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 TALMUD

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TALMUD

dox Judaism of to-day it is an article of faitli tliat Moses, at the same time that he received the WTitten law, recorded in the Pentateuch also received detailed explanations of the different laws, which were handed down by tradition as oral law. In addition to this the scribes at an early period attempted, by interpre- tation of the Torah, to make the law appUcable to the changed conditions of Ufe, to base the new pre- cepts at least retrospectively on the Torah, and to draw out of it further reUgious laws. For this kind of Scriptural learning hermeneutic rules (Middolh) were at a later period established, at first seven, which were then divided into fourteen, and finally increased to thirty-two. AU the older additions to the Torah as well as the constantly increasing new material were for a long time transmitted orally, and, according to the prevaihng view, it was for- bidtlen to record it in writing. But it is at aU events wrong to assume that there was a formal prohibition to record Halakhoth in writing. The prohibition probably referred to written records intended for pubhc use; for a fixed record of the traditional law would have acted as a hindrance to its further devel- opment in accordance with the existing needs of the day. It is by no means improbable that the final reduction of the Mishna was preceded by previous written records, especially after Rabbi Agiba, at the beginning of the second century, had divested the study of the law of its previous Midrash character and had undertaken to arrange the materials sys- tematically. Among his pupils it was probably Rabbi Me'ir who continued these systematic labours. But of such collections only one finally attained canonical recognition, and therefore was called Mishna par excellence, viz. the one edited about the end of the second century of our era by Rabbi Jehuda I, called Ha-nashi (the prince) or Ha-gadosh (the saint) or simply the Rabbi. This then is our Mishna, the basis of the Talmud.

Rabbi Jehuda had adopted only a part of the doctrines, which in course of time had been handed down in the different schools. Although he selected what was most important, he sometimes omitted much that seemed important to others; and, on the other hand, it was felt that even the unimportant should not bo allowed to sink into oblivion. In consequence, other collections soon originated, which, though not canonical, were nevertheless highly val- ued. All the Halakhoth which were not included in the Mishna of Jehuda received the name Baraithoth (sing. Baraitha, "omitted doctrine"). The most important Baraitha collection is the Tosephta.

The precise brevity of expression and the preg- nant form in which the Mishna had codified the Hala- khoth made an interpretation of them necessary, while the casuistic features of the work were a stimu- lus to further casuistic development. In the pro- found study and explanation of its contents much weight was placed upon the Haggada, i. e. the doc- trines not included in the law (folk-lore, legends, historic recollections, ethics and didactics, etc.), of which Jehuda, who aimed to draw up a code of laws, had taken little or no account. Everything, in fact, that tradition offered was brought within the range of discussion. In order to give a suitable designation to the new tendency in the teaching of the law, scholars, up to the time of the final transcrip- tion of the Mishna, were known as Tanna'im (sing. Tanna, "teacher"), those who came after them, Amora'im (sing. Amora, "speaker"). The collection of the Amora'im, as finally recorded, was called, as stated above, Talmud, later Ocmara: that of the Palestinian schools, the Pale,-:tini:iii (leniara, that of the Babylonian .schools, the Baliylonian Oemara. The coinbined edition of the Mishna and Ociiuira, or tlie Talmud in our .sense of llie word, ihscriininatcs, therefore, between Mishna and Palestinian (iemara,

or "Palestinian Talmud", and Mishna and Baby- lonian Gemara or "Babylonian Talmud". The latter is meant when the Talmud without further specification is referred to.

III. The Mishna ("yi"?:, "repetition", translated bj' the Fathers of the Church StDT^puo-is). The word is a substantive formation from the root ,^yi', "to repeat". From this meaning was developed, in the language of the later schools, the characteristic method of all teaching and learning, particularly of doctrines orally transmitted, which was accomplished by repeated enunciation on the part of the teacher and frequent repetition on the part of the pupil. Both expressions (~]"w and ,~y;"^) thus became a term for the science of tradition, the former signifying the special study of orally transmitted law, the latter the law itself in contrast to X"r?; (from X"p,"toread"), the written law. But the expression is also used for each of the doctrines orally transmitted, and differs from Halakha in that the latter signifies the traditional law so far as it is binding, while the former designates it as an object of study. Further- more, the word Mishna is apphed to the systematic collection of such doctrines, and finally to that collection which alone has attained canonical recog- nition, i. e. the collection of Jehuda I. This collec- tion represents Jewish law codified in that develop- ment which it received in the schools of Palestine up to the end of the second century after Christ. Through it the orally transmitted law was finally estabhshed along with the written law or the Torah. The foundation of this collection is formed by the collections which already existed before Jehuda, particularly that of Rabbi Me'ir. The Mishna does not pretend to be a collection of sources of the Hala- kha, but merely to teach it. Whether its fixation in writing was the work of Jehuda himself or took place after him is a debated point ; but the former is the more probable theory. The only question then is how much of it he wrote; in the extended form which it now presents it could not have been written by him alone. It has evidently received additions in course of time, and in other respects also the text has been altered.

As regards the subject matter the Mishna is divided into six institutes or Sedarim: for this reason Jews are accu.stomed to call the Talmud Shas. Each Seder has a number (7-12) of treatises; these are divided into chapters or Peraqim, and each chapter into precepts. The six institutes and their treatises are as follows:

A. Seder Zera'im (harvest), containing in eleven treatises the laws on the cultivation of the soil and its products.

(1) Berakholh (benedictions) blessings and pray- ers, particularly those in daily use. (2) Pe'a (cor- ner), concerning the parts of the fields and their products which are to be left to the poor (cf. Lev., xix, 9 sq.; xxiii, 22; Deut., xxiv, 19 sq.) and in general concerning the poor laws. (3) Demai, more properly Dammai (doubtful), concerning the fruits of the soil of which it is doubtful whether the tithes have been paid. (4) KiVayim (heterogenea), concern- ing the unlawful combinations of plants, animals, and garments (cf. Lev., xix, 19; Deut., xxii, 9 sq.). (5) Shebi'ith (seventh), i. e. Sabbatical year (Deut., XV, 1 sq.). (6) Tcrumoth (heave offerings) for the priests (Num., xviii, S sq.; Deut., xviii, 4). (7) M(i aaroth (tithes) for the Levites (Num., xviii, 21 sq.). (8) Afa'aser sheni (second tithe), (Deut., xiv, 22 sq.; xx\'i, 12 sq.) which had to be spent at Jeru.saleni. (9) Halla (yeast) (cf. Num., xv, 18 sq.). (10) 'Orhi (foreskin) concerning uncir- cumcised fruits and trees (Lev., xix, 23). (11) Bikkurim (fir.st fruits) brought to the temple (Deut., xxvi, 1 sq; Ex., xxiii, 19). B. Seder Mo ed (season of feasts), treats in twelve