''Tohorot'' (

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 ...

: טָהֳרוֹת, literally "Purities") is the sixth and last order of the

Mishnah The Mishnah or the Mishna (; he, מִשְׁנָה, "study by repetition", from the verb ''shanah'' , or "to study and review", also "secondary") is the first major written collection of the Jewish oral traditions which is known as the Oral Torah ...

(also of 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 ( ...

and

Talmud The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) 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 cente ...

). This order deals with the clean/unclean distinction and family purity. This is the longest of the orders in the Mishnah. There are 12 tractates: #'' Keilim:'' (כלים "Vessels"); deals with a large array of various utensils and how they fare in terms of purity. 30 chapters, the longest in the Mishnah. #'' Oholot:'' (אוהלות "Tents"); deals with the uncleanness from a corpse and its peculiar property of defiling people or objects either by the latter "tenting" over the corpse, or by the corpse "tenting" over them, or by the presence of both corpse and person or object under the same roof or tent. #'' Nega'im:'' (נגעים "Plagues"); deals with the laws of the ''

tzaraath ''Tzaraath'' (Hebrew צָרַעַת ''ṣāraʿaṯ''), variously transcribed into English and frequently mistranslated as leprosy, describes various ritually unclean disfigurative conditions of the skin, hair of the beard and head, clothing mad ...

''. #''

Parah Parah ( he, פָּרָה) is the name of a treatise in the Mishnah and the Tosefta, included in the order Tohorot. The Pentateuchal law (Num. ) decrees that a red heifer, "wherein is no blemish, and upon which never came yoke," shall be burned an ...

:'' (פרה "Cow"); deals largely with the laws of the Red Heifer ''(Para Adumah)''. #'' Tohorot:'' (טהרות "Purities"); deals with miscellaneous laws of purity, especially the actual mechanics of contracting impurity and the laws of the impurity of food. #''

Mikva'ot Tractate Miqwaʾoth (Hebrew: מקואות, lit. "Pools of Water"; in Talmudic Hebrew: ''Miqwaʾoth'') is a section of the Mishna discussing the laws pertaining to the building and maintenance of a mikvah, a Jewish ritual bath. Like most of Seder T ...

:'' (מקואות "Ritual Baths"); deals with the laws of the

mikveh Mikveh or mikvah (, ''mikva'ot'', ''mikvoth'', ''mikvot'', or (Yiddish) ''mikves'', lit., "a collection") is a bath used for the purpose of ritual immersion in Judaism to achieve ritual purity. Most forms of ritual impurity can be purif ...

. #'' Niddah:'' (נידה "Separation"); deals with the Niddah, a woman either during her

menstrual cycle The menstrual cycle is a series of natural changes in hormone production and the structures of the uterus and ovaries of the female reproductive system that make pregnancy possible. The ovarian cycle controls the production and release of eggs a ...

or shortly after having given birth. #''

Makhshirin Makhshirin is the eighth tractate, in the Mishnah and Tosefta, of the sixth Talmudic order Tohorot ("Purifications"). This tractate contains six chapters, divided respectively into 6, 11, 8, 10, 11, and 8 sections, while the Tosefta has only three ...

:'' (מכשירין "Preliminary acts of preparation"), the liquids that make food susceptible to '' tumah'' (ritual impurity). #'' Zavim:'' (זבים "Flows"); deals with the laws of a person who has had abnormal genital discharge. #'' Tevul Yom:'' (טבול יום "Immersed n thatday") deals with a special kind of impurity where the person immerses in a

but is still unclean for the rest of the day. #'' Yadayim:'' (ידיים "Hands"); deals with a Rabbinic impurity related to the hands. #'' Uktzim:'' (עוקצים "Stalks"); deals with the impurity of the stalks of fruit.

Order of tractates

The traditional reasoning for the order of the tractates (according to Rambam) is as follows. ''Kelim'' is first as it introduces the levels of impurity, and dictates to which object the various impurities apply at all. ''Oholot'' follows because it outlines the most serious type of impurity. ''Negaim'' follows because it is next in severity and because, like a corpse, a ''metzorah'' transmits tent-impurity. ''Parah'' follows as it outlines the purification for the severe impurities already dealt with. The next stage is lesser impurities (''Tohorot'') and their method of purification which is immersion (''Mikvaot''). ''Niddah'' follows as it is also a lesser impurity but it has the extra feature of applying to only a portion of people (i.e. to women). ''Makshirin'', ''Zavim'' and ''Tevul Tom'' follow ''Niddah'' based on Scriptural order. The next stage down is impurities that are Rabbinic only (''Yadaim''). Finally, ''Uktzin'' is last as it is restricted and has no Scriptural source, the laws being derived from the reasoning of the Sages. The

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on the other hand observed that the tractates are arranged in order of decreasing length. There is a Babylonian Gemara on only ''Niddah''. This is because most of the other laws of purity do not apply when the

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is not in existence. The Talmud Yerushalmi (Jerusalem Talmud) only covers four chapters of ''Niddah''.

References

{{Authority control Mishnah

Order of tractates

See also

References