Mishnah

Not to be confused withMishneh Torah,a much later book of Rabbinic literature byMaimonides.

TheMishnahor theMishna(/ˈmɪʃnə/;Hebrew:מִשְׁנָה,"study by repetition", from the verbshanahשנה‎, or "to study and review", also "secondary" ) is the first written collection of the Jewishoral traditionsthat are known as theOral Torah.It is also the first work ofrabbinic literature,with the oldest surviving material dating to the 6th to 7th centuries BCE.

The Mishnah wasredactedbyJudah ha-Nasiprobably inBeit ShearimorSepphorisbetween the ending of the second century CE and the beginning of the third centuryin a time when thepersecution of Jewsand the passage of time raised the possibility that the details of the oral traditions of thePhariseesfrom theSecond Temple period(516 BCE – 70 CE) would be forgotten.

Most of the Mishnah is written inMishnaic Hebrew,but some parts are inJewish Western Aramaic.

Six orders

See also:List of Talmudic tractates

The term "Mishnah"originally referred to a method of teaching by presenting topics in a systematic order, as contrasted withMidrash,which followed the order of the Bible. As a written compilation, the order of the Mishnah is by subject matter and includes a much broader selection ofhalakhicsubjects and discusses individual subjects more thoroughly than theMidrash.

The Mishnah consists of six orders (sedarim,singularsederסדר), each containing 7–12 tractates (masechtot,singularmasechetמסכת;lit. "web" ), 63 in total. Eachmasechetis divided into chapters (peraqim,singularpereq) and then paragraphs (mishnayot,singularmishnah). In this last context, the wordmishnahmeans a single paragraph of the work, i.e. the smallest unit of structure, leading to the use of the plural, "Mishnayot",for the whole work.

Because of the division into six orders, the Mishnah is sometimes calledShas(anacronymforShisha Sedarim– the "six orders" ), although that term is more often used for the Talmud as a whole.

The six orders are:

• Zeraim( "Seeds" ), dealing with prayer and blessings, tithes and agricultural laws (11 tractates)
• Moed( "Festival" ), pertaining to the laws of the Sabbath and the Festivals (12 tractates)
• Nashim( "Women" ), concerning marriage and divorce, some forms of oaths and the laws of the nazirite (7 tractates)
• Nezikin( "Damages" ), dealing with civil and criminal law, the functioning of the courts and oaths (10 tractates)
• Kodashim( "Holy things" ), regarding sacrificial rites, theTemple,and thedietary laws(11 tractates) and
• Tohorot( "Purities" ), pertaining to the laws of purity and impurity, including the impurity of the dead, food purity, and bodily purity (12 tractates).

Theacronym"Z'MaN NaKaT" is a popularmnemonicfor these orders.In each order (with the exception of Zeraim), tractates are arranged from biggest (in number of chapters) to smallest.

TheBabylonian Talmud(Hagiga 14a) states that there were either six hundred or seven hundred orders of the Mishnah. The Mishnah was divided into six thematic sections by its author, Judah HaNasi.There is also a tradition thatEzrathe scribe dictated from memory not only the 24 books of theTanakhbut 60 esoteric books. It is not known whether this is a reference to the Mishnah, but there is a case for saying that the Mishnah does consist of 60 tractates. (The current total is 63, butMakkotwas originally part ofSanhedrin,andBava Kamma(literally: "First Portal" ),Bava Metzia( "Middle Portal" ) andBava Batra( "Final Portal" ) are often regarded as subdivisions of one enormous tractate, titled simply Nezikin.)

Omissions

A number of important laws are not elaborated upon in the Mishnah. These include the laws oftzitzit,tefillin(phylacteries),mezuzot,the holiday ofHanukkah,and the laws ofconversion to Judaism.These were later discussed in theminor tractates.

Nissim ben Jacob'sHakdamah Le'mafteach Hatalmudargued 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 wasredactedafter theBar Kokhba revolt,Judah could not have included discussion of Hanukkah, which commemorates the Jewish revolt against theSeleucid 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; asconversion to Judaismwas against Roman law, Judah would not have discussed this.

David Zvi Hoffmannsuggests that there existed ancient texts analogous to the present-dayShulchan Aruchthat discussed the basic laws of day to day living and it was therefore not necessary to focus on these laws in the Mishnah.

