Rereading the Mishnah
A New Approach to Ancient Jewish Texts

By Judith Hauptman
September 2005
J.C.B. Mohr Siebeck
ISBN: 3161487133
320 pages
$167.50 Hardcover

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Judith Hauptman argues that the Tosefta, a collection dating from approximately the same time period as the Mishnah and authored by the same rabbis, is not later than the Mishnah and its associated supplement, the Tosefta, when composing his work.

The author compares the earlier and the later texts to determine the agenda of the Redactor and to trace the evolution of Jewish law, practice and ideas. When the Mishnah is seen as later than the Tosefta, it becomes clear that the Redactor inserted numerous mnemonic devices to assist in transmission.

The synoptic gospels may have undergone a similar kind of editing. The author is professor of Talmud & Rabbinic Culture at the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York, where she received her Ph.D.

Partial Contents:
Rethinking the relationship between the Mishnah & the Tosefta.
The Tosefta as a commentary on the early Mishnah.
Rewriting the Tosefta's Halakic paragraphs for inclusion in the Mishnah.
Condensing Aggadah.
Editing for ease of memory.
From Tosefta to Mishnah to Talmud.
A new model.
Bibliography. Source index. Index of modern authors. Index of subjects.

Judaism; Religious History
Texts & Studies in Ancient Judaism No. 109

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