WHAT IS THE MISHNA?
In short, the Mishna was the first authoritative summary of the Oral Law published by Rebe Yehuda haNasi with the authority of the Great Court in existence at his time. In it was included
a very basic and simplified code of the Oral Law as well as some of the best known opinions on Jewish law which turned out not to be binding.
It was forbidden to publish a text touching on all topics of Oral Law from which the public could teach and learn, up unto the publication of the Mishna. The Great Court allowed for
the writing of such a text which normally would have been forbidden only because had they not compiled it, all knowledge of
the Oral Law would have been in danger of extinction from the knowledge of the masses. The political and social situations at the
time indicated the real imminence of that danger to the Court. Therefore, although they allowed the writing of the Mishna
due to necessity, they only allowed the Oral Law to be clarified within it only so much as was necessary at the time. Consequently, the Mishna's presentation
of the Oral Law is given in the most minimal and simplified way possible. A little later on in history the fears of the Great
Court were confirmed at a time when knowledge did decrease to such an extent that the masses no longer understood the Mishna
for themselves, without the aid of the greatest of sages of that era; this lead to the compilations of the Talmuds.
WHAT IS THE TALMUD?
Upon realizing that the situation had worsened as the Great Court had previously feared,
and that now the masses no longer even properly understood the Mishna without the guidance of a Sage, the Sages of Israel
then undertook the compiling of clarifications of the Mishna as well as any additional rulings the Great Court had made subsequent
to the Mishna's publication. The first of such compilations was headed by Rabe Yohhanan. That compilation
is called Talmudh Yerushalaiyeem (Jerusalem/Palestenian Talmud). About 100 years later a more total compilation
was completed under Rav Ashe. This Talmudh is called Talmudh Bah'vlee (Babylonian Talmud). For more information
on the origin of the Mishna and Talmudh(s) read the Introduction to the Mishneh Torah HERE.
IS THE TALMUD RACIST?
The Talmud, just like the Jewish people themselves, is one of the most misunderstood of topics
in the world. People usually prefer to believe simplistic urban legends and traditional opinions inherited by sometimes
mistaken or ignorant ancestors than look into matters for themselves with reasonable and objective analysis. This issue
of the Talmud is further complicated by the fact that neither the Talmudh(s) themselves nor trustworthy sources of information on
the Talmudh(s) are readily available to most people in the world. In most places of the world one can only find such
information via the internet or a really good library - if there is one. Anti-Semitic individuals and organizations
have even more fun presenting blatant mis-(distorted) translations of the Talmudh(s) to people who usually have no other translation
of the Talmud with which to compare. Such distorted or otherwise completely bogus translations of the Talmudh coupled
with general ignorance of complex issues covered in the Talmudh, and ignorance of the Talmudh's contexts and format, all work
together to promote the foolish idea that the Talmudh(s) are racist. To see explanations to specific 'examples' of racism
in the Talmudh check out the following sites: "Quotes from the Talmud" "Talmud Exposed" "Real Truth About the Talmud"
(...Continued...) It's hard for the Talmud to be racist when those who compiled
it do not represent any particular race. Rebe Aqiva was a son to converts to the Jewish faith, as were several other
major contributors to the Talmudic teachings. A convert is someone who was previously a member of a different people
group, but upon accepting the Torah as binding upon himself as a Jew, himself becomes a Jew. The Torah, both the Written
and the Oral, teach that anyone of all the nations and races of the world can be utterly righteous before the Most High if
they simply strive to uphold the Instruction He has given mankind. This Instruction is what we call the 'Noahide Laws.'
Unlike Islam and Christianity which put forth an obvious effort to make all the world Muslim or Christian, the Torah (the
faith of the people of Israel - the Jews) does not demand that all people must become Jewish. HOWEVER, if any individual
of any race truly wants to become part of the people of Israel and submit himself to the same Eternal Covenant that the
Almighty made with Israel at Mt. Sinai, such a person - again, of any race - is free to do so. Evidence of this teaching
is seen in both present day individuals who have become Jews and by the fact that Jews from around the world are members of
all types of different races, while at the same time all being full members of the one peoplehood called the people of
Israel. This fact is no where more obvious than in the Land of Israel itself. There, all the various races represented
in the Jewish people are present together in our small and threatened little country, no bigger than about the size of New
Jersey.
TALMUDIC METAPHOR
http://www.mesora.org/TalmudicMetaphors.htm