Mishnah, Gemara, and Talmud

Rabbinic commentary, debate and analysis on the Mishnah from the next four centuries, done in theLand of Israeland inBabylonia,were eventually redacted and compiled as well. In themselves they are known asGemara.The books which set out the Mishnah in its original structure, together with the associatedGemara,are known asTalmuds.Two Talmuds were compiled, theBabylonian Talmud(to which the term "Talmud" normally refers) and theJerusalem Talmud,with the oldest surviving Talmudic manuscripts dating to the 8th century CE.Unlike the Hebrew Mishnah, theGemarais written primarily in Aramaic.

Content and purpose

Mishna study,Pinsk1924

The Mishnah teaches the oral traditions by example, presentingactual casesbeing brought to judgment, usually along with (i) thedebateon the matter, and (ii) the judgment that was given by a notable rabbi based onhalakha,mitzvot,and spirit of the teaching ( "Torah" ) that guided his decision.

In this way, the Mishnah brings to everyday reality the practice of the613 Commandmentspresented 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 thedestruction of the Second Templein70 CE.The Mishnah is thus a collection of existing traditions rather than new law.

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.The earliest recorded oral law may have been of themidrashicform, in whichhalakhicdiscussion is structured asexegeticalcommentary on theTorah,with the oldest surviving material dating to the 6th to 7th centuries CE.Rabbis expounded on and debated the Tanakh without the benefit of written works (other than the Biblical books themselves), though some may have made private notes (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 theHouse of Shammaiand theHouse of Hillel.

After theFirst Jewish–Roman Warin 70 CE, with the end of theSecond TempleJewish center in Jerusalem, Jewish social and legal norms were in upheaval. The Rabbis were faced with the new reality of Judaism without a Temple (to serve as the center of teaching and study) and Judea without autonomy. It is during this period that Rabbinic discourse began to be recorded in writing.The possibility was felt that the details of the oral traditions of thePhariseesfrom theSecond Temple period(530s BCE / 3230s AM – 70 CE/ 3830 AM) would be forgotten, so the justification was found to have these oral laws transcribed.

Over time, different traditions of the Oral Law came into being, raising problems of interpretation. According to theMevo Hatalmud,many rulings were given in a specific context but would be taken out of it, or a ruling 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 he clarified where context was not given. The idea was not to use his discretion, but rather to examine the tradition as far back as he could, and only supplement as required.

The Mishnah and the Hebrew Bible

According toRabbinic Judaism,the Oral Torah (Hebrew:תורה שבעל-פה) was given to Moses with theTorahatMount SinaiorMount Horebas an exposition to the latter. The accumulated traditions of the Oral Law, expounded by scholars in each generation from Moses onward, is considered as the necessary basis for the interpretation, and often for the reading, of the Written Law. Jews sometimes refer to this as the Masorah (Hebrew:מסורה), roughly translated as tradition, though that word is often used in a narrower sense to mean traditions concerning the editing and reading of the Biblical text (seeMasoretic Text). The resulting Jewish law and custom is calledhalakha.

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 asHalakha leMoshe miSinai,"law to Moses from Sinai".) TheMidrash halakha,by contrast, while presenting similar laws, does so 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 withlaw,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 asauthoritativeinHalakha(Jewishreligious law) andtheology.It rejects the codification of theOral Torahin the Mishnah andTalmudand subsequent works of mainstreamRabbinic Judaismwhich maintain that the Talmud is an authoritative interpretation of theTorah.Karaites maintain that all of thedivine commandmentshanded down toMosesby 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 they currently number in the thousands.

Authorship

Main article:Tannaim

The rabbis who contributed to the Mishnah are known as theTannaim,of whom approximately 120 are known. The period during which the Mishnah was assembled spanned about 130 years, or five generations, in the first and second centuries CE.Judah ha-Nasiis credited with the final redaction and publication of the Mishnah,although there have been a few additions since his time:those passages that cite him or his grandson (Judah II), and the end oftractate Sotah(which refers to the period after Judah's death). In addition to redacting the Mishnah, Judah and his court also ruled on which opinions should be followed, although the rulings do not always appear in the text.

