:: wikimiki.org ::

Karaites

Karaites

Karaite Judaism is a Jewish denomination characterized by reliance on the Tanakh as the sole scripture, and rejection of the Oral Law (the Mishnah and the Talmud) as halakha (Legally Binding, i.e. required religious practice). The word "Karaite" comes from the Hebrew word קְרָאִים (Standard Hebrew Qəraʾim; Tiberian Hebrew Qərāʾîm), meaning "Readers (of Scripture)". This name was chosen by the adherents of Karaite Judaism to distinguish themselves from the adherents of Rabbinic Judaism. The adherents of Karaite Judaism rely on the Tanakh as the sole scripture. When interpreting scripture Karaites strive to adhere only to the p'shat (plain meaning) of the text. This is in contrast to Rabbinical Judiasm, which employs the methods of p'shat, remez (implication or clue), drash ("deep interpretation," based on changing the meaning of the words and the way they are read to another meaning) and sod ("secret," the mystical meaning of the text, drawing on the Kabbalah). There are approximately 50,000 adherents to Karaite Judaism, most of whom reside in Israel. Karaite Judaism is in a period of growth and renewal in the United States. However, exact numbers are not known, as most Karaites have not participated in any religious censuses.

Karaite beliefs

Karaites and the Rabbinic Oral law

Karaites do not accept the Rabbinic Oral Law as halakha because:
- They do not believe that the Oral Law is mentioned in the Tanakh.
- They believe that all the Torah was written down during the lifetime of Moses and Joshua, and that there is only one Torah.
- They believe the Oral Law "adds to" or "takes away from" the plain meaning of the text.
- They believe it to contradict the text at times.
- The Mishnah and Talmud record the opinions of Rabbis who disagree with each other. The Rabbis explain that whenever there are such disagreements, "both opinions are the words of the living God". Karaites maintain that it is unreasonable to believe that God would contradict Himself.
- The Tanach reports that the written Torah was lost and forgotten for over 50 years and only rediscovered by the Temple priests (2Ki 22:8, 2Chr 34:15). Karaites believe that it is inconceivable that an Oral Law could have been remembered when the written Law was forgotten. Theoretically, most historical Karaites would not object to the idea of a body of interpretation of the Torah, along with extensions and development of halakha. The disagreement arises over the perceived exaltation of the Talmud and the writings of the Rabbis above that of the Torah, so that, in the view of Karaites, many traditions and customs are kept which are in contradiction with those expressed in the Torah. This is seen especially by the fact that the Karaites also have their own traditions which have been passed down from their ancestors and religious authorities. This is known as "Sevel HaYerushah", which means " the yoke of inheritance." It is kept primarily by traditional Egyptian Karaites, and any tradition therein is rejected if it is found to be in disagreement with the Bible. Oral Law For those Karaites who do not have such an "inheritance" or "tradition," they tend to rely heavily upon the Tanakh and those practices found within it, as well as adapting Biblical practices into their own cultural context. This lack of tradition could be for many reasons; one is that many modern Karaites are the result of the Karaite revival in large part due to the [http://www.karaite-korner.org/ World Karaite Movement], a revival group started by Nehemia Gordon and Meir Rekhavi in the early 90's. Another may be the fact that Karaite communities are small and generally isolated that its members generally adopt the customs of their host country. A prime example of this would be the beginnings of cultural assimilation of traditional Israeli Karaites into mainstream society.

Rabbinic opinions

Maimonides wrote that the Karaites (as well as similar factions who deny the Godly source of the Oral Torah) are to be considered among the heretics, and that one who kills a heretic is afforded a tremendous mitzvah for removing a stumbling block for the pious (Hilchos Mamrim 3:2) However, Maimonidies admits (in 3:3) that most of the Karaites and others who deny the "Oral Torah" are not to be held accountable for their sins because they are led into error by their parents and are thus referred to as a tinok she'nishba, or a captive baby. Obviously, says Maimonidies, someone raised by sinners cannot be held accountable for their own sins because they were never exposed to the truth. The effective death-penalty outlined above would then no longer apply.

The Calendar

Karaites rely on observations of the Moon to begin their months, and on observations of barley (called the Aviv) to begin their years, as deduced from statements in the Torah (Aviv is both a marker for the first season of the Biblical Hebrew calendar, and the next-to-last stage in the growth of barley, which occurred during the plague of hail shortly before the first Passover). Before quick worldwide communication was available, Karaites in the Diaspora used a variety of methods to determine the calendar, including observation and calculation, along with reports from Jerusalem.

The Sabbath

As with other Jews, during the Jewish Sabbath Karaites attend synagogues to worship and to offer prayers. However, most Karaites refrain from sexual relations on the day. Their prayerbooks are comprised almost completely of biblical passages. Karaites often practice full prostration during prayers, which is practiced by most Jews only on Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur.

Tzitzit

Yom Kippur Karaites wear tzitzit with blue threads in them. In contrast to Rabbinic Judaism, they believe that the techelet (the "blue"), does not refer to a specific dye. The traditions of Rabbinic Judaism used in the knotting of the tzitzit are not followed, so the appearance of Karaite tzitzit is quite different from that of Rabbanite tzitzit. Contrary to some myths, Karaites do not hang tzitzit on their walls.

Tefillin

Contrary to the beliefs of some, Karaites do not wear tefillin in any form. According to the World Karaite Movement, the Biblical passages cited for this practice are metaphorical, and mean to "remember the Torah always and treasure it." This is because the commandment in scripture is "And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be upon thy heart"… "And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thy hand, and they shall be for frontlets between thine eyes." (Deuteronomy 6:5,9) Since words cannot be on one's heart, or bound on one's hand, the entire passage is understood metaphorically.

Mezuzot

Like Tefillin, Karaites interpret the scripture that mandates inscribing the Law on doorposts and city gates as a metaphorical admonition, specifically, to keep the Law at home and away. This is because the previous commandment in the same passage is the source for Tefillin for Rabbinic Judaism, and is understood metaphorically due to the language. As a result, the entire passage is understood as a metaphor. Therefore, they do not put up mezuzot, although many Karaites do have a small plaque with the Aseret haDibrot on their doorposts. In Israel, in an effort to make other Jews comfortable, many Karaites there also put up mezuzot.

History of Karaism

The Golden Age of Karaism

The "Golden Age of Karaism" was a period of time in which a large number of Karaitic works were produced. The amount of Jews affiliating with Karaism comprised approximately 40% of Jewry, and debates between Rabbinic and Karaitic leaders were not uncommon. Most notable are the writings of Rabbi Saadia Gaon and his attacks on Karaism, which eventually led to a permanent split between Karaitic and Rabbinic communities.

Russian Karaites

During the 18th century, Russian Karaites spread many myths externally which freed them from various anti-Semitic laws that affected other Jews. Avraham Firkovitch helped establish these ideas by forging tombstones in Crimea which bear inscriptions stating that those buried were of the "lost tribes" of Israel. Other myths included the invention of the Khazar origin, or that they were not Jewish, among others. These actions were intended to convince the Russian Czar that they could not have killed Jesus, which was an underlying reason for the anti-semitic laws. An alternative point of view is that Russian Karaites indeed primarily originate from Khazar caganate, where Judaism was the state religion. Supporters of such views accuse opponents of forging evidence in order to claim more people as Jewish and perform slow assimilation, arguing that Karaim communities are turkish and that their rites bear the influence of druid-like paganism. Avraham Firkovitch is at times believed to have forged the stones to blur Khazar heritage. Intermarriages between Karaite and Rabbinic Jews, however, still took place. Because of the above, and/or a ruling by Orthodox Rabbis intended to save the Karaites, the Nazis of the World War II generally left the Karaites alone during the Holocaust.

