The Tosefta (
Jewish Babylonian Aramaic: תוספתא "supplement, addition") is a compilation of the
Jewish oral law
According to Rabbinic Judaism, the Oral Torah or Oral Law ( he, , Tōrā šebbəʿal-pe}) are those purported laws, statutes, and legal interpretations that were not recorded in the Five Books of Moses, the Written Torah ( he, , Tōrā šebbīḵ ...
from the late 2nd century, the period of the
Mishnah
The Mishnah or the Mishna (; he, מִשְׁנָה, "study by repetition", from the verb ''shanah'' , or "to study and review", also "secondary") is the first major written collection of the Jewish oral traditions which is known as the Oral Tor ...
.
Overview
In many ways, the Tosefta acts as a supplement to the Mishnah (''tosefta'' means "supplement, addition"). The Mishnah ( he, משנה) is the basic compilation of the
Oral law of
Judaism
Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in th ...
; according to the tradition, it was compiled in 189 CE. The Tosefta closely corresponds to the Mishnah, with the same divisions for ''sedarim'' ("orders") and ''masekhtot'' ("tractates"). It is mainly written in
Mishnaic Hebrew, with some
Aramaic
The Aramaic languages, short Aramaic ( syc, ܐܪܡܝܐ, Arāmāyā; oar, 𐤀𐤓𐤌𐤉𐤀; arc, 𐡀𐡓𐡌𐡉𐡀; tmr, אֲרָמִית), are a language family containing many varieties (languages and dialects) that originated i ...
.
At times the text of the Tosefta agrees nearly verbatim with the Mishnah. At others there are significant differences. The Tosefta often attributes laws that are anonymous in the Mishnah to named
Tannaim
''Tannaim'' ( Amoraic Hebrew: תנאים , singular , ''Tanna'' "repeaters", "teachers") were the rabbinic sages whose views are recorded in the Mishnah, from approximately 10–220 CE. The period of the ''Tannaim'', also referred to as the Mis ...
. It also augments the Mishnah with additional glosses and discussions. It offers additional
aggadic and
midrash
''Midrash'' (;["midrash"]
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. he, מִדְרָשׁ; ...
ic material, and it sometimes contradicts the Mishnah in the ruling of
Jewish law
''Halakha'' (; he, הֲלָכָה, ), also transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Jewish religious laws which is derived from the written and Oral Torah. Halakha is based on biblical comman ...
, or in attributing in whose name a law was stated.
Origins
According to the
Talmud
The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law ('' halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the ce ...
, the Tosefta was redacted by
Ḥiya bar Abba and one of his students,
Hoshaiah. Whereas the Mishna was considered authoritative, the Tosefta was supplementary. The Talmud often utilizes the traditions found in the Tosefta to examine the text of the Mishnah.
The traditional view is that the Tosefta should be dated to a period concurrent with or shortly after the redaction of the Mishnah. This view pre-supposes that the Tosefta was produced in order to record variant material not included in the Mishnah.
Modern scholarship can be roughly divided into two camps. Some, such as
Jacob N. Epstein, theorize that the Tosefta as we have it developed from a proto-Tosefta recension which formed much of the basis for later
Amoraic debate. Others, such as
Hanokh Albeck
Enoch () ''Henṓkh''; ar, أَخْنُوخ ', Qur'ān.html"_;"title="ommonly_in_Qur'ān">ommonly_in_Qur'ānic_literature__'_is_a_biblical_figure_and_Patriarchs_(Bible).html" ;"title="Qur'ānic_literature.html" ;"title="Qur'ān.html" ;"title="o ...
, theorize that the Tosefta is a later compendium of several
baraitot
''Baraita'' (Aramaic: "external" or "outside"; pl. ''Barayata'' or ''Baraitot''; also Baraitha, Beraita; Ashkenazi: Beraisa) designates a tradition in the Jewish oral law not incorporated in the Mishnah. ''Baraita'' thus refers to teachings "o ...
collections which were in use during the Amoraic period.
More recent scholarship, such as that of
Yaakov Elman, concludes that since the Tosefta, as we know it, must be dated linguistically as an example of
Middle Hebrew 1, it was most likely compiled in early Amoraic times from oral transmission of baraitot. has found that the Tosefta draws on relatively early Tannaitic source material and that parts of the Tosefta predate the Mishnah.
Authority
Rabbi
Sherira Gaon (987 CE), in a letter written to the heads of the Jewish community in Kairuan (Tunisia), discusses the authority of the Tosefta in relation to the
Mishnah
The Mishnah or the Mishna (; he, מִשְׁנָה, "study by repetition", from the verb ''shanah'' , or "to study and review", also "secondary") is the first major written collection of the Jewish oral traditions which is known as the Oral Tor ...
