What is the Mishna?
The Mishna (Hebrew) is the major source of rabbinic Judaism’s religious text and the first written recording of the Oral Law. There are multiple authors of this work, codified by the redactor, Rabbi Judah HaNasi (200 CE). There are six orders of the Mishna. Pirkei Avot is categorized in the section of Nezikin, “Damages,” which deals with property damages, injuries, legal disputes between individuals, and the Jewish court process. One reason the rabbis classified Pirkei Avot in this section is that Damages has to do with relationships between individuals, and ethics shape the Jewish law. A mishna is a short passage within the overall Mishna.
