The Mystery Of The Missing Talmudic Tractates

The great debate about the compilation of the Talmud Bavli

The Mishnah is comprised of between 60 and 63 tractates, but only 37 tractates have Gemara written on them. However, the Rambam in his introduction to the Mishnah, ch. 10, lists only thirty-five tractates.

All the tractates in Moed, Nashim, Nezikin, and Kodshim have Gemara written on them except Shekalim in Moed, Avos and Eidyos in Nezikin, and Middos and Kinim in Kodshim. However, the tractates in Zeraim and Taharos do not have Gemara written on them with the exception of Berachos and Niddah.

What happened to the remaining tractates? One possibility is that Ravina and Rav Ashi edited and arranged the Gemara on all 60 tractates of the Mishnah but subsequently entire tractates of the Talmud Bavlidisappeared. How this may have occurred is a troubling point. Alternatively, Ravina and Rav Ashi never compiled Gemara on the remaining tractates in the first place. The obvious question would be why did Ravina and Rav Ashi chose not to compile Gemara on such a significant portion of the Mishnah?

It’s tempting to answer that Ravina and Rav Ashi only compiled Gemara on the tractates that were relevant in an era without a Beis Hamikdash; however, the fact that Gemara on seder Kodshim exists would seem to negate such a resolution.

At first glance the Meiri’s position on this dilemma seems clear. In his introduction to Avos, he writes the following:

“And Ravina and Rav Ashi arranged the four orders of the Talmud Bavli in a beautiful and accurate way except for Maseches Shekalim in Seder Moed, Avos and Eidyos in Seder Nezikin, [Tamid], Middos, and Kinim in Seder Kodshim. They also arranged the Gemara for Maseches Berachos in Seder Zeraim, and Maseches Niddah in Seder Taharos.”

The above quote would seem to suggest that Ravina and Rav Ashi only arranged the Gemara on the tractates that we have today. However, later on in his introduction to Avos, when describing the various levels of Talmudic proficiency of the Gaonim, Meiri suggests otherwise:

“Some of them were proficient in three orders of the Talmud, meaning Moed, Nashim, and Nezikin, and such a scholar was called Chacham. Others were proficient in four orders of the Talmud, adding Seder Kodshim, and such a scholar was termed Rav. Others were proficient in six orders of the Talmud, meaning with the addition of Seder Zeraim and Taharos, and of such a scholar it would be befitting to call him Gaon, hinting to the sixty tractates of the six orders like the numerical value of Gaon.”

This comment of Meiri would seem to indicate that Gemara originally existed on all 60 tractates of the Talmud. Possibly, to resolve the contradiction, we can differentiate between the written text and the oral traditions of the Gemara. To be clear, it is evident from numerous passages in the Talmud that ‘Gemara’ conversations existed even during the Tannaic period. Until Ravina and Rav Ashi put these conversations into writing, everything was studied by heart and passed down orally. When Ravina and Rav Ashi deemed it necessary to write down the Gemara they did so only for 37 tractates. Accordingly, in the first passage cited above Meiri is referring to the written text of the Talmud Bavli, and in the second passage he is referring to the oral traditions of the Gemara.

Rabbeinu Sherira Gaon’s Letter

The 10th century Babylonian Gaon, Rabbeinu Sherira (father of Rabbeinu Hai Gaon) in his famed Iggeres (epistle) to the Jewish community of Kairouan writes the following:

“Rav Ashi headed the Mesivta in Masa Mechasya for nearly sixty years, as it is stated in Bava Basra (157b): ‘In Rav Ashi’s first edition of the Talmud he said to us so, but in Rav Ashi’s second edition he said to us otherwise.’ For the Sages instituted that every year two tractates be studied, whether large or small, hence the entire Talmud was reviewed over a period of thirty years. Since Rav Ashi reigned for nearly sixty years, there were two editions of the Talmud Bavli.”

{The View of Rabbi Dovid Ganz and Rabbi Yisrael Lifshitz

Rabbi Dovid Ganz (Tzemach Dovid, vol. 1, #127) infers from the aforementioned quote of Rabbeinu Sherira Gaon’s letter that Rav Ashi compiled Gemara on all 60 tractates. He notes, that as the Rambam delineates in his introduction to the Mishnah, we only find Gemara on some of the tractates.

Likewise, Rabbi Yisrael Lifshitz (in his famed commentary to the Mishnah titled Tiferes Yisrael, Avos, Boaz, 2:2) assumes that the two editions mentioned in the aforementioned Gemara in Bava Basra refer to the compilation of the Talmud Bavli. Accordingly, Rav Ashi compiled Gemara on all 60 tractates but a significant portion was lost.

As a fascinating aside, the Tiferes Yisrael suggests that Rav Ashi never made a second edition for tractates Nedarim, Nazir, Eirachin, Kreisos, Temurah, Me’ilah, and Tamid and it is for this reason that the style differs somewhat from the rest of the Talmud, see Tosafos in Nedarim 7a, d”h hezmino. This actually makes perfect sense considering the fact that Rav Ashi only headed the Mesivta in Masa Mechasya for 56 years (Rabbeinu Sherira Gaon writes “nearly sixty years”). Accordingly, the four missing years would mean that Rav Ashi did not review approximately 8 tractates, and the Tiferes Yisrael lists 7!

