Editing Judah ha-Nasi (section)

=== Compilation of the Mishnah ===
{{Eras of the Halakha}}
{{Main|Mishnah}}
According to [[Rabbinical Judaism|Rabbinical Jewish]] tradition, God gave both the Written Law (the [[Torah]]) and the [[Oral Torah|Oral Law]] to Moses on [[Mount Sinai (Bible)|biblical Mount Sinai]]. The Oral Law is the oral tradition as relayed by God to Moses and from him, transmitted and taught to the sages ([[rabbi]]nic leaders) of each subsequent generation.

For centuries, the Torah appeared only as a written text transmitted in parallel with the oral tradition. Fearing that the oral traditions might be forgotten, Judah undertook the mission of consolidating the various opinions into one body of law which became known as the ''Mishnah''. This completed a project which had been mostly clarified and organised by his father and [[Nathan the Babylonian]].<ref name="Codex Judaica Kantor 2006, page 146"/>

The Mishnah consists of 63 tractates codifying Jewish law, which are the basis of the ''Talmud.'' According to [[Abraham ben David]], the ''Mishnah'' was compiled by Rabbi Judah the Prince in 3949 [[Anno Mundi|AM]], or the year 500 of the [[Seleucid era]], which corresponds to 189 CE.<ref>Abraham ben David, ''Seder Ha-Kabbalah Leharavad'', Jerusalem 1971, p.16 (Hebrew)</ref><ref>[[Heinrich Graetz]], ''History of the Jews'', vol. 6, Philadelphia 1898, p. [https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015021930634;view=1up;seq=131 105]</ref>

The Mishnah contains many of Judah's own sentences, which are introduced by the words, "Rabbi says."

The Mishnah was Judah's work, although it includes a few sentences by his son and successor, [[Gamaliel III]],<ref>[[Pirkei Avot]] 2:2-4</ref> perhaps written after Judah's death. Both the Talmuds assume as a matter of course that Judah is the originator of the Mishnah—"our Mishnah," as it was called in Babylon—and the author of the explanations and discussions relating to its sentences. However, Judah is more  correctly considered [[redaction|redactor]] of the Mishnah, rather than its author. The Mishnah is based on the systematic division of the halakhic material as formulated by [[Rabbi Akiva]]; Judah following in his work the arrangement of the halakot as taught by [[Rabbi Meir]] (Akiva's foremost student).<ref>Sanhedrin 86a</ref>