## Rambam Introduction to the Mishnah Section 2

###### Rambam Introduction to the Mishnah 2:1
[Rambam Introduction to the Mishnah 2:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rambam%20Introduction%20to%20the%20Mishnah/r/2:1)

**דע** כי כל מצוה שנתן הקב"ה למשה רבינו ע"ה נתנה לו בפירושה. היה אומר לו המצוה ואחר כך אומר לו פירושה וענינה.וכל מה שהוא כולל ספר התורה. וענין למודו לישראל היה כפי שאומר (עירובין פ"ה דף נד:):

**Rambam Introduction to the Mishnah, translation by Rabbi Francis Nataf, 2017:**
**Know** that each commandment that the Holy One, blessed be He, gave to Moshe, our teacher – peace be upon him – was given to him with its explanation. He would say to him the commandment and afterward tell him its explanation and content; and [so too with] everything that is included in the Book of the Torah. And the manner of its teaching to Israel is as it is said (Eruvin 54b – in Chapter 5),


###### Rambam Introduction to the Mishnah 2:2
[Rambam Introduction to the Mishnah 2:2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rambam%20Introduction%20to%20the%20Mishnah/r/2:2)

היה משה נכנס באהלו ונכנס אליו בתחלה אהרן ומשה היה אומר לו המצוה הנתונה לו פעם אחת ולימדהו פירושה.

**Rambam Introduction to the Mishnah, translation by Rabbi Francis Nataf, 2017:**
Moshe would enter his tent, and Aharon would enter it first, and Moshe would tell him the commandment that was given to him, and teach him its explanation one time.


###### Rambam Introduction to the Mishnah 2:3
[Rambam Introduction to the Mishnah 2:3](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rambam%20Introduction%20to%20the%20Mishnah/r/2:3)

ויסתלק אהרן ויחזור לימין משה רבינו ונכנסו אחריו אלעזר ואיתמר בניו והיה משה אומר להם מה שאמר לאהרן.

**Rambam Introduction to the Mishnah, translation by Rabbi Francis Nataf, 2017:**
And [then] Aharon withdrew and retreated to our teacher, Moshe's, right, and Elazar and Itamar, his sons, entered after him. And Moshe would tell them what he told Aharon.


###### Rambam Introduction to the Mishnah 2:4
[Rambam Introduction to the Mishnah 2:4](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rambam%20Introduction%20to%20the%20Mishnah/r/2:4)

ויסתלקו וישב האחד לשמאל משה רבינו והשני לימין אהרן ואחרי כן יבאו שבעים זקנים וילמדם משה כמו שלמד לאהרן ובניו.

**Rambam Introduction to the Mishnah, translation by Rabbi Francis Nataf, 2017:**
And they withdrew, and one sat to our teacher, Moshe's left and the second to the right of Aharon. And afterward, the seventy elders came, and Moshe taught them as he taught Aharon and his sons.


###### Rambam Introduction to the Mishnah 2:5
[Rambam Introduction to the Mishnah 2:5](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rambam%20Introduction%20to%20the%20Mishnah/r/2:5)

ואחרי כן יבאו ההמון וכל מבקש ה' וישם לפניהם המצוה ההיא עד ישמעו הכל מפיו.

**Rambam Introduction to the Mishnah, translation by Rabbi Francis Nataf, 2017:**
And afterward, the masses and 'all who sought the Lord' came and He placed that commandment in front of them, [and so forth] until they heard everything from his mouth.


###### Rambam Introduction to the Mishnah 2:6
[Rambam Introduction to the Mishnah 2:6](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rambam%20Introduction%20to%20the%20Mishnah/r/2:6)

נמצא אהרן שומע המצוה ההיא מפי משה ד' פעמים ובניו ג' פעמים והזקנים שני פעמים ושאר העם פעם אחת.

**Rambam Introduction to the Mishnah, translation by Rabbi Francis Nataf, 2017:**
It came out that Aharon heard that commandment from the mouth of Moshe four times, his sons three times, the elders twice and the rest of the people once.


###### Rambam Introduction to the Mishnah 2:7
[Rambam Introduction to the Mishnah 2:7](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rambam%20Introduction%20to%20the%20Mishnah/r/2:7)

ויסתלק משה וחזר אהרן לפרש המצוה ההיא אשר למד ששמע מפי משה ד' פעמים כמו שאמרנו על כל הנמצאים.

