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The Mishnah (Hebrew, "Repetition") is the core of
rabbinic Judaism's religious texts. It is the first recording of the oral law of the Jewish people, as championed by the Pharisees. It was redacted by Judah haNasi around the year
200 CE. It is considered the first work of Rabbinic
Judaism.
The Mishnah is noteworthy in Rabbinic literature for its depiction of a religious universe in which the Temple in Jerusalem, destroyed a century earlier, still retains a
central place. Laws concerning the Temple service constitute one of the Mishnah's six divisions.
Also noteworthy is the Mishnah's lack of citation of a scriptural basis for its laws. Connecting the Mishnaic law with the
Torah law was a major enterprise of the later Midrash and Talmuds.
The Rabbinic sages whose views are recorded therein are called Tannaim, the plural of Tanna;
Tanna is an Aramaic term for the Hebrew word shana, which also is the root-word of Mishnah. The verb shanah
(שנה) literally means 'to repeat [what one was taught] and is used to mean 'to learn'. The term 'Mishna'
basically means the entire body of Jewish religious law that was passed down and developed before 200 CE, when it was finally
redacted by Rabbi Yehudah haNasi (Judah the Prince). He is usually simply
referred to as 'Rabbi'.
The word mishna can also indicate a paragraph ie. the smallest unit of structure in the Mishna. The plural is
mishnayot. Thus, a number of mishnayot make up a perek (chapter), a number of perakim (chapters) make up a masechet (tractate), a
number of masechtot (tractates) make up a seder (order) and the Shas (acronim for Shisha Sedarim - the six orders) make up the
Mishna (or alternatively the Talmud if discussing the Gemara.)
Relation between the Bible and the Mishnah
Rabinical Judaism holds that the books of the Hebrew Bible (The Old Testament) have
always been transmitted in parallel with an oral tradition. Two guides to laws were
given to Moses at Mount Sinai: the
first, known as Torah she-bi-khtav, or the "Written Law" is the Tanakh (Jewish
Bible) as we know it today; the second, known as Torah she-ba'al peh, is the exposition of the Written Law as
relayed by the scholarly and other religious leaders of each generation. The Oral Law is, in some sense, the more authoritative
of the two: the traditions of the Oral Law are considered as the basis for the
interpretation, and often for the reading, of the Written Law.
By the time of Judah Ha-Nasi (200 CE) much of the Oral Law was edited
together into the Mishnah; see below. Over the next four centuries this material underwent analysis and debate, known as Gemara (completion), in both of the world's major Jewish communities (in the land of Israel and Babylon). These
eventually came to be edited together into compilations known as the Talmud. Jewish law and custom thus is not based on a literal reading of the Torah, or the rest of the Tanakh, but on the combined oral and
written tradition.
The writing of the Mishnah
Prior to the time of Rabbi, Jewish Law was transmitted orally; It was forbidden to write and publish the Oral Law, as any
writing would be incomplete and subject to misinterpretation and abuse. However, after great debate, this restriction was lifted
when it became apparent that it was the only way to ensure that the law could be preserved. To prevent the material from being
lost, Rabbi took up the redaction of the Mishna. He did not do this at his own discretion, but rather examined the tradition all
the way back to the Great Assembly. Some of tractates preceded him; These he merely supplemented.
The structure of the Mishna
The Mishna consists of six orders (sedarim). This explains the traditional name for the Talmud as Shas,
which is an abbreviation of shishah sedarim, "six orders". Each of the six orders contains between 7 and 12 tractates,
called masechtot. Each masechet is divided into smaller units called mishnayot.(mishna - singular)
- First Order: Zeraim ("Seeds"). 11 tractates. It deals with agricultural
laws and prayers.
- Second Order: Moed ("Festival Days"). 12 tractates. This pertains to the laws
of the Sabbath and the Festivals.
- Third Order: Nashim ("Women"). 7 tractates. Concerns marriage and
divorce.
- Fourth Order: Nezikin ("Damages"). 10 tractates. Deals with civil and
criminal law.
- Fifth Order: Kedoshim ("Holy things"). 11 tractates. This involves
sacrificial rites, the Temple, and the dietary laws.
- Sixth order: Tohorot ("Purity"). 12 tractates. This pertains to ritual
and the laws of family purity.
Most of the Mishnah is related stam, i.e. without any name attributed to it. This usually indicates that many sages
taught so, and the halkahic ruling usually follows that view. Sometimes, however, it is the opinion of a single sage
whom Rabbi Judah haNasi favoured and sought to establish the ruling
accordingly.
The generations of the Mishnah sages
- First Generation: Rabban Yohanan ben
Zakkai's generation (circa 40-80 CE).
- Second Generation: Rabban Gamliel of Yavneh, Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Yehoshua's generation, the teachers of Rabbi Akiva.
- Third Generation: The generation of Rabbi Akiva and his colleagues.
- Fourth Generation: The generation of Rabbi Meir, Rabbi Yehuda and their colleagues.
- Fifth Generation: Rabbi Judah haNasi's
generation.
- Sixth Generation: The interim generation between the Mishnah and the Talmud: Rabbis Shimon ben Judah HaNasi and Yehoshua ben Levi, etc.
Important Manuscripts and Editions
Oral Traditions and Pronunciation
The Mishnah was and still is traditionally studied through recitation (out loud). Many medieval manuscripts of the
Mishnah are vowelized, and some of these contain partial Tiberian cantillation. Jewish communities around the world preserved local melodies for chanting the Mishnah, and
distinctive ways of pronouncing its words.
Most vowelized editions of the Mishnah today reflect standard Ashkenazic
vowelization, and often contain mistakes. The Albeck edition of the Mishnah was vowelized by Hannokh Yellin, who made careful
eclectic use of both medieval manuscripts and current oral traditions of pronunciation from Jewish communities all over the
world. The Albeck edition includes an entire volume by Yellin detailing his eclectic method.
Two institutes at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem have
collected major oral archives which hold (among other things) extensive recordings of Jews chanting the Mishnah using a variety
of melodies and many different kinds of pronunciation. These institutes are the Jewish Oral Traditions Research Center and the
National Voice Archives (the "Phonoteca" at the Jewish National and University Library). See below for external links.
Commentaries
See also:
Talmud, Tosefta, Minor Tractates, Judaism
External Links:
- Electronic Texts:
- Mechon Mamre - Hebrew text according to Maimonides' version.
- The
Structured Mishnah - Hebrew text
according to the Kaufmann manuscript (without vowels) with special formatting.
- Russian
Chassidut (or here ) - vowelized Hebrew
Mishnah with several full-text Hebrew commentaries.
- The Daily Mishnah (a study-cycle):
- The Daily Mishnah - uses the Kehati commentary (in English
translation).
- Mishna Yomis
- Daily Mishnah audio (English).
- Mishnah Yomit - One mishnah per day. (Note: this study-cycle
follows a different schedule than the regular one; contains extensive archives in English).
- Audio Lectures:
- Manuscripts:
- Oral Traditions (chanting and pronunciation of the Mishnah):
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