Tosefta

The Tosefta is a collection of rabbinic legal materials that supplements the Mishnah, preserving additional teachings and clarifications known as baraitot. It is considered part of the early Rabbinic literature produced by the Tannaim and is organized largely in parallel with the Mishnah, within the same six orders: Zeraim, Moed, Nashim, Nezikin, Kodashim, and Tohorot, though the scope and arrangement vary between versions.

The Tosefta arose in the late 2nd to 3rd centuries CE within the Rabbinic academies of Palestine and Babylonia and was redacted in subsequent generations. Two major branches survive: the Palestinian (Jerusalem) Tosefta and the Babylonian Tosefta. Not all tractates have a complete Tosefta, and some material exists only in one version. The text is frequently cited in early Talmudic literature and preserves readings, variants, and doctrinal material that are not always found in the Mishnah, making it an important source for tracing the development of halakhah and the diversity of Tannaitic opinions.

In scholarly use, the Tosefta functions as a crucial supplement to the Mishnah for understanding halakhic methodology, legal derivations, and interpretive differences among authorities. It also provides valuable insights into early Rabbinic lore and philology, aiding reconstruction of text and interpretation in both Palestinian and Babylonian rabbinic contexts.