Glossary for Mishnah and Pirkei Avot
Aggadah (sometimes Haggadah) - (1) rabbinic non-legal or *midrashic teachings; (2) a single non-legal rabbinic teaching. Contrast: Halakhah.
Amora, Amoraim - lit. Speaker(s); one of the rabbis of the Talmudic era. They followed the *Tannaim.
Avot; Pirkei Avot - Fathers; Chapters of the Fathers or Ethics of the Fathers; a tractate of the *Mishnah
Avot deRabbi Natan - The Fathers According to Rabbi Nathan; a minor tractate based on and expanding upon *Avot. It exists in two versions, A and B
Baraita, Baraitot - lit. external (teaching/s); legal teachings of the *Tannaim that were not included in the *Mishnah. Many were gathered together in the collection known as *Tosefta or were preserved as individual teachings that appear in the *Talmuds.
Chachamim - lit. ‘smart (ones);’ Sages (of the Mishnah and Talmud)
[Men of the] Great Assembly or Great Synagogue. Heb. Anshei Kenesset HaGedolah. Traditional term for a council of sages and leaders that began in the Persian period. "The Great Assembly was a Council of prophets and sages founded by Ezra the Scribe at a Great Assembly which he convened following his return from Babylon to the Land of Israel, and this Council enacted great and important regulations to strengthen the Torah and faith. Among the first members of the Great Assembly were Hagai, Zekhariah and Malakhi, Daniel, Hananyah, Mishael and Azariah, Nehemyah ben Hakhliyah, Mordekhai, Zerubavel ben Shaltiel, and many other sages." - Rabbi Pinchas Kehati, commentary to Avot, p. 7.
Halacha, Halakhah - (1) rabbinic law; (2) a specific rabbinic legal teaching; (3) (rare) a single teaching of *Mishnah. Contrast with *Aggadah
Midrash - lit. study; (1) rabbinic teaching in which a biblical verse is quoted/referenced and expounded; (2) popularly, a teaching of *Aggadah
Mishnah - (1) the classic compilation of *rabbinic legal traditions of the *Tannaim, completed in the 3rd century CE in the Galilee. Many of the teachings of the Tannaim were not included in the Mishnah, see *Baraita and *Tosefta. (2) a single teaching of Mishnah
The Mishnah includes 6 Sedarim or *Orders; each Seder/Order includes seven or more *Tractates or Massekhtot; each Tractate or Massekhet includes between three and thirty *Chapters or Perakim; each Chapter or Perek includes two or more *Mishnnayot. An individual Mishnah may be a few lines long or may include the opinions of multiple rabbis or even an extended legal debate between scholars.
Mishnaic - having to do with the *Mishnah
Mishnayot - plural of “Mishnah” (1) popularly, another name for the Mishnah; (2) teachings of the Mishnah
Nasi - lit. elevated one or prince. Title of the leaders of the *Sanhedrin and particularly the descendants of Hillel the Elder
OralLaw or Oral Torah - Traditions that the *Pharisees and *Tannaim understood to be as central to Jewish religious life as the teachings of the *Written Law. Nowadays, Oral Torah is understood to include *Mishnah, *Talmud, and the ongoing rabbinic tradition.
Order, Orders / Heb. Seder, Sedarim - one of the Six divisions of the Mishnah, each of which includes 7-12 *Tractates. The orders are Zerai’m (Seeds); Mo’ed (Appointed Times); Nashim (‘Women,’ family law); Nezikin (Damages); Kodashim (Holy Things); Tohorot (Purities)
Perek, perakim - chapter or chapters. Pirkei *Avot literally means ‘chapters of (the) Fathers’
Pharisees / Heb. Perushim - lit. ‘separate ones’; name for a party of Jewish religious scholars in the centuries before the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE. The Pharisees attempted to imitate Temple purity laws in their own kitchens and dining; believed in the existence of an Oral Torah parallel with the Written Torah; asserted the immortality of the soul, God’s role in human affairs, reward and punishment after death, and the existence of angels (beyond the heavenly messengers described in Tanach). Spiritual and scholarly forbears of the *Tannaim/*Chachamim. Contrast *Sadducees.
Rabbi, Rabbis - One of the Sages of the *Mishnah and *Talmud
Rabbinic - having to do with the teachings of the *Rabbis
Sadducees / Heb. Tzedukim - lit. (party of) Tzaddok (family of priests); name for a party of Jewish religious leaders centered on the priestly families who controlled Temple service up to the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE. Rejected the concept of the Oral Torah. Contrast *Pharisees.
