Tohorot

This article is about the sixth order of the Mishnah. For the tractate, seeTohorot (tractate).

Tohorot(Hebrew:טָהֳרוֹת,lit. 'Purities') is the sixth and last order of theMishnah(also of theToseftaandTalmud). 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:

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. Nega'im:(נגעים "Plagues" ); deals with the laws of thetzaraath.
4. Parah:(פרה "Cow" ); deals largely with the laws of theRed Heifer(Para Adumah).
5. Tohorot:(טהרות "Purities" ); deals with miscellaneous laws of purity, especially the actual mechanics of contracting impurity and the laws of the impurity of food.
6. Mikva'ot:(מקואות "Ritual Baths" ); deals with the laws of themikveh.
7. Niddah:(נידה "Separation" ); deals with theNiddah,a woman either during hermenstrual cycleor shortly after having given birth.
8. Makhshirin:(מכשירין "Preliminary acts of preparation" ), the liquids that make food susceptible totumah(ritual impurity).
9. Zavim:(זבים "Flows" ); deals with the laws of a person who has had abnormal genital discharge.
10. Tevul Yom:(טבול יום "Immersed [on that] day" ) deals with a special kind of impurity where the person immerses in amikvehbut is still unclean for the rest of the day.
11. Yadayim:(ידיים "Hands" ); deals with a Rabbinic impurity related to the hands.
12. Uktzim:(עוקצים "Stalks" ); deals with the impurity of the stalks of fruit.

Order of tractates

According toMaimonides,the traditional reasoning for the order of the tractates is as follows:

• Kelimis first as it introduces the levels of impurity, and dictates to which object the various impurities apply at all.
• Oholotfollows because it outlines the most serious type of impurity.
• Negaimfollows because it is next in severity and because, like a corpse, ametzorahtransmits tent-impurity.Parahfollows 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).
• Niddahfollows 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,ZavimandTevul TomfollowNiddahbased on Scriptural order.
• The next stage down isYadaim,concerning impurities that are Rabbinic only.
• Uktzinis last as it is restricted and has no Scriptural source, the laws being derived from the reasoning of the Sages.

The Jewish Encyclopedia,on the other hand, observed that the tractates are arranged in order of decreasing length.

There is aBabylonian Gemaraonly onNiddah.This is because most of the other laws of purity do not apply when theTemple in Jerusalemis not in existence. TheJerusalem Talmudonly covers four chapters ofNiddah.

See also

• Talmud
• Mishnah
• Gemara