Mishnah
The Mishnah or Mishna (Hebrew: מִשְׁנָה, Mishnah, "study by repetition", from the verb shanah Hebrew: שנה, Shanah, or "to study and review", also "secondary") is the first authoritative collection of exegetical material of the Jewish comprising the oral tradition of Jewish law known as the "Oral Torah".
Redaction
The Mishnah was redacted by Judah the Prince and his colleages at the beginning of the third century AD.[1] Most of the Mishnah is written in Mishnaic Hebrew, while some parts are Aramaic. The views of the rabbinic sages (called tannaim) are recorded in the Mishnah.
Divisions
The Mishnah is divided into six orders (sedarim). These in turn are divided into tractates (massekhtoth) comprising a total of 63 tractates. These, in turn, are divided into chapters comprising a total of 524 chapters including the sixth chapter of Pirké Avoth, which is a later addition.[1] Each chapter has a number of halachot. The Talmud generally follows this same structure.
Orders
| Order of the Mishnah | Translation | Description |
|---|---|---|
| זְרָעִים, Zeraim | Seeds | Deal with prayer and blessings, tithes and agricultural laws |
| מוֹעֵד, Moed | Festival | Pertaining to the laws of the Sabbath and the Festivals |
| נָשִׁים, Nashim | Women | Concerning marriage and divorce, some forms of oaths and the laws of the nazirite |
| נְזִיקִין, Nezikin | Damages | Deal with civil and criminal law, the functioning of the courts and oaths |
| קָדָשִׁים, Kodashim | Holy things | Regarding sacrificial rites, the Temple, and the Kashrut (dietary laws) |
| טָהֳרוֹת, Tehorot | Purities | Pertaining to the laws of purity and impurity, including the impurity of the dead, the laws of food purity and bodily purity |
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Birnbaum, Philip (1979). Encyclopedia of Jewish Concepts. New York: Hebrew Publishing Company. ISBN 0-88482-930-8.
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