Baraita

Baraita, meaning “outside teaching,” describes an early rabbinic tradition transmitted outside the Mishnah but dating to the same general period. Baraitot include legal rulings, interpretive traditions, and discussions attributed to early sages and are preserved in later rabbinic works such as the Talmud. They often parallel, expand, or differ from Mishnah passages, providing additional context for how rabbinic law and interpretation developed. Baraitot function as supplementary tradition, showing the range of teachings that circulated before the Mishnah became the primary organizing text.