Article: Does the Tosefta Precede the Mishnah: Halakhah, Aggada, & Narrative Coherence.

THERE IS A LONG-STANDING ASSUMPTION THAT THE main focus of the ancient rabbinic enterprise was halakhah, and aggadah's philosophical and ethical musings were only a diversion. There is a parallel long-standing assumption that the primary tannaitic text was the Mishnah, and that the Tosefta, a companion collection of tannaitic teachings-was secondary. I would like to challenge both of these assumptions. Close examination of the Mishnah and the Tosefta leads to altogether different conclusions about the nature of their inter-relationship, as well as the relationship of halakhah and aggadah in ancient rabbinic discourse.

Consider the first chapter of M Kiddushin ...

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