Challah (, literally "Loaf") is the ninth tractate of ''

Seder Zeraim Seder Zeraim (, lit. "Order of Seeds") is the first of the six orders, or major divisions, of the Mishnah, Tosefta, and the Talmud, and, apart from the first tractate which concerns the rules for prayers and blessings, primarily deals with the laws ...

'', the Order of Seeds. It discusses the laws of the

dough offering In Judaism, the dough offering (or separation of ''challah'', ) is an positive commandment requiring the owner of bread dough to give a part of the kneaded dough to a kohen (Jewish priest). The obligation to separate the dough offering (hencefort ...

, known in Hebrew as ''challah''. Like most of the tractates in Zeraim, it appears only in the

Mishnah The Mishnah or the Mishna (; , from the verb ''šānā'', "to study and review", also "secondary") is the first written collection of the Jewish oral traditions that are known as the Oral Torah. Having been collected in the 3rd century CE, it is ...

, and does not appear in the

Babylonian Talmud The Talmud (; ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the centerpiece of Jewi ...

, but rather in the

Jerusalem Talmud The Jerusalem Talmud (, often for short) or Palestinian Talmud, also known as the Talmud of the Land of Israel, is a collection of rabbinic notes on the second-century Jewish oral tradition known as the Mishnah. Naming this version of the Talm ...

and

Tosefta The Tosefta ( "supplement, addition") is a compilation of Jewish Oral Law from the late second century, the period of the Mishnah and the Jewish sages known as the '' Tannaim''. Background Jewish teachings of the Tannaitic period were cha ...

only.

The location of the tractate in Seder Zera'im

According to

Maimonides Moses ben Maimon (1138–1204), commonly known as Maimonides (, ) and also referred to by the Hebrew acronym Rambam (), was a Sephardic rabbi and Jewish philosophy, philosopher who became one of the most prolific and influential Torah schola ...

' introduction to the

Mishna The Mishnah or the Mishna (; , from the verb ''šānā'', "to study and review", also "secondary") is the first written collection of the Jewish oral traditions that are known as the Oral Torah. Having been collected in the 3rd century CE, it is ...

, tractate Challah is arranged after the tractate of

Ma'aser Sheni Ma'aser Sheni (Hebrew: מעשר שני, lit. "Second Tithe") is the eighth tractate of '' Seder Zeraim'' ("Order of Seeds") of the ''Mishnah'' and of the ''Talmud The Talmud (; ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary sour ...

, "because after we take out all of these gifts – which are '

terumah A ''terumah'' (), the priestly dues or heave offering, is a type of offering in Judaism. The word is generally used for offerings to God, but can also refer to gifts to a human. The word ''terumah'' refers to various types of offerings, but mos ...

' and

maaser rishon The first tithe () is a positive commandment in the Torah requiring the giving of one tenth of agricultural produce to charity, after the giving of the standard terumah, to the Levite (or Kohen). This tithe is required to be free of both moneta ...

and aasersheni – then we grind it and make it into flour and knead it, and then we become obligated in 'challah.'"

There are 38 mishnayot in tractate Challah. They are divided into four chapters as follows: # חֲמִשָּׁה דְּבָרִים "Five species" (Nine mishnayot) - what dough is required for Challah # פֵּרוֹת "Produce" (Eight mishnayot) - How to separate the challah. # אוֹכְלִין "One may snack" (ten mishnayot) - Laws of embezzlement of challah # שְׁתֵּי נָשִׁים "Two women" - (eleven mishnayot) - the combination of dough and the laws of giving to a priest.

Commentaries on the tractate

Unlike other tractates in the order of Zeraim, a number of essays were written on the tractate Challah. This is because the

mitzvah In its primary meaning, the Hebrew language, Hebrew word (; , ''mīṣvā'' , plural ''mīṣvōt'' ; "commandment") refers to a commandment Divine law, from God to be performed as a religious duty. Jewish law () in large part consists of disc ...

is also practiced outside of Israel and during

exile Exile or banishment is primarily penal expulsion from one's native country, and secondarily expatriation or prolonged absence from one's homeland under either the compulsion of circumstance or the rigors of some high purpose. Usually persons ...