Crimean and Lithuanian Karaites

:See main article: Crimean Karaites. The Karaim (Turkish Qaraylar) are a distinctive Karaite community from the Crimea. Their Turkic language is called Karaim. Some Crimean Karaim were invited in the 1400s by Lithuanian Grand Duke Vytautas [Witold] to settle in Trakai [Troki] to become his personal bodyguard. A small community remains there to this day, which has preserved its language and distinctive customs (such as its traditional dish called "kybynlar", a sort of meat pasty, and its houses with three windows - one for God, one for the family, and one for Grand Duke Vytautas) and has access to two Kenessas.

Spanish Karaites

During the 10th and 11th Centuries, Karaite Jews in Spain had become "a force to be reckoned with." In Castile, High ranking Rabbinical Jews such as Joseph Ferrizuel persuaded its King to allow persecution of Karaite Jews. It became common during the 11th century for a Karaite to be flogged to death if he or she did not abandon his or her beliefs. With Royal Assistance, Rabbi Todros Halevi and Joseph ibn Alfakhar successfully drove out the surviving Karaite population. Spain

The Karaites today

See also List of Karaite Jews In Israel, the Karaite Jewish leadership is directed by a group called "Universal Karaite Judaism". Most of the members of its Board of Hakhams are of Egyptian Jewish descent. There are about 2,000 Karaites living in the United States. Most live near the only Karaite synagogue in the United States, which is located in Daly City, California. In the central USA, you will find [http://karaites-usa.org Karaites-USA Organization] and Beth EdatYah Karaite Congregation [http://karaites-beth-shalom.org]]

Karaite writings

Daly City, California Karaism has produced a vast library of commentaries and polemics, especially during its "Golden Age." These writings prompted new and complete defenses of the Talmud and Mishna, the culmination of these in the writings of Saadia Gaon and his criticisms of Karaism. Though he opposed Karaism, the Rabbinic commentator Abraham Ibn Ezra regularly quoted Karaite commentators, particularly Yefet ben Ali, to the degree that a legend exists among some Karaites that Ibn Ezra was ben Ali's student. The most well-known Karaite polemic is חיזוק אמונה (Faith Strengthened) (a translation of which can be found at http://faithstrengthened.org/), a comprehensive Counter-Missionary polemic which was later translated into Latin under the name of 'The Fiery Darts of Satan'. Many Counter-Missionary materials produced today are based upon or cover the same themes as this book. Scholarly studies of Karaite writings are still in their infancy.

External links

- [http://www.karaites-beth-shalom.org/ Beth EdatYah Karaite Congregation]
- [http://www.karaite-korner.org/ World Karaite Movement]
- [http://www.karaites.org/ KJA - Congregation Bnei Yisrael]
- [http://www.orahsaddiqim.org Congregation Orah Saddiqim]
- [http://www.radioezra.com/ Radio Ezra, Karaite radio station]
- [http://faithstrengthened.org/ Chizzuk Emunah (Faith Strengthened)]
- [http://www.karaitejudaism.org/ Karaite Judaism]
- [http://www.qumran.com/ Qumran Bet Community]
- [http://www.karaites-usa.org/ Karaites USA]
- [http://i-cias.com/e.o/karaism.htm Encyclopaedia of the Orient : Karaism]
- [http://motlc.wiesenthal.com/text/x12/xr1224.html Museum of Tolerance on the Karaites] from the Encyclopedia of the Holocaust
- [http://www.turkiye.net/sota/karaim.html Karaim website] Information about Turkic/Crimean Karaites

Spanish persecution of Karaites

- [http://sefarad.rediris.es/english/cronologia_english.htm Spanish-Jewish Chronology]
- [http://members.aol.com/askinazy/crimeajw.html WJC Report July/August 1994]
- simple:Karaite Judaism

Jewish denominations

Many Jewish denominations exist within the religion of Judaism; the Jewish community is divided into a number of religious denominations as well as "branches" or "movements." Each denomination accepts the certain Jewish principles of faith but differ in their various views on issues such as level of religious observance (aherance to Jewish law, particularly kashrut), biblical authorship, textual criticism, the nature of Moshiach and the Messianic age, and Jewish services (especially the languages in which services are conducted). Relationships between Jewish religious movements are varied, but are generally marked with more interdenominational cooperation than in the other Abrahamic religions. Jewish religious denominations are distinct from but often linked to Jewish ethnic divisions and Jewish political movements.

Background: Jewish ethnic divisions

Traditionally, Judaism is not divided into religious traditions based on theological difference. However, a wide array of Jewish communities have developed independently, distinguishable by their varying practices in matters that are not considered central ideas within Judaism, such as Maimonides's list of the Jewish principles of faith. Although there are numerous Jewish ethnic communities, there are several that are large enough to be considered "predominant." Ashkenazi communities compose about 42 percent of the world's Jewish population, and Sephardic communities compose about 37 percent. Of the remainder, the Mizrahi Jewish communities—the "Arab" and "Persian Jews" compose the greatest part, with about 16 percent of the world's Jewish population. Together these there ethnic groups compose 95 percent of the world's Jewish population. The remaining 5 percent of Jews are divided among a wide array of small groups (perhaps the Beta Israel group of Ethopian Jews is the most important), some of which are nearing extinction as a result of assimilation and intermarriage into surrounding non-Jewish cultures or surrounding Jewish cultures. Religiously speaking, most Jewish communities have historically held that there is no relevant role for "dogma"; rather, there is halakha (Jewish law) only. The extent to which every Jew as an individual adheres to Jewish law has long been regarded as a matter of personal preference, although the idea has always been prominent that every Jew should be as observant of the laws as they are able. The Enlightenment, had a tremendous effect on Jewish identity and on ideas about the importance and role of Jewish observance. Due to the geographical distribution and the geopolitical entities affected by the Enlightenment, this philosophical revolution essentially affected only the Ashkenazi community; however, because of the predominance of the Ashkenazi community in Israeli politics and in Jewish leadership worldwide, the effects have been significant for all Jews.

Divisions

Perhaps the greatest divisions since the time of the division between the Sadduccees and Pharisees two millennia ago are the divisions within the Ashkenazic community that have arisen in the past two centuries, ever since the Enlightenment and the Renaissance influenced Jews from northern and eastern Europe. The first evidence of this great dogmatic schism was the development of the Reform Judaism movement, rejected "ethnic Judaism" and preferred to regard Judaism as a religion rather than an ethnicity or a culture. Over time several movements emerged:
- Orthodox Judaism (including Hasidic Judaism, Haredi Judaism ("ultra-orthodox") and Modern Orthodox Judaism). Orthodox Jews generally see themselves as practicing normative Judaism, rather than belonging to a particular movement.
- Conservative Judaism or Masorti Judaism
- Reform Judaism or Progressive Judaism. Originally formed in Germany as a reaction to traditional Judaism, stresses integration with society and a personal interpretation of the Torah.
- Reconstructionist Judaism. A small liberal Jewish movement, found primarily in the United States. began as a liberal movement within Conservative Judaism and formally separated in the 1980s.
- Humanistic Judaism. A nontheistic movement that emphasizes Jewish culture and history as the sources of Jewish identity. Founded by Rabbi Sherwin Wine, it is centered in North America but has spread to Europe, Latin America, and Israel.
- Union for Traditional Judaism
- Mitnagdim

Hasidic Judaism

Hasidic Judaism was founded by Israel ben Eliezer (1700-1760), also known as the Baal Shem Tov, or the Besht. His disciples attracted many followers; they themselves established numerous Hasidic sects across Europe. Hasidic Judaism eventually became the way of life for many Jews in Europe; it came to the United States during the large waves of Jewish emigration in the 1880s. Early on, there was a serious schism between the Hasidic and non-Hasidic Jews. European Jews who rejected the Hasidic movement were dubbed by the Hasidim as mitnagdim (lit. "opponents"). Some of the reasons for the rejection of Hasidic Judaism were the overwhelming exuberance of Hasidic worship; their untraditional ascriptions of infallibility and alleged miracle-working to their leaders, and the concern that it might become a messianic sect. Since then all the sects of Hasidic Judaism have been subsumed into mainstream Orthodox Judaism, particularly Haredi Judaism. See the articles on Hasidic Judaism and Mitnagdim for more detailed information.

