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In vowelized Hebrew. (26), 190,(1); 242. 201 (2).; (2), 4.264. (2), 316, (2) pages. 145 x 95 x 60 cm. (5.75 x 3.5 inches). One leaf, see image here, has a printer's flaw, but no loss of text. The Mishnah (Mishna) "study by repetition", from the verb shanah or "to study and review", also "secondary") is the first major written collection of the Jewish oral traditions known as the "Oral Torah.? It is also the first major work of Rabbinic literature. The Mishnah was redacted by Yehuda HaNasi (Judah the Prince) at the beginning of the third century CE in a time when, according to the Talmud, the persecution of the Jews and the passage of time raised the possibility that the details of the oral traditions of the Pharisees from the Second Temple period (536 BCE - 70 CE) would be forgotten. Most of the Mishnah is written in Mishnaic Hebrew, while some parts are in Aramaic. The Mishnah consists of six orders (sedarim), each containing 7-12 tractates (masechtot, singular masechet), 63 in total, and further subdivided into chapters and paragraphs. The word Mishnah can also indicate a single paragraph of the work, i.e. the smallest unit of structure in the Mishnah. For this reason the whole work is sometimes called in the plural, Mishnayot. The term "Mishnah" originally referred to a method of teaching by presenting topics in a systematic order, as contrasted with Midrash, 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 of halakhic subjects, and discusses individual subjects more thoroughly, than the Midrash. Because of the division into six orders, the Mishnah is sometimes called 'Shas' (an acronym for Shisha Sedarim - the "six orders"), though 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, the Temple, and the dietary laws (11 tractates) Tohorot ("Purities"), pertaining to the laws of purity and impurity, including the impurity of the dead, the laws of food purity and bodily purity. Seller Inventory # 016975
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