The Power of Mishnah

A soul is a terrible thing to waste. It is equally tragic when we forget we possess it.

The Bridge

This week we begin reading the fifth book of the Torah, the book of Devarim (Deuteronomy), which distinguishes itself from all the other books in that it represented Moses’ taking G-d’s earlier teachings dictated to him and transposes it into his own words, albeit with Divine inspiration. This explains the other name by which this book is known “Mishneh Torah,” which means “The Restatement of the Torah” because it contains Moses’ distillation of the preceding four books.

Because of the unique nature of Devarim it is seen as the bridge between the Written Torah (Biblical literature that was mandated to be written) and the Oral Torah (subsequently put into written form in the Mishnah and Gemara-Talmud).

The salient difference between the Written Torah and the Oral Torah is that the former is rigid and precise; where every word must conform to the original text, whereas the Oral Torah must be transmitted by people, the students of Torah, and must be subjected to their analysis and interpretation following the rules of interpretation handed down at Sinai.

Study of the Oral Torah also involves finding new meaning and insights within the Torah; insights that obviously do not contradict the existing teachings of Torah.

In short, the Written Torah is fixed and the Oral Torah is fluid.

The book of Deuteronomy is the bridge between the two, for while it is one of the Five Books of Moses, an integral part of the written Torah; it was the Torah as it was introduced into Moses’ mind. This process facilitated that the otherwise elusive Divine writ should become accessible to every Jew.

Likewise the Oral Torah—specifically those works that contain the actual laws that represent the distillation of all of Torah knowledge into its most basic components such as the Mishnah and Maimonides’ Mishneh Torah—is what takes transcendent Divine wisdom and introduces is into our minds and hearts.

“..Redeemed with mishpat… return with tzedakah.”

This weekly parsha of Devarim is always read on the Shabbat that precedes Tisha B’Av, the national day of mourning that commemorates the destruction of the two Holy Temples and many other tragedies.

Because it is the Shabbat before Tisha B’Av, the prophetic reading from the Book of Isaiah is also read. This prophetic selection concludes with a verse that provides us with the means to end the exile we are in and the spiraling tragedies that began with the destruction of the Temple:

Isaiah declares: “Zion will be redeemed with mishpat and its captives shall return with tzedakah.” Now we know what tzedakah is, but what is the precise meaning of the word Mishpat?

The simple translation of mishpat is justice, but the authoritative Aramaic translator renders it as the “laws of the Torah.” In other words, the study of the laws as they have been preserved in the Mishnah and other similar works is the means to redeem ourselves from this exile.

The Midrash echoes this point when it states: “The exiles will not be gathered except through the merit of the [study of the] Mishnah.” This refers to the ultimate ingathering of all the Jewish people in the Messianic Age and their return to the Land of Israel. The study of Mishnah—or other works of Jewish law that follow the style of the Mishnah such as Maimonides classic work “Mishneh Torah” is seen as the catalyst for our return to our Promised Land and the ultimate Redemption.

The Three Weeks and the 528 Mishnahs

There is a beautiful “hint” cited by the Chassidic work Igra d’kallah that connects the study of Mishnah with the period we are in. The “Three Weeks”—the period that links the fast of the 17th of Tammuz with Tisha B’av, from the time the Romans breached the walls of Jerusalem until they destroyed the Temple—comprise a total of 22 days, or 528 hours. The significance of the number 528 is that it is the number of chapters in the Mishnah and also the numerical value of the word “mafteiach,” which means “key.”

The inferred message from this is that the key to transforming these three weeks of sadness into three weeks of joy is to study the 528 chapters of the Mishnah, consistent with the idea alluded to in this week’s prophetic reading that we will be redeemed with the study of the laws transmitted through the Oral law.

What is it about the Mishnah that makes it the key to Redemption and the ingathering of the exiles?

There are several explanations that can be offered.

Mishnah Anagrams

The word Mishnah is said to comprise the same letters as the word Neshamah which means soul. Learning Mishnah is thus the key to revealing our soul’s potential, which normally remains dormant until we are jolted by some cataclysmic even in our lives. Being in exile is a description of the state of the soul when it cannot fully express itself. Study of Mishnah allows our souls to be redeemed without the jolt.

Second, the word Mishnah also contains the word Menashe, the root of which menas “forgetfulness. Menashe was Joseph’s elder son, who was so named because Joseph had forgotten his travail.

In other words, the Mishnah is the antidote for forgetfulness. Indeed, historically the Mishnah was written—even though it was originally intended to be an oral tradition—because of the danger that the Jews might forget these teachings due to the harsh realities of life in the Diaspora. Hence, Mishnah is the remedy for forgetfulness.

Exile Amnesia

When we consider the dominant feature of exile one could say that it is our inability to retain the memory of who we are, where we come from and where we are going. Every day of life is disconnected from the previous and from the next in exile. Being connected is the hallmark of a person who is truly free. Being disconnected from everyone and everything including our own inner beings is the hallmark of exile.

Thus, the study of Mishnah that facilitates remembrance assists us in making the necessary connections and allows us to faithfully go from one rung to the next in our journey out of exile. Memory is the key to redemption.

Distillation

Third, Mishnah represents the clearest expression of G-d’s will. It teaches us clearly and succinctly what we are supposed to do as Jews and what we are enjoined against doing. It is G-d’s will articulated without any covers and dilutions. It is the distillation of all of Torah knowledge without the embellishments that sometimes eclipse its true essence.

Similarly, the process of Redemption—specifically the ingathering of all the exiles—represents the distillation of all of the Jewish people from all exile influences so that they can be gathered as one people and this “distilled” state enter into the Era of Redemption. As we traveled through exile we acquired various “embellishments” some good and most negative. Study of the unadulterated Divine knowledge assists us in removing all of the elements that cloud our own identities and potentials.

Let us dedicate ourselves to the study of Torah— specifically the genre of Mishnah—coupled with tzedakah, so that this Tisha B’Av will be transformed into a day of boundless joy. Amen!

From the book Light from the Future: Parshas Devarim by Rabbi Heschel Greenberg, published by the Jewish Discovery Center.