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- The word
 "mishna is
from the root  which means
"to repeat time after time"; i.e. to read and re-read, and
from this we derive the method of study in those days.
- The is a series of books containing
discussion on sections of the Torah and Halachah (The Jewish
Law) by the rabbis of the
- the
 tana'im
(from the Aramaic root  - identical
to the root in Hebrew).
- It is not just a dry treatise on halachah, rather a rich source
of debate and halachic decision-making, some times clarifed
by short stories (aggadot) or moral tales (midrashim).
- The editor of the was Rabbi
Yehuda HaNasi, born in the year 135 C.E., the very day that
Rabbi Akiva was executed after the defeat of the Bar-Kochba
rebellion .
- He belonged to the last generation of the
mentioned in the , (165 to
200 C.E.), which places the final editing around the year
200 C.E.
- The is also called the Oral
Torah, that is to say "tradition", surrounding the written
Torah (the five books of the Moses)
- The importance of writing down of the Oral Torah, the "Tradition",
and the editing process should not be underestimated, as otherwise
it would be impossible to understand some of the commandments
set down in the Torah, since the written Torah contains commandments
without further explanations, for example:
"shalosh pe'amim bashshana yera'eh kol zekhurekha el peney
ha'adon..." (Three times in the year all thy males shall
appear before the Lord)(Ex. 23:17). This command is vague,
as all the details were not given in the Torah, e.g. what
to do or prepare at that place, these were well known because
year after year, each generation continued the tradition,
people knew how to observe Shabbat, how to perform marriage
ceremonies, what to do at a birth, -- at a death, and so on,
because this was contained in the Torah Be'al Peh (Oral Law).
- There are no differences of opinion about the Torah, in connection
with the Oral Torah there was (and still is) argument.
- Some of the debates among the Sages upto the year 200 C.E.,
can be found in the .
- According to the writings of Joseph ben-Mattiyahu
( ), there were in his time
three main streams within the Jewish people:
- Sadducees (
 ),
- Pharisees (
 )
- Essenes (
 ).
- There were differences of opinion within Judaism regarding
the status of the Oral Law within the religion, and there
is room for the assumption that precisely these differences
of opinion forced the Sages of that time to set down their
debates in writing and thus preserve the Halachah (Oral Law)
for coming generations.
- The would not follow the
of commandements based on the Oral Law, however following
the failure of the first rebellion, and later the second (between
the years 132 and 135 C.E.), both of which began as uprisings
against the regime, chracterized by Messianic zeal, the prestige
of the more pragmatic attitude of the
increased.
- Nevertheless, later in the eighth century with, the rise of
the Qaraite sect to Judaism through Hanan ben-David (762),
the status of the Oral Law was again thrown into doubt in
the making of Halachic (Jewish Law) decisions, at the hands
of the same new movement.
- Today's debate between the various streams of Judaism is based
on the same issues.
End of explanation of
Back to lesson six
The word  is from the rood  "LMD"
(learning).
After the closure of the the same
text became the basis for learning and discussion in greather
depth for subsequent generations in the land of Israel, in particular
in the academies of Tiberias, Caesaria, and Tzippori.
Likewise, in Babylon, in the cities of Nahardiya and Sura, and
later in Pumbadita, Torah scholars held discussions in a mixture
of Hebrew and Aramaic - on the topics featured in the
which required explanation or elaboration, as these were concise,
and not understood by later generations.
In these debates, use was made of "external" portions of the ,
for example the Baraita, which had not been incorporated in the
by its compiler Rabbi Yehuda HaNassi;
as well as of Midrashim (homilectic interpretations) togther with
various legends, and stories which help to explain and "enlighten"
Halachic decisions laws from the Bible and the .
The is a book of laws presented
in the form of debates and discussions, set out around the text
of the .
Two versions of the were produced:
the of the land of Israel (the
Jerusalem ) and the Babylonian
.
The sages of the are called Amora'im.
The Jerusalem was completed around
the year 450 C.E., while date for the Babylonian
was around 500 C.E..
In the Jerusalem , there is particular
elaboration on agricultural subjects and mitzvot (commandments)
pertaining to the Land of Israel which were, by their nature,
not topical in the Diaspora.
End of explanation of
Back to lesson six
pesikta rabbati
This is the name of a Midrash (see above) which discusses the
laws pertaining to Shabbat and the Festivals.
From quotations taken from other writings appearing in this work,
it is thought to date from somewhere in the second half of the
ninth century; according to Zuntz, it was apparently written in
Greece. (Zunz, "Gottesdienstliche Vortraege der Juden", Berlin
1832, pp. 239-251).
End of explanation of 
Back to lesson six
baraita
This Aramaic word means "external".
This work is a separate Mishna, ie. teachings not incorporated
in the of Rabbi Yehuda HaNassi.
Although this Mishna is considered less authorative, Sages of
the nevertheless, discussed its
contents, and sometimes based halachic decisions on it, particularly
in cases where the did not answer
their questions.
In the of Rabbi Yehuda HaNassi
there is little Midrashic or Aggadic material, while the Baraita
preserves more of this type of material.
It appears that most of the material from the Baraita was lost,
and only that which found its way into the
was preserved for future generations.
The exact reason for the mishnaic material contained in the Baraita
not having been included in the
of Rabbi Yehuda HaNassi has not yet been satisfactorily explained.
End of explanation of Baraita
Back to lesson six
hazal
 is an acronym formed by
the initials of the words 
"hakhamenu zikhronam liverakha" (our Sages,
may their memory be a blessing).
- The acronym
 refers to those
Rabbis and Sages of the
and the known as the Tanaim
and the Amoraim.
- were distinguished by their
knowlege of Torah but generally did earn their living
from all kinds of occupations such as blacksmith, farmer
or even gladiator.
The Sages in the time of the Mishna and the Talmud
End of explanation of
Back to lesson six
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Zionist Education
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