Sanhedrin / Greek synhedrion - Jewish governing council in the land of Israel. Following the destruction of the Second Temple, the Sanhedrin was controlled by the Pharisees/Tannaim.
Talmud, Talmudim - lit. learning. One of the two collections of *Rabbinic discussions of the traditions of the *Tannaim, Babylonian and Jerusalem. When one refers to “Talmud” without specifying, one usually means the Babylonian Talmud, edited in the 6th century CE in the Talmudic academies of Babylonia. The Jerusalem Talmud (the Talmud of the Land of Israel) was edited by the first half of the 5th century CE in the Galilee.
Tanna (sg.), Tannaim (pl.), literally “repeater” (of text) - Usually refers to one of the rabbis of the era of the Mishnah. Heirs of the *Pharisees.
Tosefta - a collection of *Baraitot that closely parallels the *Mishnah with the same structure of *Orders and parallel *Tractates for most of the Mishnaic tractates.
Tractate(s) / Heb. Massekhet, Massekhtot - one of the 63 sections of the *Mishnah, such as “Shabbat,” “Rosh Hashanah,” “Sanhedrin,” “Avot/Ethics of the Fathers.”
WrittenLaw or Written Torah - Hebrew Bible or Tanach, in contrast to *Oral Law or Oral Torah.
Amora, Amoraim - lit. Speaker(s); one of the rabbis of the Talmudic era. They followed the *Tannaim.
Avot; Pirkei Avot - Fathers; Chapters of the Fathers or Ethics of the Fathers; a tractate of the *Mishnah
Avot deRabbi Natan - The Fathers According to Rabbi Nathan; a minor tractate based on and expanding upon *Avot. It exists in two versions, A and B
Baraita, Baraitot - lit. external (teaching/s); legal teachings of the *Tannaim that were not included in the *Mishnah. Many were gathered together in the collection known as *Tosefta or were preserved as individual teachings that appear in the *Talmuds.
Chachamim - lit. ‘smart (ones);’ Sages (of the Mishnah and Talmud)
[Men of the] Great Assembly or Great Synagogue. Heb. Anshei Kenesset HaGedolah. Traditional term for a council of sages and leaders that began in the Persian period. "The Great Assembly was a Council of prophets and sages founded by Ezra the Scribe at a Great Assembly which he convened following his return from Babylon to the Land of Israel, and this Council enacted great and important regulations to strengthen the Torah and faith. Among the first members of the Great Assembly were Hagai, Zekhariah and Malakhi, Daniel, Hananyah, Mishael and Azariah, Nehemyah ben Hakhliyah, Mordekhai, Zerubavel ben Shaltiel, and many other sages." - Rabbi Pinchas Kehati, commentary to Avot, p. 7.
Halacha, Halakhah - (1) rabbinic law; (2) a specific rabbinic legal teaching; (3) (rare) a single teaching of *Mishnah. Contrast with *Aggadah
Midrash - lit. study; (1) rabbinic teaching in which a biblical verse is quoted/referenced and expounded; (2) popularly, a teaching of *Aggadah
Mishnah - (1) the classic compilation of *rabbinic legal traditions of the *Tannaim, completed in the 3rd century CE in the Galilee. Many of the teachings of the Tannaim were not included in the Mishnah, see *Baraita and *Tosefta. (2) a single teaching of Mishnah
The Mishnah includes 6 Sedarim or *Orders; each Seder/Order includes seven or more *Tractates or Massekhtot; each Tractate or Massekhet includes between three and thirty *Chapters or Perakim; each Chapter or Perek includes two or more *Mishnnayot. An individual Mishnah may be a few lines long or may include the opinions of multiple rabbis or even an extended legal debate between scholars.
Mishnaic - having to do with the *Mishnah
Mishnayot - plural of “Mishnah” (1) popularly, another name for the Mishnah; (2) teachings of the Mishnah
Nasi - lit. elevated one or prince. Title of the leaders of the *Sanhedrin and particularly the descendants of Hillel the Elder
OralLaw or Oral Torah - Traditions that the *Pharisees and *Tannaim understood to be as central to Jewish religious life as the teachings of the *Written Law. Nowadays, Oral Torah is understood to include *Mishnah, *Talmud, and the ongoing rabbinic tradition.
