The Tosefta is a secondary compilation of the Jewish oral law from the period of the Mishnah.
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Overview
In many ways, the Tosefta acts as a supplement to the Mishnah (tosefta means "supplement"). The Mishnah is the basic compilation of the Oral law of Judaism; it was compiled around 200 CE. The Tosefta is a Halakhic work which corresponds in structure almost exactly to the Mishnah, with the same divisions for sedarim ("orders") and masekhot ("tractates"). It is mainly written in Mishnaic Hebrew, with some Aramaic. The Mishnah was redacted by Judah haNasi in consultation with members of his yeshiva ("academy"), while the Tosefta was edited by Rabbis Chiya and Oshaiah on their own, thus the Tosefta is considered less authoritative. (Rashi in his commentary on Talmud Sanhedrin 33a). The text of most of Tosefta agrees nearly verbatim with the Mishnah, and often varies only slightly. The Tosefta offers authors' names for laws that are anonymous in the Mishnah; It also augments the Mishnah with additional glosses and discussions. The Tosefta as we have it today functions like a commentary on unquoted Mishnaic material; It offers additional aggadic and midrashic material, and it sometimes contradicts the Mishnah in the ruling of Halakha (Jewish law), or in declaring in whose name a law was given. Much of the Tosefta is currently regarded as being written shortly after the Mishnah was redacted. However, recent scholarship, especially by Professor Shamma Friedman, reveals that the Tosefta draws on source material earlier than the later material in the Mishnah. It may well be that parts of the Tosefta predate the Mishnah.
Commentary Editions
Orthodox scholars
The definitive commentary on the Tosefta is by Rabbi Yehezkel Abramsky: Hazon Yehezkel (24 volumes, 1925-1975 in Hebrew). Saul Lieberman's Tosefta Kifshuta is widely considered the authoritative critical edition of the Tosefta.
Non-Orthodox scholars
The Tosefta has been translated into English by Rabbi Jacob Neusner and his students. They have also produced a commentary on Seder Zeraim.
See also
External links
- "TOSEFTA" in the Jewish Encyclopedia
- Tosephta in the Catholic Encyclopedia
- Full text at Mechon-Mamre
- Treasury of Talmudic Manuscripts, Jewish National and University Library
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