This book provides an elegant classic English edition of Tohoroth (‘Cleannesses’), which is the name given to the last of the six ‘Orders’ into which the Mishnah and Talmud is divided.
It has for its subject the laws of the ‘clean’ and ‘unclean’ in things and persons.
The ‘Order’ consists of twelve tractates, arranged according to the separate printed editions of the Mishnah in the following sequence:
1. KELIM (Vessels): Deals with the rules about the uncleanness of ‘vessels’ (a term denoting articles of utility of every kind), indicating under which conditions they are unclean, or become susceptible to uncleanness, in accordance with Leviticus XI, 33-35. 30 Chapters.
2. OHOLOTH (Tents): Treats of the laws concerning the defilement conveyed by a dead body to persons or ‘vessels’ which happen to be in the same tent or under the same roof with it, as set forth in Numbers, XIX, 14-15. 18 Chapters.
3. NEGA‘IM (Leprosy): Sets forth the rules concerning the treatment of leprosies in men, garments and dwellings in accordance with Leviticus XIII-XIV, and the prescriptions for the leper’s purification. 14 Chapters.
4. PARAH (Heifer): Describes the required properties of the Red Heifer, and the preparation and use of its ashes for the purification of the unclean, according to Numbers XIX. 12 Chapters.
5. TOHOROTH (Cleannesses): Deals with the rules about the uncleanness of food-stuffs and liquids, indicating under what conditions they are rendered unclean through contact with different sources and grades of impurity. 19 Chapters.
6. MIKVA‘OTH (Pools of Immersion): Gives the requirements for wells and reservoirs in order to render them ritually fit for immersions, and the regulations governing all ritual immersions. 10 Chapters.
7. NIDDAH (The Menstruant). In a separate volume.
8. MAKSHIRIN (Predispositions). Has for its theme the conditions under which foodstuffs become ‘predisposed,’ that is susceptible to uncleanness after having come into contact with liquid (in accordance with Leviticus XI, 34, 38), and enumerates the liquids that make foodstuffs susceptible in this sense. 6 Chapters.
9. ZABIM (They That Suffer Flux): Treats of the uncleanness of men and women affected with a running issue, according to Leviticus, XV, 2-18. 5 Chapters.
10. TEBUL YOM (Immersed at Day Time): Discusses the character of the uncleanness which, until the setting of the sun, adheres to one who has immersed himself during the day time for his purification (cf. Leviticus XXII, 6f.) 4 Chapters.
11. YADAYIM (Hands): Treats of the uncleanness of unwashed hands and of their purification. It also includes a discussion on certain books of the Canon of the Bible.
12. ‘UKZIN (Stalks): Deals with the conditions under which stalks of plants or fruits convey uncleanness to the fruits or plants to which they are attached or vice versa. 3 Chapters.
[Cover graphic courtesy of YiddishWit dot com.]
