Challah (, literally "Loaf") is the ninth tractate of ''
Seder Zeraim'', the Order of Seeds. It discusses the laws of the
dough offering, 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, but rather in the
Jerusalem Talmud and
Tosefta 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, tractate Challah is arranged after the tractate of
Ma'aser Sheni, "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 and
aasersheni – then we grind it and make it into flour and knead it, and then we become obligated in 'challah.'"
Contents
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 ...
of
dough offering 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
Jerusalem Talmud and the Maimonides' rulings,
Nachmanides wrote
Halachot (like the rulings of
Isaac Alfasi for the rest of the tractates), followed by
Shlomo ibn Aderet and
Asher ben Jehiel. A special place is given
Yom Tov Algazi's commentary on the Hilchot Challah of Nachmanides.
In addition, the
poskim such as the ''
Arba'ah Turim'' 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.
See also
*
Challa (disambiguation page)
Notes
References
External links
Full text of the Mishnah for tractate Challahon
Sefaria (Hebrew and English)
Challah
Land of Israel laws in Judaism
Positive Mitzvoth
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