Derekh Eretz Zutta

Derekh Eretz Zutta (Hebrew: מסכת דרך ארץ זוטא) is one of the minor tractates of the Talmud.

"The Way of the Land", or "Ethics" are common translations of the Hebrew concept of "Derekh Eretz", which every scholar is expected to embody prior to taking up the study of Torah. Thus this "little book on ethics". The name is misleading in more than one respect; the word "zuta" (small) would seem to indicate that it is a shorter version of the treatise "Derekh Eretz Rabbah," which is not the case, the two having little in common. However, this name is ancient: Rashi and the Tosafists called the treatise both "Masekhet Derekh Eretz" and "Hilkot Derekh Eretz", the latter following b. Berakhot 22a. The designation "zuta" is probably of later origin.

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