Most of the Mishnah is related withoutattribution(stam). This usually indicates that many sages taught so, or that Judah the Prince ruled so. The halakhic ruling usually follows that view. Sometimes, however, it appears to be the opinion of a single sage, and the view of the sages collectively (Hebrew:חכמים,hachamim) is given separately.

As Judah the Prince went through the tractates, the Mishnah was set forth, but throughout his life some parts were updated as new information came to light. Because of the proliferation of earlier versions, it was deemed too hard to retract anything already released, and therefore a second version of certain laws were released. TheTalmudrefers to these differing versions asMishnah Rishonah( "First Mishnah" ) andMishnah Acharonah( "Last Mishnah" ).David Zvi Hoffmannsuggests thatMishnah Rishonahactually refers to texts from earlier Sages upon which Rebbi based his Mishnah.

The Talmud records a tradition that unattributed statements of the law represent the views ofRabbi Meir(Sanhedrin 86a), which supports the theory (recorded bySherira Gaonin his famousIggeret) that he was the author of an earlier collection. For this reason, the few passages that actually say "this is the view of Rabbi Meir" represent cases where the author intended to present Rabbi Meir's view as a "minority opinion" not representing the accepted law.

There are also references to the "Mishnah ofRabbi Akiva",suggesting a still earlier collection;on the other hand, these references may simply mean his teachings in general. Another possibility is that Rabbi Akiva and Rabbi Meir established the divisions and order of subjects in the Mishnah, making them the authors of a school curriculum rather than of a book.

Authorities are divided on whether Rabbi Judah the Prince recorded the Mishnah in writing or established it as an oral text for memorisation. The most important early account of its composition, theIggeret Rav Sherira Gaon(Epistle of Rabbi Sherira Gaon) is ambiguous on the point, although the Spanish recension leans to the theory that the Mishnah was written. However, the Talmud records that, in every study session, there was a person called thetannaappointed to recite the Mishnah passage under discussion. This may indicate that, even if the Mishnah was reduced to writing, it was not available on general distribution.

Mishnah studies

Textual variants

Very roughly, there are two traditions of Mishnah text. One is found in manuscripts and printed editions of the Mishnah on its own, or as part of theJerusalem Talmud.The other is found in manuscripts and editions of the BabylonianTalmud;though there is sometimes a difference between the text of a whole paragraph printed at the beginning of a discussion (which may be edited to conform with the text of the Mishnah-only editions) and the line-by-line citations in the course of the discussion.

Robert Brody, in hisMishna and Tosefta Studies(Jerusalem 2014), warns against over-simplifying the picture by assuming that the Mishnah-only tradition is always the more authentic, or that it represents a "Palestinian" as against a "Babylonian" tradition. Manuscripts from theCairo Geniza,or citations in other works, may support either type of reading or other readings altogether.

Manuscripts

Complete manuscripts (mss.)bolded. The earliest extant material witness to rabbinic literature of any kind is dating to the 6th–7th centuries CE, seeMosaic of Rehob.

Usual name	Formal designation	Place written	Period written	Description
Kaufmann	Hungarian Academy of SciencesLibraryKaufmann ms. A50	Prob. Palestine	10th, possibly 11th C.	It is considered the best manuscript and forms the base text of all critical editions. Vocalization is by a different, later hand.
Parma	Biblioteca Palatinams. Parm. 3173	Palestine or Southern Italy, which in any case it reached soon after being written down	Script shows strong similarities toCodex Hebr. Vaticanus 31,securely dated to 1073	The Parma ms. is close to the Kaufmann ms. palaeographically but not textually. Text is closest to the Mishnah quotations given in theLeiden Palestinian Talmud.
Cambridge / Lowe	Cambridge University Libraryms. Add. 470 (II)	Sepharadic	14–15th C.	A very careless copy, it is nonetheless useful where the Kaufmann text is corrupt.
Parma B		North Africa	12–13th C.	Toharotonly. Unlike all of the above mss., the vocalization and consonant text are probably by the same hand, which makes it the oldest vocalization of part of the Mishnah known.
Yemenite ms.	National Library of Israelquarto 1336	Yemen	17–18th C.	NezikintoToharot.The consonant text is dependent on early printed editions. The value of this ms. lies exclusively in the vocalization.

