Rabbi Naftali Hertz Ben Ya’acov Elchanon (Rabbi Hertz ) published a book in 1648 in Amsterdam, Holland entitled Emeq HaMelekh ("Valley of the King(s)"). The introduction to this book included ancient records which Rabbi Hertz called the "Mishnayot ". Hertz used the term Mishnayot, since the text of the Mishnayot is missing from the Mishnah (Mishna), which is the first section of the Talmud, a collection of ancient Rabbinic writings including also the Gemara, "the summary", and containing the Jewish religious law. The accuracy of his publication was confirmed in the 20th century by the discovery of the Copper Scroll among the Dead Sea Scrolls and through the recognition in the 1990s that the Tosefta that Solomon Schechter had brought to Cambridge University in 1896 was the source of the Mishnayot.
Last updated: 06-03-2005 13:52:48