Tohorot

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Tohorot

Tohorot (Hebrew

Hebrew language

Hebrew is a Semitic languages of the Afro-Asiatic languages. Modern Hebrew is spoken by more than seven million people in Israel and Classical Hebrew is used for prayer or study in Jews communities around the world....
: ????? literally "Purities") is the sixth order of the Mishnah

Mishnah

The Mishnah or Mishna is a major work of Rabbinic literature, and the first major redaction into written form of Jewish oral traditions, called the Oral Torah....
(also the Tosefta

Tosefta

The Tosefta is a secondary compilation of the Oral Torah from the period of the Mishnah....
and Talmud

Talmud

The Talmud is a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Halakha, Jewish ethics, customs, and history. It is a central text of mainstream Judaism....
). This order deals with the clean/unclean distinction and family purity. This is the longest of the orders in the Mishnah. There are 12 tractates:

Keilim
Keilim

Keilim is the first tractate in the Order of Tohorot in the Mishnah. It contains thirty chapters, making it the longest tractate in the entire Mishnah....
: ("Vessels"); deals with a large array of various utensils and how they fare in terms of purity. 30 chapters, the longest in the Mishnah.
Oholot
Oholot

Oholot 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....
: ("Tents"); deals with the uncleanness from a corpse and its peculiar property of "overshadowing" objects in the same tent-like structure as it.
Nega'im
Nega'im

Nega'im is the third tractate of the order of Tohorot in the Mishnah. It consists of fourteen chapters. Nega'im describes the various forms of tzaraath, a leprosy-like disease described in the Bible , which affected people, clothing, and homes....
: ("Plagues"); deals with the laws of the tzaraath
Tzaraath

Tzaraath is a disfigurative condition referred to in chapters 13-14 of Leviticus. "Tzaraath affects both animate as well as inanimate objects; the Torah discusses tzaraath that afflicts humans, clothing and houses....
.
Parah: ("Cow"); deals largely with the laws of the Red Heifer.
Tohorot: ("Purities"); deals with miscellaneous laws of purity, especially the actual mechanics of contracting impurity and the laws of the impurity of food.
Mikva'ot
Mikva'ot

Tractate Mikva'ot is a section of the Mishna discussing the laws pertaining to the building and maintenance of a mikvah, a Jewish ritual bath. Like most of Seder Tohorot, Mikva'ot is present only in its mishnah form and has no accompanying gemara in either the Talmud or Jerusalem Talmud....
: ("Ritual Baths"); deals with the laws of the Mikvah
Mikvah

Mikvah is a ritual bath designed for the purpose of ritual washing in Judaism#Full-body immersion. The word "mikvah", as used in the Hebrew Bible, literally means a "collection" - generally, a collection of water....
.
Niddah: ("Separation"); deals with the Niddah
Niddah

Niddah is a Hebrew term which literally means separation, and generally refers to separation from tumah; The term niddah is overwhelmingly used in Judaism to refer to the Halakhah concerning menstruation....
, a woman during her menstrual cycle
Menstrual cycle

The menstrual cycle is a recurring cycle of physiology changes that occurs in reproductive-age females. Overt menstruation occurs primarily in humans and close evolutionary relatives such as chimpanzees....
.
Makhshirin: ("Preliminary acts of preparation"), the liquids that make food susceptible to tumah (ritual impurity)
Zavim: ("Seminal Emissions"); deals with the laws of a person who has had a seminal (or similar) emission.
Tevul Yom: ("Bathing (of the) day") deals with a special kind of impurity where the person immerses in a Mikvah
Mikvah

Mikvah is a ritual bath designed for the purpose of ritual washing in Judaism#Full-body immersion. The word "mikvah", as used in the Hebrew Bible, literally means a "collection" - generally, a collection of water....
but is still unclean for the rest of the day.
Yadayim: ("Hands"); deals with a Rabbinic impurity related to the hands.
Uktzim
Uktzim

Uktzim is the last volume of the Order of Tohorot in the Mishnah. It is the last tractate in the Mishnah. It consists of three chapters. Uktzim describes the various forms of tumah having to do with fruits' and vegetables' external parts such as stems and peels....
: ("Stalks"); deals with the impurity of the stalks of fruit.

The traditional reasoning for the order of the tractates (according to Rambam) is as follows.

