Pinchas Kehati

This work was translated into English and published in 1994 as The Mishnah, a new translation with a commentary by Pinhas Kehati (edited by Avner Tomaschoff).

Pinchas Kehati (Hebrew: פנחס קהתי; 1910 – December 21, 1976) was a Polish-Israeli rabbi, teacher, and author. He is best known as the author of Mishnayot Mevoarot (Hebrew: משניות מבוארות, "Explained Mishnayot", popularly known as "the Kehati Mishnayot") which is a commentary and elucidation on the entire Mishnah written in Modern Hebrew.

The commentary was printed beginning in early 1955. Initially a single page was printed each day, covering two mishnayot. Later, the format switched to a weekly pamphlet covering 14 mishnayot. Initially, Kehati bore all the costs with no external funding. However, after eight months this became overwhelming, and he was forced to stop. Soon external donors appeared to support the project. Work resumed, and the commentary to the entire Mishnah was finished in 1963. In 1967, he was awarded the Rav Kook Prize from the Tel Aviv-Yafo Municipality for his commentary on the Mishnah.

Between 1955 and 1964, Kehati published a weekly pamphlet which was hand-delivered to 5,000 subscribers. In each pamphlet, he explicated 14 Mishnayot (two per day), two laws from the Shulchan Aruch, two laws from the Rambam, and a selection from Tanakh. The first pamphlets contained commentaries that Kehati compiled from local yeshiva students. Frustrated at the inconsistencies in the commentary quality and approach, Kehati hired Rabbi Zvi A. Yehuda, who taught Mishnah on an Israel Broadcasting Service (Kol Israel) radio program, to help develop a consistent approach to his commentary. Between 1956 and 1959, approximately 150 of pamphlets included attribution to his co-author. The first book-edition of the Kehati Mishnah includes this attribution (see image). Many editions have since been published after Kehati's death in 1976. Recent editions also include the traditional Bartenura commentary, improving its appeal to the Haredi community. Even though Kehati was a Religious Zionist, his works can be found in many Haredi homes and synagogues.

In 1953, he was appointed to a working committee for Hapoel HaMizrachi and took responsibility for its youth division, along with his responsibilities for guiding youth for Bnei Akiva organization. He had the idea to publish a daily pamphlet with commentary on the day's Mishnah being studied as part of the Mishna Yomit cycle (two mishnayot per day). He originally asked several other people to write the commentary, but was dissatisfied with the results. On his wife's suggestion, Kehati began to write the commentary himself.

Kehati's Mishnah commentary was written in Modern Hebrew, the book cover design used a modish font and color, and it lacked decorative edge-marbling. The page layout of the Kehati commentary mimics the layout found in Dr. Symcha Petrushka's Yiddish Mishnah commentary (published in Montreal, 1946). Both Kehati and Petrushka were raised in Warsaw. Kehati's commentary was influenced by the clarity of the Meiri's Talmud commentary, as well as the modern approaches of Dr. Petrushka, Rabbi Zvi A. Yehuda, and Professor Hanoch Albeck whom he quotes in his commentary.

He made aliyah in 1935 (or 1936) and began studies of Mathematics, Physics, Religious philosophy and Kabbalah at Hebrew University, but was forced to abandon them due to financial difficulties. He initially worked as a teacher and with HaPoel HaMizrachi. Later, for many years, he worked as a teller in Bank Mizrachi. He was very involved with Bnei Akiva (successor to Hashomer Hadati) and published guidance booklets for them.