Mishná

Mishnah, often called the core text of the Oral Torah, is the first major written codification of Jewish laws and traditions. Traditionally attributed to Rabbi Judah the Prince (Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi), it is dated to the late 2nd or early 3rd century CE. The Mishnah was compiled to preserve the living legal and interpretive traditions that had been transmitted orally across generations, consolidating them in a fixed form.

The work is organized into six orders (sedarim), containing about 63 tractates in standard editions. The six orders are Zeraim (Seeds), Moed (Festivals), Nashim (Women), Nezikin (Damages), Kodashim (Holy Things), and Taharot (Purities). Within these are hundreds of chapters and numerous legal rulings, procedures, and debates. While primarily legal in character, the Mishnah also preserves some ethical, narrative, and theological material. The language is Mishnaic Hebrew with notable Aramaic terms and phrases; the term Mishnah itself means “repetition,” “study,” or “teaching.”

The Mishnah serves as the foundational text for Rabbinic Judaism’s legal discourse. It provides the foundational material for the Gemara, which, together with the Mishnah, forms the Talmud. The Babylonian Talmud and the Jerusalem Talmud analyze and expand upon its rulings, often presenting different opinions. Today, the Mishnah remains central to Jewish study and law, studied in yeshivot and communities worldwide, and it has a wide array of commentaries and translations that illuminate its legal principles and historical development. It is regarded as a key source of Halakha (Jewish law), as well as a window into early Rabbinic thought and practice.