Halakhah Reference library
The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions
... (Heb., from halak , ‘he went’). A particular law or the whole Jewish legal system. The halakhah is traditionally believed to go back in its entirety to Moses . The halakhah is composed of the written law (the six hundred and thirteen commandments of the Pentateuch ), the statements handed down by tradition (such as the words of the prophets and the hagiographa ( Writings ), the oral law (which includes interpretations of the written law), the sayings of the scribes , and established religious custom. Written law is Torah she-bi-khetav ,...
Halakhah Quick reference
A Concise Companion to the Jewish Religion
... The legal side of Judaism, in contradistinction to Aggadah ; the latter embracing all the non-legal ideas. In the earliest Rabbinic period, the term Halakhah (from the root halakh , ‘to go’ or ‘to walk’) was confined to a particular ruling or decision. But, subsequently, while the original meaning was retained, the term Halakhah was also and chiefly used for the whole system. The Halakhah came to denote that aspect of Judaism which is concerned with Jewish law as a whole; the rules and regulations by which the Jew ‘walks’ through life. In every...
halakhah Reference library
CTR Hayward
The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (4 ed.)
... (Heb. הֲלָכָה , ‘that by which one walks’) In rabbinic Judaism, the body of teachings concerning religious obligation in contrast to Haggadah. Its main sources are the Hebrew Bible, Talmud , medieval codifications (the last and most authoritative being the Shulchan Aruch or ‘Prepared Table’ of Joseph Caro, first published in 1565), and the vast body of responsa , formal answers to questions posed to halakhic authorities. In modern Judaism the status of halakhah constitutes one of the principal points of disagreement between Orthodox Judaism on the...
HALAKHAH Reference library
The Oxford Dictionary of the Jewish Religion (2 ed.)
...the State. Custom. In the Talmud, custom ( minhag ) constitutes a means of resolving halakhic disputes in ritual matters ( Ber . 45a; Pes . 66a) and is a source of halakhah in commercial and civil law ( B.M . 74a). The principle that “custom overrides halakhah ” is found only in the Jerusalem Talmud and is restricted to civil law. Customs in the ritual sphere that have no basis in halakhah ought, nevertheless, to be respected, provided that they do not conflict with any halakhic norm. Among the medieval authorities, R. Yaʿaqov ben Me’ir Tam stands out as...
halakhah Reference library
The Oxford Dictionary of the Middle Ages
... (Jewish law) Viewed by Jewish tradition as the major governing authority for the Jewish community and a manifestation of divine revelation mediated through the *exegesis of sacred texts, halakhah (derived from the Hebrew word ‘to go’) concerns itself with all aspects of Jewish life. The primary sources of Jewish law are divided between the ‘Written Law’, traditionally understood as commandments located in the biblical text, and the ‘Oral Law’, the interpretive complement to the Written Law understood to have been nonetheless divinely revealed and...
Halakhah and Ethics Reference library
The Oxford Dictionary of the Jewish Religion (2 ed.)
...1965). Lawrence Kaplan , “ Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik’s Philosophy of Halakhah ,” Jewish Law Annual 7 (1988): 139–197. A. Lichtenstein , “Does Jewish Tradition Recognize an Ethic Independent of Halakhah?” in Jewish Law and Legal Theory , edited by Martin Golding (Aldershot, 1994), pp. 155–182. David Novak , “Natural Law, Halakhah and the Covenant,” Jewish Law Annual 7 (1988): 43–67. Joel Roth , The Halakhah: Systemic Analysis (New York, 1986). Efraim E. Urbach , The Halakhah: Its Sources and Development (Tel Aviv, 1986). –DANIEL...
TECHNOLOGY AND HALAKHAH Reference library
The Oxford Dictionary of the Jewish Religion (2 ed.)
...AND HALAKHAH . The interaction between modern technology and Jewish law is a complex issue that covers at least three distinct activities: the legal responses to changes in technology; the scientific responses to some unique legal problems that can be realized through technological advances; and the challenges posed to the underpinnings of Jewish law, philosophy, and ethics by certain modern scientific advances. Legal Responses to Technology Jewish law directs its adherents’ conduct on a wide variety of issues, and advances in technology change the...
HALAKHAH LE-MOSHE MI-SINAI Reference library
The Oxford Dictionary of the Jewish Religion (2 ed.)
... LE-MOSHE MI-SINAI ( a law [transmitted orally] to Moses from [Mount] Sinai), laws regarded by the Talmud, while never stated explicitly in scripture or derived from it, as having biblical authority. Since a number of these laws were clearly post-Mosaic, some medieval commentators noted that the term was also used to describe laws that were beyond any doubt, as if they had been given to Moses at Sinai. Shemu’el Safrai has shown that early rabbinic literature did not recognize a special category of laws given to Moses at Sinai and that the term is nothing...
halakhah
Technology and Halakhah
Halakhah Le-Moshe Mi-Sinai
2 The Sacred Book Reference library
Carl Olson
The Oxford Companion to the Book
...Torah). In addition, Rabbinic Judaism gave birth to the Talmud, containing analysis and elaboration of rabbinic lore ( aggadah ), which is prominent in the collection known as the Midrash that originated in the academies of Palestine and Babylonia. Within the Talmud, legal ( halakhah ) aspects dominate the text. 3 Formative Christian tradition The early Christian community did not possess its own sacred book, and any such notion would have probably struck its members as strange. It did, however, make use of the Hebrew Bible, although it tended to read...
The Bible in Judaism Reference library
Philip Alexander
The Oxford Illustrated History of the Bible
...to be manipulated by the commentator apparently at will, as when the numerical value of the words is computed for exegetical purposes (a device known as gematria ). However, an important distinction is observed between the exposition of the legal parts of scripture (the Halakhah) and the exposition of the non-legal, narrative portions (the Aggadah). The former were treated much more conservatively, well within the range of techniques which one would expect sober jurisprudents to employ. The latter, however, can be subjected to extreme forms of...
Essay with Commentary on Post-Biblical Jewish Literature Reference library
Philip S. Alexander
The Oxford Bible Commentary
...Press). Sandmel, S. (1979), Philo of Alexandria: An Introduction (New York: Oxford University Press). Schechter, S. (1979), Aboth de Rabbi Nathan: Edited from Manuscripts with an Introduction, Notes and Appendices (repr. Hildesheim: Olms). Schiffman, L. H. (1975), The Halakhah at Qumran (Leiden: Brill). —— (1989), The Eschatological Community of the Dead Sea Scrolls: A Study of the Rule of the Congregation (Atlanta: Scholars Press). Schwemer, A. M. (1997), Vitae Prophetarum (Tübingen: Mohr [Siebeck]). Siegert, F. (1996), ‘Philo of Alexandria’,...
Kal va-homer
Jewish Law and Environmental Protection
Mishpat ivri
Beit Din
Frankists
