Editing Talmud (section)

===Gemara===
{{Main|Gemara}}

The Gemara constitutes the commentary portion of the Talmud. The Mishnah, and its commentary (the Gemara), together constitute the Talmud. This commentary arises from a longstanding tradition of rabbis analyzing, debating, and discussing the Mishnah ever since it had been published. The rabbis who participated in the process that produced this commentarial tradition are known as the [[Amoraim]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=47o5AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA528|title=The Jewish Encyclopedia: A Descriptive Record of the History, Religion, Literature, and Customs of the Jewish People from the Earliest Times to the Present Day|last1=Singer|first1=Isidore|last2=Adler|first2=Cyrus|publisher=Funk and Wagnalls|year=1916|pages=527–528}}</ref> Each discussion is presented in a self-contained, edited passage known as a [[sugya]].<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Strack |first1=Hermann L. |title=Introduction to the Talmud and Midrash |last2=Stemberger |first2=Günter |last3=Bockmuehl |first3=Markus N. A. |last4=Strack |first4=Hermann L. |date=1996 |publisher=Fortress Press |isbn=978-0-8006-2524-5 |edition=2. Fortress Press ed., with amendations and updates |location=Minneapolis, Minn}}</ref>

Much of the Gemara is legal in nature. Each analysis begins with a Mishnaic legal statement. With each sugya, the statement may be analyzed and compared with other statements. This process can be framed as an exchange between two (often anonymous, possibly metaphorical) disputants, termed the ''{{lang|tmr-Latn|makshan}}'' (questioner) and ''{{lang|tmr-Latn|tartzan}}'' (answerer). Gemara also commonly tries to find the correct biblical basis for a given law in the Mishnah as well as the logical process that connects the biblical to the Mishnaic tradition. This process was known as ''talmud'', long before the "Talmud" itself became a text.<ref>e.g. [[Pirkei Avot]] 5.21: "five for the Torah, ten for Mishnah, thirteen for the commandments, fifteen for ''talmud''".</ref> 

In addition, the Gemara contains a wide range of narratives, homiletical or exegetical passages, sayings, and other non-legal content, termed [[aggadah]]. A story told in a sugya of the Babylonian Talmud may draw upon the Mishnah, the Jerusalem Talmud, midrash, and other sources.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Rubenstein |first=Jeffrey L. |title=Talmudic stories: narrative art, composition, and culture |date=1999 |publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press |isbn=978-0-8018-6146-8 |location=Baltimore, MD London}}</ref>