TOHOROT

TOHOROT (Heb. טָהֳרוֹת; lit. "cleannesses"), fifth tractate in the order of the same name according to the enumeration in the standard Mishnah. According to hai gaon it is the seventh. It is also the seventh in the Tosefta, if the three sections into which Kelim is divided there are counted as one. The name tohorot ("ritual cleannesses") is actually a euphemism for tumot ("ritual uncleannesses") since Tohorot deals essentially with the rules of the lesser degrees of uncleanness, effects of which last until sunset only. It details the laws of cleanness and uncleanness regarding foodstuffs and liquids, persons engaged in their preparation or consumption, and vessels employed in the process. Chapter 1 begins with the 13 regulations concerning the carrion of clean birds, and those relating to unclean birds and cattle. It continues with a discussion of the extent to which foodstuffs of major and minor grades of uncleanness may be combined to form the prescribed minima. Also discussed are the conditions under which the same or different grades of uncleanness may be conveyed to a number of loaves or pieces of dough that cling to one another. Chapter 2 discusses uncleanness that may be conveyed to wet or dry terumah by the hands of clean and unclean persons, the various grades of uncleanness a person may contract through eating, and the resultant uncleanness of foodstuff in contact with other foodstuff possessing various grades of uncleanness. Chapter 3 deals with the grades of uncleanness and minimum amounts applicable to foodstuffs capable of changing their state of fluidity to one of solidity and vice versa. Also discussed is the cleanness or uncleanness of those objects whose bulk is increased or decreased by weather conditions. The chapter concludes with an exposition of doubtful uncleanness, and this continues to the end of chapter 4 which deals with cases of doubtful uncleanness as a result of which terumah is to be burned, and doubtful instances that are finally regarded as clean. Chapters 5 and 6 are mainly concerned with doubtful cases of uncleanness in which a distinction is made between location in a private domain and location in a public domain. In the former, all doubtful cases are declared unclean, while in the latter, they are considered clean. Also discussed are instances in which both a private and public domain are involved. Chapter 7 discusses forms of doubtful uncleanness which result from the presence of an am ha-areẓ or his wife. Chapter 8 concludes the discussion regarding the am ha-areẓ. Rules regarding the stages when foodstuffs begin and cease to be susceptible to uncleanness are next specified. A discussion concerning the uncleanness of beverages concludes the chapter. Chapters 9 and 10 conclude the tractate with the regulations concerning the stages at which olives become susceptible to uncleanness, and the laws of cleanness and uncleanness that apply to an olive-press and a winepress. The Tosefta to this tractate is divided into 11 chapters. Since there is no Gemara to Tohorot, the Tosefta is extremely valuable for the elucidation of many difficult passages in the Mishnah. All the commentators therefore made extensive use of the Tosefta in their explanations of the Mishnah. The Tosefta does not totally correspond to the Mishnah. It does not contain any laws that correspond to Mishnah 1:1–4 or 2:1. Tosefta 4:1–4 includes material which is not contained in the Mishnah. It was translated into English by H. Danby (The Mishnah, 1933), and J. Neusner published a translation of both the Mishnah (1991) and the Tosefta (2002) of Tohorot. -ADD. BIBLIOGRAPHY: Strack-Stemberger, Introduction to the Talmud and Midrash (1996), 117; Epstein, The Gaonic Commentary on the Order Toharot (Hebrew) (1982); S. Lieberman, Tosefet Rishonim, vol. 3 (1939); J. Neusner, A History of the Mishnaic Laws of Purities (1974–77), vols. 11–12; idem, From Mishnah to Scripture (1984), 67–71; idem, The Mishnah Before 70 (1987), 171–178; idem, The Philosophical Mishnah, 3 (1989), 207–20; idem, Purity in Rabbinic Judaism (1994), 74–79. (Aaron Rothkoff) TOHOROT HA-KODESH TOHOROT HA-KODESH, an important work of ethical literature. First printed in Amsterdam in 1733, this anonymous work has been wrongly attributed to Benjamin Wolf b. Mattathias. The error arose from the fact that Benjamin's name   is mentioned on the title page, not as the author but as the person who brought the work to the press, and, it seems, collected the funds necessary to finance the printing. According to his introduction, the author chose to remain anonymous in order to avoid pride of authorship, and probably also because of the harsh criticism of contemporary rabbis, institutions, and customs contained in the work. The original title of the work, the introduction indicates, was Hanhagot Yesharot ("Right Ways of Behavior"). Evidence in the book shows that the author was from Poland, and in the work he occasionally compares the customs of Eastern Europe with those of the Orient. It seems that the author was poor, wandered from place to place, and knew Russian. I. Halpern attempted to prove that the author lived in Poland during the chmielnicki persecutions (1648–49), which left a deep impression on him, and that he finished the work a decade or two later. B.Z. Dinur and D. Tamar, however, hold that the work was probably written in the first decade of the 18th century. The later date is somewhat more credible in view of the historical and biographical facts recorded in the work itself. The writer, a Lurianic kabbalist like most authors of ethical works at that time, divided the book into six parts: (1) daily behavior, including the proper way to study at night and to perform the morning rites; (2) synagogue and prayer; (3) business and ethics, and the necessity to study and pray even while attending to daily tasks; (4) evening rites; (5) behavior during Sabbath and festivals; and (6) all aspects of social conduct. Social criticism holds a central place in this work. Ethical literature's preoccupation with just social behavior as the supreme religious goal is clearly presented, especially in the criticism of contemporary rabbis. In fact, the author emphasizes that right social behavior takes precedence over study of the Torah. Dinur included Tohorot ha-Kodesh among those East European ethical works which anticipated modern Ḥasidism and carried some of its social and religious message. -BIBLIOGRAPHY: B. Dinur, Be-Mifneh ha-Dorot (1955), index; I. Halpern, in: KS, 34 (1959), 495–98 (= Yehudim ve-Yahadut be-Mizraḥ Eiropah (1968), 396–400); D. Tamar, in: Aresheth, 3 (1961), 166–72 (= Meḥkarim be-Toledot ha-Yehudim (1970), 131–7).