The following have coalesced in my mind: The first module of the Mishna; the study of Mishna vs Torah; the temporal track-marks of Judaism. First I’ll introduce these, and then unpack them as a whole.
First
The first Mishna teaches the times for the recitation of Shema in the evening[I].
The Torah (i.e. as we have it) was created alongside and in parallel to the world, whereas the Mishna (i.e. as we have it) is an echo of Moses’s divine capacity for comprehension.
The history of Judaism since the second, not yet finished exile, is stratified into epochs of greatness, and weaves a tapestry of pragmatics, interactions with the surroundings, and rabbinic ruling.
Before continuing let me anchor these three principles: The Torah is true; the Mishna is true; the chachamim are true. Given these three, I make the following subservient: Divine truths are given to each and every person, and it is the opportunity of each individual to seek meaning (i.e. that aligns with the first three principles).
Then
The Mishna starts with a question, this alone reminds us of the Jewish tradition.
It is concerned with a temporal aspect; it is concerned with the chapters within that dimension; with the engagements across those chapters; with a central edifice of Jewish engagement; with the context of the evening portion of the dimension. It answers with three opinions; it uses various modes of defining points in time; the final opinion unfolds into a narrative with peculiar details; unfolding to purview laws of sacrifice; unfolding to teach about understanding the past.
How should one read Mishna? Most practically, i.e. to understand the best way to be. But it is also viable to learn the sources of these recommendations. But it is also viable to see the genius of its editing the memory of the spark; the spark that is unwritable (to prevent its decay and amnesia).
[This is one particular understanding of what is carried within the concentrate of the first Mishna. It is not the primary lesson. It is very likely inaccurate by errors of confabulation.]
The Mishna is an effort to preserve some of the “wisdom” that accompanied the physical reception of the Torah. Thus it begins with an ethos of intergenerational transmission. It asks, “As we move forward in history, with each and every moment of our lives caught within the net of past-into-future, how should we safeguard the core of our engagement?”
The transmission of this engagement is a dialectic. On one side – a pole of the unargued, on the other – the division of opinions. And moreso; that pole of division further divides between one generation and the next.
Thus the Mishna teaches: Go forward in history, never abandon the laws of your ancestors, interpret for each generation in such a way that is most complementary to the wisdom of your ancestors; interpret for each generation in light of their needs.
Ellipsis
I hope (in the future) to explain my reading in word-by-word detail. But first I want to renew the intentions with which I set this out.
The first Mishna asks about how to practise the most defining Jewish action: announcing the singularity of a people and their belief in the words of the Shema. But in doing so, it reminds us about the conflicts between our understanding of how to best be Jewish. And in doing so, it illustrates a navigation between these straits.
The Mishna can epitomize the Jewish tradition. And the first Mishna can help us understand our own place within that tradition.
Know what is undeniable, assume wisdom in the past, express your own unique and thus invaluable perspective.
