Mishnah

The Mishnah (Hebrew משנה, "repetition") is a major source of rabbinic Judaism's religious texts. It is the first recording of the oral law of the Jewish people, as championed by the Pharisees and is considered the first work of Rabbinic Judaism. The Mishnah was redacted around the year 200 CE by Judah haNasi (Judah the Prince). He is usually simply referred to as 'Rabbi'. Nearly all of the Mishnah is written in Hebrew, except a few verses, which are written in Aramaic. Rabbinic commentaries on the Mishnah over the next three centuries were recorded mostly in Aramaic and were redacted as the Gemara. The Mishnah and the Gemara together form the Talmud.

The structure of the Mishnah

The Mishnah 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 verses called mishnayot(singular - mishna).

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• First Order: Zeraim ("Seeds"). 11 tractates. It deals with agricultural laws and prayers.
• Second Order: Moed ("Festival"). 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: Kodshim ("Holy things"). 11 tractates. This involves sacrificial rites, the Temple, and the dietary laws.
• Sixth order: Tohorot ("Purity"). 12 tractates. This pertains to the laws of purity and impurity, including the impurity of the dead, the laws of ritual purity for the priests (cohanim), the laws of "family purity" (the menstrual laws) and others.

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 halakhic ruling usually follows that view. Sometimes, however, it is the opinion of a single sage whom Rabbi Judah haNasi favored and sought to establish the ruling accordingly.

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