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This invariable method of teaching in the Rabbinical schools was the origin of the term Mishnah (repetition).[1]
The system of teaching was absolutely different from that of our modern colleges and universities. The masters of the various schools did not confine themselves to giving lectures which the pupils could take down. Here all was busy life, excitement, debate; question was met by question, and countless questions and answers were given, wrapped up in allegory, parable, and legend,—of course under the guidance and direction of the head of the academy.
- ↑ Mishnah.—A noun formed from the verb "shanah," to repeat. In post-Biblical Hebrew the verb "shanah" acquired the special meaning of "to teach" and "to learn" that which was not transmitted in writing, but only orally. Evidently the idea of frequent recitation underlies the word. Mishnah signifies "Instruction"—the teaching and learning the tradition. It is the Law which is transmitted orally, in contrast to the term Mikra, which signifies the Law which is written and read. The Halachah, finally redacted by Judah Ha-Nasi the Holy (Rabbi), circa A.D. 200-19, were designated the Mishnah, and were adopted by the Rabbis of the Gemara as the text upon which they worked. This Mishnah of R. Judah the Holy was adopted simultaneously by the Rabbis and Doctors of the Law in the academies of Palestine and Babylonia. Although the Mishnah may be said to consist chiefly of Halachah, it contains several entire treatises of an Haggadic nature—e.g. "Aboth," "Middoth," etc.—and numerous Haggadic pieces are scattered here and there among the Halachah. In both the Talmudim (the Palestinian and Babylonian) there are thousands of Haggadic notices interspersed among the Halachah. The Rabbis of the Mishnah were termed Tannaim; the earlier Rabbis of the Gemara were termed Amoraim. The Rabbinical headquarters of Palestine and Babylonia alike regarded the study of the Mishnah as their chief task. In Palestine the principal academies were Jamnia (Jabne), Lydda, and subsequently Tiberias. In Babylonia the principal seats of the academies were Sepphoris, Nehardea, Pumbeditha, and especially Sura. Gemara.—The word signifies "that which has been learned," the learning transmitted to scholars by tradition; and in a more restricted sense it came to denote "the traditional exposition of the Mishnah." Talmud primarily means "teaching," though it denotes also "learning"; practically it is a mere amplification of the Mishnah, the Talmud being made up of the Mishnah and Gemara. Like the Mishnah, the Talmud was not the work of one author, or of several authors, but was the result of the collective labours of many successive generations, whose task finally resulted in the great and complex book known as the Talmud. The Palestinian Talmud received its present form in the academy of Tiberias; the Babylonian Talmud, largely in the academy of Sura.
