ʾOhaloth (אוהלות, literally "Tents") is the second tractate of the Order of Tohorot in the Mishnah. It consists of eighteen chapters, which discuss the ritual impurity of corpses, and the peculiar quality they have to make all objects in the same tent-like structure impure as well. According to a Jewish legend, this is one of the most important tractates in the Talmud: King David is said to have asked of god that reading the Book of Psalms be considered the equivalent of studying the tractate of Oholot. Nevertheless, there is no Gemara for Oholot in either the Babylonian or Jerusalem Talmud.
Some suggest that the name of this tractate should be pronounced Ahilot (Ah-he-lote) which means "coverings" (the plural gerund) instead of Oholot which means "tents." This is because the discussion does not only focus on the transfer of tumah through tents but through other coverings as well.
The Six Orders of the Mishnah ( ששה סדרי משנה) |
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