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| Introduction | |
| Chapter I | 1 |
| Chapter II | 2 |
| Chapter III | 3 |
| Chapter IV | 4 |
| Chapter V | 5 |
| Chapter VI | 6 |
| Chapter VII | 7 |
| Chapter VIII | 8 |
| Chapter IX | 9 |
| Chapter X | 10 |
| Glossary | |
| Index of Scriptural References | |
| General Index | |
| Transliteration of Hebrew Letters | |
| Abbreviations |
| Intro | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
| 10 |
INTRODUCTION
[page 359] The Tractate Tohoroth1 which bears the same name as the order that comprises it enunciates the laws of cleanness and uncleanness in relation mainly to foodstuffs and liquids, and to men engaged in their preparation or consumption and to vessels employed in the process.
CHAPTER I, beginning with thirteen rules that govern the carrion of clean birds, passes on to those relating to unclean ones and cattle, and proceeds to a discussion of the extent to which foodstuffs of major and minor grades of uncleanness may be combined to constitute the prescribed minima and under what conditions the same or different grades of uncleanness may be conveyed to a number of loaves or pieces of dough, for instance, that clung to one another.
CHAPTER II deals with uncleanness that may be conveyed to dry or wet terumah (v. Glos.) by the hands of a clean as well as an unclean person and with the various grades of uncleanness a person may contract from eating, and a foodstuff from contact with foodstuffs of corresponding grades of uncleanness.
CHAPTER III discusses the grades of uncleanness and minima applicable to foodstuffs that are capable of changing from a condition of fluidity to one of solidity and vice versa, and the uncleanness or cleanness of those whose bulk is increased or decreased by reason of weather conditions, concluding with a discussion on various forms of doubtful uncleanness.
CHAPTER IV continues the discussion of doubtful cases of uncleanness including those in which either the clean or the unclean object is on the move; those that are causes for the burning of terumah; and those that are invariably regarded as clean.
CHAPTERS V and VI are concerned mainly with doubtful cases of uncleanness in which (a) a public domain and (b) both a public and a private domain are respectively involved. [page 360]
CHAPTER VII discusses forms of doubtful uncleanness that are due to the presence of an 'am ha-arez (v. Glos.) or his wife.
CHAPTER VIII brings to a conclusion the subject of the previous chapter and proceeds to enunciate rules on the stages when food-stuffs begin and cease respectively to be susceptible to uncleanness and on a number of cases of Rabbinical uncleanness caused through liquids.
CHAPTER IX discusses mainly the stages at which olives become susceptible to uncleanness.
CHAPTER X Concludes the Tractate with the laws of cleanness and uncleanness that apply to an olive-press and a wine-press.
I. W. SLOTKI
Footnotes
PREFATORY NOTE BY THE EDITOR
The Editor desires to state that the translation of the several Tractates, and the notes thereon, are the work of the individual contributors and that he has not attempted to secure general uniformity in style or mode of rendering. He has, nevertheless, revised and supplemented, at his own discretion, their interpretation and elucidation of the original text, and has himself added the notes in square brackets containing alternative explanations and matter of historical and geographical interest.
ISIDORE EPSTEIN