What is Mishnah?משנה
The Mishnah is the earliest written compilation of the Jewish Oral Law, redacted by Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi around 200 CE and organised into six orders.
Also written: Mishna, Mishnayos, Mishnayot, Mishnaios
Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi compiled it around 200 CE. Its six orders — Zeraim, Moed, Nashim, Nezikin, Kodashim, and Taharos — cover agriculture, festivals, family law, civil and criminal law, the Temple service, and ritual purity, and together hold 63 tractates. Those six orders are the 'shisha sidrei' behind the acronym Shas.
Mishnayos are commonly studied and sold separately from the Talmud, often in compact sets with a commentary such as Bartenura or Kehati. These are among the most common gift and memorial purchases, since completing mishnayos is a traditional way to mark a yahrzeit.
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Sources
- Judah ha-Nasi — compiled the Mishnah around 200 CE
- Mishnah (Sefaria) — the six orders and their 63 tractates, in full text
Related terms
- Gemara — The Gemara is the component of the Talmud that records the rabbinic analysis and debate of the Mishnah; Mishnah and Gemara together make up the Talmud.
- Shas — Shas is the complete Talmud — an acronym for Shisha Sidrei Mishnah, the six orders of the Mishnah — usually sold as a multi-volume bound set.
- Meforshim — Meforshim are the classical commentaries on Jewish texts and the commentators behind them — individual authors such as Rashi, Ramban, and Ibn Ezra, and collective works such as Tosafos.