Other divisions

- Sephardic and Mizrahi Judaism. These communities include the vast majority of remaining Jewish communities, commonly called either Edat Sfarad or Edot haMizrach. Doctrinally, according to these communities, one is either "observant" or "not observant", with numerous gradations in between. This view is an extension of the traditional Jewish position that observance of the mitzvot is a matter of progression toward perfection, rather than an "all or nothing" proposition. Over the past 2 centuries, this position, which appears "tolerant" by comparison, has been one of the great hallmarks delimiting Sephardic and Mizrachi forms of Judaism from Ashkanazic "Orthodoxy".
- Karaite Judaism. A small movement which accepts only the written Tanakh, for the most part found in Israel.
- Samaritans. An ancient sect, dating from the Babylonian Exile, sometimes not regarded as Jews. Identified as the Kuthim (possibly after the city of Kut, in modern Iraq, from which their ancestors are believed to have come), who opposed the return of the exiles, as recorded in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah.

Development of modern denominations in response to the Enlightenment

In the late 18th century Europe, and then the rest of the world, was swept by a group of intellectual, social and political movements that taken together were referred to as the Enlightenment. These movements promoted scientific thinking, free thought, and allowed people to question previously unshaken religious dogmas. The emancipation of the Jews in many European communities, and the Haskalah movement started by Moses Mendelssohn, brought the Enlightnment to the Jewish community. Some Jews felt that Enlightenment values, especially the incorporation of secular subjects into Jewish education, as well increased integration with the outside world, would bring much to Judaism. Others, however, noted that this same era allowed Jews, for the first time, the ability to easily assimilate into Christian society; this was a powerful attraction for many Jews, since only by becoming a Christian (at least nominally) would one be certain to have equal rights and civil liberties. Further, historical study of the development of the religion might call into question some previously held dogmas about Judaism; if a few beliefs were found to be incorrect, where would one draw the line? In response to the challenges of integrating Jewish life with Enlightenment values, German Jews in the early 1800s began to develop the concept of Reform Judaism, adapting Jewish practice to the new conditions of a increasingly urbanized and secular community. Reform Judaism quickly spread throughout Europe, eventually reaching America with the formation of the American Reform Movement and Hebrew Union College in 1870. At the same time, more traditional Judaism continued as a series of loosely linked communities known as Orthodox Judaism. This loose differentiation did not hold for long. The various groups in Orthodox Judaism had differing approaches to Jewish law, however, and developed into a number of different groups, which today can be loosely grouped into Modern Orthodox Judaism and Haredi Judaism. The Reform movement splintered in the late 19th century, however, as some Jews felt that its changes were too radical, but that the strictures of more Orthodox Judaism were too inflexible. Thus, third school of thought developed which held that Jewish law and tradition was not static, but rather had always developed in response to changing conditions. This approach, Positive-Historical Judaism, held that Jews should accept Jewish law as normative (i.e. binding) yet must also be open to developing the law in the same fashion that it had developed in the past. This school of thought gave birth to the communities now known as Masorti Judaism, Conservative Judaism, and Traditional Judaism. In recent years, smaller splinter movements have developed: Reconstructionist Judaism and Humanistic Judaism. In terms of their spectrum of beliefs and practices, Reconstructionist Judaism now overlaps with Reform Judaism, and Humanistic Judaism is now identical to secular humanism. (See also: Alternative Judaism) Non-Orthodox denominations of Judaism recognize Orthodox Judaism as a valid and legitimate form of Judaism, despite theological differences. Most of Orthodox Judaism, however, does not recognize any form of Judaism as authentic except for itself; many Orthodox Jews view non-Orthodox forms of Judaism practice as non-Jewish (though this does not mean that they view the practitioners of other branches of Judaism as non-Jewish, see Who is a Jew?).

Table illustrating the range of Jewish denominations

This table illustrates the range of Jewish denominations. Those denominations that are more conservative in their theoloy and understanding of Jewish law are shown on the right, while those on the left are progressively more liberal in their theoloy and understanding of Jewish law. However, caution must be used in reading this table. There are many Jews who have a liberal view of theology and Jewish principles of faith while having a strict understanding of halakha, and vice-versa.

Country	Radical-liberal to conservative-Traditional axis
USA	Reconstructionist	Reform		Conservative	Modern Orthodoxy	Haredi Orthodoxy
Israel		Progressive (Reform)		Masorti (Conservative)	Modern Orthodoxy and Traditional Sephardic Judaism	Haredi Orthodoxy
United Kingdom		Union of Progressive and Liberal Synagogues	Movement for Reform Judaism	UK Masorti (Conservative)	Modern Orthodoxy	Haredi Orthodoxy

The issue of Zionism was once heavily divisive in the Jewish community. Secular non-Zionists believed that Jews should integrate into the countries in which they lived, rather than moving to Israel; religious non-Zionists believed that the return to Israel could only happen with the coming of the Messiah, and that attempting to re-establish Israel earlier was disobeying God's plan. After the painful events of the twentieth century, such as World War II and the Holocaust, secular anti-Zionism has largely disappeared; however some Hasidim are still opposed to Zionism on religious grounds. One specific example is the Neturei Karta.

External link

- [http://www.myjewishlearning.com/history_community/Modern/ModernReligionCulture/Emergence.htm Emergence of Jewish Denominations]
-

Tanakh

Tanakh [תנ״ך] (also Tanach or Tenach) is an acronym that identifies the Hebrew Bible. The acronym is based on the initial Hebrew letters of each of the text's three parts: #Torah [תורה] meaning one or all of: "The Law"; "Teaching"; "Instruction". Also called the Chumash [חומש] meaning: "The five"; "The five books of Moses". It is the "Pentateuch". #Nevi'im [נביאים] meaning: "Prophets" #Ketuvim [כתובים] meaning "Writings" or "Hagiographa". The Tanakh is also called [מקרא], Mikra or Miqra.

Terminology

The threefold division reflected in the acronym Tanakh is well attested to in documents from the Second Temple period and in Rabbinic literature. During that period, however, the acronym Tanakh was not used; rather, the proper term was Mikra ("Reading"). The term Mikra continues to be used to this day alongside Tanakh to refer to the Hebrew scriptures. (In modern spoken Hebrew, Mikra has a more formal flavor than Tanakh.) Because the books included in the Tanakh were predominantly written in Hebrew, it may also be called the Hebrew Bible. Parts of Daniyel and Ezra, as well as a sentence in Yir'm'yahu and a two-word toponym in B'reshit, are in Aramaic — but even these are written in the same Hebrew script. Perhaps these portions were written by the original Hebrew prophets, who knew that they were intentionally speaking to an Aramaic audience, as an aside.

The canon

:Main Article: Jewish canon. According to the Jewish tradition, the Tanakh consists of twenty-four books (enumerated below). The Torah has five books, Nevi'im contains eight books, and Ketuvim has eleven. These twenty-four books are the same books found in the Protestant Old Testament, but the order of the books is different. The enumeration differs as well: Christians count these books as thirty-nine, not twenty-four. This is because Jews often count as a single book what Christians count as several. As such, one may draw a technical distinction between the Jewish Tanakh and the similar, but non-identical, corpus which Christians call the Old Testament. Thus, some scholars prefer Hebrew Bible as a term that covers the commonality of Tanakh and the Old Testament while avoiding sectarian bias. The Catholic and Orthodox Old Testaments contain six books not included in the Tanakh. They are called deuterocanonical books (literally "canonized secondly" meaning canonized later). In Christian Bibles, Daniel and the Book of Esther sometimes include extra deuterocanonical material that is not included in either the Jewish or most Protestant canons.

