masechet

Masechet is a Hebrew word meaning tractate. In Rabbinic literature, a masechet designates a specific unit within the Mishnah and the Talmud. Each masechet gathers a coherent set of legal rulings, discussions, or narratives on a particular topic and is identified by its name, such as Berakhot or Shabbat.

The Mishnah groups tractates into six orders (sedarim). Each masechet is divided into chapters (perek) and then into mishnayot (the individual statements). The Talmud expands the Mishnah's text with the Gemara, producing discussions on the same masechet across the Babylonian and Jerusalem traditions. Tractates cover topics from ritual practice to civil law, ethics, and purity.

Historically, the Mishnah was compiled around 200 CE by Rabbi Judah haNasi. The Gemara in the Babylonian and Jerusalem Talmuds develops these texts further. Today, the term masechet remains the standard reference for a single tractate within the broader corpus.

Famous examples include Berakhot (blessings and prayer), Shabbat (Sabbath observance), Eruvin (doubling boundaries and space for carrying), Pesachim (Passover rites and discusses), Yoma (Yom Kippur service), and Bava Metzia (civil law and property).

In modern study, masechtot are cited by name and by page, or daf, in the Babylonian and Jerusalem Talmuds and in printed editions with commentaries such as Rashi and Tosafot. They remain central to classical Jewish legal and literary study.