditions. At one point, most of the Jews living in the Galilee even emigrated. 

7. Beyond the fact that the text of the Babylonian Talmud is clearer and more organized, it was also disseminated far more widely. Since the Babylonian Talmud was studied in the Gaonic academies of Babylon, which were closely affiliated with Jewish communities throughout the diaspora, this edition of the Talmud reached a greater number of Jewish communities around the world. In contrast, the Jerusalem Talmud was primarily studied within the borders of Israel.

8. The mere fact that we have a complete manuscript of the Jerusalem Talmud is a miracle of sorts. Since few people studied it, only a few copies were made. In fact, the original text survived only on account of a copy that was stored in Israel and later made its way to Babylon. In the 13th century, an Italian Jewish book lover arranged for the entire Jerusalem Talmud to be copied. This edition, known as the 'Leiden Manuscript,' saved the Jerusalem Talmud from being lost.

9. The Babylonian Talmud references many anecdotes and sayings of the Amoraim (sages) of the Land of Israel, and the Jerusalem Talmud contains questions and answers from the sages of Babylon (until the generation of Abaye and Rava, as the Jerusalem Talmud was completed before them). This demonstrates that many scholars traveled back and forth between Babylon and Israel, bringing with them what they learned from their teachers.

10. There are far more commentaries on the Babylonian Talmud than the Jerusalem Talmud, since historically it was studied far more often. For example, though the commentaries of Rashi and Tosafot are the foundational commentaries of the Babylonian Talmud, they do not exist for the Jerusalem Talmud.