One of the most important skills for learning Mishnah is the identification and understanding of textual layers. Oral Tradition is, among its many functions, the national legal system of the People of Israel. As in every legal system, law develops from generation to generation, as Rabbis apply the principles and precedents of Torah laws to new questions and ever-changing circumstances. We can actually see and follow this process in Mishnah. How do we see these layers?

Often, a mishnah may contain opinions, decisions or precedents from more than one generation. By following the discussions from one layer to the other, we can learn about the development of halachah through changing times. Two examples demonstrate how layers work in Mishnah:

1. Mishnah Rosh Hashanah, Chapter 4, Mishnah 1:

· éåí èåá ùì øàù äùðä ùçì ìäéåú áùáú - áî÷ãù äéå úå÷òéí àáì ìà áîãéðä.
· îùçøá áéú äî÷ãù, äú÷éï øáï éåçðï áï æëàé ùéäå úå÷òéï áëì î÷åí ùéù áå áéú ãéï.
· àîø øáé àìòæø: ìà äú÷éï øáï éåçðï áï æëàé àìà áéáðä áìáã.
àîøå ìå àçã éáðä åàçã ëì î÷åí ùéù áå áéú ãéï:

In this example, Rabbis of three periods debate the blowing of the shofar on Rosh Hashanah that occurs on Shabbat. In the first period, when the Temple stood, it was allowed to blow shofar on Shabbat in the Temple, but nowhere else. In the second period, after much debate, it was decreed by the Nasi that this permit would also apply to Yavneh where the Sanhedrin met. Two generations later, Rabbi Elazar and his colleagues disputed the application of this law in the Galil. In each period, special historical circumstances gave rise to new questions in an old law. The latter two layers can be identified by the names of the Rabbis.

2. Mishnah Kiddushin, Chapter 1, Mishnah 1:

· äàùä ð÷ðéú áùìù ãøëéí å÷åðä àú òöîä áùúé ãøëéí:
ð÷ðéú áëñó áùèø åááéàä.
· áëñó - áéú ùîàé àåîøéí áãéðø åáùåä ãéðø
åáéú äìì àåîøéí áôøåèä åáùåä ôøåèä.
o åëîä äéà ôøåèä? àçã îùîðä áàéñø äàéèì÷é.
· å÷åðä àú òöîä áâè åáîéúú äáòì.

· äéáîä ð÷ðéú ááéàä, å÷åðä àú òöîä áçìéöä åáîéúú äéáí:

In this more complicated example, Mishnah presents three ways for a woman to be engaged for marriage, including payment of money. In a subsequent generation, the academies of Shammai and Hillel debated the amount of money required. Yet later, another generation explained the coinage preferred by the academy of Hillel. After these clarifications, Mishnah returns to the original layer and discusses how a woman leaves a marital relationship. The second layer is identified by the names of the academies, and the third layer by the fact that it comes to interpret the second layer.

In these examples, and in hundreds of similar mishnayot, the dynamic process of halachah is revealed.

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