Editing Mishnah (section)

===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.