Halakhah

A Popular Dictionary of Judaism

(Hebrew. ‘Way of going’) A commandment or the whole body of Jewish law. It is a fundamental tenet of *Orthodoxy that the entire *halakhah goes back to *Moses who was given it by *God on Mount *Sinai. It is made up of the *Written Law as recorded in the *Pentateuch and the *Oral Law which includes later *responsa and established custom.

In the days of the *Temple, the *Sadducees denied the authority of the Oral Law and this stand was also taken later by the *Karaites. However the *Oral Law was collected by *Judah ha-Nasi in the *Mishnah and the discussions of the *amoraim are recorded in the *Talmud. Subsequently it was *codified in such volumes as *Maimonides’ Mishneh Torah and Karo’s *Shulhan Arukh. While the Orthodox accept the halakhah as totally binding, the *Progressive movements have adapted it to the exigences of modern life. This process has been unequivocally rejected by the Orthodox. (See also *CODES, *MISHNAH, *ORAL LAW, *TALMUD, *TORAH, *WRITTEN LAW).