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  "title": "What Is Halacha?",
  "summary": "Halacha is the Jewish legal system — the way one walks. It is the operating language of observant Jewish life.",
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    "article": {
      "slug": "essentials-essential-questions-what-is-halacha",
      "title": "What Is Halacha?",
      "deck": "Halacha is the Jewish legal system — the way one walks. It is the operating language of observant Jewish life.",
      "summary": "Summary. Halacha (from halach, “to walk”) is the body of Jewish law that develops from the Torah’s 613 mitzvot through the Mishnah, the Talmud, the medieval codes (most importantly the Rambam’s Mishneh Torah and the Tur), and the canonical Shulchan Aruch of Rabbi Yosef Karo (1565) with the Ashkenazi glosses of Rabbi Moshe Isserles. Halacha is binding in Orthodox Judaism, binding-with-modern-application in Conservative Judaism, and treated as a source of values rather than law in Reform Judaism. Halacha covers everything from the kashrut of food to the conduct of business to the laws of mourning.",
      "level": "essential",
      "sectionSlug": "essentials",
      "tags": [
        "halacha",
        "law",
        "shulchan aruch"
      ],
      "publishedAt": "2026-07-06T02:19:03.001Z",
      "wordCount": 646,
      "readMinutes": 3
    },
    "section": {
      "slug": "foundations",
      "title": "Foundations of Belief"
    },
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      "title": "What Is Halacha?"
    },
    "blocks": [
      {
        "type": "summary",
        "body": "Summary. [Halacha](/glossary.json#letter-H) (from halach, “to walk”) is the body of Jewish law that develops from the [Torah](/glossary.json#letter-T)’s 613 [mitzvot](/glossary.json#letter-M) through the [Mishnah](/glossary.json#letter-M), the [Talmud](/glossary.json#letter-T), the medieval codes (most importantly the [Rambam](/glossary.json#letter-R)’s [Mishneh Torah](https://www.sefaria.org/texts/Halakhah/Mishneh%20Torah) and the [Tur](https://www.sefaria.org/Tur)), and the canonical [Shulchan Aruch](https://www.sefaria.org/texts/Halakhah/Shulchan%20Arukh) of [Rabbi Yosef Karo](/glossary.json#letter-Y) (1565) with the [Ashkenazi](/glossary.json#letter-A) glosses of [Rabbi Moshe Isserles](/glossary.json#letter-M). Halacha is binding in [Orthodox Judaism](/glossary.json#letter-O), binding-with-modern-application in [Conservative Judaism](/glossary.json#letter-C), and treated as a source of values rather than law in [Reform Judaism](/glossary.json#letter-R). Halacha covers everything from the [kashrut](/glossary.json#letter-K) of food to the conduct of business to the laws of mourning.",
        "text": "Summary. Halacha (from halach, “to walk”) is the body of Jewish law that develops from the Torah’s 613 mitzvot through the Mishnah, the Talmud, the medieval codes (most importantly the Rambam’s Mishneh Torah and the Tur), and the canonical Shulchan Aruch of Rabbi Yosef Karo (1565) with the Ashkenazi glosses of Rabbi Moshe Isserles. Halacha is binding in Orthodox Judaism, binding-with-modern-application in Conservative Judaism, and treated as a source of values rather than law in Reform Judaism. Halacha covers everything from the kashrut of food to the conduct of business to the laws of mourning."
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "The development of Halacha can be traced as a stepwise refinement. The Torah commands 613 mitzvot (Talmud [Makkot 23b–24a](https://www.sefaria.org/Makkot.23b-24a)). The [Oral Torah](/glossary.json#letter-O) — given, in the traditional account, at Sinai along with the Written — develops these into workable law. The Mishnah (compiled by [Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi](/glossary.json#letter-Y) c. 200 CE) is the first written code of the Oral Torah. The [Gemara](/glossary.json#letter-G) (compiled c. 500 CE in Babylonia; somewhat earlier in the Land of Israel) is the rabbinic discussion of the Mishnah. Together, Mishnah and Gemara comprise the Talmud.",
        "text": "The development of Halacha can be traced as a stepwise refinement. The Torah commands 613 mitzvot (Talmud Makkot 23b–24a). The Oral Torah — given, in the traditional account, at Sinai along with the Written — develops these into workable law. The Mishnah (compiled by Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi c. 200 CE) is the first written code of the Oral Torah. The Gemara (compiled c. 500 CE in Babylonia; somewhat earlier in the Land of Israel) is the rabbinic discussion of the Mishnah. Together, Mishnah and Gemara comprise the Talmud."
