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I'm new to Mishna study, and I want to participate in a communal effort to study Mishna. I picked out a section to study, and now I need to find a convenient resource to learn from. I don't necessarily have time to make a comprehensive study of all of the relevant commentaries and Talmud, but I do want to understand what's going on in the Mishna. I prefer resources that include English translation, and I'm open to both in-print and electronic resources.

What resource would you recommend, and why?

I have learned the entire Mishna based on the Artscroll Yad Avraham series in English. I also own many of the newer Artscroll Schottenstein Edition of the Mishna. Here are a few thoughts

• I found the introductions to each tractate to be incredibly well done and useful. Just reviewing the introductions to all tractates would be in itself wonderful learning. I compared the introductions to Brachot and it is somewhat more detailed in the Yad Avraham edition


• The commentary in the Yad Avraham edition is very very very (!) detailed. It was too much for me when learning the text but is obviously what you want if you are interested to go in depth in certain places


• The translation between both is very different. Yad Avraham translates the English "in one go", like the Stone Chumash does, while Schottenstein has the literal translation a few words, then a few words of explanation to make it a running text, then again literal translation. Exactly as the elucidation of the Talmud Bavli you refer to. The latter (Schottenstein) is far more readable and avoids to constantly need to refer to the notes


• The Yad Avraham has 44 volumes, the new Schottenstein has 21. In the introduction to Schottenstein, artscroll themselves address the difference between them. They write

The Yad Avraham is an encyclopedic, in-depth commentary that presents
many explanations and explores nuances and complexities, raises
questions and cites a wide variety of works on the Mishnah and Talmud.
Its thoroughness has won the praise of even masters of the Talmud
throughout the world so that those who study and benefit from the
Schottenstein edition may turn to the Yad Avraham commentary when they
wish to delve into the nuances of the Mishna more deeply and explore a
wider range of comments. Thus, in effect, the two editions complement
each other

For someone new to Mishna study or someone who wants to participate in a communal effort without necessarily having time to make a comprehensive study of all of the relevant commentaries and Talmud, I would recommend the Schottenstein edition. It also exists now in a digital formal for iPad and Android, the entire set costs 140$ as of this writing which seems a bargain, but you can also buy individual sedarim (21-28$) or tractates (7$). Brachot is free to download as a trial.

Moving beyond Artscroll, there is a free app (iOS, Google) with the Kehati commentary of the Mishna, in Hebrew and English. This commentary is very popular in Israel, it is focused on simplicity and clarity rather than completeness and sources. This commentary has also been printed by Feldheim.

It is easy to try both the Kehati and Artscroll online for free - and decide based on individual preferences.

The classic modern Mishnah commentary was written in Hebrew by R. Pinchas Kehati, and is also available in English translation (e.g. here). As a bonus, there are free iOS and Android apps available which contain the entire Hebrew and English texts.

Major advantages of this edition include a running commentary on every phrase of the Mishnah, as well as introductions to each tractate, chapter and (where necessary) mishnah, explaining relevant concepts before one dives in to the text of the Mishnah itself.

The commentary is relatively concise, but (I find) provides the reader with a good understanding of at least one approach to each mishnah.

In some cases, where the classic commentators had different approaches in explaining a given mishnah, R. Kehati will present alternative opinions and explanations as an end-note to his commentary on that mishnah.

More recent entrants to English language Mishnah commentary were produced by Artscroll.

Their first effort was the Yad Avraham series which contains a translation as well as in-depth commentary (culled from many of the traditional commentators) on each mishnah.

This was followed by the Schottenstein edition, which contains a running translation/elucidation (in the style of Arscroll's successful Schottenstein edition of the Talmud) as well as footnotes. The commentary here tends to be somewhat briefer and less comprehensive than in the earlier Yad Avraham version, but still provides a thorough understanding of the mishnah.

One final thought: If your Hebrew skills are up to it and you have had some prior exposure to learning Mishnah, you may want to try simply learning each mishnah with the classic commentary of R. Ovadiah miBartenura.

I have personally learned through the whole Mishnah corpus with his commentary, and found that it is (generally) short enough to learn in a reasonable amount of time, but still provides a deeper understanding of the mishnah (often based on the relevant Talmudic discussions) as well as a summary of final halachic decisions.

Bartenura's commentary is published in the vast majority of editions of the Mishnah, and is also available online at Hebrewbooks.org and Sefaria.org. I note that Sefaria appears to have a "community" English translation of at least some of the Mishnah together with Bartenura's commentary, but I can't vouch for the accuracy of either.