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Home > Halakha

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Halakha (הלכה in Hebrew or Halakhah, Halacha, Halachah) is the collective corpus of Jewish law, custom and tradition regulating all aspects of behavior. The name Halakha derives from the Hebrew הלכ, halach meaning "going" or the "[correct] way"; thus a literal translation does not yield "law", rather "the way to go." Halakha constitutes the practical application of the commandments in the Torah, (the five books of Moses, the Written Law) as developed through discussion and debate in the classical rabbinic literature, especially the Mishnah and the Talmud (the Oral law).

1 The scope of Halakha

The Halakha is a comprehensive guide to each and every aspect of human life, corporeal and spiritual. Its laws guidelines and opinions cover a vast range of situations and principles, in the attempt to comprehend what is implied by the repeated commandment to "be holy as I your God am holy" of the Torah. They cover what are better ways for a Jew to live, when commandments conflict how one may choose righteously, what is implicit and uunderstood but not stated explicitely, and what has been deduced by implication though not visible on the surface. It covers a variety of authorities, rather than one sole "official voice", so different communities may well have slightly different answers on certain Halakhic questions.

Halakha has been developed and pored over throughout the generations since before 500 BCE, in a constantly expanding collection of religious literature consolidated in the Talmud. First and foremost it forms a legislative body of intricate laws, customs, and recommendations, many of them passed down over the centuries, and an assortment of ingrained behaviors, relayed to successive generations from the moment a child begins to speak. It is also the subject of intense study in yeshivas; see Torah study.

To the Orthodox Jew, Halkhah is a guide, Gods Law, governing the structure of daily life from the moment he or she wakes up to the moment they go to sleep. It includes codes of behavior applicable to virtually every imaginable circumstance (and many hypothetical ones); see for example the topics covered in the Mishneh Torah.

2 The laws of the Torah

Broadly, the Halakha comprises the practical application of the commandments in the Torah, as developed in subsequent rabbinic literature; see The Mitzvot and Jewish Law. According to the Talmud (Tractate Makot), there are 613 mitzvot (commandments) in the Torah; In Hebrew these are known as the Taryag mitzvot תרי"ג מצוות. There are 248 positive mitzvot and 365 negative mitzvot given in the Torah, supplemented by seven mitzvot legislated by the rabbis of antiquity; see Rabbinical commandments. One list of the 613 mitzvot can be found here.

2.1 Categories of law

Judaism divides the laws into two basic categories:

  1. Laws in relation to God (ben adam le-Makom), and
  2. Laws about relations with other people (ben adam le-chavero).

Violations of the latter are considered to be more severe, as one must obtain forgiveness both from the offended person and from God.

Laws are also divided into positive and negative commands, which are treated differently in terms of Divine and human punishment. Positive commands bring one closer to God, while violations of negative ones create a distance. In striving to "be holy" as God is holy, one attempts so far as possible to live in accordance with Gods wishes for humanity, striving to more completely live with each of these with every moment of ones life.



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Halakha Law Judaism Jewish Laws God Torah Sin Particularity

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