Books of the Tanakh

The Hebrew text originally consisted only of consonants, together with some inconsistently applied letters used as vowels (matres lectionis). During the early middle ages, the Masoretes codified the oral tradition for reading the Tanakh by adding two special kinds of symbols to the text: niqud (vowel points) and cantillation signs. The latter indicate syntax, stress (accentuation), and the melody for reading. The books of the Torah have generally-used names which are based on the first prominent word in each book. The English names are not translations of the Hebrew; they are based on the Greek names created for the Septuagint which in turn were based on Rabbinic names describing the thematic content of each of the Books. The Torah ("Pentateuch") consists of: #Genesis [בראשית / B'reshit] #Exodus [שמות / Sh'mot] #Leviticus [ויקרא / Vayiqra] #Numbers [במדבר / B'midbar] #Deuteronomy [דברים / D'varim] The books of Nevi'im ("Prophets") are: : 6. Joshua [יהושע / Y'hoshua] : 7. Judges [שופטים / Shophtim] : 8. Samuel (I & II) [שמואל / Sh'muel] :9. Kings (I & II) [מלכים / M'lakhim] :10. Isaiah [ישעיה / Y'shayahu] :11. Jeremiah [ירמיה / Yir'm'yahu] :12. Ezekiel [יחזקאל / Y'chezqel] :13. The Twelve Minor Prophets [תרי עשר] :: I. Hosea [הושע / Hoshea] :: II. Joel [יואל / Yoel] :: III. Amos [עמוס / Amos] :: IV. Obadiah [עובדיה / Ovadyah] :: V. Jonah [יונה / Yonah] :: VI. Micah [מיכה / Mikhah] :: VII. Nahum [נחום] :: VIII. Chavaquq [חבקוק] :: IX. Ts'phanyah [צפניה / Ts'phanyah] :: X. Haggai [חגי] :: XI. Z'kharyah [זכריה] :: XII. Malakhi [מלאכי] The Kh'tuvim ("Writings") are: :14. Psalms [תהלים / T'hilim] :15. Proverbs [משלי / Mishlei] :16. Job [איוב / Iyov] :17. Song of Songs [שיר השירים / Shir Hashirim] :18. Ruth [רות] :19. Lamentations [איכה / Eichah] :20. Ecclesiastes [קהלת / Qohelet] :21. Ester [אסתר] :22. Daniyel [דניאל] :23. Ezra-N'chemyah [עזרא ונחמיה] :24. Chronicles (I & II) [דברי הימים / Divrey Hayamim]

Chapters and verse numbers, book divisions

The chapter divisions and verse numbers have no significance in the Jewish tradition. Nevertheless, they are noted in all modern editions of the Tanakh so that verses may be located and cited. The division of Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles into parts I and II is also indicated on each page of those books in order to prevent confusion about whether a chapter number is from part I or II, since the chapter numbering for these books follows their partition in the Christian textual tradition. The adoption of the Christian chapter divisions by Jews began in the late middle ages in Spain, partially in the context of forced clerical debates which took place against a background of harsh persecution and of the Spanish Inquisition (the debates required a common system for citing biblical texts). From the standpoint of the Jewish textual tradition, the chapter divisions are not only a foreign feature with no basis in the mesorah, but also open to severe criticism of two kinds:
- The chapter divisions often reflect Christian exegesis of the Bible.
- Even when they do not imply Christian exegesis, the chapters often divide the biblical text at numerous points that may be deemed inappropriate for literary or other reasons. Nevertheless, because they proved useful — and eventually indispensable — for citations, they continued to be included by Jews in most Hebrew editions of the biblical books. For more information on the origin of these divisions, see chapters and verses of the Bible. The chapter and verse numbers were often indicated very prominently in older editions, to the extent that they overshadowed the traditional Jewish masoretic divisions. However, in many Jewish editions of the Tanakh published over the past forty years, there has been a major historical trend towards minimizing the impact and prominence of the chapter and verse numbers on the printed page. Most editions accomplish this by removing them from the text itself and relegating them to the margins of the page. The main text in these editions is unbroken and uninterrupted at the beginning of chapters (which are noted only in the margin). The lack of chapter breaks within the text in these editions also serves to reinforce the visual impact created by the spaces and "paragraph" breaks on the page, which indicate the traditional Jewish parashah divisions. These modern Jewish editions present Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles (as well as Ezra) as single books in their title pages, and make no indication inside the main text of their division into two parts (though it is noted in the upper and side margins). The text of Samuel II, for instance, follows Samuel I on the very same page with no special break at all in the flow of the text, and may even continue on the very same line of text.

Oral Torah

:See: Oral law in Judaism. Rabbinical Judaism believes that the Torah was transmitted side by side with an oral tradition. Other groups, such as Karaite Judaism, the ancient Saducees, and Christianity do not accept this claim. Indeed, many terms and definitions used in the written law are undefined within the Torah itself; and the reader is assumed to be familiar with the context and details. This fact is presented as evidence to the antiquity of the oral tradition. An opposing argument is that only a small portion of the vast rabbinic works on the oral tradition can be described as mere clarifications and context. These rabbinic works, collectively known as "the oral law" [תורה שבעל פה], include the Mishnah, the Tosefta, the two Talmuds (Babylonian and Jerusalem), and the early Midrash compilations.

Available texts

- Tanakh, English translation, Jewish Publication Society, 1985, ISBN 0827602529
- Jewish Study Bible, using NJPS (1985) translation, Oxford U Press, 2003, ISBN 0195297547

External links

Online texts

- Mikraot Gedolot (Rabbinic Bible) at Wikisource in English (sample) and Hebrew (sample)
- [http://www.tanakhml.org TanakhML] (Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia and King James Version)
- [http://www.cvkimball.com/Tanach/Tanach.xml Unicode/XML Westminster Leningrad Codex] - A transcription of the electronic source maintained by the Westminster Hebrew Institute. (Leningrad Codex)
- [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/ Mechon Mamre] - The Hebrew text of the Tanakh based on the Aleppo codex, edited according to the system of Rabbi Mordechai Breuer. Hebrew text comes in four convenient versions (including one with cantillation marks) and may be downloaded. The JPS 1917 English translation is included as well (including a parallel translation).

Reading guides

- [http://www.tora.us.fm/tnk1/klli/limud/skadish/tanakh-index.html A Guide to Reading Nevi'im and Ketuvim] - Detailed Hebrew outlines of the biblical books based on the natural flow of the text (rather than the chapter divisions). The outlines include a daily study-cycle, and the explanatory material is in English.
- [http://www.threetwoone.org/diagrams/HebrewBibleOutlinePresentation.gif A detailed chart of the major figures and events in the Tanakh]
- [http://www.chabad.org/library/archive/LibraryArchive.asp?AID=63255 Judaica Press Translation] (online translation of Tanakh and Rashi's entire commentary)
- Category:Hebrew words nb:Tanakh

Mishnah

The Mishnah (Hebrew משנה, "repetition") is a major source of rabbinic Judaism's religious texts. It is the first recording of the oral law of the Jewish people, as championed by the Pharisees and is considered the first work of Rabbinic Judaism. The Mishnah was redacted around the year 200 CE by Judah haNasi ("Judah the Prince"). He is usually simply referred to as Rebbi ("Rabbi"). Nearly all of the Mishnah is written in Mishnaic Hebrew, except for a few verses, which are written in Aramaic. Rabbinic commentaries on the Mishnah over the next three centuries were recorded mostly in Aramaic and were redacted as the Gemara. The Mishnah and the Gemara together form the Talmud. The Mishnah is noteworthy in Rabbinic literature for its depiction of a religious universe in which the Temple in Jerusalem, destroyed a century earlier, still retains a central place. Laws concerning the Temple service constitute one of the Mishnah's six divisions. Also noteworthy is the Mishnah's lack of citation of a scriptural basis for its laws. It is said that the Oral Law was given simultaneously with the Written Law (Torah), and so does not derive directly from it. Connecting the Mishnaic law with the Torah law was a major enterprise of the later Midrash and Talmuds. The Rabbinic sages whose views are recorded in the Mishnah are called Tannaim (תנאים), the plural of Tanna (תנא); Tanna is an Aramaic term for the Hebrew word shana, which also is the root-word of Mishnah. The verb shano (שנה) literally means 'to repeat [what one was taught]' and is used to mean 'to learn'. The word mishna can also indicate a single paragraph, i.e., the smallest unit of structure in the Mishnah. The plural is mishnayot. Thus, a number of mishnayot make up a perek (chapter), a number of perakim (chapters) make up a masechet (tractate), a number of masechtot (tractates) make up a seder (order) and the Shas (acronym for Shisha Sedarim - the six orders) make up the Mishnah. (The term Shas is also used to refer to a complete Talmud, which follows the structure of the Mishnah.)

