Rabbinic Literature Terminology
- (the) Mishnah – from the Hebrew meaning "repetition," a collection of rabbinic laws that defined Jewish practice after the Second Temple was destroyed. Compiled in approx 200 CE. Structured by topic
- (a) mishnah – an individual "verse" of Mishnah
- (the) Midrash – a genre of rabbinic literature that both gleams meaning and practice from Bible stories as well as fills in "gaps" in those stories. Works of Midrash are structured following the books of the bible
- (a) midrash – an individual example of text in the genre of Midrash
- Aggadah – from the verb "to say" or "to tell", rabbinic stories that fill the "gaps" in Biblical text. Also refers to rabbinic anecdotes and others stories in the Talmud. Adjective form: aggadic
- Halakha – meaning "the way," this collective term refers to all of Jewish tradition, law, and practice. Adjective form: halakhic
- Baraita – teachings from the era of the Mishnah that were not included in the Mishnah, which the rabbis of the Talmud include in their exploration of Mishnah
- Tosefta – a collection of teachings from the Mishnaic period that were not included in the Mishnah. Contains some but not all baraitot (plural of baraita)
- Talmud – a work of rabbinic literature including both the Mishnah and the Gemara. Often used interchangeably with Gemara.
- Gemara – later rabbinic exploration and discussion on the Mishnah and other earlier traditions
- Tractate – an individual book of Mishnah or Talmud
- Order – one of several collections of tractates in Mishnah or Talmud
- Daf – a page of Talmud, including both the front and back sides
- Amud – one side of a daf
- Sugya – a "unit" of Gemara based on a complete discussion of a topic, as opposed to pages
Seder Eliyahu Zuta 2
One time I was walking on the way. A man found me, and went with me on the way of mitzvot, and he had mikra (ie: written law) but no mishnah (ie: oral law). And he said to me, "Rabbi, mikra was given to us from Mount Sinai. Mishnah was not given to us from Mount Sinai." And I said to him, "My son, mikra and mishnah were both of them said from the mouth of God." And what is the difference between mikra and mishnah?
To what can it be compared? To a king of flesh and blood who had two servants, and he loved them with a great love. He gave each of them a measure of wheat and a bundle of flax. One servant took the flax and wove a beautiful cloth, and took the wheat and made it into fine flour, and sifted it, and ground it, and kneaded it, and baked it, and set it on the table, and spread the beautiful cloth over it, and left it there until the king should come.
The other servant, however, did nothing at all. After some time, the king returned from a journey and came into his house. He said to his two servants, "My sons, bring to me what I gave you." One of them brought out the bread of fine flour, on the table, with the beautiful cloth spread over it. And the other of them brought out the wheat in a pile and the bundle of flax upon it. Woe for that shame! Woe for that disgrace!
Which one is more favored? You must admit it is the one who brought out the bread on the table with the beautiful cloth spread over it...
When the Holy One, blessed be God, gave the Torah to Israel, it was only given to them as wheat from which to bring forth fine flour, and as flax from which to weave a garment..."