About This Text
Composed: Talmudic Israel, c.190 – c.230 CE
Keritot (Excisions) belongs to the fifth ordMeilah (“Misuse of Property”) is a tractate within Seder Kodashim (“Order of Holy Things”). It discusses the prohibition against deriving benefit from property dedicated to the Temple, and the sacrifice and restitution brought as atonement by those who violate the prohibition (as detailed in Leviticus 5:15-16). The tractate’s six chapters address details such as which consecrated items are subject to the laws of meilah and culpability when an agent is sent to derive benefit from Temple property.