Gemara

The Gemara refers to the second major layer of Jewish commentary on the Torah (Mihsna being the first). The Gemara is the written account of the legal deliberations of the generations known as the Amoraim, who lived approximately from the 3rd to 5th centuries CE. Stylistically, the Gemara is a commentary that dissects the Mishna line-by-line, elaborating on the terse prose of the Mishna to draw out contemporary concerns touching on almost any aspect of life imaginable.