Mishna

The Mishnah or the Mishna (; he, מִשְׁנָה, "study by repetition", from the verb ''shanah'' , or "to study and review", also "secondary") is the first major written collection of the Jewish oral traditions which is known as the Oral Torah. It is also the first major work of rabbinic literature. The Mishnah was redacted by Judah ha-Nasi probably in Beit Shearim or Sepphoris at the beginning of the 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 of the Pharisees from the Second Temple period (516 BCE – 70 CE) would be forgotten. Most of the Mishnah is written in Mishnaic Hebrew, but some parts are in Aramaic.

The Mishnah consists of six orders (', singular ' ), each containing 7–12 tractates (', singular ' ; lit. "web"), 63 in total, and further subdivided into chapters and paragraphs. The word ''Mishnah'' can also indicate a single paragraph of the work, i.e. the smallest unit of structure in the Mishnah. For this reason the whole work is sometimes referred to in the plural form, '.

Structure

The term "''Mishnah''" originally referred to a method of teaching by presenting topics in a systematic order, as contrasted with ', which followed the order of the Bible. As a written compilation, the order of the Mishnah is by subject matter and includes a much broader selection of halakhic subjects, and discusses individual subjects more thoroughly, than the ''Midrash''.

The Mishnah consists of six orders (', singular ' ), each containing 7–12 tractates (', singular ' ; lit. "web"), 63 in total. Each ' is divided into chapters (', singular ') and then paragraphs (', singular '). In this last context, the word ''mishnah'' means a single paragraph of the work, i.e. the smallest unit of structure, leading to the use of the plural, "''Mishnayot''", for the whole work.

Because of the division into six orders, the Mishnah is sometimes called ''Shas'' (an acronym for ''Shisha Sedarim'' – the "six orders"), although that term is more often used for the Talmud as a whole.

The six orders are:
* '' Zeraim'' ("Seeds"), dealing with prayer and blessings, tithes and agricultural laws (11 tractates)
* '' Moed'' ("Festival"), pertaining to the laws of the Sabbath and the Festivals (12 tractates)
* ''Nashim'' ("Women"), concerning marriage and divorce, some forms of oaths and the laws of the nazirite (7 tractates)
* ''Nezikin'' ("Damages"), dealing with civil and criminal law, the functioning of the courts and oaths (10 tractates)
* '' Kodashim'' ("Holy things"), regarding sacrificial rites, the Temple, and the dietary laws (11 tractates) 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 (12 tractates).

In each order (with the exception of Zeraim), tractates are arranged from biggest (in number of chapters) to smallest. A popular mnemonic consists of the acronym "Z'MaN NaKaT."

The Babylonian Talmud
Hagiga 14a
states that there were either six hundred or seven hundred orders of the Mishnah. Hillel the Elder organized them into six orders to make it easier to remember. The historical accuracy of this tradition is disputed. There is also a tradition that Ezra the scribe dictated from memory not only the 24 books of the Tanakh was originally part of Sanhedrin, and Bava Kamma, Bava Metzia and Bava Batra may be regarded as subdivisions of a single tractate Nezikin.)

Reuvein Margolies ( 1889–1971) posited that there were originally seven orders of Mishnah, citing a Gaonic tradition on the existence of a seventh order containing the laws of '' Sta"m'' (scribal practice) and Berachot (blessings).

Omissions

A number of important laws are not elaborated upon in the Mishnah. These include the laws of tzitzit, tefillin (phylacteries), mezuzot, the holiday of Hanukkah, and the laws of conversion to Judaism. These were later discussed in the minor tractates.

Nissim ben Jacob's ''Hakdamah Le'mafteach Hatalmud'' argued that it was unnecessary for Judah the Prince to discuss them as many of these laws were so well known. Margolies suggests that as the Mishnah was redacted after the Bar Kokhba revolt, Judah could not have included discussion of Hanukkah, which commemorates the Jewish revolt against the Seleucid Empire (the Romans would not have tolerated this overt nationalism). Similarly, there were then several decrees in place aimed at suppressing outward signs of national identity, including decrees against wearing tefillin and tzitzit; as conversion to Judaism was against Roman law, Judah would not have discussed this.

David Zvi Hoffmann suggests that there existed ancient texts analogous to the present-day ''Shulchan Aruch'' that discussed the basic laws of day to day living and it was therefore not necessary to focus on these laws in the Mishnah.