Relation between the Hebrew Bible and the Mishnah

Rabbinical Judaism holds that the Five Books of Moses called the (Written) Torah have always been transmitted in parallel with an oral tradition. Two guides to laws were given to Moses at Mount Sinai. The first, known as Torah she-bi-khtav, or the "Written Law" is composed of only the Five Books of Moses -- Genesis through Deuteronomy. These five books are the Hebrew Bible. When the writings of the Prophets and the wisdom and creative literature are added to the Torah [the Five Books of Moses] the expanded volume is called the Tanakh. It is this "complete" version of Hebrew literature that Christianity knows as "The Old Testament." The Tanakh comprises the Hebrew Bible as we know it today. The second law given to Moses at Sinai, known as Torah she-be'al-peh, is the exposition of the Written Law as relayed by the scholarly and other religious leaders of each generation. This Oral Law is, in some sense, the more authoritative of the two. The traditions of the Oral Law are considered as the basis for the interpretation, and often for the reading, of the Written Law. By 200 CE, the time of Rabbi Judah Ha-Nasi, much of the Oral Law was edited together into the Mishnah; see below. Over the next four centuries this material underwent analysis and debate, known as Gemara ("completion"), in both of the world's major Jewish communities (in the land of Israel and Babylon). These eventually came to be edited together into compilations known as the Talmud. Jewish law and custom thus is not based on a literal reading of the Torah, or the rest of the Tanakh, but on the combined oral and written traditions.

The writing of the Mishnah

According to Jewish Law, the Written Law must be transmitted from a written source, and the Oral Law orally. Therefore, it was forbidden to write down the Oral Law in any form, other than for notes. The Babylonian Talmud (Hagiga 14a) states that there were either six-hundred or seven-hundred orders of the Mishnah. Hillel the Elder organized them into six orders to make it easier to remember. Over time, different traditions of the Oral Law came into being, debating what the laws or their rulings were. Further, (according to the Mavoh Hatalmud) many rulings were given about specific things that could have been taken out of context or where a ruling was revisited but the second ruling was not as popularly known. To correct this, Rabbi took up the redaction of the Mishnah. If something was already there with no conflict, he used it without changes in language, he reordered and ruled on where there was conflict, and clarifed where context was not given. The idea was not do this at his own discretion, but rather to examine the tradition as far back as he could, and only supplement as required. As he went through the tractates, the Mishnah was set forth, but throughout his life some parts were updated as new information came to light. Because of the proliferation of earlier versions, it was deemed too hard to retract anything already released, as such, a second version of certain laws were released. The Talmud refers to these differing version as Mishnah Rishona ("First Mishnah") and Mishna Acharona ("Last Mishnah"). With Rabbi's death, no more redactions were done to the body of the Mishnah, though it was still not written down. It was finally written down some centuries later when it was deemed too difficult to remember, but the exact date is a matter of debate.Together the Gemara and Mishnah form the Talmud.

The structure of the Mishnah

The Mishnah consists of six orders (sedarim). This explains the traditional name for the Talmud as Shas, which is an abbreviation of shishah sedarim, "six orders". Each of the six orders contains between 7 and 12 tractates, called masechtot. Each masechet is divided into verses called mishnayot (singular - mishna). #First Order: Zeraim ("Seeds"). 11 tractates. It deals with agricultural laws and prayers. #Second Order: Moed ("Festival"). 12 tractates. This pertains to the laws of the Sabbath and the Festivals. #Third Order: Nashim ("Women"). 7 tractates. Concerns marriage and divorce. #Fourth Order: Nezikin ("Damages"). 10 tractates. Deals with civil and criminal law. #Fifth Order: Kodshim ("Holy things"). 11 tractates. This involves sacrificial rites, the Temple, and the dietary laws. #Sixth order: Tohorot ("Purities"). 12 tractates. This pertains to the laws of purity and impurity, including the impurity of the dead, the laws of ritual purity for the priests (cohanim), the laws of "family purity" (the menstrual laws) and others. Most of the Mishnah is related stam, i.e. without any name attributed to it. This usually indicates that many sages taught so, and the halakhic ruling usually follows that view. Sometimes, however, it is the opinion of a single sage whom Rabbi Judah haNasi favored and sought to establish the ruling accordingly.

The generations of the Mishnah sages

#First Generation: Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai's generation (circa 40-80 CE). #Second Generation: Rabban Gamliel of Yavneh, Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Yehoshua's generation, the teachers of Rabbi Akiva. #Third Generation: The generation of Rabbi Akiva and his colleagues. #Fourth Generation: The generation of Rabbi Meir, Rabbi Yehuda and their colleagues. #Fifth Generation: Rabbi Judah haNasi's generation. #Sixth Generation: The interim generation between the Mishnah and the Talmud: Rabbis Shimon ben Judah HaNasi and Yehoshua ben Levi, etc.

Oral traditions and pronunciation

The Mishnah was and still is traditionally studied through recitation (out loud). Many medieval manuscripts of the Mishnah are vowelized, and some of these contain partial Tiberian cantillation. Jewish communities around the world preserved local melodies for chanting the Mishnah, and distinctive ways of pronouncing its words. Most vowelized editions of the Mishnah today reflect standard Ashkenazic vowelization, and often contain mistakes. The Albeck edition of the Mishnah was vowelized by Hannokh Yellin, who made careful eclectic use of both medieval manuscripts and current oral traditions of pronunciation from Jewish communities all over the world. The Albeck edition includes an entire volume by Yellin detailing his eclectic method. Two institutes at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem have collected major oral archives which hold (among other things) extensive recordings of Jews chanting the Mishnah using a variety of melodies and many different kinds of pronunciation. These institutes are the Jewish Oral Traditions Research Center and the National Voice Archives (the Phonoteca at the Jewish National and University Library). See below for external links.

Commentaries

- In 1168, Maimonides was probably the first to author a comprehensive commentary on the Mishnah. It was written in Arabic and was one of the first commentaries of its kind. In it, "Rambam" condenses the associated Talmudical debates, and offers his conclusions in a number of undecided issues. Of particular significance are the various introductory sections - as well as the introduction to the work itself [http://www.daat.ac.il/daat/mahshevt/hakdama/tohen-m-2.htm] - these are widely quoted in other works on the Mishna, and on the Oral law in general. Perhaps the most famous is his introduction to the tenth chapter of tractate Sanhedrin [http://www.daat.ac.il/daat/mahshevt/rambam/hakdamat-2.htm] where he enumerates the thirteen fundamental beliefs of Judaism.
- Rabbi Samson of Sens (France) was, apart from Maimonides, one of the few rabbis of the early medieval era to compose a Mishnah commentary. It is printed in many editions of the Mishnah.
- Rabbi Obadiah ben Abraham of Bertinoro (15th century) wrote one of the most popular Mishnah commentaries. He draws on Maimonides' work but also offers Talmudical material (in effect a summary of the Talmudic discussion). In addition to its role as a commentary on the Mishna, this work is often referenced by students of Talmud as a review-text, and is often referred to as "the Bartanura".
- After the Maharal of Prague had initiated organised Mishnah study (Chevrath ha-Mishnayoth), his pupil Yomtov Lipman Heller wrote a commentary which resembles that of the Tosafists on the Talmud, and is therefore called Tosafoth Yom Tov. He offers brief insights into the Mishnah and Bertinoro. In many compact Mishnah printings, a condensed version of his commentary, titled Ikar Tosafoth Yom Tov, is featured.
- Other Acharonim who have written Mishnah commentaries:
- Rabbi Solomon Luria (the Maharshal)
- The Vilna Gaon (Shenoth Eliyahu)
- Rabbi Akiva Eiger
- A prominent commentary from the 19th century is Tifereth Yisrael by Rabbi Yisrael Lipschutz. It is subdivided into two parts, one more general and the other more analytical, titled Yachin and Boaz respectively (after two large pillars in the Temple in Jerusalem). Lipschutz has not been completely without controversy, partially because he refers on occasion to scientific findings.
- The commentary by Rabbi Pinhas Kehati, which is written in Modern Israeli Hebrew and based on classical and contemporary works, has become popular in the late Twentieth Century. The commentary is designed to make the Mishnah widely accessible to a wide spectrum of learners of all ages and all levels of experience in Torah study. It is popularly referred to as "The Kehati". Each tractate is introduced with an overview of its contents, including historical and legal background material, and each mishnah is prefaced by a thematic introduction.