**Rambam Introduction to the Mishnah, translation by Rabbi Francis Nataf, 2017:**
And Moshe withdrew, and Aharon reviewed the explanation of that commandment which he learned – that he heard from the mouth of Moshe four times, as we said – to all those present.


###### Rambam Introduction to the Mishnah 2:8
[Rambam Introduction to the Mishnah 2:8](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rambam%20Introduction%20to%20the%20Mishnah/r/2:8)

ויסתלק אהרן מאתם אחרי ששמעו בניו המצוה ד' פעמים ג' מפי משה ואחד מפי אהרן.

**Rambam Introduction to the Mishnah, translation by Rabbi Francis Nataf, 2017:**
And Aharon retreated from them, after his sons had heard the commandment four times – three times from the mouth of Moshe, and once from the mouth of Aharon.


###### Rambam Introduction to the Mishnah 2:9
[Rambam Introduction to the Mishnah 2:9](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rambam%20Introduction%20to%20the%20Mishnah/r/2:9)

וחוזרין אלעזר ואיתמר אחרי שנסתלק אהרן ללמד המצוה ההיא לכל העם הנמצאים ונסתלקו מללמד.

**Rambam Introduction to the Mishnah, translation by Rabbi Francis Nataf, 2017:**
And Elazar and Itamar reviewed [it,] to teach that commandment to all the people that were present, after Aharon withdrew. And they withdrew from teaching.


###### Rambam Introduction to the Mishnah 2:10
[Rambam Introduction to the Mishnah 2:10](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rambam%20Introduction%20to%20the%20Mishnah/r/2:10)

ונמצאו שבעים הזקנים שומעים המצוה ארבעה פעמים שתים מפי משה ואחת מפי אהרן ואחת מפי אלעזר ואיתמר.

**Rambam Introduction to the Mishnah, translation by Rabbi Francis Nataf, 2017:**
And it came out that the seventy elders heard the commandment four times – two from the mouth of Moshe, one from the mouth of Aharon and one from the mouth of Elazar and Itamar.


###### Rambam Introduction to the Mishnah 2:11
[Rambam Introduction to the Mishnah 2:11](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rambam%20Introduction%20to%20the%20Mishnah/r/2:11)

וחוזרים הזקנים גם הם אחר כן להורות המצוה להמון פ"א נמצאו כל הקהל שומעים המצוה ההיא ארבעה פעמים פעם מפי משה ופעם מפי אהרן ושלישית מפי בניו ורביעית מפי הזקנים.

**Rambam Introduction to the Mishnah, translation by Rabbi Francis Nataf, 2017:**
And afterward, the elders also reviewed [it,] to teach the commandment to the masses one time. It came out that the entire congregation hears that commandment four times – once from the mouth of Moshe, once from the mouth of Aharon, a third [time] from the mouth of his sons and a fourth [time] from the mouth of the elders.


###### Rambam Introduction to the Mishnah 2:12
[Rambam Introduction to the Mishnah 2:12](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rambam%20Introduction%20to%20the%20Mishnah/r/2:12)

ואחרי כן היו כל העם הולכים ללמד איש לאחיו מה ששמעו מפי משה וכותבים המצוה ההוא במגלות וישוטו השרים על כל ישראל ללמוד ולהגות עד שידעו בגרסא המצוה ההיא וירגילו לקרותה ואח"כ למדום פירושי המצוה ההיא הנתונה מאת השם. והפירוש ההוא היה כולל ענינים והיו כותבים המצוה ולומדים על פה הקבלה.

**Rambam Introduction to the Mishnah, translation by Rabbi Francis Nataf, 2017:**
And afterward all the people went to teach – each person his neighbor – all that they heard from the mouth of Moshe – and write that commandment in scrolls. And the officers would circulate to all of Israel to teach and correct, until [the people] knew the commandment by heart and became accustomed to reading it. And afterward, they taught them the explanations of that commandment that was given from God – and that explanation would include [many] matters. And they would write the commandment and study [it] according to the received tradition.


