Editing Mishnah (section)

==Content and purpose==
[[File:Kac 1924-10-19 Pinsk jews reading mishnah.jpg|thumb|Mishna study, [[Pinsk]] 1924]]
The Mishnah teaches the oral traditions by example, presenting [[Case law|actual cases]] being brought to judgment, usually along with (i) the ''debate'' on the matter, and (ii) the judgment that was given by a notable rabbi based on [[halakha]], [[Mitzvah|mitzvot]], and spirit of the teaching ("Torah") that guided his decision.

In this way, the Mishnah brings to everyday reality the practice of the [[613 Commandments]] presented in the Torah and aims to cover all aspects of human living, serve as an example for future judgments, and, most important, demonstrate pragmatic exercise of the Biblical laws, which was much needed since the [[Siege of Jerusalem (70 CE)|destruction of the Second Temple]] in [[AD 70|70 CE]]. The Mishnah is thus a collection of existing traditions rather than new law.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Shishah Sidre Mishnah = The Mishnah Elucidated: A phrase-by-phrase interpretive translation with basic commentary.|publisher=Mesorah Publications|editor-last1=Scherman |editor-first1=Nosson |editor-last2=Zlotowitz |editor-first2=Meir|year=2016|isbn=978-1422614624|location=Brooklyn, NY|pages=3–16|oclc=872378784}}</ref>

The term "Mishnah" is related to the verb "to teach, repeat", and to adjectives meaning "second". It is thus named for being both the one written authority (codex) secondary (only) to the Tanakh as a basis for the passing of judgment, a source and a tool for creating laws, and the first of many books to complement the Tanakh in certain aspects.

===Oral law===
{{Main article|Oral Torah}}
Before the publication of the Mishnah, Jewish scholarship and judgement were predominantly oral, as according to the Talmud, it was not permitted to write them down.<ref>[[Babylonian Talmud]], ''Temurah'' 14b; ''Gittin'' 60a.</ref> The earliest recorded oral law may have been of the [[midrash]]ic form, in which [[halakha|halakhic]] discussion is structured as [[exegesis|exegetical]] commentary on the [[Torah]], with the oldest surviving written material dating to the 6th to 7th centuries CE.<ref name="FineS_(2014a)"/><ref name="WDL_(2018a)"/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://thetorah.com/yelamdeinu-rabbeinu-the-exclusivity-of-the-oral-law/|title=The Exclusivity of the Oral Law|author=Dr. Shayna Sheinfeld|access-date=February 2, 2019}}</ref> Rabbis expounded on and debated the Tanakh without the benefit of written works (other than the Biblical books themselves). However, some may have made private notes ({{lang|he|מגילות סתרים}}) for example of court decisions. The oral traditions were far from monolithic and varied among various schools, the most famous of which were the [[Houses of Hillel and Shammai]].

After the [[First Jewish–Roman War]] in 70 CE, with the end of the [[Second Temple]] center in Jerusalem, Jewish social and legal norms were in upheaval. The rabbis faced the new reality of Judaism without a Temple to serve as the center of teaching and study and a Judea without autonomy. During this period, Rabbinic discourse began to be recorded in writing.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rUPRMgEACAAJ |access-date=9 October 2018 |title=Introduction to the Talmud and Midrash |first=Hermann Leberecht |last=Strack |year=1945 |publisher=Jewish Publication Society |pages=11–12 |quote=[The Oral Law] was handed down by word of mouth during a long period. ... The first attempts to write down the traditional matter, there is reason to believe, date from the first half of the second post-Christian century.}} Strack theorizes that the growth of a Christian canon (the New Testament) was a factor that influenced the Rabbis to record the oral law in writing.</ref><ref>The theory that the destruction of the Temple and subsequent upheaval led to the committing of Oral Law into writing was first explained in the Epistle of [[Sherira Gaon]] and often repeated. See, for example, Grayzel, ''A History of the Jews'', Penguin Books, 1984, p. 193.</ref> The possibility was felt that the details of the oral traditions of the [[Pharisees]] from the [[Second Temple period]] (530s BCE / 3230s AM – 70 CE/ 3830 AM) would be forgotten, so the justification was found to have these oral laws transcribed.<ref>{{cite book| title=The Iggeres of Rav Sherira Gaon |editor-first=Nosson Dovid |editor-last=Rabinowich |editor-link=Nosson Dovid Rabinowich |location=Jerusalem |date=1988 |oclc=20044324 |pages=28–29}} ([https://web.archive.org/web/20141105022916/http://cojs.org/cojswiki/index.php/Iggeret_Rav_Sherira_Gaon_1-2:_The_First_Generation_of_the_Tannaim html])</ref><ref>Though as shown below, there is some disagreement about whether the Mishnah was originally put in writing.</ref>