This also seems to be the view of Rabbi Yehoshua ben Yosef Halevi of Tlemcen, in his remarkable seferon Talmudic methodology titled Halichos Olam (Shaar 1, ch. 1, #2) and Rabbi Yosef Karo in his Klalei Gemara(ibid) who cites the Gemara in Bava Basra as the source for the Halichos Olam.

Likewise, a comment from the great 17th century Kabbalist, Rabbi Meir ha-Kohen Poppers (Meoros Nosson, Meorei Ohr, maareches Taf, #61) suggests that the Talmud Bavli was originally compiled on all sixty tractates, he writes:

“Talmud Bavli has the numerical value of 524, which equals the number of chapters in the Talmud.”

There are 524 chapters in the 60 tractates of the Mishnah (see Rav Dovid Cohen’s Zman Nakat, ch. 6), but far less in the Talmud Bavli, which is comprised of 36 tractates. Rabbi Meir Popper’s gematria (numerical value) would only make sense if we are to assume that the original Talmud Bavli was comprised of 60 tractates.

According to this view, we must ask how, why, and when such a significant part of the Talmud Bavlidisappeared. Although the how and when are unknown, the answer to why is likely due to the fact that the subjects of these tractates were no longer relevant in the post-Churban period. A precedent for such a theory can be found in the fact that the Rambam writes (in his introduction to the Mishnah) that there was Talmud Yerushalmi on seder Kodshim, which has since disappeared. Just as the Talmud Yerushalmi on seder Kodshimdisappeared, the Talmud Bavli on Zeraim and Taharos (whose laws were no longer relevant) could disappear as well. However, a critical difference must be noted: the Talmud Yerushalmi on Kodshim only disappeared sometime after the 12th century, while the Talmud Bavli on Zeraim and Taharos must have disappeared much earlier, during the times of the Gaonim.

The View of Rabbi Yitzchak Isaac Halevy Rabinowitz

In his renowned historical work Doros ha-Rishonim (vol. 5, ch. 64), Rabbi Yitzchak Isaac Halevy Rabinowitz (1847-1914) adamantly challenges the view that Ravina and Rav Ashi formulated a Talmudic text for all 60 tractates. If this were the case, how and why would they have disappeared? Rabbi Rabinowitz deems it unfathomable that such a significant portion of the Talmud would be lost from a people who so carefully preserved their ancient traditions and texts for millennia.

Rabbi Rabinowitz asserts that the two editions of Rav Ashi mentioned in Bava Basra have nothing to do with the formulation of the written text of the Talmud Bavli. Rather, the Gemara is relating how Rav Ashi studied and taught Gemara to his students. Rav Ashi (and all his predecessors) certainly analyzed, studied, and taught Gemara on all 60 tractates; however, when it came to formulating a written text, Rav Ashi only wrote a Talmudic text on 37 tractates. Rabbi Dr. Binyamin Menashe Levin (1879-1944) in his critical edition of Iggeres Rabbeinu Sherira Gaon (p. 93, #5) concurs with the view of Doros ha-Rishonim.

In truth, this view was already stated in the 16th century, by the prominent Halakhist and commentator on the Tur and Shulchan Aruch, Rabbi Yehoshua ha-Kohen Falk Katz (Sema) in his introduction to his D’reisha u’Preisha.

Rabbi Rabinowitz addresses the obvious question: Why didn’t Rav Ashi compile Gemara on the remainder of the 60 tractates? He suggests that Rav Ashi only compiled Gemara on the tractates that are relevant in the post-Churban period.

However, this answer is challenged by the very fact that Rav Ashi compiled Gemara on seder Kodshimwhich discusses the laws of korbanos in the Beis Hamikdash?

Perhaps the answers lie in the words of Rashi in Bava Metziah (114b), who explains that the Amoraim(who lived well after the destruction of the second Beis Hamikdash) studied the laws of korbanos so that it would be considered as if they actually offered korbanos in the Beis Hamikdash. Since the study of Kodshimwas imperative for the avodah (service) of the Jewish nation in the post-Churban period, Rav Ashi compiled Gemara on seder Kodshim.

The Izhbitza-Radzin Rebbe, Rabbi Yakov Leiner, in his introduction and haskama to his son’s commentary on the Mishnah titled Sidrei Taharos, offers a different reason as to why Rav Ashi didn’t compile Gemara on Zeraim or Taharos. Regarding seder Zeraim, Rav Ashi felt that the Talmud Yerushalmi could be relied upon since the laws of Zeraim were always relevant in Eretz Yisrael, and the Talmud Yerushalmi was thus comprehensive and complete. Regarding the Gemara of seder Taharos, Rav Ashi feared that its study would be abandoned so instead he dispersed it into the remaining sedarim of the Talmud. However, there was no such concern with regards to seder Kodshim (although it too isn’t relevant in the post-Churban period) since the Sages taught that by way of studying the laws of korbanos it is considered as if one actually offered them. 

Nosson Wiggins (@jewishhistorysheimhagedolim) is the author of two books on the subject of Jewish history, “The Tannaim & Amoraim” and “The Rishonim” (Judaica Press). He researches Jewish History at the Klau Library, HUC-JIR in his hometown of Cincinnati and leads tours of Klau’s Rare Book Room. He is a passionate enthusiast of Jewish history and when he’s not in the hospital working as a nurse, he can be found researching and writing posts for his Substack, “Jewish History—Sheim Hagedolim.”