5 Books of Moses, Oral Torah, 6 books of Mishnah

The Torah--i.e. the 5 Books of Moses--is very vague. For instance, the Torah says not to “work” on Shabbat. But what’s “work?” To answer this and many other questions (like how to slaughter an animal in the Kosher way, what Tefillin are), G-d explained the entire Torah to Moses. Moses then explained the entire Torah to the people orally. This explanation is therefore called the Oral Torah, since it was transmitted by word of mouth and was not written down. ------------------- The Oral Torah was taught mouth-to-ear, mouth-to-ear, through the generations until the 2nd Century CE, at which point the sages felt that it would be forgotten unless it was written down. Rabbi Judah the Prince indeed went ahead and compiled the basics into a 63 volume document called the Mishnah. The Mishnah was taught in schools through the generations, with an accompanying oral explanation. In the 5th Century CE, it became too vast and confusing for people to understand, and the oral explanation was written down in a massive collection that dwarfs the Mishnah. This explanation is known as the Gemara, and together they - the Mishnah with its Gemara commentary - form the Talmud. ----------------- What are the 6 books of Mishnah and their order? Answer: There are 63 volumes divided into 6 sections to the Mishnah - known as orders. Each one of these has a number of Tractates. 1st Order: Zera'im ("Seeds"). This section contains 11 Tractates. It deals with agricultural laws and prayers. 2nd Order: Mo'ed ("Festival"). This section contains 12 Tractates. It deals with the laws of the Shabbat and the Holy Days. 3rd Order: Nashim ("Women"). This section contains 7 Tractates. It deals with marriage and divorce. 4th Order: Nezikin ("Damages"). This section contains 10 Tractates. It deals with civil and criminal law. 5th Order: Kodshim ("Holy [things]"). This section contains 11 Tractates. It deals with laws about the sacrifices, the Holy Temple, and the dietary laws. 6th order: Taharot ("Purities"). This section contains 12 Tractates. It deals with laws of ritual purity and impurity, including impurity of the dead, laws of ritual purity for the priests (Kohanim), and laws of "Family Purity" and others.