Historical study

Both the Mishnah and Talmud contain little serious biographical studies of the people discussed therein, and the same tractate will conflate the points of view of many different people. Yet, sketchy biographies of the Mishaic sages can often be constructed with historical detail from Talmudic and Midrashic sources. Many modern historical scholars have focused on the timing and the formation the Mishnah. A vital question is whether it is comprised of sources which date from its editor's lifetime, and to what extent is it comprised of earlier, or later sources. Are Mishnaic disputes distinguishable along theological or communal lines, and in what ways do different sections derive from different schools of thought within early Judaism? Can these early sources be identified, and if so, how? In response to these questions, modern scholars have adopted a number of different approaches.
- Traditionally, rabbinic Judaism has viewed the statements in the Mishnah and Talmud as being historically accurate, and written under a subtle form of divine inspiration, sometimes called the Ruach haKodesh, "The Holy Spirit". In this view, the statements described therein are entirely reliable, and accepted as much. Nevertheless, even the Talmud points out that the Mishnah is on occasions ambiguous or deficient. In general, textual criticism of the Mishnah from Orthodox point-of-view has ceased after the completion of the Talmud, and modern attempts at textual criticism are mainly considered heretical. Most Orthodox Jews view the biographical statements in the Mishnah, Talmud and in some cases, even the early midrash collections, as being entirely historically reliable.
- Some scholars hold that there has been extensive editorial reshaping of the stories and statements within the Mishnah (and later, in the Talmud.) Lacking outside confirming texts, they hold that we cannot confirm the origin or date of most statements and laws, and that we can say little for certain about their authorship. In this view, the questions above are impossible to answer. See, for example, the works of Louis Jacobs, Baruch M. Bokser, Shaye J.D. Cohen, Steven D. Fraade.
- Some scholars hold that the Mishnah and Talmud have been extensively shaped by later editorial redaction, but that it contains sources which we can identify and describe with some level of reliability. In this view, sources can be identified to some extent because each era of history and each distinct geographical region has its own unique feature, which one can trace and analyze. Thus, the questions above may be analyzed. See, for example, the works of Goodblatt, Lee Levine, David C. Kraemer and Robert Goldenberg.
- Some scholars hold that many or most of the statements and events described in the Mishnah and Talmud usually occurred more or less as described, and that they can be used as serious sources of historical study. In this view, historians do their best to tease out later editorial additions (itself a very difficult task) and skeptically view accounts of miracles, leaving behind a reliable historical text. See, for example, the works of Saul Lieberman, David Weiss Halivni, Avraham Goldberg and Dov Zlotnick.

References

Translations

- Herbert Danby. The Mishna. Oxford, 1933 (ISBN 019815402X).
- Jacob Neusner. The Mishnah: A New Translation. New Haven, reprint 1991 (ISBN 0300050224).
- Various editors. The Mishnah, a new translation with commentary Yad Avraham. New York: Mesorah publishers, since 1980s.

Historical study

- Shalom Carmy (Ed.) Modern Scholarship in the Study of Torah: Contributions and Limitations Jason Aronson, Inc.
- Shaye J.D. Cohen, Patriarchs and Scholarchs, Proceedings of the American Academy for Jewish Research 48 (1981), pp. 57-87
- Steven D. Fraade, "The Early Rabbinic Sage," in The Sage in Israel and the Ancient Near East, ed. John G. Gammie and Leo G. Perdue (Winona Lake, Indiana: Eisenbrauns, 1990), pp. 417-23
- Robert Goldenberg The Sabbath-Law of Rabbi Meir (Missoula, Montana: Scholars Press, 1978)
- Jacob Neusner Making the Classics in Judaism (Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1989), pp. 1-13 and 19-44
- Jacob Neusner Judaism: The Evidence of the Mishna (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1981), pp. 14-22.
- Gary Porton, The Traditions of Rabbi Ishmael (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1982), vol. 4, pp. 212-25
- Dov Zlotnick, The Iron Pillar: Mishnah (Jerusalem: Bialik Institute, 1988), pp. 8-9

External links

Wikimedia projects

Wikisource's Open Mishnah Project is developing Mishnah texts, commentaries, and translations. The project is currently available in three languages: Hebrew (the largest collection), English, and French.

Other electronic texts

- [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/ Mechon Mamre] - Hebrew text according to Maimonides' version.
- [http://chaver.com/Mishnah/TheMishnah.htm The Structured Mishnah] - Hebrew text according to the Albeck edition (without vowels) with special formatting.

The daily Mishnah (a study-cycle)

- [http://www.jafi.org.il/education/torani/kehati/ The Daily Mishnah] - uses the Kehati commentary (in English translation).
- [http://www.shemayisrael.com/mishna/ Mishna Yomis] - Daily Mishnah audio (English).
- [http://www.uscj.org/New!_Mishnah_Yomit740.html Mishnah Yomit] - One mishnah per day. (Note: this study-cycle follows a different schedule than the regular one; contains extensive archives in English).
- [http://www.mishnaofthedaf.org/mishna.php Mishnah of the Daf] - a new Mishnah study cycle that parallels the progress of the Daf Yomi.

Audio lectures

- [http://613.org/mishnah.html Rabbi Meir Pogrow] - advanced lectures (in English); free MP3 download.

Manuscripts

- [http://jnul.huji.ac.il/dl/talmud/indexeng.htm Kaufmann manuscript] of the Mishnah - View images of the entire vowelized manuscript. Oral Traditions (chanting and pronunciation of the Mishnah):
- [http://www.hum.huji.ac.il/masorot/ Jewish Oral Traditions Research Center] (Hebrew University)
- [http://jnul.huji.ac.il/eng/music.html The National Sound Archives] at the Hebrew University (catalogue not currently online).
- ja:ミシュナー

Halakha

Halakha (Hebrew: הלכה; also transliterated as Halakhah, Halacha, Halachah) is the collective corpus of Jewish rabbinic law, custom and tradition. Like the religious laws in many other cultures, Judaism classically drew no distinction in its laws between religious and non-religious life. Hence, Halakha guides not only religious practices and beliefs, but numerous aspects of day-to-day life. Historically, Halakha served many Jewish communities as an enforceable avenue of civil and religious law. In the modern era, Jewish citizens may be bound to Halakhah only by their voluntary consent. In Israel, though, certain areas of Israeli family and personal status law are governed by rabbinic interpretations of Halakha. Reflecting the diversity of Jewish communities, somewhat different approaches to Halakha are found among Ashkenazi, Mizrahi, and Sefardi Jews. Among Ashkenazi Jews, disagreements over Halakha have played a pivotal role in the emergence of Orthodox, Reform, Conservative and Reconstructionist streams of Judaism. The first group holds the traditional view that halakha has always been and currently is binding, while the latter groups have declared it non-binding to various degrees.

Terminology

The name Halakha derives from the Hebrew halach הלך meaning "going" or the "[correct] way"; thus a literal translation does not yield "law", rather "the way to go." The term Halakha may refer to a single rule, to the literary corpus of rabbinic legal texts, as well as to the overall system of religious law. The Halakha is often contrasted with the Aggadah, the diverse corpus of rabbinic exegetical, narrative, philosophical and other "non-legal" literatures. At the same time, since writers of Halakha may draw upon the aggada literature, there is a dynamic interchange between the two genres. Halakha constitutes the practical application of the hundreds of the mitzvot ("commandments") (singular: mitzvah) 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") and codified in the Shulkhan Arukh (the Jewish "Code of Law".)

