A Note on the Four Sabbath Domains according to Tosefta Shabbat (original) (raw)

2021, Tosefta Studies: Manuscripts, Tradition, and Topics. Eds. Lutz Doering and Daniel Schumann. Münsteraner Judaistische Studien 27. Zurich: LIT

This article starts from the formula, “two, which is four”, in mShab 1:1 and discusses the Tosefta’s reflection on this formula. By comparing the textual traditions of tShab 1:1–5 in Codices Erfurt and Vienna, it arrives at the conclusion that Codex Vienna’s distinction between a “true” private and a “true” public domain and two further domains which are not “true” public or private domain but merely resemble them, respectively, namely, the neutral place and shared courtyards, is preferable to Codex Erfurt’s reading, which identifies the third domain as the karmelit and the fourth as the free place. In contrast to Codex Erfurt’s secondary reading, Codex Vienna’s wording can be identified as an adoption of the Mishnah’s pattern of “two, that is four”. – This is only a preview; I shall be happy to send a personal copy to interested scholars.