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "The [Geonic](/glossary.json#letter-G) period (c. 600–1000) saw the heads of the great Babylonian academies (Sura and Pumbedita) issue [responsa](/glossary.json#letter-R) applying Talmudic law to new questions. The medieval period produced great codes: the Rambam’s [Mishneh Torah](/glossary.json#letter-M) (completed 1180), a comprehensive code organized topically; the [Tur](/glossary.json#letter-T) of [Rabbi Yaakov ben Asher](/glossary.json#letter-Y) (c. 1340); and the [Shulchan Aruch](/glossary.json#letter-S) of Rabbi Yosef Karo (printed 1565), which became the authoritative code of Halacha. Karo was a [Sephardi](/glossary.json#letter-S); Rabbi Moshe Isserles (the Rema, 1530–1572) added Ashkenazi glosses (the [Mappah](/glossary.json#letter-M), “tablecloth”) so that the combined work could serve both traditions.",
        "text": "The Geonic period (c. 600–1000) saw the heads of the great Babylonian academies (Sura and Pumbedita) issue responsa applying Talmudic law to new questions. The medieval period produced great codes: the Rambam’s Mishneh Torah (completed 1180), a comprehensive code organized topically; the Tur of Rabbi Yaakov ben Asher (c. 1340); and the Shulchan Aruch of Rabbi Yosef Karo (printed 1565), which became the authoritative code of Halacha. Karo was a Sephardi; Rabbi Moshe Isserles (the Rema, 1530–1572) added Ashkenazi glosses (the Mappah, “tablecloth”) so that the combined work could serve both traditions."
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "Halacha continues to develop through responsa — the answers of [poskim](/glossary.json#letter-P) (decisors) to specific questions. [Rabbi Moshe Feinstein](/glossary.json#letter-M)’s [Igrot Moshe](/glossary.json#letter-I) (mid-20th century), the [Tzitz Eliezer](/glossary.json#letter-T) of [Rabbi Eliezer Waldenberg](/glossary.json#letter-E), the [Yabia Omer](/glossary.json#letter-Y) of [Rabbi Ovadia Yosef](/glossary.json#letter-O), the Iggrot of [Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Auerbach](/glossary.json#letter-S) — these and many others constitute the working library of contemporary Orthodox Halacha.",
        "text": "Halacha continues to develop through responsa — the answers of poskim (decisors) to specific questions. Rabbi Moshe Feinstein’s Igrot Moshe (mid-20th century), the Tzitz Eliezer of Rabbi Eliezer Waldenberg, the Yabia Omer of Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, the Iggrot of Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Auerbach — these and many others constitute the working library of contemporary Orthodox Halacha."
