Question:
בס"ד
Preface to the Babylonian Talmud (In Traditional Yemenite Punctuation) by Rabbi Yoseph Qafih, of blessed memory

The Way the Gemara Was Studied In Yemen:

"I will mention here the method [used in our] study of the Gemara. For in a similar arrangement, more or less, was also the [method employed by us in our] study of Halakhah. The Rabbi reads first the Mishnah, and explains it in all of its aspects, according to his ability, and according to the level [of understanding] of his listeners. Already at this stage, he begins to make known certain fine points and new lessons to be derived from the Gemara, in a straight forward manner [of speech]. Even in those places where Rashi writes [the words], 'In the Gemara it has been explained,' the Rabbi summarizes, with brevity, that which is to be said in the Gemara. After this, the entire congregation reads together the designated portion of Gemara relating to that Mishnah, in unison and in the same peculiar melodious tune employed in the recitation of the Gemara, while the Rabbi with another three or four of his more experienced students will raise their voices in a careful and didactic, punctilious-way of reading [in order to instruct others] how the text is supposed to be read; the [sound of] exclamation in its [proper] place [and] the sound of a declarative statement where it rightfully belongs; the question said with its [peculiar] melody, and the answer [given] in the intonation associated with it. The rest of the congregation is being guided by them, and they march along with them, so-to-speak, from the stand point of 'I shall be an expositor before thee.' (It's fair to say that also during the time of the Talmud, this same practice was in use, just as it says in Sukkah 29.a, 'It is like that which we find with Rabba and Rami the son of Hamma, that when they stood before Rav Hisda, rushing together [through the reading] in the Gemara, they would then go back over [the reading] in order to explain [its meaning].' And in Shabbath 63.a, they have said: '[What] does it teach us? That a man ought to study and then return back over [the text] to explain [its meaning].' And in Avodah Zarah 19.a, they have said: 'Rabba said: Let a man recite… even though he doesn't know what is being said, as it is written, Gorsoh Nafshi LeTha'avoh (Ps. 119:20) גָּרְסָה נַפְשִׁי לְתַאֲבָה – 'My soul recites aloud out of longing for thy judgments, etc.'. It is written [here], 'Gorsoh,' and not 'Tohanoh.' ) Afterwards, the Rabbi repeats the same reading of the Gemara without explanation, while all the students put their eyes on the books before them, and their ears are [attentively inclined] to that which proceeds forth from the mouth of the Rabbi, in order to capture its sounds and to retain the correct order of punctuation in the reading. Now by this careful and attentive listening, many of the listeners usually understand much of what is being spoken about in the reading. After he finishes [repeating what was read by all], the Rabbi once again repeats the reading, [yet, this time], with Rashi's Commentary, [and] with the addition of drawn out explanatory remarks of his own.
In those places where Maimonides, in his Commentary on the Mishnah or in his Composition, has explained a matter differently from Rashi, the Rabbi does not say, 'But Maimonides explains such and such.' Rather, he will say, 'It seems to me that Maimonides did not explain it this way. Let us bring the book and see.' Then he takes a look at Maimonides, reads [from] his words [out loud] before all the listeners, and presently attempts with the most skillful of his students to show how Maimonides' words are congruent with the Gemara, as if just then and there he became sensible to the differences between the [two] commentaries, and as if he is trying for the first time, together with them, to discover the path trod by Maimonides- to find out and to locate that point which brought about diverging [paths] in the [two] commentaries, Rashi and Maimonides, and [in] others, and [to find] that golden path upon which the Halakhah is founded.
The Rabbi that knows from the start that Tosefoth has already discussed this issue, takes a quick glance at their words, and says, 'Behold! The Tosefoth has already commented on this.' He reads the Tosefoth, and analyzes the different approaches [to the subject] in front of his students and those who heed his words, raising questions where questions ought to be asked, as if this were the first time he had ever been sensible to these difficulties, and that he and his students came across them [together]. They examine the words of the early and latter commentators, and arrive [together] at a conclusion which allays all objections. By continual repetition and 'threshing' which repeats itself with the reading of the text, both, the version and the way of reading, as well as its meaning, are engraved and permanently fixed within their memory and sub-conscience."
המקור
אזכיר כאן שיטת לימוד הגמרא כי בסדר דומה פחות או יותר היה גם לימוד ההלכה. הרב קורא תחילה את המשנה ומסביר אותה לכל הקפה כפי יכלתו ולפי רמת השומעים, וכבר עתה משמיע הוא כמה מדיוקי וחידושי הגמרא שנאמרו על אותה משנה ואשר שייכים הם למשנה, באופן ישיר. ואף אותם מקומות שרש"י כותב 'בגמרא מפורש' מתמצת הרב בקצרה את אשר נאמר בגמרא. לאחר זאת קוראים כל הקהל יחד את הגמרא של אותה משנה בקול אחיד ובנעימה אחידה המיוחדת לשנון הגמרא, כשהרב עם עוד שלשה ארבעה מן התלמידים היותר בקיאים מרימים קולם ומנתחים קריאתם כראוי, התמיהה במקומה, והניחותא כראוי לה, השאלה בנעימתה, והתשובה בלחנה המיוחד לה, וכל יתר הקהל מודרכים על ידם ו'צועדים' יחד אתם בבחינת 'אני אהיה אובין לפניך.' (יש להניח שגם בזמן התלמוד היתה נהוגה מעין שיטה זו, וכפי שאמרו בסוכה כ"ט א': 'כי הא דרבא ורמי בר חמא כי הוו קיימי מקמיה דרב חסדא מרהטי בגמרא בהדי הדדי והדר מעייני בסברא.' ובשבת ס"ג א' אמרו: '[מאי] קמ"ל דליגמר איניש והדר ליסבר.' ובעבודה זרה י"ט א' אמרו: 'אמר רבא לִיגּרוּס אִינֵּישׁ...ואף על גב דלא ידע מאי קאמר שנאמר גרסה נפשי לתאבה, גרסה כתיב ולא טָחֲנָה.') לאחר מכן חוזר הרב על אותה סוגית גמרא ללא הסבר, וכל התלמידים שמים עיניהם בספרים אשר לפניהם, ואזניהם אל מוצא פיו של הרב לשמוע ולקלוט סדר ניתוח הסוגיא, ועל ידי שמיעה והאזנה זו, רבים מן השומעים תופשים באופן כללי הרבה מן האמור בסוגיא. לאחר שמסיים, חוזר הרב שוב על הסוגיא עם פרש"י (פירוש רש"י) בתוספת דברי הסבר מורחבים משל עצמו.
באותן המקומות אשר הרמב"ם בפרוש המשנה או בחבורו מפרש שלא כרש"י אין הרב אומר: 'אבל הרמב"ם מפרש כך וכך.' אלא אומר: 'נדמה לי שלא כך פירש הרמב"ם. נביא את הספר ונראה.' ואז מעיין ברמב"ם. קורא את דבריו לפני כל השומעים ומתחיל יחד עם גדולי התלמידים לתאם את דברי הרמב"ם על דברי הגמרא, כאלו זה עתה עמד על השוני שבין הפירושים וכאלו מנסה הוא עתה יחד עמהם למצוא את הדרך אשר בה צעד הרמב"ם, למצוא ולאתר את הנקודה אשר הביאה לשינויי הפירושים בין רש"י והרמב"ם ועוד, ושביל הזהב אשר דרכו נקבעה ההלכה כפי שנקבעה.
הרב אשר ידע מראש שהתוספות כבר דנו באותו עניין מעיף מבט חטוף בדבריהם ואמר הנה התוספות כבר התעוררו על כך, קורא את התוספות, מנתח לפני תלמידיו ושומעי לקחו את השיטות השונות, מקשה את אשר יש להקשות כאלו רק עתה הוא מתעורר על קושיות אלה, וכאלו יחד עם התלמידים יצרו את הקושיא, מעיינים בראשונים ואחרונים ומסכמים תירוץ. ועם השינון והדיש החוזר בגירסת המלים, נחקקים ונקבעים בזכרונם ובתודעתם גם הנוסח, גם הגירסא והפירוש

