Talmud Bavli and Yerushalmi – differences and distinctions.

There are several differences and distinctions between the two different talmuds or “gemaras”. Where they were written, the language, the Rabanim that are quoted... Etc. I will attempt to explain the differences and distinctions between the two, as well as some of the practical ramifications as well. 1. A brief history of the Talmud.
Originally, Jewish learning was meant to stay oral forever. Rabbis expounded and debated the Torah and the Tanach without any written works other than the Tanach itself, though some may have made private notes, what’s refered to as megillot setarim, for example of court decisions. This situation changed mainly as the result of the destruction of the Jewish state and the Second Temple in the year 70 CE and the consequent upheaval of Jewish social and legal norms. As the Rabbis were required to face a new reality, mainly Judaism without a Temple and Judea without at least partial autonomy, there was a flurry of legal discourse and the old system of oral scholarship could not be maintained.
The Oral Torah varied among various schools. The most famous two were the School of Shammai and the School of Hillel. In general, all valid opinions, even the non-normative ones, were recorded in the Talmud.
The Gemara is a part of the Talmud made up of rabbinical analysis of and commentary on the Mishnah. After the Mishnah was published by Judah HaNasi (c. 200 CE), the work was studied exhaustively by generation after generation of rabbis in Babylonia and the Land of Israel. Their discussions were written down in books that became the Gemara, which when combined with the Mishnah constituted the Talmud.
There are two versions of the Gemara. The Yerushalmi, also known as the Palestinian, was compiled by scholars of Israel, primarily of the academies of Tiberias and Caesarea, which was published between about 350–400 CE. The Bavli was published about 500 CE by scholars of Babylonia, primarily of the academies of Sura, Pumbedita, and Mata Mehasia. By convention, a reference to the "Gemara" or "Talmud," without further qualification, refers to the Babylonian version.

2. Talmud Yerushalmi.
The Jerusalem Talmud was created before the babylonian Talmud and is written in both Hebrew and “Jewish Palestinian Aramaic”. It includes the core component, the Mishna, finalized by Rabbi Judah the Prince (c. 200 CE) along with the written discussions of generations of rabbis in the Land of Israel which primarily include the academies of Tiberias and Caesarea. The written discussions were compiled century 350-400 CE into the books that became the Gemara. (Gemara comes from the Hebrew word gamar, which means to complete in Hebrew or to study in Aramaic). The Babylonian Talmud is often seen as more authoritative and is studied much more than the Jerusalem Talmud. We will discuss the reasons why that is later on.
The Jerusalem Talmud originated in Tiberias in the School of Johanan ben Nappaha. It is written largely in Jewish Palestinian Aramaic, a Western Aramaic dialect that differs from its Babylonian counterpart.
This Talmud is a synopsis of the analysis of the Mishnah that was developed over the course of nearly 200 years by the Talmudic Academies in the Land of Israel (principally those of Tiberias and Caesarea). Because of their location, the sages of these Academies devoted considerable attention to analysis of the agricultural laws of the Land of Israel. Traditionally, the redaction of this Talmud was thought to have been brought to an abrupt end around 425 C.E., when Theodosius II suppressed the Patriarchate and put an end to the practice of formal scholarly ordination. It was thought that the compilers of the Jerusalem Talmud lacked the time to produce a work of the quality they had intended, and that this is the reason why the Gemara does not comment upon the whole Mishnah. In recent years scholars have come to doubt the causal link between the abolition of the Patriarchate and the seeming incompletion of the final redaction. However, as no evidence exists of Amoraim activity in Palestine after the 370s, it is still considered very likely that the final redaction of the Palestinian Talmud took place in the late fourth or early fifth Century.

3. Talmud Bavli.

The Talmud bavli is a central text of Judaism. It is also traditionally referred to as Shas, a Hebrew abbreviation of shisha sedarim or the "six orders/tractates". The term "Talmud" normally refers to the Babylonian Talmud.
The whole Talmud consists of 63 tractates, and in standard print is over 6,200 pages long. It is written in Tannaitic Hebrew and Aramaic. The Talmud contains the teachings and opinions of thousands of rabbis on a variety of subjects, including Halakha (law), Jewish ethics, philosophy, customs, history, lore and many other topics. The Talmud is the basis for all codes of Jewish law and is much quoted in rabbinic literature.
The Talmud Bavli consists of documents compiled over the period of Late Antiquity (3rd to 5th centuries). During this time the most important of the Jewish centres in Mesopotamia, later known as Iraq, were Nehardea, Nisibis, Mahoza (just to the south of what is now Baghdad), Pumbeditha (near present-day al-Anbar), and the Sura Academy near present-day Falluja.
Talmud Bavli comprises the Mishnah and the Babylonian Gemara, the latter representing the culmination of more than 300 years of analysis of the Mishnah in the Babylonian Academies. The foundations of this process of analysis were laid by Rab, a disciple of Rabbi Judah ha-Nasi. Tradition ascribes the compilation of the Babylonian Talmud in its present form to two Babylonian sages, Rav Ashi and Ravina. Rav Ashi was president of the Sura Academy from 375 to 427 CE. The work begun by Rav Ashi was completed by Ravina, who is traditionally regarded as the final Amoraic expounder. Accordingly, traditionalists argue that Ravina’s death in 499 CE is the latest possible date for the completion of the redaction of the Talmud. However, even on the most traditional view a few passages are regarded as the work of a group of rabbis who edited the Talmud after the end of the Amoraic period, known as the Saboraim or Rabbanan Savora'e (meaning "reasoners" or "considerers").

