Bans And Identity: Interpretation Of Mishnah Shabbat

Law is the product of human’s civilized society, and its fundamentalpurpose is to safeguard the existence and development of human society.Ancient laws, mainly prohibited provisions, are initially spontaneous,then become more and more conscious, and ultimately subject to the willof the human society. As a result, law becomes one of the most importantmeans to maintain and promote the ancient ethnic identity. During the4-9century, in the ancient world in the Mediterranean, there are many factorsresulting in the fission of Classical Civilizations, one of the importantfactors is law. In this aspect, the relationship of the Jewish nation andJewish law is particularly prominent.The Shabbat plays the role of the bridge between the Jewish nationand Jewish law. The first literature of the Shabbat is Hebrew Bible, thatis Old Testament. According to Jewish Encyclopedia (Jerusalem version,16volumes), Shabbat are mentioned over30times in Hebrew Bible.Nevertheless, Hebrew Bible just tells the Jews to observe the Shabbat,but does not make specific provisions on how to observe it. As a result,the Shabbat commandments gradually combines with the Jewish religiouspractices-the Tabernacle Activities, and eventually be written in theMishnah Shabbat. Observing Mishnah Shabbat, Jewish nation has gotten agreat achievement in the religious dimension-having built a timelessand spaceless world which belongs only to Jews. By doing so, the Jews canexist and be prosperous during the Diaspora Era.Mishnah Shabbat is in the chapter1, Book2of Mishnah, and is dividedinto42subchapters and139sections. They are mainly about norms ofbehaviour, ritual, sacrifice, and others in Shabbat. Subchapter7is thecore provisions in Mishnah Shabbat, which provides the general principlesand guidelines must be abided in Shabbat.In summary, Mishnah Shabbat is a religious law leading Jews to "thekingdom of heaven", and plays an important role in Jewish nationalidentity. The text of Mishnah Shabbat is not due to the will of God, butdriven by the powerful emotions and habits of Jewish nation. Mishnah Shabbat has many distinctive characteristics.