Paterfamilias: Decoding the Secrets of Mishnah Avot - episode 2

What is Mesorah?

In this episode we discuss the historical context for the composition of the Mishnah. We then uncover perhaps the most profound lesson of Avot, that part of the Torah sh'Baal Peh are the new insights and innovations, not from Sinai, but created by those who are the conduit of the mesorah from one generation to the next. Those 'Avot' don't just transmit the oral Torah, they contribute to it. We see this from the first Mishna which itself was clearly not said at Sinai, and we see it from the fact that the innovative statements of Avot are (largely) not sourced in Torah verses, nor are they even Rabbinically required (one has not violated halacha or sinned if s/he has not made their house a meeting place for the Sages (1:4) for instance.

Lastly, we point out that the intended audience for Avot is not the average layperson. This is also seen from the first mishnah where the statements of the Men of the Great Assembly are addressed not to the average joe, but their colleagues, other Avot.

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