The Literature of the Jewish People in the Period of the Second Temple and the Talmud, Volume 3 The Literature of the Sages: First Part: Oral Tora, Halakha, Mishna, Tosefta, Talmud, External Tractates.Compendia Rerum Iudaicarum ad Novum Testamentum,Ed. Shmuel Safrai, Brill, 1987,ISBN9004275134

Printed editions

The first printed edition of the Mishnah was published inNaples.There have been many subsequent editions, including the late 19th centuryVilnaedition, which is the basis of the editions now used by the religious public.

Vocalized editions were published in Italy, culminating in the edition ofDavid ben Solomon Altaras,publ. Venice 1737. The Altaras edition was republished inMantuain 1777, inPisain 1797 and 1810 and inLivornoin many editions from 1823 until 1936: reprints of the vocalized Livorno editions were published in Israel in 1913, 1962, 1968 and 1976. These editions show some textual variants by bracketing doubtful words and passages, though they do not attempt detailed textual criticism. The Livorno editions are the basis of the Sephardic tradition for recitation.

As well as being printed on its own, the Mishnah is included in all editions of the Babylonian and Jerusalem Talmuds. Each paragraph is printed on its own, and followed by the relevant Gemara discussion. However, that discussion itself often cites the Mishnah line by line. While the text printed in paragraph form has generally been standardized to follow the Vilna edition, the text cited line by line in the Gemara often preserves important variants, which sometimes reflect the readings of older manuscripts.

The nearest approach to a critical edition is that ofHanoch Albeck.There is also an edition byYosef Qafiḥof the Mishnah together with the commentary ofMaimonides,which compares the base text used by Maimonides with the Napoli andVilnaeditions and other sources.

Oral traditions and pronunciation

The Mishnah was and still is traditionally studied throughrecitation(out loud). Jewish communities around the world preserved local melodies for chanting the Mishnah, and distinctive ways of pronouncing its words.

Many medieval manuscripts of the Mishnah are vowelized, and some of these, especially some fragments found in theGenizah,are partially annotated withTiberiancantillationmarks.

Today, many communities have a special tune for the Mishnaic passage "Bammeh madliqin" in theFriday night service;there may also be tunes for Mishnaic passages in other parts of the liturgy, such as the passages in the daily prayers relating to sacrifices and incense and the paragraphs recited at the end of theMusafservice onShabbat.Otherwise, there is often a customary intonation used in the study of Mishnah or Talmud, somewhat similar to an Arabicmawwal,but this is not reduced to a precise system like that for the Biblical books. (In some traditions this intonation is the same as or similar to that used for thePassoverHaggadah.) Recordings have been made for Israeli national archives, and Frank Alvarez-Pereyre has published a book-length study of the Syrian tradition of Mishnah reading on the basis of these recordings.

Most vowelized editions of the Mishnah today reflect standardAshkenazicvowelization, and often contain mistakes. The Albeck edition of the Mishnah was vocalized byHanoch Yelon,who made careful eclectic use of both medieval manuscripts and current oral traditions of pronunciation from Jewish communities all over the world. The Albeck edition includes an introduction by Yelon detailing his eclectic method.

Two institutes at theHebrew Universityin Jerusalem have collected major oral archives which hold extensive recordings of Jews chanting the Mishnah using a variety of melodies and many different kinds of pronunciation.These institutes are the Jewish Oral Traditions Research Center and the National Voice Archives (thePhonotecaat the Jewish National and University Library). See below for external links.

As a historical source

Both the Mishnah and Talmud contain little serious biographical studies of the people discussed therein, and the same tractate will conflate the points of view of many different people. Yet, sketchy biographies of the Mishnaic sages can often be constructed with historical detail from Talmudic andMidrashicsources.

According to the Encyclopaedia Judaica (Second Edition), it is accepted that Judah the Prince added, deleted, and rewrote his source material during the process of redacting the Mishnah between the ending of the second century and the beginning of the 3rd century CE.Modern authors who have provided examples of these changes include J.N. Epstein and S. Friedman.

Following Judah the Prince's redaction there remained a number of different versions of the Mishnah in circulation. The Mishnah used in the Babylonian rabbinic community differing markedly from that used in the Palestinian one. Indeed within these rabbinic communities themselves there are indications of different versions being used for study. These differences are shown in divergent citations of individual Mishnah passages in the Talmud Yerushalmi and the Talmud Bavli, and in variances of medieval manuscripts and early editions of the Mishnah. The best known examples of these differences is found in J.N.Epstein's Introduction to the Text of the Mishnah (1948).

