Key to the Locks of the Talmud

When a believing individual understands the obligations of the commandments given by his Creator and fulfills them correctly, he is entirely righteous and merits the world to come. The commandments become clear and uncomplicated and seem easy to fulfill. There is no need for us to bring proofs to clarify the truth of the oral traditions of the rabbinic sages and their method of transmission, since earlier writers have already clarified these matters. Nevertheless, I will explain when the Mishnah and the Talmud were committed to writing, and I say that the oral traditions were never lost. They were always guarded among the nation of Israel. When an individual read the portion: Speak to the children of Israel and bid them make fringes [tzitzit] [in the corners of their garments] (Numbers 15:38), he was aware that the tzitzit were the fringes that were placed on the corners of one’s clothing, made up of eight strings and five knots. He knew the details of the laws concerning tzitzit that he had received as an oral transmission and tradition. Similarly with regard to all the other commandments—when people studied them, they knew how each commandment was organized, the underlying basis for it, and so forth. Commandments performed on a regular basis—like those regarding the forbidden types of labor, the obligation of the festivals, the prohibition of eating food that was heated improperly on the Sabbath or avoiding the forbidden fats of the hindquarters—were well known to even women and slaves, for these matters were commonplace and performed on a daily basis. These traditions were kept by the entire nation of Israel from the days of Moses until after the destruction of the Second Temple in the year 150, during the time of R. Judah the Prince, who was also called simply “Rabbi” or “our holy Rabbi,” as the Talmud records: R. Abahu said: “Rabbi” is R. Judah the Prince, also known as “our holy Rabbi.” He descended from the family of Hillel the Elder, and lived during the reign of Antoninus, who was the Roman emperor. Antoninus had great respect for him. He held him in great regard and gave him much authority, as I will explain in the book that I plan to compose—with God’s help—entitled “The Order of the Transmitters of the Torah.” He was a unique individual who mastered both piety and wisdom and had no peer in earlier times. No one reached his level of fear of God, mastery of Torah, or greatness. [ . . . ] [H]‌e realized that the nation of Israel was beginning to lose track of their learning and their knowledge. [ . . . ]

He further saw the travails of the nation and their suffering and recognized that his relationship with the emperor put him in a position to salvage what he could by gathering and compiling all the traditions that had been maintained up to his time. He did this because he saw that the exile was lingering, and he met together with the sages of his time, and gathered the main points known to those people into a valuable collection in a clear and concise manner based on his wisdom and acumen, calling it the Mishnah. The Talmud identifies the author of the anonymous Mishnah as Rabbi, stating: “Who established the content of the Mishnah? R. Judah the Prince” [b. Yevamot 64b] and “R. Judah the Prince and R. Nathan are the end of the Mishnah” [b. Bava Meẓi‘a 86a]. After him, his students R. Ḥiyya and R. Oshaya wrote the Tosefta, which has additional explanations and interpretations. Still, the main teachings are to be found in the Mishnah. [ . . . ] And you will also find that the sages of the Talmud will say, for example:

[ . . . ] What becomes clear is that everything that R. Ḥiyya and R. Oshaya taught in the Tosefta was already hinted at by our holy Rabbi in the Mishnah, but the Tosefta was necessary for future generations that needed more direction in order to understand the ideas latent in the Mishnah without too much difficulty. Still, all the basic principles are to be found in the Mishnah.

The Talmud teaches that Rav was R. Ḥiyya’s nephew and that he studied under R. Judah the Prince. [ . . . ] And when Rav decided to move to Babylonia, R. Ḥiyya asked our holy Rabbi to grant him ordination, and he did so. [ . . . ] Rav’s move to Babylonia took place five hundred years after the end of prophecy, which was the beginning of the rule of Alexander, by which time it was already 380 years after the establishment of the Second Temple and 150 years after its destruction, all together 530 years. It was at that time that the Mishnah was compiled, as we stated above. The study of Mishnah never left the nation of Israel during that whole time, until the time of R. Ashi. R. Ashi was also a man of great stature, a great leader and closely affiliated with the rulers. [ . . . ] He and his rabbinic colleagues decided to write a commentary to the Mishnah, chapter by chapter and tractate by tractate, explaining its sources and collecting the discussions, the ethical lessons, and the homiletical teachings that the sages chose to establish.

Ravina was alive at this time, but he had no leadership role. Following the death of R. Ashi, Ravina was in charge for a period of time during which the Talmud was concluded and sealed [ . . . ] Ravina died in the year 811 [499/500 CE] according to the count of documents, that is, from the end of prophecy until the Talmud was completed. We find that there were 280 years from the time the Mishnah was completed until the time the Talmud was completed. The need to commit the Talmud to writing stemmed from the weakening situation of the nation of Israel and its failing. These sages responded in order to set them on the proper path and prepare a clear interpretation to make it easier for them. Even so, would that it were studied properly! As we find the sages relate:

This refers to the Talmud that we have in our possession today, which we received as an inheritance from those who came before us.