Versus Whom Did the חכמים Argue in the Tosefta VII: סדר טהרות
Having looked at previous orders of the Tosefta to see which amongst the sages have their statements contested by The Sages (for instance, see here), it’s time to look at the final order in the Tosefta and here is the listing:
רבי מאיר – 38
רבי יהודה – 17
רבי אליעזר – 14
רבי – 12
רבי עקיבא – 9
רבן גמליאל – 5
רבי שמעון – 5
רבי אלעזר – 3
רבי אלעזר חסמא – 3
רבי נחמיה – 3
רבי יהושע – 2
רבי יוסי – 2
אבא שאול – 1
בן עזאי – 1
רבי אליעזר בן יעקב – 1
רבי אלעזר ברבי צדוק – 1
רבי דוסה – 1
רבי דוסא בן הורקינוס – 1
רבי חילפתא – 1
רבי טרפון – 1
רבי יהושע בן פרחיה – 1
רבי ישמעאל – 1
The first thing that jumps out at me is how many appearances there are – there are about twice as many as usual! This is, by far, the most appearances of the חכמים against the sages in any of the סדרים of the Tosefta.
Percentage of the חכמים appearing against different sages: Rabbi Meir = 30.9%, Rabbi Yehudah = 13.8%, Rabbi Eliezer = 11.4%, Rabbi = 9.8%, and Rabbi Akiva = 7.3%.
Percentage of their own appearances in the סדר: Rabbi Meir = 32.2%, Rabbi Yehudah = 7.5%, Rabbi Eliezer = 16.7%, Rabbi = 20.3%, Rabbi Akiva = 12.3%, Rabban Gamaliel = 25%, and Rabbi Shimon = 2.9%.
Again, Rabbi Meir is, by far, the most contested of the sages in this order…. In my next post on this topic, I hope to share some of my thoughts on this matter.