###### Rambam Introduction to the Mishnah 2:13
[Rambam Introduction to the Mishnah 2:13](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rambam%20Introduction%20to%20the%20Mishnah/r/2:13)

וכן אמרו רבותינו ז"ל בברייתא (בת"כ) וידבר ה' אל משה בהר סיני מה תלמוד לומר בהר סיני והלא כל התורה כולה נאמרה מסיני. אלא לומר לך מה שמטה נאמרה בכלליה ופרטיה ודקדוקיה מסיני אף כל המצות כלליהן ופרטיהן ודקדוקיהן מסיני.

**Rambam Introduction to the Mishnah, translation by Rabbi Francis Nataf, 2017:**
And so [too] did our rabbis, may their memory be blessed, say in a bereita (Sifra, Behar), "'And God said to Moshe at Mount Sinai [with regards to the sabbatical year]' – and was not the whole entire Torah said from Sinai? Rather it is to tell you [that] just like [the law of] the sabbatical year was stated with its general principles and its details and its inferences from Sinai, so too were all the commandments, with their general principles and their details and their inferences, from Sinai."


###### Rambam Introduction to the Mishnah 2:14
[Rambam Introduction to the Mishnah 2:14](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rambam%20Introduction%20to%20the%20Mishnah/r/2:14)

והנה לך משל שהקב"ה אמר למשה בסכות תשבו שבעת ימים (ויקרא כג):

**Rambam Introduction to the Mishnah, translation by Rabbi Francis Nataf, 2017:**
And behold for you an example: When the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moshe, "You shall live in booths seven days" (Leviticus 23:42);


###### Rambam Introduction to the Mishnah 2:15
[Rambam Introduction to the Mishnah 2:15](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rambam%20Introduction%20to%20the%20Mishnah/r/2:15)

אחר כן הודיע שהסוכה הזאת חובה על הזכרים לא על הנקבות ושאין החולים חייבין בה ולא הולכי דרך.

**Rambam Introduction to the Mishnah, translation by Rabbi Francis Nataf, 2017:**
afterward, He made known that this booth is an obligation on males [and] not on females, and that sick people are not obligated in it, nor are wayfarers;


###### Rambam Introduction to the Mishnah 2:16
[Rambam Introduction to the Mishnah 2:16](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rambam%20Introduction%20to%20the%20Mishnah/r/2:16)

ושלא יהיה סכוכה אלא בצמח הארץ ולא יסככנה בצמר ולא במשי ולא בכלים אפילו מאשר תצמח הארץ. כגון הכסתות והכרים והבגדים.

**Rambam Introduction to the Mishnah, translation by Rabbi Francis Nataf, 2017:**
and that it only be covered with that which grows from the ground, and that he should not cover it with wool or silk or vessels – even from that which grows from the ground – for example, comforters and pillows and clothes.


###### Rambam Introduction to the Mishnah 2:17
[Rambam Introduction to the Mishnah 2:17](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rambam%20Introduction%20to%20the%20Mishnah/r/2:17)

והודיע שהאכילה והשתיה והשינה בה כלו חובה. ושלא יהיה בחללה פחות משבעה טפחים אורך על שבעה טפחים רוחב. ושלא יהיה גובה הסוכה פחות מעשרה טפחים.

**Rambam Introduction to the Mishnah, translation by Rabbi Francis Nataf, 2017:**
And he made known that eating and drinking and sleeping in it is all an obligation; and that its space should not be less than seven hand-breadths long on seven hand-breadths wide, and that the height of the booth not be less than ten hand-breadths.


###### Rambam Introduction to the Mishnah 2:18
[Rambam Introduction to the Mishnah 2:18](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rambam%20Introduction%20to%20the%20Mishnah/r/2:18)

וכאשר בא הנביא ע"ה נתנה לו המצוה הזאת ופירושה וכן השש מאות ושלש עשרה מצות הם ופירושם. המצות בכתב והפירוש על פה.

**Rambam Introduction to the Mishnah, translation by Rabbi Francis Nataf, 2017:**
And when the prophet, peace be upon him, came, this commandment and its explanation was given to him. And so [too, with all of] the six hundred and thirteen commandments – they and their explanations – the commandment in writing, and the explanation orally.


