Mishnaic Hebrew in the context of "Biblical Hebrew"

Tannaim (Amoraic Hebrew: תנאים [tannɔʔim] "repeaters", "teachers", singular tanna תנא [tanˈnɔː], borrowed from Aramaic) were the rabbinic sages whose views are recorded in the Mishnah, from approximately 10–220 CE. The period of the Tannaim, also referred to as the Mishnaic period, lasted about 210 years. It came after the period of the Zugot "Pairs" and was immediately followed by the period of the Amoraim "Interpreters".

The root tannā (תנא) is the Aramaic equivalent of the Hebrew root shānā (שנה), which also is the Semitic root found in the word Mishnah. Shana means "to repeat [what one was taught]" and is used to mean "to learn".

Yiddish, historically Judeo-German or Jewish German, is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated in 9th-century Central Europe and provided the nascent Ashkenazi community with a vernacular based on High German fused with many elements taken from Hebrew (notably Mishnaic) and to some extent Aramaic. Most varieties of Yiddish include elements of Slavic languages, and the vocabulary contains traces of Romance languages. Yiddish has traditionally been written using the Hebrew alphabet.

Before World War II, there were 11–13 million speakers. 85% of the approximately six million Jews who were murdered in the Holocaust were Yiddish speakers, leading to a massive decline in the use of the language. Assimilation following World War II and aliyah (immigration to Israel) further decreased the use of Yiddish among survivors after adapting to Modern Hebrew in Israel. However, the number of Yiddish speakers is increasing in Haredi communities. In 2014, YIVO stated that "most people who speak Yiddish in their daily lives are Hasidim and other Haredim", whose population was estimated at the time to be between 500,000 and 1 million. A 2021 estimate from Rutgers University was that there were 250,000 American speakers, 250,000 Israeli speakers, and 100,000 in the rest of the world (for a total of 600,000).

The Mishnah or the Mishna (/ˈmɪʃnə/; Hebrew: מִשְׁנָה, romanized: mišnā, lit. 'study by repetition', from the verb לִשְׁנוֹת‎ lišnot, "to repeat") is the first written collection of the Jewish oral traditions that are known as the Oral Torah. Having been collected in the 3rd century CE, it is the first work of rabbinic literature, written primarily in Mishnaic Hebrew but also partly in Jewish Aramaic. The oldest surviving physical fragments of it are from the 6th to 7th centuries. It is viewed as authoritative and binding revelation by most Orthodox Jews and some non-Orthodox Jews.

The Mishnah was redacted by Judah ha-Nasi probably in Beit Shearim or Sepphoris, in the late second or early third century CE. in a time when the persecution of Jews and the passage of time raised the possibility that the details of the oral traditions of the Pharisees from the Second Temple period (516 BCE – 70 CE) would be forgotten.

Ashkenazi Hebrew (Hebrew: הֲגִיָּה אַשְׁכְּנַזִּית, romanized: hagiyoh ashkenazis, Yiddish: אַשכּנזישע הבֿרה, romanized: ashkenazishe havore) is the pronunciation system for Biblical and Mishnaic Hebrew favored for Jewish liturgical use and Torah study by Ashkenazi Jewish practice.

Shimon bar Yochai (Zoharic Aramaic: שמעון בר יוחאי, Šimʿon bar Yoḥay) or Shimon ben Yochai (Mishnaic Hebrew: שמעון בן יוחאי), also known by the acronym Rashbi, was a 2nd-century tanna or sage of the period of Roman Judaea and early Syria Palaestina. He was one of the most eminent disciples of Rabbi Akiva. The Zohar, a 13th-century foundational work of Kabbalah, is ascribed to him by Kabbalistic tradition, but this claim is universally rejected by modern scholars.

In addition, the essential legal works called the Sifre and Mekhilta of Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai are attributed to him (not to be confused with the Mekhilta of Rabbi Ishmael, of which much of the text is the same). In the Mishnah, where he is the fourth-most mentioned sage, he is referred to as simply "Rabbi Shimon" except in Hagigah 1:7. In baraitas, midrash, and gemara, his name occurs either as Shimon or as Shimon ben Yochai. An 8th-century pseudonymous attribution of divine revelations to Shimon by the angel Metatron is also known, called The Secrets of Rabbi Simon ben Yohai.

Nasi (Hebrew: נָשִׂיא, romanized: nāśī) is a title meaning "prince" in Biblical Hebrew, "Prince [of the Sanhedrin]" in Mishnaic Hebrew. Certain great figures from Jewish history have the title, including Judah ha-Nasi, who was the chief redactor of the Mishnah as well as nasi of the Sanhedrin.

In Modern Hebrew, its meaning has changed to "president".