Mishnah, Midrash, and More: What are These Jewish Books?

Jewish Books "On One Foot":

Jewish tradition draws from a number of texts. This source sheet explains many of them, using the recitation of the Shema as an example of how each source works and how Jewish law evolves through the sources.

Tanach

Rashi’s Commentary on the Tanach

Rashi is an acronym for Rabbi Shimon Ben Yitzchak. He was a French winemaker who lived from 1040-1105. When he wasn’t making wine, he wrote a commentary on the Tanach and the Talmud. Rashi usually tried to explain the “p’shat”, the literal meaning of the text.

Mishnah

Both during and after the time of the Second Temple, there were many discussions about how to apply the laws of the Torah to “modern” times. Around the year 200 CE, Rabbi Judah the Prince organized these discussions into 6 large topics (“orders”), and then 63 sub-topics (“tractates”). In the Seder song “Who Knows One”, this is the answer for “Who knows Six?”.

Pirkei Avot

Pirkei Avot is a collection of quotes from the rabbis of the Mishnah. They lived from the years 300 BCE to 200 CE, and their sayings form a tractate of the Talmud. It’s one of the few tractates of the Mishnah which has no Gemara commenting on it, and it’s the only tractate of the Talmud which is about ethical/moral ways of living but not about Jewish law. Pirkei Avot is traditionally studied after Shabbat Mincha in the summer months (Passover to Rosh Hashanah), so it’s printed in its entirety at that spot in most siddurim.

Midrash

If the Mishnah explained the “how” of the Torah, and Rashi explained the “what” of the Torah, Midrash explains the “so what” of the Torah. Halachic Midrash seeks to explain the deeper meaning of the text, while Aggadic Midrash seeks to explain the missing parts of the stories. For example, what did Cain and Abel talk about in their last conversation? The Torah only says that they talked, so Midrash seeks to fill in the gaps. Classical Midrashic texts were written between 200 CE and 1200 CE. The Mechilta covers Exodus, Sifra is about Leviticus, and Sifrei covers Numbers and Deuteronomy. The Tanchuma covers all 5 books. There’s also Midrash Rabbah, with books covering each book in the Torah and each of the 5 megillot - Esther, Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentations, and Ecclesiastes. People still write midrashim today.

There are also versions of this story in Sifrei and Tanchuma.

Talmud

After the Mishnah was compiled in the Land of Israel around 200 CE, the rabbis in Israel and Babylonia spent decades and decades analyzing it to figure out exactly how to implement what it said. These discussions became known as “Gemara”. The discussions in Israel were compiled around 400 CE into the Jerusalem Talmud (actually done in Tiberius), while the discussions in Babylonia were compiled around 500 CE into the Babylonian Talmud. This became the better-known Talmud after the Muslim Caliphate in Baghdad allowed that Talmud to spread through its communication networks. Now, when somebody says “The Talmud”, they mean “The Babylonian Talmud”.

Rashi’s Commentary on the Talmud

Rashi (France, 1040-1105) not only wrote a commentary on the literal meaning of the Tanach, he also wrote a commentary explaining what 30 of the 39 tractates of the Talmud were talking about (he died before finishing this project). When Daniel Bomberg made the first printed Talmud in 1520 he included Rashi’s commentary, and thereafter Rashi has always been included in printed copies of the Talmud. His commentary is always the part of the page closest to the middle of the book so it’s easy to find. Particularly given that there are traditionally no vowels and very little punctuation in the Talmud, Rashi is indispensable in understanding the Talmud.

Mishneh Torah

The Mishneh Torah was written by Maimonides (1135-1204), a.k.a. The Rambam. The Rambam’s main job was physician to the Sultan, and in his spare time he set out to answer the question “What should a Jew do?” He did this mostly by reorganizing the thoughts of the Talmud, but also adding his own knowledge 600 years later. At first the Mishneh Torah was controversial because it took out all of the back-and-forth in the Talmud and just gave a bottom line answer, but this later became seen as a strength.

Shulchan Aruch

The Shulchan Aruch was published by Rabbi Joseph Caro in 1563 as a “Code of Jewish Law”. It updates the Mishneh Torah as a way of explaining what to do in every situation that it could think of. In general it gives Sephardic practice, so the Rema (Rabbi Moses Isserles) wrote a gloss giving the Ashkenazic practice when it was different. There are 4 sections to the Shulchan Aruch:

Orach Chayim - the laws about Jewish time (prayer time and holidays)

Yoreh De’ah - the laws about Jewish living (kashrut, conversion, mourning, Israel)

Even Ha’ezer - the laws about getting married and divorced

Choshen Mishpat - the laws about business, money, and courts

Mishnah Berurah

The Mishnah Berurah was written by the Chofetz Chayim (Rabbi Israel Meir Kagan) in the late 1800s. It takes the Orach Chayim section of the Shulchan Aruch (laws about prayer, synagogue, Shabbat, and holidays) and explains various ways of thinking about them as of the late 1800s. It tends to lean toward the stricter of the options that it presents when it gives options.

An Overview in Video Form