Tractate Temurah ( he, תמורה, literally: "exchange") is a tractate of the

Mishnah The Mishnah or the Mishna (; he, מִשְׁנָה, "study by repetition", from the verb ''shanah'' , or "to study and review", also "secondary") is the first major written collection of the Jewish oral traditions which is known as the Oral Torah ...

Tosefta The Tosefta (Jewish Babylonian Aramaic: תוספתא "supplement, addition") is a compilation of the Jewish oral law from the late 2nd century, the period of the Mishnah. Overview In many ways, the Tosefta acts as a supplement to the Mishnah ( ...

, and

Babylonian Talmud The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cente ...

, which is part of the Order of Kodashim. Its main subject is the Biblical prohibition ( Leviticus 27:10) against attempting to switch the sanctity of an animal that has been sanctified for the

Temple in Jerusalem The Temple in Jerusalem, or alternatively the Holy Temple (; , ), refers to the two now-destroyed religious structures that served as the central places of worship for Israelites and Jews on the modern-day Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusa ...

with another non-sanctified animal. If this is attempted, both animals become sanctified, and the person who attempted the transfer is punished with lashes.

Mishneh Torah The ''Mishneh Torah'' ( he, מִשְׁנֵה תּוֹרָה, , repetition of the Torah), also known as ''Sefer Yad ha-Hazaka'' ( he, ספר יד החזקה, , book of the strong hand, label=none), is a code of Rabbinic Jewish religious law (''h ...

, Hilchot Temurah 1:1 Like many tractates in the order of

Kodshim 150px, Pidyon haben Kodashim ( he, קדשים, "Holy Things") is the fifth of the six orders, or major divisions, of the Mishnah, Tosefta and the Talmud, and deals largely with the services within the Temple in Jerusalem, its maintenance and de ...

, Temurah was not often learned by many Talmud scholars. Its reopening was included in the general Kodshim Renaissance brought about by the

Brisk yeshivas The Soloveitchik dynasty of rabbinic scholars and their students originated the Brisker method of Talmudic study, which is embraced by their followers in the Brisk yeshivas. It is so called because of the Soloveitchiks' origin in the town of Bri ...

Mishnah

The Mishnah's seven chapters cover the following topics: # Regarding those who are allowed to make an exchange; things that may be exchanged, and things that may not be exchanged (§§ 3-6). Regulations concerning drawn water which is unfit for the

mikveh Mikveh or mikvah (, ''mikva'ot'', ''mikvoth'', ''mikvot'', or (Yiddish) ''mikves'', lit., "a collection") is a bath used for the purpose of ritual immersion in Judaism to achieve ritual purity. Most forms of ritual impurity can be purif ...

; concerning water for sprinkling, and a field in which there is a grave that can not be found (§§ 4-5). # In what ways the sacrifices of the congregation are different from the sacrifices of individuals (§§ 1-2). Difficulties connected with consecrated objects in general which do not affect objects consecrated through temurah and vice versa (§ 3). # Sacrifices in which the young of the sacrificial animal is equivalent to the sacrificial animal itself; sacrifices in which this is not the case (§§ 1-2). What must be done when some one consecrates a female animal for a sacrifice for which only a male animal is appropriate (§§ 3-4). In what ways the first-born and the tenth are different from other sacrificial animals (§ 5). # The young of a

sin-offering A sin offering ( he, קָרְבַּן חַטָּאת, ''korban ḥatat'', , lit: "purification offering") is a sacrificial offering described and commanded in the Torah (Lev. 4.1-35); it could be fine flour or a proper animal.Leviticus 5:11 A sin ...

; temurah in connection with a sin-offering; other regulations concerning sin-offerings. Cases in which the bringer of the sin-offering dies before the sacrifice is made; in which the sin-offering has been lost and found again; in which a sin-offering with a blemish is consecrated. # How, an animal being pregnant, its young may be consecrated while still unborn (§§ 1-3). The form of words with which a temurah is made. # Things that may not be placed on the altar (§§ 1-4). The young of animals which may not be placed on the altar may be sacrificed; sacrificial animals which have become unfit (

terefah Terefah ( he, טְרֵפָה, lit. "torn by a beast of prey"; plural ''treifot'') refers to either: * A member of a kosher species of mammal or bird, disqualified from being considered kosher, due to pre-existing mortal injuries or physical def ...

) through sickness may not be redeemed (§ 5). # In what ways things which have been consecrated for the altar are different from things which are dedicated only for the maintenance of the Temple, and in what ways they are similar (§§ 1-3). What sacrificial objects must be burned and what buried; in this connection are enumerated other unconsecrated things which must be partly burned and partly buried (§§ 4-6).

Commandments

This prohibition of exchange was counted by

Maimonides Musa ibn Maimon (1138–1204), commonly known as Maimonides (); la, Moses Maimonides and also referred to by the acronym Rambam ( he, רמב״ם), was a Sephardic Jewish philosopher who became one of the most prolific and influential Torah ...

as comprising 3 of the

613 commandments The Jewish tradition that there are 613 commandments ( he, תרי״ג מצוות, taryag mitzvot) or mitzvot in the Torah (also known as the Law of Moses) is first recorded in the 3rd century AD, when Rabbi Simlai mentioned it in a sermon that i ...

. The three commandments are: # Not to substitute another beast for one set apart for sacrifice # The new animal, in addition to the substituted one, retains consecration # Not to change consecrated animals from one type of offering to another

External links

Text of the Mishnah for tractate Temurah
(Hebrew)

References

{{mishna Talmud Jewish sacrificial law

Mishnah

Commandments

See also

External links

References