Mishnah
Seder Zeraim(Agriculture)
Berakhot
Blessings and prayers, focusing on Shema and the Amidah.
Peah
Crops left in the corner of a field for the poor to take, other agricultural gifts to the poor.
Demai
Produce from one who is suspected to have neglected tithing and the requirement to tithe it.
Kilayim
Prohibited mixtures of certain seeds, plants, animals, or materials of clothing.
Sheviit
The seventh year of the agricultural cycle, when working the land is prohibited and debts are forgiven.
Terumot
Required donations of agricultural produce to priestly households and its sacred status.
Maasrot
Separating tithes for priests, Levites, the poor, and for consumption in Jerusalem.
Maaser Sheni
A tithe eaten in Jerusalem or exchanged for money to be used for purchasing food there.
Challah
Dough separated when baking bread and given to priests.
Orlah
Fruit growing on a tree in its first three years, when benefitting from the fruit is prohibited.
Bikkurim
First fruits and grains ceremoniously brought to the Temple and given to a priest next to the altar.
Seder Moed(Holidays)
Shabbat
Creative work prohibited on Shabbat and other laws that preserve the sanctity of the day.
Eruvin
Enclosures that legally expand the areas in which one can carry and travel on Shabbat.
Pesachim
Passover: ridding of chametz, the Paschal lamb offering, matzah, maror, and the Seder.
Shekalim
Annual half-shekel donations to the Temple, administration and inventory of the Temple.
Yoma
Yom Kippur: the High Priest’s preparation, the Temple service, the fast, and repentance.
Sukkah
The structure of and obligation to dwell in the sukkah, the four species, and celebrating the holiday in the Temple.
Beitzah
Holiday laws governing which objects can be used, how food is prepared, and what labor is permitted.
Rosh Hashanah
The declaration process for a new month in the Temple period, blowing the shofar, and Rosh Hashanah liturgy.
Ta'anit
Praying for rain, fasting in times of drought, and annual fast days marking Jerusalem’s destruction.
Megillah
Reading the scroll of Esther on Purim, synagogue rituals, and treatment of sacred objects.
Moed Katan
Chol HaMoed (the intermediate days of Passover and Sukkot).
Chagigah
Sacrifices offered on pilgrimage to Jerusalem for the Festivals and laws of ritual purity.
Seder Nashim(Family law)
Yevamot
The mandated marriage of a widow to the brother of her childless husband and the alternative rite discharging that obligation.
Ketubot
The marital contract (Ketubah) and obligations between husband and wife.
Nedarim
Vows taken voluntarily, particularly those that forbid specific actions or objects.
Nazir
The Nazarite, or one who vows abstinence from wine, haircuts, and ritual impurity generated from contact with corpses.
Sotah
A woman suspected of adultery, the ritual determining her culpability, and other rituals involving recitation.
Gittin
Laws relating to divorce, focusing on the get (bill of divorce) and its delivery.
Kiddushin
Betrothal, marriage, acquisitions, and lineage.
Seder Nezikin(Damages)
Bava Kamma
Liability and compensation for damages inflicted on people or property.
Bava Metzia
Disputed property, returning lost objects, guarding, renting, borrowing, and responsibilities of workers and employers.
Bava Batra
Relationships between neighbors, land ownership, sales, and inheritance.
Sanhedrin
The judicial system, forming the court, accepting testimony, and executing capital punishment.
Makkot
Court-administered lashing, false witnesses, and cities of refuge for inadvertent murderers.
Shevuot
Oaths and the process of atoning for entering the Temple or eating from a sacrifice while impure.
Eduyot
The only tractate without a unified subject, organized as collections of laws on various topics.
Avodah Zarah
Disassociating from idolatry, regulations on business interactions between Jews and idolaters.
Pirkei Avot
Short statements of advice, ethics, and wisdom.
Horayot
Atoning for erroneous rulings of the court and inadvertent sins of leaders.
Seder Kodashim(Sacrifices)
Zevachim
Animal and bird sacrifices in the Temple.
Menachot
Flour offerings, usually mixed with oil, wine libations, and bread loaf offerings in the Temple.
Chullin
Slaughter of animals and birds for non-consecrated purposes, other aspects of kashrut.
Bekhorot
Transfer of first-born kosher animals to a priest, redemption of first-born donkeys and people.
Arakhin
Vowing to donate a person’s prescribed value delineated in the Torah to the Temple, donations of land to the Temple.
Temurah
The sanctity of animals dedicated for sacrifice and the prohibition of exchanging them for others.
Keritot
Karet, divinely-issued severance from the Jewish people, and sacrifices for unintentional sin.
Meilah
Prohibited benefit from Temple property, the sacrifice and restitution offered as atonement.
Tamid
The daily Temple service, including the burnt-offerings brought every morning and afternoon.
Middot
Measurements and descriptions of the Second Temple and the Temple Mount.
Kinnim
Bird-offerings that are mixed up and the complex math involved in determining their status.
Seder Tahorot(Purity)
Kelim
Vessels - tools, utensils, appliances, furniture, and clothing - and their statuses in purity laws.
Oholot
The spread of a corpse’s impurity through contact, carrying, or dwelling under the same roof.
Negaim
Tzaraat, a discoloration condition on skin, houses, or clothing, purification for the infected.
Parah
Burning of a red heifer and mixing of its ashes with spring water to be used for purification.
Tahorot
How food, drinks, objects and people become impure and spread impurity.
Mikvaot
Ritual baths and the process of immersing in them to become pure.
Niddah
The ritual impurity of a woman in her menstrual cycle or experiencing particular discharges.
Makhshirin
Water, oil, milk, wine, honey, dew, or blood touching food and rendering it susceptible to impurity.
