Skills › Reading a step · lesson 10 of 20

Who is speaking?

Every line has a speaker. Before asking what it means, ask who is saying it, and where it comes from.

In his words

He keeps asking the class who is talking. Now who is asking this question? 3:00 "The Gemara" is not enough of an answer: is it Rabbi Yirmiyah? A Braisa? The anonymous voice of the Gemara? And when Tosfos quotes words, first find where they come from: Well, it's not a Mishnah. 1:54 It's a Braisa, taught alongside the Mishnah.

Who is speaking: the layers of the pagePasukTorah verse · Hebrewthe source of a lawMishnahTanna · Hebrewour Mishnah, or another oneBraisaTanna · outside the Mishnahadds details, e.g. R' Shimon ben ElazarAmoranamed rabbi · AramaicR' Yitzchak, R' Yirmiyah, Abaye, RavaThe Gemaraanonymous voiceasks, answers, brings a Ta ShmaRashicommentary · inner marginexplains as you goTosfoscommentary · outer marginwhat is bothering him?Ask of every line: who is saying this, and to whom?
Diagram drawn from the classes linked on this page.

Worked example from a class

At the start of a Tosfos (JLE, Apr 7, 2019, 1:36) he asks where the quoted words come from. Not our Mishnah but a Braisa, which gives details of Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar's view, which was first introduced at the end of the Mishnah. Only with the speaker placed can the class see the problem Tosfos is solving.

Hear him teach it

293 moments found so far in 284 transcribed classes; more appear as transcription continues. Tap one to play from that moment.

  1. Westwood · Beginner class, Dec 5, 2011 · 9:16“They are Gemara people. Mishnah came before Gemara.”Abaye and Rava are Amoraim whose dispute must be tested against the earlier Mishnah.
  2. Westwood · Beginner class, Dec 7, 2011 · 1:27“First of all, where is this case being taken from?”Identifies the source as our Mishnah, a higher source than Abaye and Rava, so it can serve as proof against an Amora.
  3. Westwood · Advanced class, Dec 9, 2011 · 27:47“But this is not a question. This is Ullah answering his own questions.”Identifying that the whole sequence is Ulla explaining his own question.
  4. Westwood · Beginner class, Dec 19, 2011 · 36:10“This is a Braisa. This is a Braisa that's being quoted over here. Do you know what Braisa is?”Identifies the source as a Braisa, explains how it differs from a Mishnah and why the Gemara now turns to one.
  5. Westwood · Beginner class, Dec 21, 2011 · 2:45“This is a Braisa. This is a Braisa. This is brand new. This is coming from a Braisa”Identifies the source of the Ta Shma as a Braisa, not a Mishnah, and explains what a Braisa is.
  6. Westwood · Beginner class, Dec 28, 2011 · 31:43“We said, who's we? The Gemara. This is the Gemara picking apart the Mishnah.”Separates the quoted Mishnah from the Gemara's question about it.
  7. Westwood · Advanced class, Dec 30, 2011 · 21:46“OK, so what's about to be said is being quoted from a Braisa, right? It's quoting from a Braisa”Identifying the source of the text as a Braisa and explaining its status compared with a Mishnah.
  8. Westwood · Advanced class, Jan 1, 2012 · 8:29“if it says Mishum Rabbi Akiva omru and it was tacked on to this bryzo so that means that it happens to be a dispute”Identifies Rabbi Akiva's addition as a separate voice that disputes the Rabbanan.
  9. Westwood · Beginner class, Jan 2, 2012 · 1:35“Now, the words that you just read, the Gemara is quoting from where? Mishnah? It's not our Mishnah, but a Mishnah.”Identifies the source of the Ta Shma as another Mishnah, not our Mishnah.
  10. Westwood · Beginner class, Jan 9, 2012 · 41:32“This Mishnah was written in total oblivion to Abaye and Rava.”Separates the Mishnah's author, who came about 500 years earlier, from the later Amoraim the Gemara tests it against.

Try it

For one amud, write beside each step who is speaking (Mishnah, Braisa, a named Amora, the Gemara itself, a pasuk) and, for questions, whom they are aimed at.