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Encyclopedia

Tohorot (Hebrew

Hebrew language

Mishnah

The Mishnah or Mishna is a major work of Rabbinic literature, and the first major redaction into written form of Jewish oral traditions, called the Oral Torah....
(also the Tosefta

Tosefta

The Tosefta is a secondary compilation of the Oral Torah from the period of the Mishnah....
and Talmud

Talmud

Keilim
Keilim

Keilim is the first tractate in the Order of Tohorot in the Mishnah. It contains thirty chapters, making it the longest tractate in the entire Mishnah....
: ("Vessels"); deals with a large array of various utensils and how they fare in terms of purity. 30 chapters, the longest in the Mishnah.
Oholot
Oholot

Oholot 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....
: ("Tents"); deals with the uncleanness from a corpse and its peculiar property of "overshadowing" objects in the same tent-like structure as it.
Nega'im
Nega'im

Nega'im is the third tractate of the order of Tohorot in the Mishnah. It consists of fourteen chapters. Nega'im describes the various forms of tzaraath, a leprosy-like disease described in the Bible , which affected people, clothing, and homes....
: ("Plagues"); deals with the laws of the tzaraath
Tzaraath

Tzaraath is a disfigurative condition referred to in chapters 13-14 of Leviticus. "Tzaraath affects both animate as well as inanimate objects; the Torah discusses tzaraath that afflicts humans, clothing and houses....
.
Parah: ("Cow"); deals largely with the laws of the Red Heifer.
Tohorot: ("Purities"); deals with miscellaneous laws of purity, especially the actual mechanics of contracting impurity and the laws of the impurity of food.
Mikva'ot
Mikva'ot

Tractate Mikva'ot is a section of the Mishna discussing the laws pertaining to the building and maintenance of a mikvah, a Jewish ritual bath. Like most of Seder Tohorot, Mikva'ot is present only in its mishnah form and has no accompanying gemara in either the Talmud or Jerusalem Talmud....
: ("Ritual Baths"); deals with the laws of the Mikvah
Mikvah

Mikvah is a ritual bath designed for the purpose of ritual washing in Judaism#Full-body immersion. The word "mikvah", as used in the Hebrew Bible, literally means a "collection" - generally, a collection of water....
.
Niddah: ("Separation"); deals with the Niddah
Niddah

Niddah is a Hebrew term which literally means separation, and generally refers to separation from tumah; The term niddah is overwhelmingly used in Judaism to refer to the Halakhah concerning menstruation....
, a woman during her menstrual cycle
Menstrual cycle

The menstrual cycle is a recurring cycle of physiology changes that occurs in reproductive-age females. Overt menstruation occurs primarily in humans and close evolutionary relatives such as chimpanzees....
.
Makhshirin: ("Preliminary acts of preparation"), the liquids that make food susceptible to tumah (ritual impurity)
Zavim: ("Seminal Emissions"); deals with the laws of a person who has had a seminal (or similar) emission.
Tevul Yom: ("Bathing (of the) day") deals with a special kind of impurity where the person immerses in a Mikvah
Mikvah

Mikvah is a ritual bath designed for the purpose of ritual washing in Judaism#Full-body immersion. The word "mikvah", as used in the Hebrew Bible, literally means a "collection" - generally, a collection of water....
but is still unclean for the rest of the day.
Yadayim: ("Hands"); deals with a Rabbinic impurity related to the hands.
Uktzim
Uktzim

Uktzim is the last volume of the Order of Tohorot in the Mishnah. It is the last tractate in the Mishnah. It consists of three chapters. Uktzim describes the various forms of tumah having to do with fruits' and vegetables' external parts such as stems and peels....
: ("Stalks"); deals with the impurity of the stalks of fruit.

The traditional reasoning for the order of the tractates (according to Rambam) is as follows. Kelim is first as it introduces the levels of impurity, and dictates to which object the various impurities apply at all. Oholot follows because it outlines the most serious type of impurity. Negaim follows because it is next in severity and because, like a corpse, a metzorah transmits tent-inpurity. Parah follows as it outlines the purification for the severe impurities already dealt with. The next stage is lesser impurities (Tohorot) and their method of purification which is immersion (Mikvaot). Niddah follows as it is also a lesser impurity but it has the extra feature of applying to only a portion of people (ie. to women). Makshirin, Zavim and Tevul Tom follow Niddah based on Scriptural order. The next stage down is impurities that are Rabbinic only (Yadaim). Finally, Uktzin is last as it is restricted and has no Scriptural source, the laws being derived from the reasoning of the Sages.

There is a Babylonian Gemara

Gemara

The Gemara is the part of the Talmud that contains rabbinical commentaries and analysis of the Mishnah. After the Mishnah was published by Judah haNasi , the work was studied exhaustively by generation after generation of rabbis in Babylonia and the Land of Israel....
on only Niddah. This is because most of the other laws of purity do not apply when the Temple is not in existence. The Talmud Yerushalmi (Jerusalem Talmud) only covers four chapters of Niddah.