''Baraita'' ( "external" or "outside"; pl. ''bārayāṯā'' or in Hebrew ''baraitot''; also baraitha, beraita; Ashkenazi pronunciation: berayse) designates a tradition in the

Oral Torah According to Rabbinic Judaism, the Oral Torah or Oral Law () are statutes and legal interpretations that were not recorded in the Five Books of Moses, the Written Torah (), and which are regarded by Orthodox Judaism, Orthodox Jews as prescriptive ...

of Rabbinical Judaism that is not incorporated in the

Mishnah The Mishnah or the Mishna (; , from the verb ''šānā'', "to study and review", also "secondary") is the first written collection of the Jewish oral traditions that are known as the Oral Torah. Having been collected in the 3rd century CE, it is ...

. ''Baraita'' thus refers to teachings "outside" of the six orders of the Mishnah. Originally, "Baraita" probably referred to teachings from schools outside the main Mishnaic-era

yeshiva A yeshiva (; ; pl. , or ) is a traditional Jewish educational institution focused on the study of Rabbinic literature, primarily the Talmud and halacha (Jewish law), while Torah and Jewish philosophy are studied in parallel. The stu ...

s – although in later collections, individual barayata are often authored by sages of the Mishna ('' Tannaim''). According to

Maimonides Moses ben Maimon (1138–1204), commonly known as Maimonides (, ) and also referred to by the Hebrew acronym Rambam (), was a Sephardic rabbi and Jewish philosophy, philosopher who became one of the most prolific and influential Torah schola ...

' ''Introduction to Mishneh Torah'', the barayata were compiled by Hoshaiah Rabbah and Bar Kappara, although no other compilation was passed down that was similar to the Tosefta. Because the

encapsulates the entire Oral Law in a purposely compact form (designed to both facilitate ''and'' necessitate oral transmission), many variant versions, additional explanations, clarifications and rulings were not included in the Mishnah. These were later compiled in works called barayata, often in the form of a list of teachings by one sage. Barayata can thus also designate collections of such traditions. The main collections of barayata are the Tosefta and the Halakhic Midrashim ( Mekhilta, Sifra and Sifre). The authority of the barayata is somewhat less than that of the Mishnah. Nevertheless, these works are the basic "proof-text" cross-referenced by the

Talmud The Talmud (; ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of Haskalah#Effects, modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cen ...

ic sages in their analysis and interpretation of the Mishna; see

Gemara The Gemara (also transliterated Gemarah, or in Yiddish Gemore) is an essential component of the Talmud, comprising a collection of rabbinical analyses and commentaries on the Mishnah and presented in 63 books. The term is derived from the Aram ...

. Here, a teaching from the ''baraita'' is usually introduced by the Aramaic words ''tanya'' "It was orally taught", ''tana'', or ''tanu rabanan'' "Our Rabbis have orally taught", whereas ''tnan'' "We have orally taught" introduces quotations from the Mishnah. Anonymous barayata are often attributed to particular tannaim by the Talmud. In the Jerusalem Talmud, references to the baraita are less common. The style of the baraita is basically indistinguishable from that of the Mishna, but some come closer to Mishnaic idiom than others. For example, the second chapter of ''Kallah Rabbathi'', a baraita compilation, is often appended to ''

Pirkei Avot Pirkei Avot (; also transliterated as ''Pirqei Avoth'' or ''Pirkei Avos'' or ''Pirke Aboth'', also ''Abhoth''), which translates into English as Chapters of the Fathers, is a compilation of the ethical teachings and maxims from Rabbinic Jewis ...

'', as both are similar in style and content.

References

Baraita

jewishencyclopedia.com ''The Jewish Encyclopedia: A Descriptive Record of the History, Religion, Literature, and Customs of the Jewish People from the Earliest Times to the Present Day'' is an English-language encyclopedia containing over 15,000 articles on the ...

* ''

Introduction to the Mishneh Torah''
English translation

Maimonides, Introduction to the '' Commentary on the Mishna''
The Oral Tradition
by

Aryeh Kaplan Aryeh Moshe Eliyahu Kaplan (; October 23, 1934 – January 28, 1983) was an American Orthodox Judaism, Orthodox rabbi, author, and translator best known for his The Living Torah and Nach, Living Torah edition of the Torah and extensive Kabbalah, ...

External links

Brief General Introduction to the Babylonian Talmud
{{Authority control Tannaitic literature Talmud Aramaic words and phrases Aramaic words and phrases in Jewish prayers and blessings

See also

References

External links