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Mishnah
The Hebrew verb shanah “to repeat” in its technical sense means to learn or teach oral tradition by repeated recitation, in contrast to qara', to study the Holy Scriptures. The derivative noun is mishnah. The Mishnah is in Hebrew language. Mishnah therefore means study as well as oral instruction. In this sense the Mishnah comprises the three branches of tradition: midrash as the interpretation of the text of Scripture; the halakhot as the statutes formulated independently of Scripture; and finally the haggadot, i.e. all non-halakhic material. More specifically, Mishnah designates the entire religions law formulated until 200 AD, but also the teaching of a teacher (Tannaite) active in this period as well as an individual proposition (halakhah). The Mishnahpar excellence is the collection attributed to Rabbi Yehudah ha-Nasi. In its extant form, Mishnah consists of six main divisions or orders (sedarim). This explains the traditional designation of the Talmud as Shas (an abbreviation of shishah sedarim, “six orders”). Each seder has a number of Tractates (massekhot). The Tractates are subdivided into chapters (peraqim), and these in turn into sentence (mishnah, or in the Israeli Talmud halakhah).
(Top) Books of the Mishnah
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Seder Zera'im Berakhot |
Seder Mo'ed Shabbat |
Seder Nachim Yevamot |
Seder Nezikin Baba
Qamma |
Seder Kodchim Zevachim |
Seder Toharot Kelim |
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The Mishnah is mainly a legal work which records major debates of Jewish law. Statements in the Mishnah are usually short and record only the main teachings of the various rabbis debating a subject or the consensus view. The rabbis of the Mishnah are known as ''Tannaim'' (singular ''Tanna''); many teachings in the Mishnah are reported in the name of a particular Tanna. Sometimes statements are made without attribution to a particular Rabbi, this often indicates that such a statement was the commonly accepted view. (Top) |