Editing Mishnah (section)

===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.