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "The Shulchan Aruch is organized in four sections: [Orach Chaim](https://www.sefaria.org/Shulchan_Arukh,_Orach_Chayim) (daily life and the calendar), [Yoreh De’ah](https://www.sefaria.org/Shulchan_Arukh,_Yoreh_De'ah) (forbidden foods, ritual purity, mourning, and miscellaneous), [Even HaEzer](https://www.sefaria.org/Shulchan_Arukh,_Even_HaEzer) (marriage and divorce), and [Choshen Mishpat](https://www.sefaria.org/Shulchan_Arukh,_Choshen_Mishpat) (civil and criminal law). For the New Jew, the most immediately useful is Orach Chaim, with its rulings on prayer, [Shabbat](/glossary.json#letter-S), kashrut, and the holidays. The [Mishnah Berurah](https://www.sefaria.org/Mishnah_Berurah) of the [Chofetz Chaim](/glossary.json#letter-C) (Rabbi [Yisrael](/glossary.json#letter-Y) Meir Kagan, 1838–1933) is the standard commentary that brings the Shulchan Aruch to contemporary Ashkenazi Orthodox practice.",
        "text": "The Shulchan Aruch is organized in four sections: Orach Chaim (daily life and the calendar), Yoreh De’ah (forbidden foods, ritual purity, mourning, and miscellaneous), Even HaEzer (marriage and divorce), and Choshen Mishpat (civil and criminal law). For the New Jew, the most immediately useful is Orach Chaim, with its rulings on prayer, Shabbat, kashrut, and the holidays. The Mishnah Berurah of the Chofetz Chaim (Rabbi Yisrael Meir Kagan, 1838–1933) is the standard commentary that brings the Shulchan Aruch to contemporary Ashkenazi Orthodox practice."
      },
      {
        "type": "heading",
        "body": "Where Denominations Diverge",
        "text": "Where Denominations Diverge"
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "Orthodox: Halacha is binding, the Shulchan Aruch and [Mishnah Berurah](/glossary.json#letter-M) are canonical, and rulings are made by recognized poskim. Conservative: Halacha is binding, but the Committee on Jewish Law and Standards (CJLS) can issue [takkanot](/glossary.json#letter-T) (rabbinic enactments) responding to modern conditions — landmark examples include the 1950 driving [teshuvah](/glossary.json#letter-T) permitting travel to synagogue on [Shabbat](/glossary.json#letter-S), and the 2006 rulings on homosexuality, where the CJLS approved three conflicting teshuvot — one permitting gay ordination and same-sex unions, two upholding the traditional prohibition — all of which remain valid options for the movement. Reform: Halacha is a source of values and meaning rather than binding law. [Reconstructionist](/glossary.json#letter-R): similar to Reform but with stronger emphasis on Jewish civilization. [Renewal](/glossary.json#letter-R): hybrid, with Halacha treated as a serious conversation partner alongside spiritual practice.",
        "text": "Orthodox: Halacha is binding, the Shulchan Aruch and Mishnah Berurah are canonical, and rulings are made by recognized poskim. Conservative: Halacha is binding, but the Committee on Jewish Law and Standards (CJLS) can issue takkanot (rabbinic enactments) responding to modern conditions — landmark examples include the 1950 driving teshuvah permitting travel to synagogue on Shabbat, and the 2006 rulings on homosexuality, where the CJLS approved three conflicting teshuvot — one permitting gay ordination and same-sex unions, two upholding the traditional prohibition — all of which remain valid options for the movement. Reform: Halacha is a source of values and meaning rather than binding law. Reconstructionist: similar to Reform but with stronger emphasis on Jewish civilization. Renewal: hybrid, with Halacha treated as a serious conversation partner alongside spiritual practice."
      },
      {
        "type": "heading",
        "body": "Sources",
        "text": "Sources"
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "Torah: 613 mitzvot, enumerated in [Sefer HaMitzvot](https://www.sefaria.org/Sefer_HaMitzvot) of the Rambam.",
        "text": "Torah: 613 mitzvot, enumerated in Sefer HaMitzvot of the Rambam."
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "Mishnah (c. 200 CE); [Talmud Bavli](/glossary.json#letter-T) (c. 500 CE).",
        "text": "Mishnah (c. 200 CE); Talmud Bavli (c. 500 CE)."
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "Rambam, Mishneh Torah.",
        "text": "Rambam, Mishneh Torah."
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "Rabbi Yaakov ben Asher, Tur.",
        "text": "Rabbi Yaakov ben Asher, Tur."
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "Rabbi Yosef Karo, Shulchan Aruch (1565), with Rema glosses.",
        "text": "Rabbi Yosef Karo, Shulchan Aruch (1565), with Rema glosses."
