1. Nature and purpose
The Mishnah it is the cornerstone of the oral tradition jewish and the first great systematic collection of the Torah Shebe'the Peh —the “Oral Law”—, handed down for centuries from master to disciple. His goal was to preserve, organize and codify the oral teaching which complements and explains the Written Torah (the Pentateuch), to ensure its continuity after the destruction of the Second Temple of Jerusalem in the year 70 e.c.
Unlike the biblical text, the Mishnah does not seek to tell stories or to offer a narrative, but to establish normative principles, debates and legal rabbinic traditions, which govern daily life, religious, ethical, and legal to the people of Israel. The Mishnah is a code for understanding the Bible, Judaism and the Kabbalah.
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2. Authoring and drafting
The compilation of the Mishnah was undertaken by Rabbi Yehuda Hanassi (Judah the Prince) towards the end of the second century of our era, in the region of Galilee. In a context of dispersion, roman persecution and social transformation, Yehuda Hanassi collected and systematized the vast oral tradition which until then was transmitted from memory. His work was not to create new laws, but select, sort, and unify opinions and previous discussions, especially those of the schools of Hillel and Shamai.
Although its final edition, is attributed to him, the Mishnah maintains diversity of voices, styles and positions. Their diversity reflects the vitality of the rabbinical thought and its ongoing dialogue with the historical reality.
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3. Structure and content
The Mishnah is organized in six orders (Sedarim), subdivided into 63 treaties (Masejtot), which in turn are divided into chapters (Perakim) and teachings brief (Mishnayot). Each order addresses an area of life:
- Zeraim (Seeds): agricultural laws and blessings.
- Moed (Festivity): the calendar, Shabbat and holidays.
- Nashim (Women's): marriage, divorce, and votes.
- Nezikin (Damages): civil, criminal, and ethical.
- Kodashim (Holy): sacrifices and service of the Temple.
- Tohorot (Purities): ritual purity and the laws of impurity.
This structure reflects a total vision of human life: from the everyday to the sacred, everything can and should be regulated by the divine law.
4. Method and style
The Mishnah takes a concise language and technicalalmost legal, which ignores arguments extensive or narratives. His method is dialectical: it presents discussions, disagreements, and variants without forcing a single conclusion. The authority is not imposed; it is built in the debate.
This style reflects a deep cultural change: the centrality because it is not in the Temple or sacrifice, but in the word and the study as acts of worship. The Beit Midrash (house of study) replaces the altar.
5. Relationship with the Talmud
The Mishnah, constitutes the core of the Talmud. On it are built the extensive comments and discussions later called Gemaradeveloped in the academies of Babylon and Eretz Israel between the ages III and VI. There are, therefore, two versions of the Talmud: the Jerusalem (Talmud Yerushalmi) and Babylon (Talmud Bavlí), the latter being the most comprehensive and influential.
Thus, the Mishnah is the Talmud that the axioms are to science: the starting point for the expansion interpretative infinite of the rabbinic tradition.
6. Important spiritual and historical
The Mishnah is not only encodes laws; transforms the spirituality jewish. In a time without a Temple or priesthood, provides a framework to maintain the sanctity through the study, the word, and behavior. Its emphasis on the moral responsibility, social justice and the intention to internal turned judaism into a religion of thought, not of power.
At a historical level, the Mishnah preserved the cultural continuity of the jewish people throughout the diaspora, and laid the foundations of the right rabbinical ethics talmudic and philosophical reflection medieval.
The Mishnah represents the synthesis between tradition and reason, between revelation and human analysis. His study is not a mere erudition, but an act of spiritual continuity: to participate in the eternal dialogue of the people of Israel with the divine word. To understand the Mishnah is, in short, to understand how an entire civilization became the knowledge and the discussion in his temple more enduring.
