Why do some mishnayos start with a question, whereas others just state the halacha straightaway?
Examples of a few well-known mishnayos that start with a question: מאימתי קורין וכו, כיצד מברכין וכו, כיצד צולין וכו, איזהו מקומן וכו
Asked
Active
Viewed 61 times
6
-
One cant start with a question of when or how unless you know there is such a halacha. The gemoro will usually ask this kind of question. – interested Feb 05 '21 at 14:46
-
@interested: not "usually" at all, actually. It does at the beginning of Berachos and Taanis, but for example with כיצד מברכין the Gemara starts by seeking where indeed we know that you have to make berachos on food (so that, unlike Shema and mentioning rain, we don't start with a preconception that this has to be done), and with כיצד צולין and איזהו מקומן there's not even that. – Meir Feb 05 '21 at 15:26
-
Most likely that was the manner in which the tanna who told over the mishna preferred to say it/write it down. Different people have different teaching styles. Rebbi worked hard to preserve these different styles within his editing process. – Harel13 Sep 18 '21 at 21:47