Massekhet

(lit. "web" or "woven fabric"). A tractate of the Mishnah or Talmud, more commonly called Masekhta (Aram.). The term Massekhet is particularly apt for designating a talmudic tract with its complex web of themes and ideas. The six Orders of the Mishnah edited by R. Judah Ha-Nasi were originally divided into 60 tractates of the Talmud, but the subsequent subdivision of Nezikin into three, and the separation of Makkot from Sanhedrin, brought the number to 63. Each tractate deals with a specific subject or area of law. After a person completes the study of a Massekhet, it is customary to hold a Siyyum ("conclusion"), a celebration at which he gives an exposition of the final few lines or final idea of the tractate.

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