###### Rambam Introduction to the Mishnah 2:19
[Rambam Introduction to the Mishnah 2:19](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rambam%20Introduction%20to%20the%20Mishnah/r/2:19)

ויהי בארבעים שנה בעשתי עשר חדש בר"ח שבט הקהיל את העם ואמר להם הגיע זמן מותי ואם יש בכם מי ששמע הלכה ושכחה יבא וישאלני ואבאר אותה וכל מי שנסתפקה עליו שאלה יבא ואפרשנה לו כמו שנאמר (דברים א) הואיל משה באר את התורה הזאת לאמר.

**Rambam Introduction to the Mishnah, translation by Rabbi Francis Nataf, 2017:**
'And it was in the fortieth year in the eleventh month,' on Rosh Chodesh (the first day of) Shevat, [that Moshe] gathered the people and said to them, "The time of my death has arrived; and if there is from [among] you someone who heard a law and forgot it, he should come to me and ask me, and I will elucidate it. And anyone who has a doubt about a question, he should come, and I will explain it to him," as it is stated (Deuteronomy 1:5), "Moses undertook to expound this Torah, saying."


###### Rambam Introduction to the Mishnah 2:20
[Rambam Introduction to the Mishnah 2:20](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rambam%20Introduction%20to%20the%20Mishnah/r/2:20)

וכן אמרו חכמים בספרי (פ' דברים) כל ששכח הלכה אחת יבא וישנה וכל שיש לו לפרש יבא ויפרש. ולקחו מפיו ברור ההלכות ולמדו הפרושים כל הזמן ההוא מר"ח שבט עד שבעה באדר.

**Rambam Introduction to the Mishnah, translation by Rabbi Francis Nataf, 2017:**
And so did the sages say in the Sifrei, Devarim 1:5, "Anyone who forgot a law, let him come and review, and anyone who needs an explanation, let him come and [have it explained]." And they took elucidations of the laws from his mouth and studied the explanations all of that time – from Rosh Chodesh Shevat until the seventh of Adar.


###### Rambam Introduction to the Mishnah 2:21
[Rambam Introduction to the Mishnah 2:21](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rambam%20Introduction%20to%20the%20Mishnah/r/2:21)

וכשהיה לפני מותו החל לכתוב התורה בספרים וכתב י"ג ספרי תורה גוילים כולם מבי"ת בראשית עד למ"ד לעיני כל ישראל (ב"ב פ"ק דף טו) ונתן ספר לכל שבט ושבט להתנהג בו וללכת בחוקותיו והספר הי"ג נתנו ללוים ואמר להם לקוח את ספר התורה הזה (דברים לא).

**Rambam Introduction to the Mishnah, translation by Rabbi Francis Nataf, 2017:**
And when it was before his death, he began to write the Torah in books. And he wrote thirteen books of the Torah – all of them [on] parchment – from [the letter] bet [in] *Bereishit* (the first word in the Torah) to [the letter] lamed [in] *le’einei kol Yisrael* (the last phrase in the Torah) (Bava Batra 15a). And he gave a book to each and every tribe, to behave according to it and to walk in its statutes. And the thirteenth book he gave to the Levites, and said to them (Deuteronomy 31:26), "Take this book of the Torah."


###### Rambam Introduction to the Mishnah 2:22
[Rambam Introduction to the Mishnah 2:22](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rambam%20Introduction%20to%20the%20Mishnah/r/2:22)

אח"כ עלה אל ההר בחצי היום השביעי (ספרי פ' האזינו) לחדש אדר (מגילה דף יג:) כפי אשר דקדקה הקבלה.

**Rambam Introduction to the Mishnah, translation by Rabbi Francis Nataf, 2017:**
Afterward, he went up to the mountaintop in the middle (Sifrei, Haazinu) of the seventh day of the month of Adar (Megillah 13b), as the tradition inferred.


###### Rambam Introduction to the Mishnah 2:23
[Rambam Introduction to the Mishnah 2:23](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rambam%20Introduction%20to%20the%20Mishnah/r/2:23)

והיה המקרה ההוא אשר קראו מות בעינינו בשביל שחסרנו ופקדנו אותו וחיים לו לכבוד המעלה שעלה אליה וכן אמרו (סוטה דף יג:) משה רבינו ע"ה לא מת אלא עלה ומשמש במרום והדברים באלו הענינים ארוכים מאד ואין זה מקומם.