The scope of Halakha

The Halakha is a comprehensive guide to numerous aspects 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 understood but not stated explicitly, and what has been deduced by implication though not visible on the surface. Halakha is shaped and contested by a variety of rabbis (and other Jews), rather than one sole "official voice", so different individuals and communities may well have different answers to Halakhic questions. Controversies lend rabbinic literature much of its creative and intellectual appeal. With few exceptions, controversies are not settled through authoritative structures because Judaism lacks a single judicial hierarchy or appellate review process for Halakha. Instead, Jews interested in observing Halakha may choose to follow specific rabbis or affiliate with a more tightly-structured community. 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 body of intricate judicial opinions, legislation, 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. As a practical matter, early modern rabbis interpreted Halakha so as to recognize the jurisdiction and enforceability of state law for Jewish citizens. As a result, Jews today need not feel restricted to traditional Halakha for much of their commercial, civil and (especially) criminal law.

The laws of the Torah

:See also Oral law; Relationship between the Bible and the Mishnah and Talmud. Broadly, the Halakha comprises the practical application of the commandments (each one known as a mitzvah) 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.

Categories of law

Judaism divides the laws into two basic categories:
- Laws in relation to God (bein adam le-Makom), and
- Laws about relations with other people (bein 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. Rabbinic authorities divide Halakha between laws that are interpreted as revealed (Biblical) commandments and those designated as rabbinic origin. This division between revealed and rabbinic commandments may influence the importance of a rule, its enforcement and the nature of its ongoing interpretation. Commandments (mitzvot) are 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. A further division is made between chukim ("decrees") -- laws without obvious explanation, such as kashrut, the dietary laws), mishpatim ("judgments") -- laws with obvious social implications and eduyot -- "testimonies" or "commemorations", such as the Shabbat and holidays). Through the ages, various rabbinical athorities have classified the commandments in various other ways.

Sin: violation of Jewish law

Judaism regards the violation of the commandments, the mitzvot, to be a sin. The term "sin" is theologically loaded, as it means different things to Jews and Christians. In Christianity a "sin" is an offense against God, by which one is separated from God's love and grace, and for which one would suffer punishment, unless one repents (see Sin for a more complete comparision of sin from several viewpoints). Judaism has a wider definition of the term "sin", and also uses it to include violations of Jewish law that are not necessarily a lapse in morality. Further, Judaism holds it as given that all people sin at various points in their lives, and hold that God always tempers justice with mercy. The generic Hebrew word for any kind of sin is aveira ("trangression"). Based on the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) Judaism describes three levels of sin.
- Pesha -- an "intentional sin"; an action committed in deliberate defiance of God;
- Avon -- a "sin of lust or uncontrollable emotion". It is a sin done knowingly, but not done to defy God;
- Cheth -- an "unintentional sin". Judaism holds that no human being is perfect, and all people have sinned many times. However a state of sin does not condemn a person to damnation; there is always a road of teshuva (repentance, literally: "return"). But, warn the Rabbis, there are some classes of person for whom this is exceedingly difficult, such as the one who slanders another. In earlier days, when Jews had a functioning court system (the beth din and the Sanhedrin high court), courts were empowered to administer physical punishments for various violations, upon conviction by far stricter standards of evidence than are acceptable in American courts: corporal punishment, incarceration, excommunication. Since the fall of the Temple, executions have been forbidden. Since the fall of the autonomous Jewish communities of Europe, the other punishments have also fallen by the wayside. Today, then, one's accounts are reckoned solely by God.

Gentiles and Jewish law

All denominations of Jews hold that gentiles are not obligated to follow Halakha; only Jews are obligated do so. Judaism has always held that gentiles are obligated only to follow the seven Noahide Laws; these are laws that the oral law derives from the covenant God made with Noah after the flood, which apply to all descendants of Noah (all living people). The Noahide laws are derived in the Talmud (Tractate Sanhedrin 57a), and are listed here: #Murder is forbidden. #Theft is forbidden. #Sexual immorality is forbidden. #Eating flesh cut from a still-living animal is forbidden. #Belief in, and/or prayer to idols is forbidden. #Blaspheming against God is forbidden. #Society must establish a fair system of legal justice to administer these laws honestly. Although not mentioning the Noahide Laws directly by name, the Christian convention of Apostles and elders in Jerusalem mentioned in Acts 15 appears to validate the idea that all gentiles follow the constraints established by the covenant of Noah. This is what appears to be the case, as verse 15:20 lists a similar set of constraints to be applied to the gentiles that are converted to Christianity as what is contained in the Noahide laws.

The sources and process of Halakha

The boundaries of Jewish law are determined through the halakhic process, a religious-ethical system of legal reasoning. Rabbis generally base their opinions on the primary sources of Halakha as well as on precedent set by previous rabbinic opinions. The major sources and genre of Halakha consulted include:
- The foundational Talmudic literature (especially the Mishna and the Babylonian Talmud) with commentaries;
- The post-Talmudic codificatory literature, such as Maimonides' Mishneh Torah and the Shulkhan Arukh with commentaries;
- Regulations and other "legislative" enactments promulgated by rabbis and communal bodies:
- Gezeirah: "preventative legislation" of the Rabbis, intended to prevent violations of the commandments
- Takkanah: "positive legislation", practices instituted by the Rabbis not based (directly) on the commandments
- Minhag: Customs, community practices, and customary law, as well as the exemplary deeds of prominent (or local) rabbis;
- The she'eloth u-teshuvoth (responsa, literally "questions and answers") literature.
- Dina d'malchuta dina ("the law of the land is law"): an additional source of Halakha, being the principle recognizing non-Jewish laws and non-Jewish legal jurisdiction as binding on Jewish citizens, especially for many areas of commercial, civil and criminal law, provided that they are not contrary to any laws of Judaism. Unlike Anglo-American common law, though, Halakhah does not rely on a strict theory of binding precedent nor provide for systematic review of precedents. Generally, Halakhic arguments are effectively, yet unofficially, peer-reviewed. When a rabbinic posek ("decisor") proposes a new interpretation of a law, that interpretation may be considered binding for the posek's questioner or immediate community. Depending on the stature of the posek and the quality of the decision, an interpretation may also be gradually accepted by rabbis and members of similar Jewish communities. Under this system, there is a tension between the relevance of earlier and later authorities in constraining halakhic interpretation and innovation. On the one hand, there is a principle in Halakha to not overrule a specific law from an earlier era, unless based on an earlier authority. On the other hand, another principle recognizes the responsibility and authority of later authorities, and especially the posek handling a concurrent question. In addition, the Halakha embodies a wide range of principles that permit judicial discretion and deviation (Ben-Menahem). Generally speaking, a rabbi in any one period will not overrule specific laws from an earlier era, unless supported by a relevant earlier precedent; see list below. There are important exceptions to this principle, which empower the posek (decisor) or beth din (court) responsible for a given opinion. Notwithstanding the potential for innovation, rabbis and Jewish communities differ greatly on how they make changes in Halakha. Notably, poskim frequently extend the application of a law to new situations, but do not consider such applications as constituting a "change" in Halakha. For example, many Orthodox rulings concerning electricity are derived from rulings concerning fire, due to its similarity with that other form of human-managed energy. Conservative Judaism and Reform Judaism tend to explicitly interpret Halakha to take into account sociological factors. For instance, the liberal Jewish movements extend the application of certain Jewish obligations and permissible activitites to women. See below: How Halakha is viewed today. There is no formal peer-review process for the entire Jewish community in general, since the Jewish community has no one central body that speaks for all of Judaism. However, within certain Jewish communities formal organized bodies exist: Each division or dynasty of Orthodox Hasidic Judaism has their own rebbe, who is their ultimate decisor of Jewish law. Within Modern Orthodox Judaism, there is no one committee or leader, but Modern Orthodox rabbis generally agree with the views set by consensus by the leaders of the Rabbinical Council of America. Within Conservative Judaism, the Rabbinical Assembly has an official Committee on Jewish Law and Standards. In antiquity, the Sanhedrin functioned essentially as the Supreme Court and legislature for Judaism, and had the power to create and administer binding law on all Jews - rulings of the Sanhedrin became Halakha; see Oral law. That court ceased to function in its full mode in CE 40. Today, application of Jewish law is left to the local rabbi, and the local rabbinical courts, with only local applicability.