Order, Orders / Heb. Seder, Sedarim - one of the Six divisions of the Mishnah, each of which includes 7-12 *Tractates. The orders are Zerai’m (Seeds); Mo’ed (Appointed Times); Nashim (‘Women,’ family law); Nezikin (Damages); Kodashim (Holy Things); Tohorot (Purities)
Perek, perakim - chapter or chapters. Pirkei *Avot literally means ‘chapters of (the) Fathers’
Pharisees / Heb. Perushim - lit. ‘separate ones’; name for a party of Jewish religious scholars in the centuries before the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE. The Pharisees attempted to imitate Temple purity laws in their own kitchens and dining; believed in the existence of an Oral Torah parallel with the Written Torah; asserted the immortality of the soul, God’s role in human affairs, reward and punishment after death, and the existence of angels (beyond the heavenly messengers described in Tanach). Spiritual and scholarly forbears of the *Tannaim/*Chachamim. Contrast *Sadducees.
Rabbi, Rabbis - One of the Sages of the *Mishnah and *Talmud
Rabbinic - having to do with the teachings of the *Rabbis
Sadducees / Heb. Tzedukim - lit. (party of) Tzaddok (family of priests); name for a party of Jewish religious leaders centered on the priestly families who controlled Temple service up to the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE. Rejected the concept of the Oral Torah. Contrast *Pharisees.
Sanhedrin / Greek synhedrion - Jewish governing council in the land of Israel. Following the destruction of the Second Temple, the Sanhedrin was controlled by the Pharisees/Tannaim.
Talmud, Talmudim - lit. learning. One of the two collections of *Rabbinic discussions of the traditions of the *Tannaim, Babylonian and Jerusalem. When one refers to “Talmud” without specifying, one usually means the Babylonian Talmud, edited in the 6th century CE in the Talmudic academies of Babylonia. The Jerusalem Talmud (the Talmud of the Land of Israel) was edited by the first half of the 5th century CE in the Galilee.
Tanna (sg.), Tannaim (pl.), literally “repeater” (of text) - Usually refers to one of the rabbis of the era of the Mishnah. Heirs of the *Pharisees.
Tosefta - a collection of *Baraitot that closely parallels the *Mishnah with the same structure of *Orders and parallel *Tractates for most of the Mishnaic tractates.
Tractate(s) / Heb. Massekhet, Massekhtot - one of the 63 sections of the *Mishnah, such as “Shabbat,” “Rosh Hashanah,” “Sanhedrin,” “Avot/Ethics of the Fathers.”
WrittenLaw or Written Torah - Hebrew Bible or Tanach, in contrast to *Oral Law or Oral Torah.
Reference
Text of the Mishnah: Kaufmann Manuscript, http://kaufmann.mtak.hu/en/ms50/ms50-coll1.htmAlbeck, Hanokh, commentator. The Six Orders of the Mishnah. Jerusalem: Mossad Bialik, 1959 (Hebrew). Vol. IV: Nezikin.
Kehati, Pinhas. Avot. Jerusalem: World Zionist Organization, undated. (Translated from the Hebrew).
Lau, Binyamin. The Sages: Character, Context & Creativity (English translation) Jerusalem: Maggid Books, vol. 1 2010, vol. 2 2011, vol. 3 2013.
Neusner, Jacob. Torah from our Sages: Pirke Avot. Chappaqua, NY: Rossel Books, 1984
Schiffman, Lawrence. Understanding Second Temple and Rabbinic Judaism. Jersey City, NJ: Ktav, 2003
Zlotnick, Dov. The Iron Pillar - Mishnah: Redaction, Form, and Intent. 1988
Kehati, Pinhas. Avot. Jerusalem: World Zionist Organization, undated. (Translated from the Hebrew).
Lau, Binyamin. The Sages: Character, Context & Creativity (English translation) Jerusalem: Maggid Books, vol. 1 2010, vol. 2 2011, vol. 3 2013.
Neusner, Jacob. Torah from our Sages: Pirke Avot. Chappaqua, NY: Rossel Books, 1984
Schiffman, Lawrence. Understanding Second Temple and Rabbinic Judaism. Jersey City, NJ: Ktav, 2003
Zlotnick, Dov. The Iron Pillar - Mishnah: Redaction, Form, and Intent. 1988