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "Chofetz Chaim, Mishnah Berurah.",
        "text": "Chofetz Chaim, Mishnah Berurah."
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "[Halakhah](https://jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/judaica/ejud_0002_0008_0_08206.html) — Jewish Virtual Library.",
        "text": "Halakhah — Jewish Virtual Library."
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "[Gaon](https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/gaon) — Jewish Virtual Library.",
        "text": "Gaon — Jewish Virtual Library."
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "[14 Facts About the Code of Jewish Law (Shulchan Aruch)](https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/4305141/jewish/14-Facts-About-the-Code-of-Jewish-Law-Shulchan-Aruch.htm) — Chabad.org.",
        "text": "14 Facts About the Code of Jewish Law (Shulchan Aruch) — Chabad.org."
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "[Halakhah](https://jewishvirtuallibrary.org/halakhah) — Jewish Virtual Library.",
        "text": "Halakhah — Jewish Virtual Library."
      },
      {
        "type": "heading",
        "body": "Further Reading",
        "text": "Further Reading"
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "Menachem Elon, Jewish Law: History, Sources, Principles.",
        "text": "Menachem Elon, Jewish Law: History, Sources, Principles."
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "Joel Roth, The Halakhic Process (Conservative).",
        "text": "Joel Roth, The Halakhic Process (Conservative)."
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "Mark Washofsky, Jewish Living: A Guide to Contemporary Reform Practice.",
        "text": "Mark Washofsky, Jewish Living: A Guide to Contemporary Reform Practice."
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "Yitzchok Twersky, A Maimonides Reader.",
        "text": "Yitzchok Twersky, A Maimonides Reader."
      },
      {
        "type": "heading",
        "body": "II. Essential Facts",
        "text": "II. Essential Facts"
      }
    ],
    "related": [
      {
        "slug": "essentials-essential-questions-who-is-a-jew",
        "title": "Who is a Jew?",
        "href": "/articles/essentials-essential-questions-who-is-a-jew.json"
      },
      {
        "slug": "essentials-essential-questions-what-does-judaism-teach-about-god",
        "title": "What Does Judaism Teach About God?",
        "href": "/articles/essentials-essential-questions-what-does-judaism-teach-about-god.json"
      },
      {
        "slug": "essentials-essential-questions-do-jews-believe-in-an-afterlife",
        "title": "Do Jews Believe in an Afterlife?",
        "href": "/articles/essentials-essential-questions-do-jews-believe-in-an-afterlife.json"
      },
      {
        "slug": "essentials-essential-questions-why-do-jews-not-believe-in-jesus",
        "title": "Why Do Jews Not Believe in Jesus?",
        "href": "/articles/essentials-essential-questions-why-do-jews-not-believe-in-jesus.json"
      }
    ],
    "goDeeper": [
      {
        "slug": "going-deeper-deeper-questions-why-did-god-create-the-world",
        "title": "Why Did God Create the World?",
        "level": "deeper",
        "href": "/articles/going-deeper-deeper-questions-why-did-god-create-the-world.json"
      },
      {
        "slug": "going-deeper-deeper-questions-what-is-tikkun-olam",
        "title": "What Is Tikkun Olam?",
        "level": "deeper",
        "href": "/articles/going-deeper-deeper-questions-what-is-tikkun-olam.json"
      },
      {
        "slug": "going-deeper-deeper-questions-what-is-mussar",
        "title": "What Is Mussar?",
        "level": "deeper",
        "href": "/articles/going-deeper-deeper-questions-what-is-mussar.json"
      }
    ],
    "glossary": {
      "ashkenazi": {
        "term": "Ashkenazi",
        "hebrew": "אשכנזי",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "Describing Jews whose families trace to Central and Eastern Europe, and the customs, liturgy, and Hebrew pronunciation of those communities. The broad counterpart terms are Sephardi and Edot HaMizrach.",
        "moreSlug": null
      },
      "chofetz-chaim": {
        "term": "Chofetz Chaim",
        "hebrew": "חפץ חיים",
        "translit": "Yisrael Meir Kagan",
