Editing Tosefta (section)

==Overview==
In many ways, the Tosefta acts as a supplement (''Toseftā'') to the Mishnah. Being nearly three times as long,<ref>{{Citation |last=Mandel |first=Paul |title=The Tosefta |date=2006 |work=The Cambridge History of Judaism: Volume 4: The Late Roman-Rabbinic Period |volume=4 |pages=318 |editor-last=Katz |editor-first=Steven T. |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/cambridge-history-of-judaism/tosefta/01AD3FCDB5E8ADA0D97EC904512BD830 |access-date=2025-02-04 |series=The Cambridge History of Judaism |place=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-77248-8}}</ref> it often complements the Mishna and expands upon it, and it served as the primary commentary on it for the Amoraim, creators of the Talmuds.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Safrai |first=Shmuel |title=The literature of the Sages |date=1987 |publisher=Van Gorcum |isbn=978-90-232-2282-8 |series=Compendia rerum judaicarum ad Novum Testamentum |location=Assen |pages=283}}</ref> The Mishnah ({{langx|he|משנה}}) is the basic compilation of the Oral law of Judaism; according to the tradition, it was compiled in 189 CE.<ref>Rabbi Avraham ben David (RAVAD), ''Seder Hakabbalah lehaRavad'', Jerusalem 1971, p. 16 (Hebrew). The author, who wrote his own chronology in ''anno'' 1161 CE, places the compilation of the Mishnah in year 500 of the [[Seleucid Era]] counting, a date corresponding to 189 CE.</ref> The Tosefta closely corresponds to the Mishnah, with the same divisions for ''sedarim'' ("orders") and ''masekhtot'' ("tractates"), though there are three tractates in the Mishnah with no corresponding tractates in the Tosefta, those of [[Tamid]], [[Middot (Talmud)|Middot]] and [[Kinnim]], all at the end of the order of '[[Kodashim]]'.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Safrai |first=Shmuel |title=The literature of the Sages |date=1987 |publisher=Van Gorcum |isbn=978-90-232-2282-8 |series=Compendia rerum judaicarum ad Novum Testamentum |location=Assen}}</ref> The tractate '[[Pirkei Avot|Avot]]' from the order of '[[Nezikin]]' is also absent from the Tosefta, though '[[Avot de-Rabbi Natan]]' may be considered as filling its place.<ref name=":1" /> The number of chapters in each tractate does not necessarily correspond to that of the Mishnah, and the number of Halachot in a given chapter of the Tosefta is at times double that of the correspoding chapter in the Mishnah.<ref name=":1" /> Though the order of Halachot in the Tosefta largely parallels that of the Mishnah, it digresses so often that the reason for the digressions has drawn scholarly attention.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Safrai |first=Shmuel |title=The literature of the Sages |date=1987 |publisher=Van Gorcum |isbn=978-90-232-2282-8 |series=Compendia rerum judaicarum ad Novum Testamentum |location=Assen |pages=285}}</ref> Many scholars have suggested that the order in the Tosefta follows an earlier version of the Mishna.<ref name=":2" /> However, this is most likely inaccurate, as a close literary analysis will show that both texts follow the same order, and the digressions of the Tosefta are premeditated and pedagogical by nature.<ref name=":2" /> The Tosefta is mainly written in [[Mishnaic Hebrew]], with some [[Aramaic]].

At times, the text of the Tosefta agrees nearly verbatim with the Mishnah, in others, there are significant differences. The Tosefta often attributes laws that are anonymous in the Mishnah to named [[Tannaim]],<ref name=":0" /> or attributes otherwise acreditted laws differently.<ref name=":02" /> At times it also contradicts the Mishnah in the ruling of [[Halakha|Jewish law]].<ref name=":02">{{Cite book |last=Safrai |first=Shmuel |title=The literature of the Sages |date=1987 |publisher=Van Gorcum |isbn=978-90-232-2282-8 |series=Compendia rerum judaicarum ad Novum Testamentum |location=Assen |pages=283}}</ref> 

The Tosefta often augments the Mishnah with additional glosses and discussions.<ref name=":0" /> It offers additional [[aggadah|aggadic]] and [[midrash]]ic material, though this is only because it is a larger corpus than the Mishnah and the proportion of this material is identical to both.<ref name=":2" /> In some ways the Tosefta continues the Mishnah, as it preserves the opinions and teachings of the later generations of Tanaim, namely that of [[Judah ha-Nasi|Rabbi Judah HaNasi]] and the following generation, which were largely not recorded in the Mishna.<ref name=":0" />