Throughout the ages, scholars have put down in writing oral teachings or what had previously been only an oral history.
People end up studying those writings — but what can we learn about the writings by knowing more about the scholars themselves?
That’s the approach historian Rabbi Berel Wein takes in his latest book, “The Oral Law of Sinai: An Illustrated History of the Mishnah,” in which he looks at the Mishnah and Jewish history during the era when Rome ruled over Palestine.
In his dissection, Wein considers the scholars who wrote the Mishnah, a compilation of rabbinic oral teachings on the Torah from the 4th century BCE to the 2nd century CE.
These scholars, rather than trying to write down oral teachings or an oral history from outside their own realm, were writing down their own teachings from their own era.
Thus, Wein concludes, we can better understand the Mishnah by analyzing these scholars’ lives and personalities.
So he gives readers much information: when they lived; who were their teachers, students and relatives; what they taught and wrote.
But he never establishes how their lives influenced their teachings.
Wein, an author of several books on Jewish history, has to infer a lot about the scholars, since his only sources are not true historical documents, the Mishnah and Talmud.
Each chapter is a mini-biography of a rabbi, a series of snapshots or historical vignettes based on what can be culled from the texts, along with excerpts of their texts.
But he offers little of what the reader would expect: a solid connection between a particular sage’s life and what he wrote.
Wein’s sense of admiration of the Mishnah authors is reflected in his glowing descriptions of the sages.
For example: Raban Yochanan ben Zakai was of “sterling character and prophetic vision.” Rabbi Akiva was humble and modest despite criticism from his teachers. Yehuda HaNasi had all seven qualities of righteousness: beauty and strength, riches, honor, wisdom, old age, gray hair and children.
But he extols the virtues of the scholars at the expense of the big picture, never fully explaining that the Mishnah was compiled orally beginning in the 4th century BCE to replace the era of prophecy.
The sages realized that the Written Law (Torah) — then 1,500 years old — was incomplete, vague and impractical for the current era.
This handsome volume could easily be mistaken for a coffee table book because of its large, glossy format with many illustrations of historical objects — coins, sculptures, scrolls from the era of Mishnah sages.
However, the book is clearly a reference work, with 720 endnotes, a glossary, a chart comparing the Talmud tractates to Mishnah chapters, and a timeline of Mishnah rabbis.
The book’s layout and presentation suggest that the intended audience was a general one. Nevertheless, without a background in Jewish history during this period of Greek and Roman dominance, many readers will be lost.
As an introduction to the Mishnah scholars, the book succeeds.
However, Wein sells readers short with his narrow, heroic portrayal of the sages, his saccharine praise of the Oral Law and insufficient background material.
“The Oral Law of Sinai: An Illustrated History of the Mishnah” by Rabbi Berel Wein (188 pages, Jossey-Bass, $39.95)