family. In other words, the families must be ritually pure, meaning that there are no family members who have committed grave sins. Ritually pure laymen are also known as hallali in Mandaic. Typically, the novices have been trained as ritual assistants (sganda or asganda) when they were children. Initiates may or may not be married, although typically they are not yet married.

In order to be ordained as a tarmida, the initiate (?????? ) must go through a