Over time, different traditions of the Oral Law came into being, raising problems of interpretation. According to the ''Mevo Hatalmud'',<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OV9jKGJzg3QC|access-date=February 1, 2019 |title=2000 Years of Jewish History: From the Destruction of the Second Bais Hamikdash Until the Twentieth Century |first=Chaim |last=Schloss |year=2002|publisher=Philipp Feldheim |page=68|quote=Despite the many secular demands on his time, Rabbeinu Shmuel authored a number of books. The most famous is the Mevo HaTalmud, an introduction to the study of the Talmud which clarifies the language and structure which can be so confusing to beginners. In addition, the Mevo HaTalmud describes the development of the Mishnah and the Gemara and lists the Tannaim and Amoraim who were instrumental in preparing the Talmud.|isbn=978-1583302149 }}</ref> many rulings were given in a specific context but would be taken out of it, or a verdict was revisited, but the second ruling would not become popularly known. To correct this, Judah the Prince took up the redaction of the Mishnah. If a point was of no conflict, he kept its language; where there was conflict, he reordered the opinions and ruled and clarified where context was not given. The idea was not to use his discretion but to examine the tradition as far back as he could and only supplement as required.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/why-the-mishnah-is-the-best-jewish-book-youve-never-read/|title=Why The Mishnah Is the Best Jewish Book You've Never Read|author=Lex Robeberg|publisher=myjewishlearning.com|access-date=February 2, 2019}}</ref>

===The Mishnah and the Hebrew Bible===
According to [[Rabbinic Judaism]], the Oral Torah ({{langx|he|תורה שבעל-פה}}) was [[Law given to Moses at Sinai|given to Moses at Sinai]] or [[Mount Horeb]] as an exposition to the [[Torah]]. The accumulated traditions of the Oral Law, expounded by scholars in each generation from Moses onward, are considered the necessary basis for the interpretation, and often for the reading, of the Written Law. Jews sometimes refer to this as the ''Masora'' ({{langx|he|מסורה}}), roughly translated as "tradition". However, that word is often used in a narrower sense to mean traditions concerning the editing and reading of the Biblical text (see [[Masoretic Text]]). The resulting Jewish law and custom is called [[halakha]].

While most discussions in the Mishnah concern the correct way to carry out laws recorded in the Torah, it usually presents its conclusions without explicitly linking them to any scriptural passage, though scriptural quotations do occur. For this reason it is arranged in order of topics rather than in the form of a Biblical commentary. (In a very few cases, there is no scriptural source at all and the law is described as ''Halakha leMoshe miSinai'', "law to Moses from Sinai".) The ''[[Midrash halakha]]'' presents similar laws in the form of a Biblical commentary and explicitly links its conclusions to details in the Biblical text. These Midrashim often predate the Mishnah.

The Mishnah also quotes the Torah for principles not associated with [[law]] but just as practical advice, even at times for humor or as guidance for understanding historical debates.

===Rejection===
Some Jews do not accept the codification of the oral law at all. [[Karaite Judaism]], for example, recognises only the Tanakh as [[religious text|authoritative]] in ''[[Halakha]]'' (Jewish [[religious law]]) and [[theology]]. It rejects the codification of the [[Oral Torah]] in the Mishnah and [[Talmud]] and subsequent works of mainstream [[Rabbinic Judaism]] which maintain that the Talmud is an authoritative interpretation of the [[Torah]]. Karaites maintain that all of the [[Mitzvah|divine commandments]] handed down to [[Moses]] by God were recorded in the written Torah without additional Oral Law or explanation. As a result, Karaite Jews do not accept as binding the written collections of the oral tradition in the Midrash or Talmud. The Karaites comprised a significant portion of the world Jewish population in the 10th and 11th centuries CE, and remain extant, although today their numbers have been reduced to around a mere 50,000.