Epstein has also concluded that the period of the Amoraim was one of further deliberate changes to the text of the Mishnah, which he views as attempts to return the text to what was regarded as its original form. These lessened over time, as the text of the Mishnah became more and more regarded as authoritative.

Many modern historical scholars have focused on the timing and the formation of the Mishnah. A vital question is whether it is composed of sources which date from its editor's lifetime, and to what extent is it composed of earlier, or later sources. Are Mishnaic disputes distinguishable along theological or communal lines, and in what ways do different sections derive from different schools of thought within early Judaism? Can these early sources be identified, and if so, how? In response to these questions, modern scholars have adopted a number of different approaches.

• Some scholars hold that there has been extensive editorial reshaping of the stories and statements within the Mishnah (and later, in the Talmud.) Lacking outside confirming texts, they hold that we cannot confirm the origin or date of most statements and laws, and that we can say little for certain about their authorship. In this view, the questions above are impossible to answer. See, for example, the works ofLouis Jacobs,Baruch M. Bokser,Shaye J. D. Cohen,Steven D. Fraade.
• Some scholars hold that the Mishnah and Talmud have been extensively shaped by later editorial redaction, but that it contains sources which we can identify and describe with some level of reliability. In this view, sources can be identified to some extent because each era of history and each distinct geographical region has its own unique feature, which one can trace and analyze. Thus, the questions above may be analyzed. See, for example, the works of Goodblatt, Lee Levine, David C. Kraemer and Robert Goldenberg.
• Some scholars hold that many or most of the statements and events described in the Mishnah and Talmud usually occurred more or less as described, and that they can be used as serious sources of historical study. In this view, historians do attempt to tease out later editorial additions leaving behind a possible historical text. See, for example, the works ofSaul Lieberman,David Weiss Halivni,Avraham Goldberg and Dov Zlotnick.

Commentaries

Rambam's Mishnah Commentary in Judeo-Arabic

BartenuraMishna commentary

Title page of the Mishna with theTosefet Yom Tov

Gemarastudents using theMishnah Sdurato note their summary of eachsugyaalongside its Mishnah

The main work discussing the Mishnah is the Talmud,as outlined. However, the Talmud is not usually viewed as a commentary on the Mishnahper se,because: the Talmud also has many other goals; its analysis — "Gemara"— often entails long, tangential discussions; and neither version of the Talmud covers the entire Mishnah (each covers about 50–70% of the text).As a result, numerouscommentaries-properon the Mishna have been written, typically intended to allow for the study of the work without requiring direct reference to (and facility for) theGemara.

Mishnah study, independent of the Talmud, was a marginal phenomenon before the late 15th century. The few commentaries that had been published tended to be limited to the tractates not covered by the Talmud, while Maimonides' commentary was written in Judeo-Arabic and thus inaccessible to many Jewish communities. Dedicated Mishnah study grew vastly in popularity beginning in the late 16th century, due to thekabbalisticemphasis on Mishnah study and as a reaction against the methods ofpilpul;it was aided by the spread of Bertinoro's accessible Hebrew Mishnah commentary around this time.

List of commentaries

Commentaries byRishonim:

• In 1168,Maimonides(Rambam) publishedKitab as-Siraj(The Book of the Lantern,Arabic:كتاب السراج) a comprehensive commentary on the Mishnah. It was written in Arabic using Hebrew letters (what is termedJudeo-Arabic) and was one of the first commentaries of its kind. In it, Rambam condensed the associatedTalmudical debates,and offered hisconclusionsin a number of undecided issues. Of particular significance are the various introductory sections – as well as the introduction to the work itself– these are widely quoted in other works on the Mishnah, and on theOral lawin general. Perhaps the most famous is his introduction to the tenth chapter of tractate Sanhedrinwhere he enumerates thethirteen fundamental beliefsofJudaism.
• RabbiSamson of Sens( "the Rash" ) was, apart from Maimonides, one of the few rabbis of the early medieval era to compose a Mishnah commentary on some tractates. It is printed in many editions of the Mishnah. It is interwoven with his commentary on major parts of the Tosefta.
• Asher ben Jehiel(Rosh)'s commentary on some tractates
• Menachem Meiri's commentary on most of the Mishnah,Beit HaBechirah,providing a digest of the Talmudic-discussion and Rishonim there
• An 11th-century CE commentary of the Mishnah, composed by RabbiNathan ben Abraham,President of the Academy inEretz Israel.This relatively unknown commentary was first printed in Israel in 1955.
• A 12th-century Italian commentary of the Mishnah, made by RabbiIsaac ben Melchizedek(onlySeder Zera'imis known to have survived)