**Rambam Introduction to the Mishnah, translation by Rabbi Francis Nataf, 2017:**
And that event that happened, they called death in our eyes – because we lost him and remembered him – and life for him, in honor of the heights that he reached. And so [too], they said (Sotah 13b), "Moshe, our teacher – peace be upon him – did not die, but rather he went up and is serving above. And the things about these matters are very expansive, and this is not their place.


###### Rambam Introduction to the Mishnah 2:24
[Rambam Introduction to the Mishnah 2:24](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rambam%20Introduction%20to%20the%20Mishnah/r/2:24)

וכאשר מת ע"ה אחר שהנחיל ליהושע מה שנאצל עליו מן הפירוש והחכים והתבונן בו יהושע ואנשי דורו. וכל מה שקבל ממשה הוא או אחד מן הזקנים אין לדבר עליו ולא נפלה בו מחלוקת.

**Rambam Introduction to the Mishnah, translation by Rabbi Francis Nataf, 2017:**
And when he died, peace be upon him – since he bequeathed to Yehoshua that which was imbued to him of the explanation – Yehoshua and the people of his generation applied their wisdom and their thought to [the received Torah]. And everything that he received from Moshe – he or any of the elders – there is nothing to say about it; and no disagreement arose about it.


###### Rambam Introduction to the Mishnah 2:25
[Rambam Introduction to the Mishnah 2:25](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rambam%20Introduction%20to%20the%20Mishnah/r/2:25)

ומי שלא שמע בו פירוש מפי הנביא ע"ה מן הענינים המשתרגים מהם הוציא דינים בסברות במדות השלש עשרה הנתונות על הר סיני שהתורה נדרשת בהם. ובאותם הדינים שהוציאום יש דברים שלא נפלה בהן מחלוקת אבל הסכימו עליהם ויש מהם מה שנפלה בו מחלוקת בין שתי דעות זה אומר בכה וזה אומר בכה זה סובר סברא ונתחזקה לדעתו וזה סובר סברא ונתחזקה לדעתו כי מדות ההיקש שעל דרך התוכחת יקרה בסברותיהם המקרה הזה.

**Rambam Introduction to the Mishnah, translation by Rabbi Francis Nataf, 2017:**
And whoever did not hear an explanation from the mouth of the prophet, peace be upon him, about matters that derive from them, extrapolated laws by propositions from the thirteen [exegetical] principles through which the Torah is expounded, which were given at Mount Sinai. And among those laws that they derived, there are some things wherein no disagreement arose, but [rather] they agreed about them. And there were among them [those] wherein disagreements between two opinions did arise – this one says like this, and that one says like that; this one reasons according to his reasoning and becomes more sure of his opinion, and that one reasons according to his reasoning and becomes more sure of his opinion; as principles of analysis that are by way of argumentation will result in such a result.


###### Rambam Introduction to the Mishnah 2:26
[Rambam Introduction to the Mishnah 2:26](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rambam%20Introduction%20to%20the%20Mishnah/r/2:26)

וכשהיתה נופלת המחלוקת היו הולכים אחרי הרוב כמו שנאמר אחרי רבים להטות (שמות כג).

**Rambam Introduction to the Mishnah, translation by Rabbi Francis Nataf, 2017:**
And when a disagreement would arise, they would go according to the majority, as it states (Exodus 23:2), "you will incline after the majority."


###### Rambam Introduction to the Mishnah 2:27
[Rambam Introduction to the Mishnah 2:27](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Rambam%20Introduction%20to%20the%20Mishnah/r/2:27)

ודע שהנבואה אינה מועילה בפירושי התורה ובהוצאת ענפי המצות בשלש עשרה מדות אבל מה שיעשה יהושע ופנחס בענין העיון והסברא הוא שיעשה רבינא ורב אשי אבל יתרון הנביא ופעלו במצוה אם תשאל עליו הוא חי נפשי מן העיקרים הגדולים העצומים שעליו משען הדת ויסודה:

**Rambam Introduction to the Mishnah, translation by Rabbi Francis Nataf, 2017:**
And know that prophecy does not help in the explanation of the Torah and in the extrapolation of its derivative commandments through the thirteen principles. [Rather,] that which Yehoshua and Pinchas would do in the matter of research and reasoning, that is [also] that which Ravina and Rav Ashi did. But the advantage of the prophet and his effect on the commandment – if you should ask; as my soul is alive – that is one of the great and powerful fundamental principles upon which religion and its foundation relies.