        "definition": "Rabbi Yisrael Meir Kagan (1838–1933), known by the title of his first book as the Chofetz Chaim, wrote the Mishnah Berurah — the standard commentary bringing the 16th-century Shulchan Aruch into contemporary Ashkenazi Orthodox practice — and is equally renowned for his teachings on ethical speech.",
        "moreSlug": "essentials-essential-questions-what-is-halacha"
      },
      "conservative-judaism": {
        "term": "Conservative Judaism",
        "hebrew": null,
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "Conservative Judaism holds Halacha as binding while empowering its Committee on Jewish Law and Standards to adapt Jewish law to modern circumstances through rabbinic enactments (takkanot) — a deliberate middle path between Orthodox and Reform approaches to Jewish law.",
        "moreSlug": "how-to-use-this-field-guide"
      },
      "eliezer-waldenberg": {
        "term": "Eliezer Waldenberg",
        "hebrew": "אליעזר וולדנברג",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "Rabbi Eliezer Waldenberg (1915–2006), a Jerusalem posek known as the Tzitz Eliezer after his responsa collection, was especially renowned for applying Halacha to modern questions of medical ethics.",
        "moreSlug": "essentials-essential-questions-what-is-halacha"
      },
      "gemara": {
        "term": "Gemara",
        "hebrew": "גְּמָרָא",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "The vast Aramaic discussion and analysis of the Mishnah, compiled around 500 CE; the Mishnah and Gemara together make up the Talmud.",
        "moreSlug": "essentials-essential-facts-the-talmud-in-one-article"
      },
      "geonim": {
        "term": "Geonim",
        "hebrew": "גְּאוֹנִים",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "The heads of the great Babylonian academies from roughly the 7th to the 11th centuries, whose rulings and responsa carried Jewish law from the Talmud toward the medieval codes.",
        "moreSlug": null
      },
      "halacha": {
        "term": "Halacha",
        "hebrew": "הֲלָכָה",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "Jewish law — literally \"the way one walks\" — the legal system that develops from the Torah's mitzvot through the Mishnah, Talmud, and the great codes; the movements differ on how binding it is, not on its centrality to the tradition.",
        "moreSlug": "essentials-essential-questions-what-is-halacha"
      },
      "igrot-moshe": {
        "term": "Igrot Moshe",
        "hebrew": "אגרות משה",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "Rabbi Moshe Feinstein's multi-volume collection of responsa, Igrot Moshe, is a working library of 20th-century American Halachic decisions and is especially treasured for its recurring counsel that sincere, incremental observance matters more than perfection.",
        "moreSlug": "essentials-essential-questions-what-is-halacha"
      },
      "kashrut": {
        "term": "Kashrut",
        "hebrew": "כַּשְׁרוּת",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "The system of Jewish dietary law — which foods may be eaten, how animals must be slaughtered, and the strict separation of meat and dairy.",
        "moreSlug": "essentials-essential-facts-kashrut-the-basics"
      },
      "mappah": {
        "term": "Mappah",
        "hebrew": "מַפָּה",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "Literally \"the tablecloth\" — Rabbi Moshe Isserles' Ashkenazi glosses woven into Rabbi Yosef Karo's Shulchan Aruch, which made the code authoritative for all of Jewry.",
        "moreSlug": null
      },
      "mishnah": {
        "term": "Mishnah",
        "hebrew": "מִשְׁנָה",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "The first great written compilation of the Oral Torah, organized by Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi around 200 CE into six orders; together with the Gemara it forms the Talmud.",
        "moreSlug": "essentials-essential-facts-the-talmud-in-one-article"
      },
      "mishnah-berurah": {
        "term": "Mishnah Berurah",
        "hebrew": "מִשְׁנָה בְּרוּרָה",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "The authoritative early-20th-century commentary on the daily-life sections of the Shulchan Aruch, written by Rabbi Yisrael Meir Kagan (the Chofetz Chaim); a standard reference for Ashkenazi practice.",
        "moreSlug": null
      },
      "mishneh-torah": {
        "term": "Mishneh Torah",