Rishonim on Mishnah
Commentators who lived in the 11th through 16th centuries.
Rashi
11th-century commentary on Pirkei Avot attributed to Rav Shlomo Yitzchaki, acclaimed commentator on Tanakh and Talmud.
Bartenura
16th-century commentary printed in most editions of the Mishnah, including summaries of talmudic discussions and legal conclusions.
Magen Avot on Avot
15th-century commentary on Pirkei Avot by the Tashbetz, part of his four-part philosophical work by the same name.
R' Shemaiah on Mishnah Middot
12th-century commentary by Rabbi Shemaiah of Soissons, a student of Rashi, included in printed editions of the Talmud.
Ra'avad on Mishnah Demai
Fragments of a 12th-century commentary on Demai, a tractate that discusses produce from one who is suspected to have neglected tithing.
Ra'avad on Mishnah Eduyot
12th-century commentary by Rabbi Abraham ben David, known for his critical comments of Maimonides’ Mishneh Torah.
Ra'avad on Mishnah Kinnim
12th-century commentary on tractate Kinnim, which discusses bird-offerings that became mixed up.
Rabbeinu Yonah
13th-century commentary on Pirkei Avot by the author of Shaarei Teshuvah.
Rambam
Maimonides’ first published work, which he began writing in 1161 at the age of 23, including discussions on the Mishnah and legal decisions.
Rash MiShantz
Most comprehensive medieval commentary on Zeraim and Taharot, compiled in the 13th century by the French Tosafist Rabbi Shimshon of Sens.
Acharonim on Mishnah
Commentators who lived in the 16th through 19th centuries.
Yachin
First part of an 18th-century commentary by Rabbi Yisrael Lipschitz called Tiferet Yisrael, containing brief explanations of the Mishnah’s simple meaning.
Boaz
Second part of an 18th-century commentary by Rabbi Yisrael Lipschitz called Tiferet Yisrael, with lengthy analysis of the Mishnah’s topics.
Derekh Chayyim
16th-century commentary on Pirkei Avot by the Maharal of Prague with original interpretations
Gra
18th-century commentary by Rabbi Eliyahu ben Shlomo Zalman, known as the Vilna Gaon.
Haggahot Ya'avetz
18th-century notes on the Mishnah by Rabbi Yaakov Emden, a well-known German scholar.
Hon Ashir
18th-century kabbalistic commentary interspersed with poems, composed in Tzfat by Rabbi Immanuel Chai Ricchi.
Ikar Tosafot Yom Tov
18th-century abridged version of R. Yom-Tov Lippmann Heller’s Tosefot Yom Tov commentary, often printed alongside the Mishnah
Lechem Shamayim
18th-century Mishnah commentary by Rabbi Yaakov Emden.
Marit HaAyin
19th-century commentary by the Chida based largely on letter schemes and kabbalistic teachings.
Melekhet Shelomoh
16th-century commentary by Rav Shlomo Adani with a focus on establishing the correct text of the Mishnah and explaining its literal meaning.
Midrash Shmuel on Avot
16th-century anthology of commentaries on Pirkei Avot compiled by Rabbi Shmuel Di Uzeda, a student of the Arizal.
Motar Kinnim
19th-century commentary on tractate Kinnim by Rabbi Yitzchak Aizik Safrin of Komarna.
Nachalat Avot on Avot
15th-century commentary on Pirkei Avot by the Abarbanel, structured as questions on each Mishnah followed by resolutions.
Petach Einayim
18th-century Mishnah and Talmud commentary by the Chida, Rabbi Chaim Yosef David Azulai.
Pirkei Moshe on Avot
16th-century commentary on Pirkei Avot by Salonican Rabbi Moshe Almosnino.
Rashash
19th-century annotations based on classes that the author, Rabbi Shmuel Strashun, delivered in a synagogue in Lithuania.
Tosafot Rabbi Akiva Eiger
19th-century analytic work mostly discussing the commentary of Bartenura and Tosafot Yom Tov.
Tosafot Yom Tov
Classic 17th-century commentary of R. Yom-Tov Lipmann Heller meant to serve as a supplement to the commentary of Bartenura
Yein Levanon on Avot
18th-century commentary on Pirkei Avot by Naphtali Herz Wessley with a focus on linguistic aspects of the Mishnah.
Yesh Seder LaMishnah
18th-century commentary by Rabbi Yeshaya Berlin based on the commentaries of Bartenura and Tosafot Yom Tov, noting textual variants.
Zeroa Yamin
18th-century commentary on Pirkei Avot by the Chida, Rabbi Chaim Yosef David Azulai.
Modern Commentary on Mishnah
A New Israeli Commentary on Pirkei Avot
21st-century commentary including clear explanations of the text and highlighting connections to contemporary Israeli life and culture.
English Explanation of Mishnah
21st-century commentary by Dr. Joshua Kulp, rosh yeshiva of the Conservative Yeshiva in Jerusalem, with clear and user-friendly explanations.
German Commentary
German translation and commentary, compiled in Berlin between 1887 and 1933.
Mishnat Eretz Yisrael
21st-century commentary combining traditional and academic methods of interpretation, with an emphasis on the land of Israel
About Mishnah
Widely recognized as the first codification of Jewish law, the Mishnah is dated to the early third century CE, originated in the land of Israel, and was disseminated — scholars debate whether orally or in writing — by Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi. It preserves centuries of Jewish legal opinions and debates, organized into 63 tractates (masekhtot), which are organized into six orders (sedarim) covering agriculture, holidays, personal status, damages, sacrifices, and matters of purity. The Mishnah and its commentary (the gemara), together compose the Talmud, the basis of the Oral Torah.
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