Choices:
Yes

 

Thank you for that; it's very interesting.

What, however, is the poll for?

B"H
Dear Phil,
Actually, it was a mistake on my part, since I am a new comer to this Group forum. There is no poll, but I had inadvertently written yes when asked concerning this. So, you can ignore it.
Sincerely,
David Ben-Abraham

I'm told there is a "Hungarian" method of learning Gemara regarding pulling random thoughts from all over the corpus of Torah learning.

This is the extent of what I once heard. Is this method documented anywhere? Or any indication of why it is called this?

Are these Yeminite methods or Hungarian methods really so unique among how all Yidden should be learning?

David ben-Avraham,
Welcome to the blog! Are you suggesting there is an original Torah pedagogy and therefore ideal. Or are you just sharing a factoid. The Lithuanians developed their own method as did the Chassidim and Iberian Jews. Is there such a thing as a universally ideal way of learning Torah?

B"H
Dear Rob and Moshe, Shalom!
It would seem that Rabbi Yoseph Qafih z"l who wrote the above article is trying to suggest that this was the way all of Israel once studied the Gemara. He (Rabbi Qafih) goes on to quote a source in the Gemara (Sukkah 29.a) showing that this was, indeed, the practice.
I want to thank Rob for pointing out to me the "Hungarian" method. We are here to learn from one another!
Sincerely,
David Ben-Abraham