        "hebrew": "מִשְׁנֵה תּוֹרָה",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "The Rambam's monumental 12th-century code of Jewish law — the first work to organize the whole of Halacha systematically, from prayer to Temple service.",
        "moreSlug": null
      },
      "moshe-feinstein": {
        "term": "Moshe Feinstein",
        "hebrew": "משה פיינשטיין",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "Rabbi Moshe Feinstein (1895–1986) was the dominant American halachic authority of the twentieth century; his responsa, collected as Igrot Moshe, repeatedly counsel that incremental, sincere observance is far better than an ambitious burst that ends in burnout.",
        "moreSlug": "essentials-essential-questions-what-is-halacha"
      },
      "moshe-isserles": {
        "term": "Moshe Isserles",
        "hebrew": "משה איסרליש",
        "translit": "Rema",
        "definition": "Rabbi Moshe Isserles (1530–1572), known by the acronym Rema, added Ashkenazi glosses (the Mappah) to Rabbi Yosef Karo's Sephardi-oriented Shulchan Aruch, so that the combined text could serve as law for the whole Jewish people.",
        "moreSlug": "essentials-essential-questions-what-is-halacha"
      },
      "oral-torah": {
        "term": "Oral Torah",
        "hebrew": "תורה שבעל פה",
        "translit": "Torah she-be'al peh",
        "definition": "The body of interpretation and law that tradition holds was given at Sinai alongside the Written Torah and transmitted by the sages, eventually recorded in the Mishnah and Talmud. It is the foundation of how the written text is read and applied.",
        "moreSlug": "going-deeper-deeper-facts-the-oral-torah-and-its-authority"
      },
      "orthodox-judaism": {
        "term": "Orthodox Judaism",
        "hebrew": null,
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "Orthodox Judaism holds Halacha as fully binding and the Shulchan Aruch as its canonical code; it spans Haredi and Hasidic communities as well as Modern Orthodoxy, and is the starting point from which this Field Guide is written, even as it engages seriously with other denominations.",
        "moreSlug": "how-to-use-this-field-guide"
      },
      "ovadia-yosef": {
        "term": "Ovadia Yosef",
        "hebrew": "עובדיה יוסף",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "Rabbi Ovadia Yosef (1920–2013), Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel and the leading Sephardic halachic authority of his generation, authored the multi-volume responsa collection Yabia Omer.",
        "moreSlug": "essentials-essential-questions-what-is-halacha"
      },
      "rambam": {
        "term": "Rambam",
        "hebrew": "רמב״ם",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon (1138–1204), known by the acronym Rambam and in the Latin West as Maimonides, was the towering rationalist codifier and philosopher of medieval Judaism — author of the legal code Mishneh Torah and the philosophical Guide for the Perplexed. His formulation of God's unity and incorporeality remains foundational to Jewish theology across denominations.",
        "moreSlug": "essentials-essential-questions-what-does-judaism-teach-about-god"
      },
      "reconstructionist-judaism": {
        "term": "Reconstructionist Judaism",
        "hebrew": null,
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "Founded by Mordecai Kaplan, Reconstructionist Judaism understands Judaism as an evolving religious civilization rather than a fixed set of supernatural commandments, and was an early adopter of patrilineal descent and full gender egalitarianism.",
        "moreSlug": "how-to-use-this-field-guide"
      },
      "reform-judaism": {
        "term": "Reform Judaism",
        "hebrew": null,
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "Reform Judaism treats Halacha as a source of values and meaning rather than binding law, emphasizing individual autonomy, ethical monotheism, and tikkun olam; it was the first movement to fully recognize patrilineal descent and ordain women as rabbis.",
        "moreSlug": "how-to-use-this-field-guide"
      },
      "renewal-judaism": {
        "term": "Renewal Judaism",
        "hebrew": null,
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "Jewish Renewal is a small but influential movement drawing deeply on Hasidism and Kabbalah, combined with feminist and ecological commitments and an experimental, often neo-Hasidic approach to prayer and spirituality.",