4. Differences of style and subject matter between bavli and yerushalmi.

There are significant differences between the two Talmud compilations. The language of the Jerusalem Talmud is a western Aramaic dialect, which differs from the form of Aramaic in the Babylonian Talmud. The Talmud Yerushalmi is often fragmented and difficult to read, even for experienced scholars. The redaction of the Talmud Bavli, on the other hand, is more careful and precise. The law in the two compilations is basically similar, except in emphasis and in minor details. The Jerusalem Talmud has not received much attention from commentators, and such traditional commentaries as exist are mostly concerned with comparing its teachings to those of the Talmud Bavli.
Neither the Jerusalem nor the Babylonian Talmud covers the entire Mishnah: for example, a Babylonian Gemara exists only for 37 out of the 63 tractates of the Mishnah. In particular: The Jerusalem Talmud covers all the tractates of Zeraim, while the Babylonian Talmud covers only tractate Berachot. The reason might be that most laws from the Orders Zeraim (agricultural laws limited to the land of Israel) had little practical relevance in Babylonia and were therefore not included.[12] The Jerusalem Talmud has a greater focus on the Land of Israel and the Torah's agricultural laws pertaining to the land because it was written in the Land of Israel where the laws applied.
The Jerusalem Talmud does not cover the Mishnaic order of Kodashim, which deals with sacrificial rites and laws pertaining to the Temple, while the Babylonian Talmud does cover it. It is not clear why this is, as the laws were not directly applicable in either country following the Temple's 70 CE destruction. And in both Talmuds, only one tractate of Tehorot (ritual purity laws) is examined, that of the menstrual laws, Niddah. As far as Commentaries, the Bavli has Rashi, the Yerushalmi has other commentaries (the standards in most masechtos are Pnei Moshe and Korban Ha'eidah, which certainly explain it adequately - but after all, there was only one Rashi).
The Babylonian Talmud records the opinions of the rabbis of the Ma'arava (the West, meaning Israel/Palestine) as well as of those of Babylonia, while the Jerusalem Talmud only seldom cites the Babylonian rabbis. The Babylonian version also contains the opinions of more generations because of its later date of completion. For both these reasons it is regarded as a more comprehensive collection of the opinions available. On the other hand, because of the centuries of redaction between the composition of the Jerusalem and the Babylonian Talmud, the opinions of early amoraim might be closer to their original form in the Jerusalem Talmud.
The Netziv in his commentary to the Torah, Ha'amek Davar (Shemot 34:1) compares the two Talmuds to the first and second luchot. On the one hand, the first set of luchot had a higher level of kedusha since they were formed by Hashem Himself, but the second luchot are still the ones which remained intact forever. Similarly, the Talmud Yerushalmi has a higher level of kedusha since it was written by earlier chachamim and it has the merit of being written in Eretz Yisrael, but the Bavli is the Torah that guided the Jewish people through the exile to Bavel and allowed us to maintain our traditions through a period of darkness.

It should also be noted that the chachamim and poskim throughout the generations still held the Yerushalmi in very high regard. Anyone who has learned the Aruch Hashulchan for example, knows that he makes reference to the Yerushalmi on almost every page. Also take a look at thw Bi'ur HaGr"a (Orach Chaim 235:13) who discusses the Rambam's view.

5. Difference in language.

Of the two main components of the Babylonian Talmud, the Mishnah is written in Mishnaic Hebrew. Within the Gemara, the quotations from the Mishna and the Baraitas and verses of Tanakh quoted and embedded in the Gemara are in Hebrew. The rest of the Gemara, including the discussions of the Amoraim and the overall framework, is in a characteristic dialect of Jewish Babylonian Aramaic. There are occasional quotations from older works in other dialects of Aramaic, such as Megillat Ta’anit. Overall, Hebrew constitutes somewhat less than half of the text of the Talmud.
This difference in language is due to the long time period elapsing between the two compilations. During the period of the Tannaim, the spoken vernacular of Jews in Judaea was a late form of Hebrew known as Rabbinic or Mishnaic Hebrew, whereas during the period of the Amoraim, which began around 200 CE, the spoken vernacular was Aramaic. Hebrew continued to be used for the writing of religious texts, poetry, and so forth.

6. Influence.

The influence of the Babylonian Talmud has been far greater than that of the Yerushalmi. Mainly because the influence and prestige of the Jewish community of Israel steadily declined in contrast with the Babylonian community in the years after the redaction of the Talmud and continuing until the Gaonic era. Furthermore, the editing of the Babylonian Talmud was superior to that of the Jerusalem version, making it more accessible and readily usable. According to Maimonides, whose life began almost a hundred years after the end of the Gaonic era, all Jewish communities during the Gaonic era formally accepted the Babylonian Talmud as binding upon themselves, and modern Jewish practice follows the Babylonian Talmud's conclusions on all areas in which the two Talmuds conflict.