. There, he writes:
Rabbi Sherira Gaon then brings down the reverse of this example: "Or, let us suppose that Rebbe
ehuda Ha-Nassiin the Mishnah records a dispute between R. Meir and R. Yosi. However, R. Ḥiya prefers R. Meir's argument, and therefore records it in a
Baraita without mentioning R. Yosi's opposing view. In such a case, we do not accept
. Ḥiya'sdecision."
Manuscripts, editions commentaries, and translations
Manuscripts
Three manuscripts exist of the Tosefta:
* 'Vienna' (late 13th century; Oesterreichische Nationalbibliothek Cod hebr. 20; the only complete manuscript),
* 'Erfurt' (12th century; Berlin - Staatsbibliothek (Preussischer Kulturbesitz) Or. fol. 1220), and,
* 'London' (15th century; London - British Library Add. 27296; contains Seder Mo'ed only).
The ''Editio Princeps'' was printed in Venice in 1521 as an addendum to
Isaac Alfasi
Isaac ben Jacob Alfasi ha-Cohen (1013–1103) ( ar, إسحاق الفاسي, he, ר' יצחק אלפסי) - also known as the Alfasi or by his Hebrew acronym Rif (Rabbi Isaac al-Fasi), was a Maghrebi Talmudist and posek (decider in matters of ...
's ''Halakhot''.
All four of these sources, together with many
Cairo Geniza fragments, have been published online by
Bar Ilan University in the form of a searchable database.
Editions
Two critical editions have been published. The first was that of
Moses Samuel Zuckermandl in 1882, which relied heavily on the Erfurt manuscript of the Tosefta. Zuckermandl's work has been characterized as "a great step forward" for its time.
This edition was reprinted in 1970 by Rabbi
Saul Lieberman, with additional notes and corrections.
[ (first printed in Berlin 1899)]
In 1955,
Saul Lieberman first began publishing his monumental ''Tosefta ki-Feshutah''. Between 1955 and 1973, ten volumes of the new edition were published, representing the text and the commentaries on the entire orders of Zera'im, Mo'ed and Nashim. In 1988, three volumes were published posthumously on the order of Nezikin, including tractates
Bava Kama,
Bava Metzia, and
Bava Batra
Bava Batra (also Baba Batra; Talmudic Aramaic: בָּבָא בַּתְרָא "The Last Gate") is the third of the three Talmudic tractates in the Talmud in the order Nezikin; it deals with a person's responsibilities and rights as the owner of p ...
. Lieberman's work has been called the "pinnacle of modern Tosefta studies."
Commentaries
Major commentaries on the Tosefta include those by:
*
David Pardo: ''Chasdei David''; Originally published in Livorno (1776), and printed in editions of the
Vilna Shas
The Vilna Edition of the Talmud, printed in Vilna (now Vilnius), Lithuania, is by far the most common printed edition of the Talmud still in use today as the basic text for Torah study in yeshivas and by all scholars of Judaism.
It was typeset by ...
.
*
Yehezkel Abramsky: ''Hazon Yehezkel'' (24 volumes, 1925–1975 in
Hebrew
Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
).
*
Saul Lieberman: ''Tosefet Rishonim'', Jerusalem 1937.
*
Jacob Neusner and his pupils (in a series called ''A History of the Mishnaic Law'', 1978–87)
Translations
The Tosefta has been translated into English by Rabbi Jacob Neusner and his students in the commentary cited abovenand was also published separately as ''The Tosefta: translated from the Hebrew'' (6 vols, 1977–86).
Eli Gurevich's English translation and detailed commentary on the Tosefta is in the progress of being written. It can be downloaded for free from his websit
Tosefta Online - English Translation and Commentary on the Tosefta by Eliyahu Gurevich
See also
*
Gemara
The Gemara (also transliterated Gemarah, or in Yiddish Gemo(r)re; from Aramaic , from the Semitic root ג-מ-ר ''gamar'', to finish or complete) is the component of the Talmud comprising rabbinical analysis of and commentary on the Mishnah ...
*
Old Synagogue (Erfurt)
*
Rabbinic literature
Rabbinic literature, in its broadest sense, is the entire spectrum of rabbinic writings throughout Jewish history. However, the term often refers specifically to literature from the Talmudic era, as opposed to medieval and modern rabbinic w ...
References
External links
"TOSEFTA" in the Jewish Encyclopediain the ''
Catholic Encyclopedia
The ''Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference on the Constitution, Doctrine, Discipline, and History of the Catholic Church'' (also referred to as the ''Old Catholic Encyclopedia'' and the ''Original Catholic Encyclopedia'') i ...
''
ToseftaOnline.org - A new free English translation, commentary and edited Hebrew text of the Tosefta, as well as MP3 shiurim (lectures) and various commentaries available for free downloadTreasury of Talmudic Manuscripts, Jewish National and University Library
{{Authority control
Talmud
Tosefta
Tannaitic literature
Sifrei Kodesh