Mishnah, Gemara, and Talmud

Rabbinic commentary, debate and analysis on the Mishnah from the next four centuries, done in the Land of Israel and in Babylonia, were eventually redacted and compiled as well. In themselves they are known as ''Gemara''. The books which set out the Mishnah in its original structure, together with the associated ''Gemara'', are known as Talmuds. Two Talmuds were compiled, the Babylonian Talmud (to which the term "Talmud" normally refers) and the Jerusalem Talmud. Unlike the Hebrew Mishnah, the ''Gemara'' is written primarily in Aramaic.

Content and purpose

The Mishnah teaches the oral traditions by example, presenting actual cases being brought to judgment, usually along with (i) the ''debate'' on the matter, and (ii) the judgment that was given by a notable rabbi based on halakha, mitzvot, and spirit of the teaching ("Torah") that guided his decision.

In this way, the Mishnah brings to everyday reality the practice of the ''mitzvot'' as presented in the Torah, and aims to cover all aspects of human living, serve as an example for future judgments, and, most important, demonstrate pragmatic exercise of the Biblical laws, which was much needed since the time when the Second Temple was destroyed ( 70 CE). The Mishnah is thus not the development of new laws, but rather the collection of existing traditions.

The term "Mishnah" is related to the verb "shanah", to teach or repeat, and to the adjectives "''sheni''" and "''mishneh''", meaning "second". It is thus named for being both the one written authority (codex) secondary (only) to the Tanakhic form, in which halakhic discussion is structured as exegetical commentary on the Torah. Rabbis expounded on and debated the Tanakh and the House of Hillel.

After the First Jewish–Roman War in AD 70, with the end of the Second Temple Jewish center in Jerusalem, Jewish social and legal norms were in upheaval. The Rabbis were faced with the new reality of Judaism without a Temple (to serve as the center of teaching and study) and Judea without autonomy. It is during this period that Rabbinic discourse began to be recorded in writing. The possibility was felt that the details of the oral traditions of the Pharisees from the Second Temple period (530s BCE – 70 CE) would be forgotten, so the justification was found to have these oral laws transcribed.

Over time, different traditions of the Oral Law came into being, raising problems of interpretation. According to the ''Mevo Hatalmud'', many rulings were given in a specific context but would be taken out of it, or a ruling was revisited, but the second ruling would not become popularly known. To correct this, Judah the Prince took up the redaction of the Mishnah. If a point was of no conflict, he kept its language; where there was conflict, he reordered the opinions and ruled, and he clarified where context was not given. The idea was not to use his discretion, but rather to examine the tradition as far back as he could, and only supplement as required.

The Mishnah and the Hebrew Bible

According to Rabbinic Judaism, the Oral Torah ( he, תורה שבעל-פה) was given to Moses with the Torah at Mount Sinai or Mount Horeb as an exposition to the latter. The accumulated traditions of the Oral Law, expounded by scholars in each generation from Moses onward, is considered as the necessary basis for the interpretation, and often for the reading, of the Written Law. Jews sometimes refer to this as the Masorah (Hebrew: ), roughly translated as tradition, though that word is often used in a narrower sense to mean traditions concerning the editing and reading of the Biblical text (see Masoretic Text). The resulting Jewish law and custom is called halakha.

While most discussions in the Mishnah concern the correct way to carry out laws recorded in the Torah, it usually presents its conclusions without explicitly linking them to any scriptural passage, though scriptural quotations do occur. For this reason it is arranged in order of topics rather than in the form of a Biblical commentary. (In a very few cases, there is no scriptural source at all and the law is described as ''Halakha leMoshe miSinai'', "law to Moses from Sinai".) The '' Midrash halakha'', by contrast, while presenting similar laws, does so in the form of a Biblical commentary and explicitly links its conclusions to details in the Biblical text. These Midrashim often predate the Mishnah.

The Mishnah also quotes the Torah for principles not associated with law, but just as practical advice, even at times for humor or as guidance for understanding historical debates.

Rejection

Some Jews do not accept the codification of the oral law at all. Karaite Judaism, for example, recognises only the Tanakh

HOME


Content is Copyleft
Website design, code, and AI is Copyrighted (c) 2014-2017 by Stephen Payne


Consider donating to Wikimedia



As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases