Nashim
Encyclopedia
Nashim ("Women" or "Wives") is the third order of the Mishnah
Mishnah
The Mishnah or Mishna is the first major written redaction of the Jewish oral traditions called the "Oral Torah". It is also the first major work of Rabbinic Judaism. It was redacted c...

 (also of the Tosefta
Tosefta
The Tosefta is a compilation of the Jewish oral law from the period of the Mishnah.-Overview:...

 and Talmud
Talmud
The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....

), containing the laws related to women and family life. Of the six orders of the Mishna, it is the second shortest.

Nashim consists of 7 tractates
Mishnah
The Mishnah or Mishna is the first major written redaction of the Jewish oral traditions called the "Oral Torah". It is also the first major work of Rabbinic Judaism. It was redacted c...

:
  1. Yebamoth: (יבמות, "Levirate marriage"); (or Yebamot or Yevamot), referring to the mandated marriage of a widow to her brother-in-law, deals with the Jewish law of levirate marriage
    Yibbum
    Yibbum , or levirate marriage, in Judaism, is one of the most complex types of marriages mandated by Torah law by which, according to the law, the brother of a man who died without children has an obligation to marry the widow...

      and other topics, such as the status of minors. It consists of 16 chapters.
  2. Ketubot: (כתובות, "Prenuptial agreements"); deals with the Ketubah
    Ketubah
    A ketubah is a special type of Jewish prenuptial agreement. It is considered an integral part of a traditional Jewish marriage, and outlines the rights and responsibilities of the groom, in relation to the bride.-History:...

     (Judaism's prenuptial agreement
    Prenuptial agreement
    A prenuptial agreement, antenuptial agreement, or premarital agreement, commonly abbreviated to prenup or prenupt, is a contract entered into prior to marriage, civil union or any other agreement prior to the main agreement by the people intending to marry or contract with each other...

    ), as well as topics such as virginity and the obligations of a couple towards each other. It consists of 13 chapters.
  3. Nedarim: (נדרים, "Vows"); deals with various types of vows, often known as nedarim, and their legal consequences. It consists of 11 chapters.
  4. Nazir
    Nazir (Talmud)
    Nazir is a treatise of the Mishnah and the Tosefta and in both Talmuds, devoted chiefly to a discussion of the laws of the Nazirite laid down in Numbers 6:1-21. In the Tosefta its title is Nezirut...

    : (נזיר, "One who abstains"); deals with the details of the Nazirite
    Nazirite
    In the Hebrew Bible, a nazirite or nazarite, , refers to one who voluntarily took a vow described in . The term "nazirite" comes from the Hebrew word nazir meaning "consecrated" or "separated"...

     vow and being a Nazirite (Num 6). It consists of 9 chapters.
  5. Sotah: (סוטה, "Wayward wife"); deals with the ritual of the Sotah - the woman suspected of adultery (Num 5) as well as other rituals involving a spoken formula (such as breaking the heifer's neck, the King's septa-annual public Torah reading, the Blessings and Curses of Mount Gerizim
    Mount Gerizim
    Mount Gerizim is one of the two mountains in the immediate vicinity of the West Bank city of Nablus , and forms the southern side of the valley in which Nablus is situated,...

     and Mount Ebal
    Mount Ebal
    Mount Ebal is one of the two mountains in the immediate vicinity of the Palestinian city of Nablus in the West Bank , and forms the northern side of the valley in which Nablus is situated, the southern side being formed by Mount Gerizim...

    , etc...). It consists of 9 chapters.
  6. Gittin: (גיטין, "Documents"); deals with the concepts of divorces
    Get (divorce document)
    A is a divorce document, which according to Jewish Law, must be presented by a husband to his wife to effect their divorce. The essential text of the is quite short: "You are hereby permitted to all men," i.e., the wife is no longer a married woman, and the laws of adultery no longer apply...

     and other documents. It consists of 9 chapters.
  7. Kiddushin: (קידושין, "Betrothal"); deals with the initial stage of marriage - betrothal
    Erusin
    Erusin is the Hebrew term for betrothal. In modern Hebrew, "erusin" means engagement, but this is not the historical meaning of the term, which is the first part of marriage ....

    , as well as the laws of Jewish lineages. It consists of 4 chapters.

Order of tractates

The traditional reasoning for the order of tractates (according to Rambam) is as follows.
  • Yevamot is first because unlike the others, it is largely concerned with a compulsory commandment (levirate marriage
    Levirate marriage
    Levirate marriage is a type of marriage in which the brother of a deceased man is obligated to marry his brother's widow, and the widow is obligated to marry her deceased husband's brother....

    ) as opposed to a voluntary one.
  • Ketubot follows as it signifies the beginning of married life.
  • Nedarim follows because once a man is married to a woman, he has the legal right (under certain conditions) to annul her vows.
  • Nazir, dealing with a special type of vow is a continuation on the subject of vows.
  • The penultimate sections deal with the end of a marriage with Sotah which is concerned with infidelity and Gittin which is about actual divorce (Rambam's order swaps these two).
  • Kiddushin is at the end because it follows the Scriptural order that once a woman is divorced, she can get betrothed to any man, this subsequent betrothal symbolised by the placement of Kiddushin.


Both the Babylonian and Jerusalem Talmud
Talmud
The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....

 have a Gemara
Gemara
The Gemara is the component of the Talmud comprising rabbinical analysis of and commentary on the Mishnah. After the Mishnah was published by Rabbi Judah the Prince The Gemara (also transliterated Gemora or, less commonly, Gemorra; from Aramaic גמרא gamar; literally, "[to] study" or "learning by...

on each of the tractates in the order.
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