Prominent commentaries by earlyAcharonim:

• RabbiObadiah ben AbrahamofBertinoro(15th century) wrote one of the most popular Mishnah commentaries. He draws on Maimonides' work but also offers Talmudical material (in effect a summary of theTalmudic discussion) largely following the commentary ofRashi.In addition to its role as a Mishnah commentary, this work is often used by students of Talmud as a review-text and is often referred to as "theBartenura"or" theRa'V".
• Yomtov Lipman Hellerwrote a commentary calledTosefet Yom Tov.In the introduction Heller says that his aim is to add a supplement (tosefet) to Bertinoro's commentary in the style of theTosafot.The glosses are sometimes quite detailed and analytic. In many compact Mishnah printings, a condensed version of his commentary, titledIkar Tosefot Yom Tov,is featured.

Other commentaries by early Acharonim:

• Melechet Shlomo(Solomon Adeni;early 17th century)
• Kav veNaki(Amsterdam 1697) byR. Elisha en Avraham,a brief commentary on the entire Mishnah drawing from "theBartenura",reprinted 20 times since its publication
• Hon AshirbyImmanuel Hai Ricchi(Amsterdam 1731)
• TheVilna Gaon(Shenot Eliyahuon parts of the Mishnah, and glossesEliyaho Rabba,Chidushei HaGra,Meoros HaGra)

19th century:

• A (the) prominent commentary here isTiferet Yisraelby RabbiIsrael Lipschitz.It is subdivided into two parts, one more general and the other more analytical, titledYachinandBoazrespectively (after two large pillars in theTemple in Jerusalem). Although Rabbi Lipschutz has faced some controversy in certain Hasidic circles, he was greatly respected by such sages as RabbiAkiva Eiger,whom he frequently cites, and is widely accepted in theYeshivaworld. TheTiferet Yaakovis an important gloss on theTiferet Yisrael.
• Others from this time include:
  • RabbiAkiva Eiger(glosses, rather than a commentary)
  • Mishnah RishonahonZeraimand theMishnah AcharonahonTohorot(Rav Efrayim Yitzchok from Premishla)
  • Sidrei TohorotonKelimandOholot(the commentary on the rest ofTohorotand onEduyotis lost) byGershon Henoch Leiner,the Radziner Rebbe
  • Gulot IliyotonMikvaot,by Rav Dov Ber Lifshitz
  • Ahavat Eitanby Rav Avrohom Abba Krenitz (the great grandfather of RavMalkiel Kotler)
  • Chazon IshonZeraimandTohorot

20th century:

