Mishnah
[1][2][3] The Mishnah was redacted by Judah ha-Nasi probably in Beit Shearim or Sepphoris[4] between the ending of the second century CE and the beginning of the third century[5][6] in a time when the persecution of Jews and the passage of time raised the possibility that the details of the oral traditions of the Pharisees from the Second Temple period (516 BCE – 70 CE) would be forgotten.
Nissim ben Jacob's Hakdamah Le'mafteach Hatalmud argued that it was unnecessary for "Judah the Prince" to discuss them as many of these laws were so well known.
Rabbinic commentary, debate and analysis on the Mishnah from the next four centuries, done in the Land of Israel and in Babylonia, were eventually redacted and compiled as well.
The Mishnah teaches the oral traditions by example, presenting 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, 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 destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE.
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.
[12] The earliest recorded oral law may have been of the midrashic form, in which halakhic discussion is structured as exegetical commentary on the Torah, with the oldest surviving written material dating to the 6th to 7th centuries CE.
[2][3][13] Rabbis expounded on and debated the Tanakh without the benefit of written works (other than the Biblical books themselves).
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.
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.
Karaite Judaism, for example, recognises only the Tanakh as authoritative in Halakha (Jewish religious law) and theology.
Karaites maintain that all of the 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.
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.
Authorities are divided on whether Rabbi Judah the Prince recorded the Mishnah in writing or established it as an oral text for memorisation.
However, the Talmud records that, in every study session, there was a person called the tanna appointed to recite the Mishnah passage under discussion.
The earliest extant material witness to rabbinic literature of any kind is dated to the 6th to 7th centuries CE, see Mosaic of Rehob.
Shmuel Safrai, Brill, 1987, ISBN 9004275134 The first printed edition of the Mishnah was published in Naples.
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 the Genizah, are partially annotated with Tiberian cantillation marks.
Otherwise, there is often a customary intonation used in the study of Mishnah or Talmud, somewhat similar to an Arabic mawwal, but this is not reduced to a precise system like that for the Biblical books.
The Albeck edition of the Mishnah was vocalized by Hanoch Yelon, who made careful eclectic use of both medieval manuscripts and current oral traditions of pronunciation from Jewish communities all over the world.
Two institutes at the Hebrew University in 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.
Yet, sketchy biographies of the Mishnaic sages can often be constructed with historical detail from Talmudic and Midrashic sources.
[33] Following Judah the Prince's redaction there remained a number of different versions of the Mishnah in circulation.
[35] As a result, numerous commentaries-proper on the Mishna have been written, typically intended to allow for the study of the work without requiring direct reference to (and facility for) the Gemara.
