What is the Mishnah?
The Mishnah is the first major written collection of Judaism's "Oral Torah" — its foundational code of Jewish law. It was compiled around 200 CE by Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi, who organized centuries of oral legal tradition into a concise, structured text so it wouldn't be lost. It's the bedrock the entire Talmud is built on: the Gemara is essentially a long discussion of the Mishnah.
How is the Mishnah organized?
The Mishnah is divided into six orders (sedarim), each covering a domain of life:
- Zeraim (Seeds) — agriculture and blessings
- Moed (Festival) — Shabbat and the holidays
- Nashim (Women) — marriage and relationships
- Nezikin (Damages) — civil and criminal law, ethics
- Kodashim (Holy Things) — the Temple and offerings
- Tohorot (Purities) — ritual purity
These contain 63 tractates in total. A famous tractate in Nezikin, Pirkei Avot ("Ethics of the Fathers"), is pure wisdom and ethics — many people's first taste of the Mishnah.
Why does the Mishnah matter?
Before the Mishnah, the Oral Torah was exactly that — oral, carried in memory and at risk after the destruction of the Second Temple and the upheavals that followed. By writing it down in an organized form, Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi gave Judaism a portable, durable legal foundation that every later text — the Gemara, the codes, the commentaries — responds to.
Is the Mishnah a good place for a beginner to start?
Often, yes. Mishnah is shorter and more self-contained than the give-and-take of the Gemara, which makes a Daily Mishnah practice a gentle on-ramp to Jewish text study. (See What is the Daily Mishnah?.)
In short: the Mishnah is the ~200 CE written code of Jewish law, organized into six orders and 63 tractates — the foundation the Talmud discusses.
Learn Mishnah with Derekh Learning
Derekh explains daily units of Mishnah in plain English at your level, with cited answers when you have questions. Browse Mishnah lessons or start with how to learn Talmud as a beginner.
