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The minor tractates (
Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
: מסכתות קטנות, ''masechtot qetanot'') are essays from the Talmudic period or later dealing with topics about which no formal tractate exists in the Mishnah. They may thus be contrasted to the
Tosefta The Tosefta (Jewish Babylonian Aramaic: תוספתא "supplement, addition") is a compilation of the Jewish oral law from the late 2nd century, the period of the Mishnah. Overview In many ways, the Tosefta acts as a supplement to the Mishnah ( ...
, whose tractates parallel those of the Mishnah. Each minor tractate contains all the important material bearing on a single subject. While they are mishnaic in form and are called "tractates," the topics discussed in them are arranged more systematically than in the Mishnah; for they are eminently practical in purpose, being, in a certain sense, the first manuals in which the data scattered through prolix sources have been collected in a brief and comprehensive form. There about 15 minor tractates. The first eight or so contain much original material; the last seven or so are collections of material scattered throughout the Talmud. Ancient authorities mention especially seven such tractates, which are doubtless the earliest ones. Their name and form suggests that they originated in the period of oral tradition which was dominated by the Talmud and the Midrash, so that these treatises are doubtless of great antiquity, some of them having been compiled in their main outlines before even the final redaction of the Talmud in the 6th century.


List

The minor tractates are normally printed at the end of '' Seder Nezikin'' in the Talmud. They include:Encyclopaedia Judaica
Minor Tractates
/ref> #
Avot of Rabbi Natan Avot de-Rabbi Nathan (), usually printed together with the minor tractates of the Talmud, is a Jewish aggadic work probably compiled in the geonic era (c.700–900 CE). Although Avot de-Rabbi Nathan is the first and longest of the "minor tractates" ...
(Hebrew: אבות דרבי נתן), an expansion of Pirkei Avot. #
Soferim A sofer, sopher, sofer SeTaM, or sofer ST"M ( he, סופר סת״ם, "scribe"; plural of is , ; female: ) is a Jewish scribe who can transcribe Sifrei Kodesh (holy scrolls), tefillin (phylacteries), mezuzot (ST"M, , is an abbreviation of thes ...
(Hebrew: סופרים – Scribes). This tractate appears in two different versions in the Jerusalem and Babylonian Talmuds. # Evel Rabbati (Hebrew: אבל רבתי – Elaboration on Mourning). Contains laws and customs pertaining to death and mourning, and is sometimes euphemistically called ''Semakhot'' ("joys"). # Kallah (Hebrew: כלה – Bride). On engagement, marriage and co-habitation. # Kallah Rabbati (Hebrew: כלה רבתי – Great Bride). An elaboration of the previous. #
Derekh Eretz Rabbah Derekh Eretz Rabbah (Hebrew: דרך ארץ רבה; abbreviated DER) is one of the minor tractates (מסכתות קטנות) of the Talmud. In the editions of the latter the tractate Derekh Eretz consists of three divisions: # Derek Eretz Rabbah (" ...
(Hebrew: דרך ארץ רבה) "Derekh Eretz" literally means "the way of the world," which in this context refers to deportment, manners and behavior. # Derekh Eretz Zuta (Hebrew: דרך ארץ זוטא) Addressed to scholars, this is a collection of maxims urging self-examination and modesty. # Perek ha-Shalom (Hebrew: פרק השלום – Chapter of Peace). On the ways of peace between people. It is a final chapter to Derekh Eretz Zuta, often listed separately. # Sefer Torah (regulations for writing
Torah scroll A ( he, סֵפֶר תּוֹרָה; "Book of Torah"; plural: ) or Torah scroll is a handwritten copy of the Torah, meaning the five books of Moses (the first books of the Hebrew Bible). The Torah scroll is mainly used in the ritual of Tora ...
s). Nearly equivalent to the first five chapters of
Soferim A sofer, sopher, sofer SeTaM, or sofer ST"M ( he, סופר סת״ם, "scribe"; plural of is , ; female: ) is a Jewish scribe who can transcribe Sifrei Kodesh (holy scrolls), tefillin (phylacteries), mezuzot (ST"M, , is an abbreviation of thes ...
. #
Mezuzah A ''mezuzah'' ( he, מְזוּזָה "doorpost"; plural: ''mezuzot'') is a piece of parchment, known as a ''klaf'', contained in a decorative case and inscribed with specific Hebrew verses from the Torah ( and ). These verses consist of the J ...
(Hebrew: מזוזה – scroll affixed to the doorpost). #
Tefillin Tefillin (; Israeli Hebrew: / ; Ashkenazic pronunciation: ), or phylacteries, are a set of small black leather boxes with leather straps containing scrolls of parchment inscribed with verses from the Torah. Tefillin are worn by adult Jews durin ...
(Hebrew: תפילין – phylacteries). #
Tzitzit ''Tzitzit'' ( he, ''ṣīṣīṯ'', ; plural ''ṣīṣiyyōṯ'', Ashkenazi: '; and Samaritan: ') are specially knotted ritual fringes, or tassels, worn in antiquity by Israelites and today by observant Jews and Samaritans. are usually ...
(Hebrew: ציצית – fringes). # Avadim (Hebrew: עבדים – slaves). # Gerim (Hebrew: גרים –
converts Religious conversion is the adoption of a set of beliefs identified with one particular religious denomination to the exclusion of others. Thus "religious conversion" would describe the abandoning of adherence to one denomination and affiliatin ...
). # Kutim (Hebrew: כותים – Samaritans). There is also a lost tractate called "Eretz Yisrael" (about laws pertaining to the Land of Israel). Similarly, a ''Masechet Hanukkah'' is mentioned in connection with the Vilna Gaon, but is not extant.Rabbi Avraham ben haGra, ''Rav Pe'alim'', introduction to seven tractates A translation of all of the minor tractates was published in two volumes by
Soncino Press Soncino Press is a Jewish publishing company based in the United Kingdom that has published a variety of books of Jewish interest, most notably English translations and commentaries to the Talmud and Hebrew Bible. The Soncino Hebrew Bible and T ...
; a one-volume edition with the original Hebrew was later issued as part of their set of the Babylonian Talmud. Numerous translations of individual tractates have been produced by other publishers. The Yale Judaica Series includes translations of Avot de-Rabbi Natan and Semahot; the former has been translated at least three other times, and the latter also appears, along with the two Derekh Eretz tractates, in
Michael Rodkinson Michael Levi Rodkinson (1845 – January 4, 1904) was a Jewish scholar, an early Hasidic historiographer and an American publisher. Rodkinson is known for being the first to translate the Babylonian Talmud to English. Rodkinson’s literary works ...
's Talmud translation.


References


External links

Talmud Mishnah {{judaism-stub