Mish-NAH and Tal-MOOD
Mishnah is the kernal of Talmud, the main post-biblical Rabinnic writing. The Mishnah is a compilation of Jewish practice up until the end of the 2nd century. According to the Rabbis there were two Torahs delivered at Sinai. One to be written down (the Five Books of Moses) and one to be passed on orally. For in addition to the Five Books, the Rabbis conceived that Moses must have received extensive directions and explanations of the specific laws so that Moses passed on the Oral Torah to Joshua who then passed it on to the elders and so on.
Around 200 CE, Rabbi Y’hudah HaNasi assembled other Rabbis and they decided on the proper content of the Oral Torah and called it the Mishnah. For the next 300 years, Rabbinic academies discussed and debated the content of the Mishnah, and the result of their discussion was the Gemarah.
The Gemarah and the Mishnah put together equal the Talmud. The Talmud follows the format for the Mishnah. There are 6 Orders, more or less divided by subject. My friend Amichai Lau Lavie says that, “The Talmud is like your grandparents basement full of ancient boxes of ancient stuff, completely disorganized.”
4 Responses to “Mishnah and Talmud”
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Posted in Hebrew Vocabulary, Torah
February 28th, 2008 at 4:12 pm
[...] And I’m not just saying that, that’s an instruction directly from the Mishnah. [...]
February 28th, 2008 at 4:12 pm
[...] And I’m not just saying that, that’s an instruction directly from the Mishnah. [...]
February 28th, 2008 at 6:30 pm
[...] here for my version of it, “That’s How We Roll.” DID YOU KNOW that when reading the Megillah, the Talmud tells us to pronounce the names of the ten sons of Haman in one breath, indicating their [...]
February 28th, 2008 at 6:30 pm
[...] here for my version of it, “That’s How We Roll.” DID YOU KNOW that when reading the Megillah, the Talmud tells us to pronounce the names of the ten sons of Haman in one breath, indicating their [...]