Categories

All texts at Sefaria are sorted into categories. When interacting with Sefaria.org, one immediately sees the fourteen highest level categories, and uses those to peruse the library. Categories are first-class objects at Sefaria, and can be retrieved via the Categories API.

Categories are present on the Index of a text, and are a requirement for Index creation. For example, the Index of Genesishas a category of Torah. The Torah category is a child of the Tanakh highest level category, so the full category for Genesis would look like ["Tanakh", "Torah"].

To learn more about the Sefaria Index, see The Structure of a Book on Sefaria or the Index API.

Structure of the Category Object

Required Fields:

path

Category objects require path, which is a list of primary titles of categories that form the path of ancestors to this one. The current category's title is included in the path. The path is stored in a list, with the highest level ancestor at position 0, and the current category's title at the end of the list.

titles or sharedTitle

Categories also must contain either titles or sharedTitle:

• titles is a list of title objects, with each object containing the language code (lang), the text, and a boolean indicating whether or not this title is primary. An example of the titles list on the Index of Bamidbar can be found below:

[
	{
		"lang" : "he",
		"text" : "במדבר",
		"primary" : true
  },
{
		"lang" : "en",
		"text" : "Numbers",
		"primary" : true
`}
]

• sharedTitle: a string key for an existing Term object. A Term is a shared title block which can be used across multiple Index objects and Category objects. Note: This Term must exist before attempting to create the category.

Derived Attributes:

lastPath

lastPath is derived from the path attribute, and doesn't need to be specified on object creation. This attribute contains the title of the current category, and is represented by the last string in the path list.

depth

depth is derived from the path attribute, and doesn't need to be specified on object creation.

Optional Attributes

• enDesc: An English language description of the category.
• heDesc: A Hebrew language description of the category.
• isPrimary: A boolean flag. When True, this category won't be nested within another, but will have its own page. An example of this is the Mishnah category, which you can see here
• searchRoot: A string. When present, this category will be moved within the specified root category, in the context of search filters.

Example Category Objects

Example 1: The Category for the commentary of Metzudat David:

{
    "lastPath" : "Metzudat David",
    "path" : [
        "Tanakh",
        "Acharonim on Tanakh",
        "Metzudat David"
    ],
    "depth" : NumberInt(3),
    "enDesc" : "",
    "heDesc" : "",
    "enShortDesc" : "18th-century classic commentary on Prophets and Writings explaining verses in clear and simple language, primarily based on the Radak’s commentary.",
    "heShortDesc" : "פירוש קלאסי מן המאה ה-18 על נביאים וכתובים, המתבסס בעיקר על פירוש רד\"ק ומבאר את הפסוקים בשפה ברורה ופשוטה.",
    "sharedTitle" : "Metzudat David"
}

Example 2: The Category for the commentary of Targum:

{
    "lastPath" : "Targum",
    "path" : [
        "Tanakh",
        "Targum"
    ],
    "depth" : NumberInt(2),
    "enDesc" : "Targum (“translation”) is the name of a category of texts that translate the Tanakh into Aramaic, originally transmitted orally and committed to writing between the 1st and 6th centuries CE.",
    "heDesc" : "הקטגוריה של 'תרגומים' כוללת את תרגומי התורה לארמית, תרגומים שהועברו במקור בעל פה והועלו על הכתב בין המאה ה-1 ל-6 לספירה.",
    "enShortDesc" : "Translations of Tanakh into Aramaic, originally transmitted orally and mostly committed to writing between the 1st and 8th centuries CE.",
    "heShortDesc" : "תרגום של התנ\"ך לארמית, במקור הועבר בעל פה, והועלה על הכתב מן המאה ה-1 עד המאה ה-8 לספירה.",
    "sharedTitle" : "Targum",
    "searchRoot" : "Targum",
    "order" : NumberInt(20)
}