Concealed Credits

By: Jonathan Seidel

American pie, Connor Price rap and Mishnayot: symbolism behind the text 

The Mishnah is written in a vague manner. The oral layer causes the modern reader to struggle to understand the text. The Talmud salvages the incoherence by elucidating the semantic prose. The Mishnah follows rap music. A symbolic lyricist with profound references. 

Recently, I came across an artist named Connor Price. Connor Price’s music is not only engaging but unique. He uses a wide array of peculiar sounds to construct melodies to rap about. A talented individual but more so bold. Yet the most interesting part of his ability is his lyrics. Like American Pie, it is covered in metaphors and personification. Its beauty is its symbolism. Yet it is this symbolism that is perplexing. Cool bars but what do they mean? What is he getting at? It sounds flashy and profound but it lacks explanation. The lyrics are rapped to the audience but they hear semantic phraseology unable to decode the text. It isn’t a story but a mystery. An encrypted key that requires attention and simplification. The artist conveys his message in code and the audience is to interpret it but can they? Can the audience pierce the semanticist melody for the semiological clarification?

A YouTuber named Knox Hill reviewed the song. A rapper himself, his knowledge guided the audience through the song. Listening to the track and stopping to explain the bars. Elaborating in the keys and analysing the notes. This close deduction pointed out the linguistic turmoil of the listener. Clarifying the poetic anomaly into coherent sentences. The triple “A” words are a consecutive gem for rhythmic continuity. The symbolism treats this concept as a polemic by reversing the metaphor. His ability to deduce the melodic and lyrical aspects clarifies the intricate complexity to the listener. Though this itself is a question to the artist, to why he/she writes in semantic phraseology. Yet the same question ought to be posed to the poet. What is the reason for the esotericism? It is perplexing to the audience. They do not know how to make sense of it without compete sentences. It is merely gibberish with a hint of possibility but never certainty. 

The poetic symbolism seems to engender a deeper illustration than the normal dialogue. It may be to rhyme, for delivery or punchlines but is the clever syllable relation a technical wordplay or desiring to creatively explain an idea? Prose is straightforward and informational. It tells a tale but poetry is creative and rambunctious. It cares more for the imagination to gage the words. The reader must struggle and decode the formula presented. It is not cinema but a mathematical equation. Poetry overwhelms the mind with symbols and metaphors. It demands attention. Its indirect gymnastics place the reader in a spellbound hysteria. Twirling unable to find his footing. It sounds like a cartoon. It rhymes and sings. Yet the blatant mockery is the failed understanding of the poem. The poem is a deeply enticing adventure. One that recalls the experience of analysis. The reader must follow along and enjoin the author’s fascination. Unlike prose, the reader’s engagement is not solely his passive imagination but a formidable involvement. He doesn’t just read the news but tackles the crossword. 

Poetry is strung into rap as well. Unfortunately the beat and melody have many a time overwhelmed the lyricists. The poetry lost in translation. It is the hype and the loud noises that are heard. The reverberated key words that make people jump as they dance to the music. They are more concerned with the melody than the verses. Yet that doesn’t negate the message in the rap. Eminem is fondly known for his projection of narration into his lyrics. Whether it is Stan, Lose Yourself, Mockingbird or When I’m Gone Eminem delivers a message catalogued in poetic storytelling. The terminology is rhymed but meaningful. While Price is more symbolic than Eminem it is a latent manner of connection to the audience. The idea is pressured into symbolic representation. To deliver a profound message through symbolism. Through emotions highlighted in a cryptic incoherent sentence. The point is throw the audience off. For them to hear the verses and realise they aren’t listening to a story. They must pay attention to understand. The colourful language is not simple. It requires attention and analysis. 

