B. The word "Aramaic" comes from the biblical Aram (pronounced AH-rahm), son of Shem and grandson of Noah. Being that there weren't exactly a whole lot of people alive in the world at that time (it was right after the Great Flood), whole nationalities sprung from single individuals. Thus, Aram was the father of the ancient civilization of the Arameans, who spoke--you guessed it--Aramaic. Contrary to the claims of some confused people, Aramaic has no relationship to Assyrian.

In addition to the Talmud, there are several other Jewish books written in Aramaic: much of the Book of Daniel, as well as much of the Zohar, and other books of Kabbalah

How is Aramaic used today?

1. The Talk of the Day

Aramaic was society's primary spoken language in the Talmudic Era, thus, the Talmud is written in Aramaic, although transliterated into the right-to-left Hebrew alphabet.

2. Where to study Aramaic

The language can actually be studied at such institutions of higher learning as Harvard or the University of Chicago. There are also a number of unusual people on the Internet who think they've taught themselves authentic Aramaic. The accuracy level of the information supplied at these venues has yet to be determined, though--your best bet is the Talmud. But before you can study the Talmud in the original Aramaic, you'll have to know how to read Hebrew.

3. Hebrew's Helper

In addition to the Talmud, there are several other Jewish books written in Aramaic: much of the Book of Daniel, as well as much of the Zohar, and other books of Kabbalah. In times of persecution, when Jews were forbidden to read, write, pray or converse in Hebrew, Aramaic was used as a substitute. (For this reason, there are several prayers set exclusively to Aramaic.) Aramaic has thus acquired a semi-sanctified state; it is considered almost as holy as the Holy Tongue itself--Hebrew.