        "moreSlug": "how-to-use-this-field-guide"
      },
      "sephardi": {
        "term": "Sephardi",
        "hebrew": "סְפָרַדִּי",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "A Jew whose family traces to medieval Spain and Portugal — and, in common usage, to the broader communities of the Mediterranean and Middle East that follow Sephardic law and liturgy. The plural is Sephardim.",
        "moreSlug": null
      },
      "shabbat": {
        "term": "Shabbat",
        "hebrew": "שַׁבָּת",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "The seventh day — the weekly day of rest from Friday sunset to Saturday nightfall, marked by candle lighting, kiddush, festive meals, and rest from creative work.",
        "moreSlug": "where-to-start-your-first-shabbat"
      },
      "shlomo-zalman-auerbach": {
        "term": "Shlomo Zalman Auerbach",
        "hebrew": "שלמה זלמן אויערבך",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Auerbach (1910–1995), longtime head of Jerusalem's Kol Torah yeshiva, was among the most consulted halachic decisors of 20th-century Israel; his rulings are gathered in collections known simply as his Iggrot.",
        "moreSlug": "essentials-essential-questions-what-is-halacha"
      },
      "shulchan-aruch": {
        "term": "Shulchan Aruch",
        "hebrew": "שולחן ערוך",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "Literally 'the set table' — the authoritative 16th-century code of Jewish law by Rabbi Yosef Karo, printed with the Ashkenazi glosses of Rabbi Moshe Isserles. It remains the baseline reference for halachic practice.",
        "moreSlug": null
      },
      "talmud": {
        "term": "Talmud",
        "hebrew": "תלמוד",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "The vast rabbinic work — the Mishnah together with the Gemara's discussion of it — that develops the Oral Torah into Jewish law and thought. It is the central text of Jewish study after the Bible itself.",
        "moreSlug": "essentials-essential-facts-the-talmud-in-one-article"
      },
      "talmud-bavli": {
        "term": "Talmud Bavli",
        "hebrew": "תלמוד בבלי",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "The Babylonian Talmud, completed around 500 CE in the academies of Babylonia — the more extensive of the two Talmuds and the authoritative one for Jewish law.",
        "moreSlug": "essentials-essential-facts-the-talmud-in-one-article"
      },
      "teshuvah": {
        "term": "Teshuvah",
        "hebrew": "תשובה",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "Literally 'return' — repentance: the turning away from wrongdoing and back toward God and one's better self. It stands at the heart of the season from Rosh Hashanah to Yom Kippur, and is available all year.",
        "moreSlug": null
      },
      "torah": {
        "term": "Torah",
        "hebrew": "תּוֹרָה",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "The Five Books of Moses — the scroll at the center of Jewish life — and, more broadly, the whole of Jewish teaching. 'Learning Torah' can mean anything from Chumash to Talmud.",
        "moreSlug": null
      },
      "tur": {
        "term": "Tur",
        "hebrew": "טור",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "The Arba'ah Turim ('Four Rows'), Rabbi Yaakov ben Asher's 14th-century code of Jewish law, whose four-part structure the Shulchan Aruch adopted.",
        "moreSlug": null
      },
      "tzitz-eliezer": {
        "term": "Tzitz Eliezer",
        "hebrew": "ציץ אליעזר",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "Rabbi Eliezer Waldenberg's many-volume responsa collection, named for a phrase in the Torah's description of the High Priest's headplate, is best known for its rulings at the intersection of Halacha and modern medicine.",
        "moreSlug": "essentials-essential-questions-what-is-halacha"
      },
      "yaakov-ben-asher": {
        "term": "Yaakov ben Asher",
        "hebrew": "יעקב בן אשר",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "Rabbi Yaakov ben Asher (c. 1270–1340), known as the Ba'al HaTurim, composed the Arba'ah Turim (the Tur), a topically organized law code that became the direct forerunner of the Shulchan Aruch.",
        "moreSlug": "essentials-essential-questions-what-is-halacha"
