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 place, an account of the method in which the sacrifices were brought in the Temple, and thus is a further reminder of those sacred rites for which prayers are now the only substitute. And, secondly, it constitutes a reading from the Mishnah, prescribed in accordance with the idea explained in the following note. A reason has been assigned for the selection of this particular chapter. It consists throughout of undisputed statements, whereas most chapters of the Mishnah contain differences of opinion between various Rabbis.

Page 13. Boraitha of Rabbi Ishmael (רַבִּי יִשְׁמָאֵל אוֺמֵר). Rabbi Ishmael lived in the first and second centuries, and during the troublous period that followed the destruction of the Temple, helped to consolidate Judaism. On the basis of Hillel s seven rules, Rabbi Ishmael formulated thirteen rules (middoth, מִדּוֺת), by which the text of the Law is to be interpreted, and these rules form the Boraitha in the Prayer Book. (The passage is prefixed to the ancient Midrash on Leviticus, known as Siphra.) The Aramaic word Boraitha or Baraitha (בָּרַיְתָא) means literally external, and is chiefly (though not exclusively) applied to the views or traditions of Tannaim (or Rabbis who lived before the completion of the Mishnah) which are not included in the Mishnah, and are thus external to that code. Similarly the books of the Apocrypha are called in the Mishnah (Sanhedrin x. i) &quot;outside books&quot; in contrast to the contents of the canonical Bible. Another view is that these Baraithas were taught in the private schools outside and preparatory to the Palestinian and Babylonian public academies. The Baraitha of Rabbi Ishmael was not necessarily written by him, but it certainly emanated from his school and represents his exegetical methods. As this Baraitha is external to the Mishnah it is regarded as belonging to the Gemara (or comment on the Mishnah which, with the Mishnah, constitutes the Talmud). For it was held proper to meditate every day on the Law, the Mishnah and the Gemara, and to read portions of each (Talmud, Kiddushin 30a). The Law is represented in this part of