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Sometimes in Shas there are disputes as to certain things that occurred during the time of the Beis Hamikdash, like rituals, etc. Since the Mishna was compiled not that long after its destruction, why is there a dispute at all? It was so soon after that one would think that they would have known EXACTLY what occurred.
The Mishna may have been compiled at a certain point and time, but it was written spread out over hundreds of years prior.
“It was so soon after that one would think that they would have known EXACTLY what occurred.”
Why would you think that? Human memory is very faulty , People easily forget details year to year
Generally accetped frum view (artscroll) is just a hundred years.
Depends which Mishna you’re dealing with and when it was written. Some were written while the Beis Hamikdash stood while others were written many years after the churban.
There were also disputes that existed during the times of the Beis Hamikdosh.
Example: Hillel and Shamai disagreed whether it was permissible to bring certain individual karbanos on Yom Tov itself. Hillel did bring such a korbon, and talmidim of Shammai were present. The gemora relates that Hillel took steps to conceal his actions from talmidei Shammai. There were probably other areas of disagreement. What is remarkable is that אלו ואלו דברי אלקים חיים. The two sides who disagreed were at total peace with each other, freely marrying into each others’ families, etc. Today, the questions before a shidduch about whether the other side uses the Eruv or not are plainly sickening and divisive.
The Midrash Shmuel on Avos explains the mishna כל מחלוקת לשם שמים סופו להתקיים the question is who wants the arguments to stand? He explains that since the Beis Shamai helped the Beis Hilel to arrive to truth, they are also praise worthy and maybe therefore the Beis Hilel were preceded by the Beis Shamai because of their humility to hear an opposite view before making a decision.
The trauma over the Churban and mass destruction of the Jewish communities in Judea caused people to forget many details. This si why in the end Rebbe had to write down the mishnayot.
Even when the Bais Hamikdosh stood, the avoda was not always done k’halacha. There were extended periods of time where the Cohen Gadol was a Tzeduki or someone who bribed their way into the position. Additionally, halacha can change. A later Sanhedrin can override an earlier Sanhedrin.
In short, most of these machlokesim are not what did happen in the Bais Hamikdosh but what SHOULD happen in the Bais Hamikdosh.
The Rabbenu Bechaya at the end of Parashas Ki Siso explains the expression חסורי מחסרא והכי קתני Rebbi only wrote down what was absolutely necessary and not what was self understood from the mishna. When the generations became weaker in knowledge, more had to be written down. This is how the gemora came into being. So what was left out of the mishna, was left out on purpose.
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