• Hayim Nahman Bialik's commentary to SederZeraimwith vocalization (partially availablehere) in 1930 was one of the first attempts to create a modern commentary on Mishnah.His decision to use the Vilna text (as opposed to a modern scholarly edition), and to write an introduction to every tractate describing its content and the relevant biblical material, influencedHanoch Albeck,whose project was considered a continuation and expansion of Bialik's.
• Hanoch Albeck's edition (1952–59) (vocalized byHanoch Yelon), includes Albeck's extensive commentary on each Mishnah, as well as introductions to each tractate (Masekhet) and order (Seder). This commentary tends to focus on the meaning of the mishnayot themselves, with less reliance on the Gemara's interpretation and is, therefore, considered valuable as a tool for the study of Mishnah as an independent work. Especially important are the scholarly notes in the back of the commentary.
• Symcha Petrushka's commentary was written inYiddishin 1945 (published in Montreal).Its vocalization is supposed to be of high quality.
• The commentary by RabbiPinhas Kehati,which uses the Albeck text of the Mishnah, is written inModern Israeli Hebrewand based on classical and contemporary works, has become popular in the late 20th century. The commentary is designed to make the Mishnah accessible to a wide readership. Each tractate is introduced with an overview of its contents, including historical and legal background material, and each Mishnah is prefaced by a thematic introduction. The current version of this edition is printed with the Bartenura commentary as well as Kehati's.
• The encyclopedic editions put out byMishnat Rav Aharon(Beis Medrosho Govoah,Lakewood) onPeah,Sheviit,Challah,andYadayim.
• RabbiYehuda Leib Ginsburgwrote a commentary on ethical issues,Musar HaMishnah.The commentary appears for the entire text except forTohorotandKodashim.
• Shmuel Safrai,Chana Safrai andZe'ev Safraihave half completed a 45 volume socio-historic commentary "Mishnat Eretz Yisrael".
• Mishnah Sdura,a format specially designed so as to facilitate recital and memorization, published by Rabbi E. Dordek in 1992. The layout is such that an entire chapter and its structure is readily visible, with each Mishnah, in turn, displayed in its component parts using line breaks (click on above image to view); includes tables summarizing each tractate, and theKav veNakicommentary.
• ArtScroll's "Elucidated Mishnah", a phrase-by-phrase translation and elucidation based on the Bertinoro - following the format of theSchottenstein Edition Talmud.Its "Yad Avraham" commentary comprises supplementary explanations and notes, drawing on the Gemara and the other Mishnah commentaries and cross referencing theShulchan Aruchas applicable. The work also includes a general introduction to each tractate. TheModern Hebrew(Ryzman) edition includes all these features.

Cultural references

A notable literary work on the composition of the Mishnah isMilton Steinberg's novelAs a Driven Leaf.

See also

• Baraita
• Jewish commentaries on the Bible
• List of tractates, chapters, mishnahs and pages in the Talmud
• Mishnah Yomis– daily cycle of Mishna studying
• Mishneh Torah
• Tosefta

References

English translations

• Shaye J. D. Cohen, Robert Goldenberg, Hayim Lapin (eds.),The Oxford Annotated Mishnah: A New Translation of the Mishnah With Introductions and Notes,New York, Oxford University Press, 2022.
• Philip Blackman.Mishnayoth.The Judaica Press, Ltd., reprinted 2000 (ISBN978-0-910818-00-1). OnlinePDFatHebrewBooks:Zeraim,Moed,Nashim,Nezikin,Kodashim,Tehorot.
• Herbert Danby.The Mishnah.Oxford, 1933 (ISBN0-19-815402-X).
• Jacob Neusner.The Mishnah: A New Translation.New Haven, reprint 1991 (ISBN0-300-05022-4).
• Isidore Epstein(ed.).Soncino Talmud.London, 1935-1952. Includes Mishnah-translations for those tractates without Gemara.
• Various editors.The Mishnah, a new translation with commentary Yad Avraham.New York:Mesorah Publications,since the 1990s. (ArtScrollmentionedabove)
• Yoseph Milstein,et al.The Mishnah, a new integrated translation and commentary based on Rabbeinu Ovadiah M'Bartenurah,Machon Yisrael Trust, available online ateMishnah(archived).
• Various editors.Sefariafull text of the Mishnah with various open-source English translations.

Historical study

• Shalom Carmy (Ed.)Modern Scholarship in the Study of Torah: Contributions and LimitationsJason Aronson, Inc.
• Shaye J.D. Cohen, "Patriarchs and Scholarchs", Proceedings of the American Academy for Jewish Research 48 (1981), pp. 57–87
• Steven D. Fraade, "The Early Rabbinic Sage," inThe Sage in Israel and the Ancient Near East,ed. John G. Gammie and Leo G. Perdue (Winona Lake, Indiana: Eisenbrauns, 1990), pp. 417–23
• Robert GoldenbergThe Sabbath-Law of Rabbi Meir(Missoula, Montana: Scholars Press, 1978)
• John W McGinley'The Written' as the Vocation of Conceiving JewishlyISBN0-595-40488-X
• Jacob NeusnerMaking the Classics in Judaism(Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1989), pp. 1–13 and 19–44
• Jacob NeusnerJudaism: The Evidence of the Mishnah(Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1981), pp. 14–22.
• Gary Porton,The Traditions of Rabbi Ishmael(Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1982), vol. 4, pp. 212–25
• Dov Zlotnick,The Iron Pillar Mishnah(Jerusalem: Bialik Institute, 1988), pp. 8–9
• Reuvain Margolies,Yesod Ha-Mishnah V'Arichatah(Heb.)
• David Tzvi Hoffman,Mishnah Rishonah U'flugta D'tanna'e(Heb)
• Hanokh Yalon,Mavo le-nikud ha-Mishnah[Introduction to the vocalization of the Mishnah] (Jerusalem 1964) (Heb)
• Robert Brody,Mishna and Tosefta Studies(Jerusalem 2014)