Rap symbolism relates to the Mishnah formulation. The Mishnah is the rap song and the Gemara a Knox Hill song review. The Gemara seeks to clarify the obvious incoherence of the Mishnah. There is a semantic phrasing that confuses the reader. The Mishnah is unclear and cannot be verified except by an expert. One with all the resources in front to understand. The Gemara analyses the Mishnah with the testimony and tradition. The Mishnah’s cryptic messaging needs a scholar. One who understands the symbolism. The symbolism is an inherent part of the system. The Mishnah like the rap song is intentionally cryptic. It needs to be flushed out by a Knox Hill. The Mishnah is catalogued but it is unfavourable to the layman. The layman thinks he may have the answer but generally is uncertain of the other texts or traditions. He reads the Mishnah and stands mystified at the complexity of the text. Even when it seems straightforward there is so much missing. What are the further perimeters and what is the conclusions. The Gemara adds in these factors clarifying the perplexing aspects. 

Yet what is most intriguing, is the Mishnaic poetry over the Tosefta prose. The Tosefta whether the predecessor or the successor of the Mishnah adds the missing pieces to the poetic incoherence. The Mishnah is written symbolically and semantically. The Mishnah’s symbolism is less symbolic than a rap song or even the biblical narrative but it is written in short spirts cutting out ample details. The Mishnah is but a few statements lacking definition. The testimony cannot clarify the entire digest. The Mishnah intentionally literates its complexity. The Tosefta and Gemara deduce the mystifying elements and elaborate on its shortcomings. The Mishnah is not written inadequately but poetically. Whether Rebbe edited it in this manner or not is of little significance. What is important is how it is read. The Mishnah can be read without the Gemara. The Gemara is the successor to the Mishnaic seeming complexity. Yet with knowledge of other braitot the answer is fairly obvious. Skipping to Maimonides halakha exposes the simple details that could be found by matching it up with another Mishnah. The Mishnah is an enclosed literary anthology. The Mishnayot complement one another. 

Mishnaic syntax is profoundly similar to the symbolic representation of rap. The sentences seem to make sense but also do not at the same time. Let’s take the second chapter of Bava Metzia. The Mishnah teaches that if one found scattered produce among other things they are his. The Mishnah keeps the case open-ended. No exceptions nor perimeters. Yet Maimonides adds that they are his only if they fell and not if they were placed. This is indeed the Gemara’s second question. Maimonides reconstructs the Mishnah with clarifications as the Tosefta usually does filling in the blanks to reveal the law. Just as rap reflects the cultural background of the artist so too the Mishnah reflects the cultural background of the pharisaic society. The oral culture reckons in the semiological temptation. Yet can the Mishnah tell us about this or is this only known to the oral ancient? The Tosefta and other braitot are generally used by the Gemara to figure out the solution but it may also be deduced in the Mishnah itself. The Mishnah in Bava Kamma discusses the obligation of ox falling into a hole from a pit dug. The Gemara explains Rav’s position is a falling manner like our Mishnah. There is a commonality that expresses itself through the Mishnayot which is the way in which something occurs. The common layer that befalls the halakhic canon.

Another case is the Mishnah at the end of the chapter. The Mishnah seems straightforward concerning depositing produce that cannot be touched yet there are missing aspects. The Tosefta adds in new details namely that the owner does tithes. The Mishnah restricts this information due to its stylistic structure. The Tanna Kamma's opinion is incomplete without the Tosefta's clarification. Without it means something absolutely different. Even adding the debate between R Meir and Sages. Maimonides codifies with dwindling quantity when diminishing at a normal rate. Again following the style of the Mishnah, Maimonides adds the talmudic parts. The Gemara brings the Tosefta to answer the Mishnah’s vague incoherence. The first two stanzas acknowledge the Tosefta’s influence. The Tosefta acts as the oral misnomer. The Tosefta in Demai also uses the term of makes the tithe but the Mishnah keeps it out. The Tosefta acknowledges the oral foundation as inherent in the Mishnaic order. The same in the Tosefta Terumot is left out of the Mishnah. The fascination with the Mishnah’s vague either intentional incoherence is a product of its style. The semiological cultural aura is defined in its biblical conception. The Mishnah mirrors the biblical layout. Following the lexicographical model. 

Mishnaic litrugy does not contain the sensationalism of rap music nor the biblical symbolism but it does contain a deeper meaning that is culturally representative. A beautiful synergy of oral comprehension. Rap music like the Mishnah requires interpretation and analysis. Shakla vitarya. Seeing the Mishnah in this light only further elevates the oral legacy forgotten.