      },
      "yabia-omer": {
        "term": "Yabia Omer",
        "hebrew": "יביע אומר",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "Rabbi Ovadia Yosef's Yabia Omer collects decades of his responsa and is a central reference of contemporary Sephardic Halacha.",
        "moreSlug": "essentials-essential-questions-what-is-halacha"
      },
      "yehudah-hanasi": {
        "term": "Yehudah HaNasi",
        "hebrew": "יהודה הנשיא",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "Known simply as \"Rabbi,\" Yehudah HaNasi (c. 135–217 CE) compiled the Mishnah around 200 CE in the Land of Israel, organizing centuries of oral tradition into the six orders that remain the skeleton of Jewish law to this day.",
        "moreSlug": "essentials-essential-facts-the-talmud-in-one-article"
      },
      "yisrael-the-name": {
        "term": "Yisrael",
        "hebrew": "ישראל",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "Yisrael, the name given to the patriarch Yaakov after he wrestled with a divine being (Bereshit 32:29), means roughly \"one who wrestles with God\" and became the name of the Jewish people as a whole — a people defined, on this reading, by struggle and engagement rather than easy certainty.",
        "moreSlug": "essentials-essential-questions-who-is-a-jew"
      },
      "yosef-karo": {
        "term": "Yosef Karo",
        "hebrew": "יוסף קארו",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "Rabbi Yosef Karo (1488–1575), a Spanish exile who settled in Safed, authored the Shulchan Aruch (1565), the code of Jewish law that remains authoritative in Orthodox and, with adaptation, Conservative practice today.",
        "moreSlug": "essentials-essential-questions-what-is-halacha"
      },
      "mitzvah": {
        "term": "mitzvah",
        "hebrew": "מִצְוָה",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "A commandment — one of the Torah's 613 divine instructions, and by extension any religious duty or good deed. The plural is mitzvot.",
        "moreSlug": "essentials-essential-facts-the-613-mitzvot"
      },
      "posek": {
        "term": "posek",
        "hebrew": "פּוֹסֵק",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "A halachic decisor — a rabbi with the learning and authority to rule on questions of Jewish law. The plural is poskim.",
        "moreSlug": null
      },
      "responsa": {
        "term": "responsa",
        "hebrew": "שְׁאֵלוֹת וּתְשׁוּבוֹת",
        "translit": "she'elot u-teshuvot",
        "definition": "Written rabbinic answers to submitted halachic questions — a vast genre spanning more than a thousand years that shows Jewish law reasoning through real cases.",
        "moreSlug": null
      },
      "takkanot": {
        "term": "takkanot",
        "hebrew": "תקנות",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "Rabbinic enactments (singular takkanah) — laws instituted by the sages to meet new circumstances or protect communal life, beyond what the Torah itself legislates.",
        "moreSlug": null
      }
    }
  },
  "links": [
    {
      "rel": "parent",
      "title": "Foundations of Belief",
      "href": "/sections/foundations.json"
    },
    {
      "rel": "related",
      "title": "Who is a Jew?",
      "href": "/articles/essentials-essential-questions-who-is-a-jew.json"
    },
    {
      "rel": "related",
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      "href": "/articles/essentials-essential-questions-what-does-judaism-teach-about-god.json"
    },
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      "rel": "related",
      "title": "Do Jews Believe in an Afterlife?",
      "href": "/articles/essentials-essential-questions-do-jews-believe-in-an-afterlife.json"
    },
    {
      "rel": "related",
      "title": "Why Do Jews Not Believe in Jesus?",
      "href": "/articles/essentials-essential-questions-why-do-jews-not-believe-in-jesus.json"
    },
    {
      "rel": "related",
      "title": "Why Did God Create the World?",
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      "rel": "related",
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      "href": "/articles/going-deeper-deeper-questions-what-is-tikkun-olam.json"
    },
    {
      "rel": "related",
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      "href": "/articles/going-deeper-deeper-questions-what-is-mussar.json"
    }
  ]
}