Editing Mishnah (section)

==Six orders==
{{see also|List of Talmudic tractates}}
The term "''Mishnah''" originally referred to a method of teaching by presenting topics in a systematic order, as contrasted with ''{{lang|he-Latn|[[Midrash]]}}'', 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 [[halakha|halakhic]] subjects and discusses individual subjects more thoroughly than the ''Midrash''.

The Mishnah consists of six orders (''{{lang|he-Latn|sedarim}}'', singular ''{{lang|he-Latn|seder}}'' {{lang|he|סדר}}), each containing 7–12 tractates (''{{lang|tmr-Latn|masechtot}}'', singular ''{{lang|tmr-Latn|masechet}}'' {{lang|tmr|מסכת}}; lit. "web"), 63 in total. Each ''{{lang|tmr-Latn|masechet}}'' is divided into chapters (''{{lang|he-Latn|peraqim}}'', singular ''{{lang|he-Latn|pereq}}'') and then paragraphs (''{{lang|he-Latn|mishnayot}}'', singular ''{{lang|he-Latn|mishnah}}''). 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"), about 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 in Jerusalem|Temple]], and the [[Kashrut|dietary laws]] (11 tractates) and
* ''[[Tohorot]]'' ("Purities"), pertaining to the laws of purity and impurity, including the impurity of the dead, food purity, and bodily purity (12 tractates).

The [[acronym]] "Z'MaN NaKaT" is a popular [[mnemonic]] for these orders.<ref name="ReferenceB">{{cite book |last=Eisenberg |first=Ronald L. |title=The JPS Guide to Jewish Traditions |publisher=The Jewish Publication Society |year=2004 |location=Philadelphia |pages=499–500 |chapter=Rabbinic Literature}}</ref> In each order (with the exception of Zeraim), tractates are arranged from biggest (in number of chapters) to smallest.

{{Mishnah}}

The [[Talmud|Babylonian Talmud]] ([https://www.sefaria.org.il/Chagigah.14a?lang=en Hagiga 14a]) states that there were either six hundred or seven hundred orders of the Mishnah. The Mishnah was divided into six thematic sections by its author, Judah HaNasi.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Maimonides on the Six Orders of the Mishnah |url=https://www.myjewishlearning.com/texts/Rabbinics/Talmud/Mishnah/Maimonides_on_the_Orders.shtml |access-date=2023-12-29 |website=My Jewish Learning |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |title=The Mishnah {{!}} Reform Judaism |url=https://www.reformjudaism.org/learning/sacred-texts/mishnah |access-date=2023-12-29 |website=www.reformjudaism.org |language=en}}</ref> There is also a tradition that [[Ezra]] the scribe dictated from memory not only the 24 books of the [[Tanakh]] but 60 esoteric books. It is not known whether this is a reference to the Mishnah, but there is a case for saying that the Mishnah does consist of 60 tractates. (The current total is 63, but [[Makkot]] was originally part of [[Sanhedrin (tractate)|Sanhedrin]], and [[Bava Kamma]] (literally: "First Portal"), [[Bava Metzia]] ("Middle Portal") and [[Bava Batra]] ("Final Portal") are often regarded as subdivisions of one enormous tractate, titled simply Nezikin.)

===Omissions===
A number of important laws are not elaborated upon in the Mishnah. These include the laws of [[tzitzit]], [[tefillin]] (phylacteries), [[mezuzah|mezuzot]], the holiday of [[Hanukkah]], and the laws of [[conversion to Judaism]]. These were later discussed in the [[minor tractate]]s.

[[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 [[redaction|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.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=20976&pgnum=24 |pages=25–28 |title=יסוד המשנה ועריכתה |trans-title=Yesod Hamishna Va'arichatah |language=he |access-date=9 October 2018}}</ref>

[[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 [[Talmud]]s. Two Talmuds were compiled, the [[Talmud#Babylonian Talmud|Babylonian Talmud]] (to which the term "Talmud" normally refers) and the [[Jerusalem Talmud]], with the oldest surviving Talmudic manuscripts dating to the 8th century CE.<ref name="FineS_(2014a)"/><ref name="WDL_(2018a)"/> Unlike the Hebrew Mishnah, the ''Gemara'' is written primarily in Aramaic.