Mishnah

Mishnah

The Mishnah (/mɪʃˈnɑː/; Hebrew: מִשְׁנָה, "study by repetition", from the verb shanah שנה, or "to study and review", also "secondary") is the first major written collection of the Jewish oral traditions known as the "Oral Torah". It is also the first major work of Rabbinic literature.

Etymology

The word "Mishnah" can also indicate a single paragraph or a verse of the work itself, leading to the confusing usage of the plural, "Mishnayot". The term "Mishnah" originally referred to a method of teaching by presenting topics in a systematic order, as contrasted with Midrash, which meant study or exposition in a more free-form style.

History

The Mishnah was redacted by Rabbi Judah the Prince in the early 3rd century CE in a time when, according to the Talmud, the persecution of the Jews and the passage of time raised the possibility that the details of the oral traditions dating from Pharisaic Judaism would be forgotten. It is thus named for being a teaching, or repeated study, and an order, as the Mishnah orders its laws.

Structure

The Mishnah consists of six orders (sedarim), each containing 7–12 tractates (masechtot), 63 in all, and further subdivided into chapters and paragraphs or verses. The six orders are: Zeraim ("Seeds"), dealing with prayer and blessings, tithes and agricultural laws; Moed ("Festival"), pertaining to the laws of the Sabbath and the Festivals; Nashim ("Women"), concerning marriage and divorce, some forms of oaths and the laws of the nazirite; Nezikin ("Damages"), dealing with civil and criminal law, the functioning of the courts and oaths; Kodashim ("Holy things"), regarding sacrificial rites, the Temple, and the dietary laws; and Tohorot ("Purities"), pertaining to the laws of purity and impurity, including the impurity of the dead, the laws of food purity and bodily purity.

Influence

The Mishnah's topical organization thus became the framework of the Talmud as a whole. But not every tractate in the Mishnah has a corresponding Gemara. Also, the order of the tractates in the Talmud differs in some cases from that in the Mishnah. In addition to the Mishnah, other tannaitic teachings were current at about the same time or shortly thereafter.

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