Recitation

• Frank Alvarez-Pereyre,La Transmission Orale de la Mishna. Une methode d'analyse appliquee a la tradition d'Alep:Jerusalem 1990

External links

Wikimedia projects

• Media related toMishnahat Wikimedia Commons
• Works related toMishnahat Wikisource
• HebrewWikisourcehas original text related to this article:משנה
• Wikisource'sOpen Mishna Projectis developing Mishnah texts, commentaries, and translations. The project is currently available in four languages:Hebrew(the largest collection),English,FrenchandPortuguese.

Digitised manuscripts

• Complete Mishnah manuscript (15th century CE), Cambridge Digital Library

Other electronic texts

• Mishnah.orgLearn the entire Mishnah online in Hebrew with English translation, and create Smart Mishnah Charts for Shloshim and Yahrzeit learning.
• Learn Mishna in Someone's Memory– Create a Shloshim Mishnah list online.
• Mechon Mamre(Hebrew) – Hebrew text of the Mishnah according to Maimonides' version (based on the manuscript of his Mishnah commentary in his own handwriting).
• The Structured Mishnah– Hebrew text according to the Albeck edition (without vowels) with special formatting.
• Online Treasury of Talmudic Manuscripts, Jewish National and University Libraryin Hebrew.
• Codex Kaufmann of the Mishnah– High resolution images of this important textual witness.
• eMishnah– English Translation & Commentary.
• Mishnah (Hebrew & English)– English text as translated in The William Davidson edition of the Koren Noé Talmud, with commentary by Rabbi Adin Even-Israel Steinsaltz.

Mishnah study and the daily Mishnah

• Ahrend, Aaron (2004)."לימוד משנה וחברות משנה בעת החדשה"[Mishna Study and Study Groups in Modern Times](PDF).JSIJ – Jewish Studies, an Internet Journal(in Hebrew).3.
• Mishna Yomitat theWayback Machine(archived 10 October 2011) – One Mishnah per day. (Note: this study-cycle follows a different schedule than the regular one; contains extensive archives in English).
• Mishnah Yomit– MishnahYomit hosts a weekly publication complementing the learning of people studying the regular program. It include articles, review questions and learning aids.
• Kehati Mishnaat theWayback Machine(archived June 25, 2003) – A program of two Mishnayot per day. Currently inactive, but archives contain the complete text of Kehati in English for Moed, Nashim, Nezikin, and about half of Kodashim.
• Daf Yomi Reviewat theWayback Machine(archived 29 August 2018) – Custom learning and review programs for Mishnah.
• MishnaSdura– Popular edition of Hebrew text (with vowels), used in many schools, formatted to encourage review and aid memory. Tables summarizing content. Mishna songs and recordings. Wiki article in HebrewMishna Sdura
• Perek HaYomi(Hebrew) – Host to Shiurim, and learning and review according to the Perek HaYomi in Mishna instituted by the Maharal.
• 2 Mishnas A Day– A program of learning two mishnayos every day. Site include Hebrew and English together with a link for audio for each day.

Audio lectures

• Rav Avraham Kosman – Slabodkaon the Mishnah and Talmud in English – Produced in Israel
• Mishna Audio– given by Rabbi Chaim Brown in English
• Rav Grossman on the Mishnain English produced in Los Angeles
• Download all 6 tractates of Mishnah for Free on TorahDownloads
• The "Master Torah" Mishnah Ba'al Peh Programby Rabbi Meir Pogrow

Oral traditions and pronunciation

• The National Sound Archivesat the Hebrew University (catalogue not currently online).
• Tradition and Relevance– Recordings of Seder Zera'im in Syrian tradition