. In addition to the commentaries on the Mishnah, the

and the Maimonides' rulings,

Nachmanides Moses ben Nachman ( ''Mōše ben-Nāḥmān'', "Moses son of Nachman"; 1194–1270), commonly known as Nachmanides (; ''Nakhmanídēs''), and also referred to by the acronym Ramban (; ) and by the contemporary nickname Bonastruc ça Porta (; l ...

wrote Halachot (like the rulings of

Isaac Alfasi Isaac ben Jacob Alfasi (1013–1103) (, ), also known as the Alfasi or by his Hebrew acronym, the Rif (Rabbi Isaac al-Fasi), was a Maghrebi Talmudist and posek (decider in matters of halakha, Jewish law). He is best known for his work of '' ...

for the rest of the tractates), followed by

Shlomo ibn Aderet Shlomo ben Avraham ibn Aderet ( or Solomon son of Abraham son of Aderet) (1235 – 1310) was a medieval rabbi, halakhist, and Talmudist. He is widely known as the Rashba (Hebrew: ), the Hebrew acronym of his title and name: Rabbi Shlomo ben Avrah ...

and

Asher ben Jehiel Asher ben Jehiel (, or Asher ben Yechiel, sometimes Asheri) (1250 or 1259 – 1327) was an eminent rabbi and Talmudist best known for his abstract of Talmudic law. He is often referred to as Rabbenu Asher, “our Rabbi Asher” or by the Hebrew ...

. A special place is given

Yom Tov Algazi Yom Tov Algazi (; known as the Maharit Algazi; 1727, Izmir – 1782, Jerusalem), the son of Israel Yaakov Algazi, was an Ottoman rabbi who studied under Rabbi Shalom Sharabi and authored major halakhic works. He succeeded Sharabi as head of Beit E ...

's commentary on the Hilchot Challah of Nachmanides. In addition, the

poskim In Jewish law, a ''posek'' ( , pl. ''poskim'', ) is a legal scholar who determines the application of ''halakha'', the Jewish religious laws derived from the written and Oral Torah, in cases of Jewish law where previous authorities are inconc ...

such as the ''

Arba'ah Turim ''Arba'ah Turim'' (), often called simply the ''Tur'', is an important Halakha#Codes of Jewish law, Halakhic code composed by Yaakov ben Asher (Cologne, 1270 – Toledo, Spain c. 1340, also referred to as ''Ba'al Ha-Turim''). The four-part stru ...

'' and the ''

Shulchan Aruch The ''Shulhan Arukh'' ( ),, often called "the Code of Jewish Law", is the most widely consulted of the various legal codes in Rabbinic Judaism. It was authored in the city of Safed in what is now Israel by Joseph Karo in 1563 and published in ...

'' and their commentators have written about Hilchot Challah in

Yoreh De'ah ''Yoreh De'ah'' () is a section of Rabbi Jacob ben Asher's compilation of halakha (Jewish law), the ''Arba'ah Turim'', written around 1300. This section treats all aspects of Jewish law not pertinent to the Hebrew calendar, finance, torts, marr ...

Notes

References

External links

Full text of the Mishnah for tractate Challah
on

Sefaria Sefaria is an online open source, free content, digital library of Jewish texts. It was founded in 2011 by former Google project manager Brett Lockspeiser and journalist-author Joshua Foer. Promoted as a "living library of Jewish texts", Sefaria ...

(Hebrew and English) Challah Land of Israel laws in Judaism Positive Mitzvoth {{judaism-book-stub

The location of the tractate in Seder Zera'im

Contents

Commentaries on the tractate

See also

Notes

References

External links