[160] The preliminary work of Hillel in this direction of arranging and codifying seems not to have been carried on.
[161] “Haggadah,” as the better-known word, is substituted for the more accurate plural form “Haggadoth.”
[162] For a full definition of these two famous terms Mishnah and Gemara, see below, p. [358], where the terms in question are explained at some length.
[163] The Palestinian Gemara was closed nearly a century and a half before the Babylonian Gemara was completed.
[164] The Rabbinic school of Sura was founded by Rab, one of the most important pupils of R. Judah Ha-Nasi (Rabbi).
[165] Mishnah.—A noun formed from the verb “shanah,” to repeat. In post-Biblical Hebrew the verb “shanah” acquired the special meaning of “to teach” and “to learn” that which was not transmitted in writing, but only orally. Evidently the idea of frequent recitation underlies the word.
Mishnah signifies “Instruction”—the teaching and learning the tradition. It is the Law which is transmitted orally, in contrast to the term Mikra, which signifies the Law which is written and read.
The Halachah, finally redacted by Judah Ha-Nasi the Holy (Rabbi), circa A.D. 200–19, were designated the Mishnah, and were adopted by the Rabbis of the Gemara as the text upon which they worked. This Mishnah of R. Judah the Holy was adopted simultaneously by the Rabbis and Doctors of the Law in the academies of Palestine and Babylonia.
Although the Mishnah may be said to consist chiefly of Halachah, it contains several entire treatises of an Haggadic nature—e.g. “Aboth,” “Middoth,” etc.—and numerous Haggadic pieces are scattered here and there among the Halachah. In both the Talmudim (the Palestinian and Babylonian) there are thousands of Haggadic notices interspersed among the Halachah.
The Rabbis of the Mishnah were termed Tannaim; the earlier Rabbis of the Gemara were termed Amoraim.