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Why do we call it masechet Beitza now, and not masechet Yom Tov, as was apparently once common? Unlike the parshiot, which are named after their first words, masechtot are all named after topics, except Beitza. This is particularly odd considering that today, many people actually call it "Bei'a" to avoid a word not appropriate for mixed company. So why not just call it "Yom Tov"?

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  • Who's "we"? Who calls it "Beitza"? Don't you call it "Aharei" and not "Aharei Mos"? ;-)
    – Yahu
    Apr 26, 2010 at 20:40
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    I call it "Beitzah" (and similarly for the item on the Seder plate). I don't think the word has the same (improper) resonance it used to - maybe in the plural, but not in the singular.
    – Alex
    Apr 27, 2010 at 2:31
  • Alex, I was just being facetious and comparing calling Beitzah by the ancient name Yom Tov to calling Aharei Mos by the old and shorter version "Aharei"
    – Yahu
    Apr 27, 2010 at 20:24
  • I know, I was responding more to Jeremy's original question.
    – Alex
    Apr 28, 2010 at 16:45
  • What we call "Moed Kattan" was commonly called "Mashkin" way back when.
    – Double AA ♦
    Dec 19, 2016 at 3:40

2 Answers 2

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See the beginning of Rabbenu Chananel on Masseches Beitzah, where he - or whomever copied the manuscript the printed text is based on - began it with the following rhyming ditty:

אתחיל מסכת ביצה בעזרת גדול העיצה

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  • I don't see how this answers the question.
    – Double AA ♦
    Dec 19, 2016 at 3:40
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Maybe because "Yom Tov" just sounds like too generic a name? There are, after all, several other masechtos that discuss, and/or are named for, specific Yamim Tovim.

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    what about masechet Taharot? that could be anything! I was thinking there must be some historical reason for the shift, since many Rishonim definitely called it Y"T.
    – Jeremy
    Apr 28, 2010 at 16:10
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    True, but then (quite aside from the fact that fewer people are familiar with Seder Taharos than with Seder Moed), none of the masechtos of Taharos are named for specific pure items; they're named either for things that can be tamei or tahor (Kelim, Yadayim, etc.) or for things that are indeed tamei (Negaim, Zavim, etc.). Whereas in Moed, for example, you've got Rosh Hashanah, which is named for a specific Yom Tov.
    – Alex
    Apr 28, 2010 at 16:48

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