Sources: The Jerusalem Talmud (Yerushalmi); Rashi’s commentary on certain tractates; Penei Moshe and Korban HaEdah (major Yerushalmi commentaries, 18th century).

The Jerusalem Talmud (Talmud Yerushalmi, ~400 AD) is the earlier, shorter, and less authoritative of the two Talmuds — compiled in the Palestinian academies under deteriorating conditions of Byzantine Christian rule. Despite its name, it was not compiled in Jerusalem (which had been renamed Aelia Capitolina and was largely off-limits to Jews) but in Tiberias. The Yerushalmi is approximately one-third the length of the Babylonian Talmud and covers 39 of the 63 Mishnaic tractates (vs the Bavli’s 37, with different tractate selection). Its Aramaic dialect is Western Aramaic (Palestinian), and its redaction appears incomplete — many passages end abruptly or lack the polished editorial framework of the Bavli. For centuries the Yerushalmi was relatively neglected, overshadowed by the Bavli’s authority and comprehensiveness. In modern scholarship it has been rehabilitated: the Yerushalmi often preserves older traditions, different legal positions, and Palestinian customs that the Bavli modified or lost. It is the primary source for Palestinian Jewish practice, and its variants from the Bavli reveal the diversity of early rabbinic tradition. The Yerushalmi also contains the fullest rabbinic account of the Akedah’s theological interpretation and unique versions of several Mishnaic discussions.