What is Mesechta?מסכת
A mesechta is a single tractate of the Talmud — one topical volume such as Berachos or Bava Metzia — which can be bought individually rather than as part of a full Shas.
Also written: Masechta, Masechet, Mesechtos, Masechtot, Tractate
The Mishnah is divided into 63 tractates, each covering a broad subject area. The Babylonian Talmud carries Gemara on 37 of them, so a Shas covers far fewer tractates than the Mishnah has. Volume count is a separate matter: publishers bind tractates together or split them as they choose, which is why the Schottenstein English edition runs to 73 volumes while a Vilna-format Hebrew set holds the same material in a fraction of that number. Both facts are worth knowing before deciding a set looks incomplete.
Because a full Shas is a significant purchase, individual mesechtos are bought constantly — by students working through one tractate, by anyone following a shiur, and by people replacing a single worn volume. Single-tractate listings are the most common Talmud listings on a used marketplace, and the two details that matter most are which tractate it is and which edition, since someone replacing a volume needs it to match what is already on their shelf.
Browse Gemara listings on SimplySefer
Sources
- List of Talmudic tractates — 63 tractates in the Mishnah; Gemara on 37 in the Bavli
Related terms
- Shas — Shas is the complete Talmud — an acronym for Shisha Sidrei Mishnah, the six orders of the Mishnah — usually sold as a multi-volume bound set.
- Gemara — The Gemara is the component of the Talmud that records the rabbinic analysis and debate of the Mishnah; Mishnah and Gemara together make up the Talmud.
- Daf Yomi — Daf Yomi is a worldwide programme in which participants study one double-sided page of Talmud each day, completing the entire Talmud in roughly seven and a half years.