Baraita (Jewish Babylonian Aramaic:בָּרַיְתָא,romanized: bārayṯā "external" or "outside"; pl.bārayāṯā or in Hebrewbaraitot; alsobaraitha,beraita; Ashkenazi pronunciation:berayse) designates a tradition in theOral Torah ofRabbinical Judaism that is not incorporated in theMishnah.Baraita thus refers to teachings "outside" ofthe six orders of the Mishnah. Originally, "Baraita" probably referred to teachings from schools outside the main Mishnaic-erayeshivas – although in later collections, individual barayata are often authored by sages of the Mishna (Tannaim).
According toMaimonides'Introduction to Mishneh Torah, the barayata were compiled byHoshaiah Rabbah andBar Kappara, although no other compilation was passed down that was similar to theTosefta.[1]
Because theMishnah encapsulates the entireOral Law in a purposely compact form (designed to both facilitateand 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 theTosefta and theHalakhic 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 theTalmudic sages in their analysis and interpretation of the Mishna; seeGemara. Here, a teaching from thebaraita is usually introduced by the Aramaic wordstanya "It was orally taught",tana, ortanu rabanan "Our Rabbis have orally taught", whereastnan "We have orally taught" introduces quotations from the Mishnah. Anonymous barayata are often attributed to particular tannaim by the Talmud. In theJerusalem 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 ofKallah Rabbathi, a baraita compilation, is often appended toPirkei Avot, as both are similar in style and content.
