Categories

All texts at Sefaria are sorted into categories. The 14 highest-level categories are visible on the Sefaria Library homepage (Sefaria.org). These include Tanakh, Talmud, Mishnah, and more, and can be used to navigate the digital stacks. In the Sefaria database, categories are first-class objects. They can be retrieved by using 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 (a highest-level category), so the full category for Genesis would appear: ["Tanakh", "Torah"].

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

The Structure of the Category Object

Category objects have specific field requirements. These include:

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. See below for clarification:

titles or sharedTitle

Categories also must contain either titles or sharedTitle:

titles refers to a list of title objects, with each object containing the language code (lang), the text, and a boolean indicating whether or not this is a primary title.

See below for an example of the titles list on the Index of Bamidbar:

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

sharedTitle refers to 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. Please note: This Term must exist before attempting to create the category.

Derived Attributes

lastPath

lastPath is derived from the path attribute. It does not 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. It also does not 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, which, when True, means that this category won't be nested within another, but will have its own page. For example, the Mishnah category, which you can see here, has its own page in the Sefaria Library because it is a primary category.
• searchRoot: A string, which, when present, means that 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)
}