The translations of rabbinic texts are my own. The bracketed words are explanatory insertions.
The term rabbis refers, in most instances, to the rabbis of the Talmud, the majority of whom flourished from about 1 to 500 C.E.
The expression “Said Rabbi X said Rabbi Y” means that Rabbi X transmitted what he had heard from Rabbi Y.
When a reference is to the Mishnah as an entire work, the “M” is uppercase. When a reference is to one paragraph within the larger work (mishnah), the “m” is lowercase and the word is italicized.
The collective name for the rabbis of the first 200 years of the rabbinic period is Tannaim, and for the rabbis of the next 300 years, Amoraim. A citation introduced by two single dashes (––) is a statement attributed to an Amora; a citation introduced by two double dashes (==) is a statement attributed to the anonymous, post-amoraic editors of the Talmud. Statements without special designation are tannaitic.
God is occasionally referred to in the masculine for reasons of style only.
Unless stated otherwise, the volume of the Mishnah that I refer to when citing the work of Hanokh Albeck is Nashim, the Division of Women.
The Tosefta is cited, where possible, from the Lieberman edition.
The references to the Talmud Yerushalmi (Palestinian Talmud) are presented in two ways. The first is by chapter and paragraph (halakhah or mishnah) and the second by page and folio. The second reference is keyed to the standard one-volume Venice edition of this Talmud.
Talmudic references are to the Bavli (Babylonian Talmud) unless they are identified as to the Yerushalmi.