Eras of history important in Jewish law

:See also Rabbinic literature.
- The Tannaim (literally the "repeaters") are the sages of the Mishna (70–200)
- The Amoraim (literally the "sayers") are the sages of the Talmud (200–500)
- The Savoraim are the classical Persian rabbis (500–600)
- The Geonim (literally the "prides" or "geniuses") are the rabbis of Sura and Pumbeditha, in Babylonia (650–1250)
- The Rishonim (literally the "firsts") are the rabbis of the early medieval period (1250–1550) preceding the Shulkhan Arukh
- The Acharonim (literally the "afters") are the rabbis of 1550 to the present.

The thirteen rules by which Jewish law was derived

During the time of the Mishnah, the oral law was said to be derived from the written Torah by virtue of one or more of the following methods ("Introduction to Sifra" by Ishmael ben Elisha, c. 200 CE): #Kal va-Chomer (a fortiori): We find a similar law in a more lenient case; how more so should that law apply to our stricter case! #Gezera shava, similarity in phrase: We find a similar law in a verse containing a similar phrase to one in our verse. This method can only be used by oral tradition. #Binyan av, either by one or two Scriptures: We find a similar law in another case, why shouldn't we assume that the same law applies here? Now the argument may go against this inference, finding some law which applies to that case but not to ours. This type of refutation is valid only if the inference was from one Scripture, not if it was from two Scriptures. #Klal ufrat, a generality and a particularity: If we find a phrase signifying a particularity following that of a generality, the particularity particularises the generality and we only take that particular case into account. #Prat ukhlal, a particularity and a generality: If the order is first the particularity and then the generality, we add from the generality upon the particularity, even to a broad extent. #Klal ufrat ukhlal, a generality, a particularity and a generality: If there is a particularity inserted between two generalities, we only add cases similar to the particularity. #Klal shehu tzarich lifrat, a generality that requires a particularity, and a particularity that requires a generality: #Every thing that was within the general rule and was excluded from the rule to teach us a rule, we don't consider this rule as pertaining only to this excluded case, but to the entire general case. #Anything that was included in a general rule, and was excluded to be susceptible to one rule that is according to its subject, it is only excluded to be treated more leniently but not more strictly. #Anything that was included in a general rule and was excluded to be susceptible to one rule that is not according to its subject, it is excluded to be treated both more leniently and more strictly. #Anything that was included in a general rule and was excluded to be treated by a new rule, we cannot restore it to its general rule unless Scripture restores it explicitly. #A matter that is inferred from its context, and a matter that is inferred from its ending. #The resolution of two Scriptures that contradict each other [must wait] until a third Scripture arrives and resolves their apparent contradiction. Scholars have noted the similarity between these rabbinic rules of interpretation and the hermeneutics of ancient Hellenistic culture.

How Halakha is viewed today

:See also The Talmud in modern-day Judaism. Orthodox Judaism holds that the words of the Torah (Pentateuch) were indeed dictated by God to Moses in almost precisely the way that they exist in the Torah today. The laws contained in the Written Torah were given along with detailed explanations as how to apply and interpret them, the Oral Law. The religious laws that Jews know today are thus directly derived from Sinai. As such, one must be extremely conservative changing or adapting Jewish law. Orthodox Judaism holds that, given Jewish law's Divine origin, no underlying principle may be compromised in accounting for changing political, social or economic conditions; in this sense, "creativity" and development in Jewish law is limited. See Orthodox beliefs about Jewish law and tradition. To the Orthodox Jew, Halakha is a guide, God's Law, governing the structure of daily life from the moment he or she wakes up to the moment he goes to sleep. It includes codes of behavior applicable to a broad range of circumstances (and many hypothetical ones). Conservative Judaism holds that the current text of the Torah is a composite that was redacted together from earlier sources. Conservative Jews hold that it is possible to believe that God is real and that prophets like Moses really were inspired by God. However, whatever records and traditions relating to such events were apparently transmitted in various forms for many centuries. This says nothing about whether the Torah is based on God or not, and so this idea not a theological threat. Therefore Conservative Judaism teaches that one should make use of literary and historical analysis to understand how these texts developed, and to help them understand how they may applied in our own day. Conservative Jews view the laws and customs from the various law codes as the basis for normative Jewish law. Solomon Schechter writes "however great the literary value of a code may be, it does not invest it with infallibility, nor does it exempt it from the student or the Rabbi who makes use of it from the duty of examining each paragraph on its own merits, and subjecting it to the same rules of interpretation that were always applied to Tradition". [Solomon Schechter]. Reform Judaism and Reconstructionist Judaism both hold that modern views of how the Torah and rabbinic law developed imply that the body of rabbinic Jewish law is no longer normative (seen as binding) on Jews today. Therefore Jews are not expected or taught to follow most of halakha. Those in the traditionalist wing of these movements hold that each Jew is obligated to interpret the Torah, Talmud and other Jewish works for themselves, and this interpretation will create separate commandments for each person. Those in the neo-traditional wing of Reform include Rabbis Eugene Borowitz and Gunther Plaut. Those in the liberal and classical wings of Reform believe that in this day and era most Jewish religious rituals are no longer necessary, and many hold that following most Jewish laws is actually counter-productive. They propose that Judaism has entered a phase of ethical monotheism, and that the laws of Judaism are only remnants of an earlier stage of religious evolution, and need not be followed. This is considered wrong (and arguably heretical) not only by Orthodoxy, but by Conservative Judaism, and perhaps by some in the traditional wing of Reform.

Flexibility within the Halakha

Throughout history, halakha had been a remarkably flexible system, despite its internal rigidity, addressing issues on the basis of circumstance and precedent. For instance, rulings regarding modern technology have been incorporated into the ever-expanding halakhah. New rulings guide the observant about the proper use of electricity on the Sabbath and holidays within the parameters of halakhah. (Many scholarly tomes have been published and are constantly being reviewed ensuring the maximum coordination between electrical appliances and technology with the needs of the religiously observant Jew, with a great range of opinions.) Often, as to the applicability of the law in any given situation, the proviso is: "Consult your local Orthodox rabbi or posek." Modern critics, however, charge that with the rise of movements that challenge the "Divine" authority of halakha, traditional Jews have greater reluctance to change, not only the laws themselves but also other customs and habits.
- As above, Orthodox Jews hold that, unlike secular precedent-based systems, halakha is a religious system, whose axiom is that Jewish law represents the will of God, either directly, or as close to directly as possible. If the laws in Jewish law codes are not the word of God per se, they are nonetheless derived from the literal word of God in the Torah, using a set of rules also revealed by God to Moses on Mount Sinai, and have been derived with the utmost accuracy and care. As such, one must be extremely conservative changing or adapting Jewish law. There have, nevertheless, been many changes including the application of halakha to modern technology.
- The view held by Conservative Judaism (and to some extent within the left wing of Orthodoxy) is that while God is real for theological reasons, the Torah is not the word of God in a literal sense. However, in this view the Torah is still held as mankind's record of its understanding of God's revelation, and thus still has divine authority. In this view, traditional Jewish law is still seen as binding. Jews who hold by this view generally try to use modern methods of historical study to learn how Jewish law has changed over time, and are more willing to change Jewish law in the present.

Codes of Jewish law

The Torah and the Talmud are not formal codes of law; they are sources of law. There are many formal codes of Jewish law that have developed over the past few thousand years. The major codes are:
- The Mishnah, composed by Rabbi Judah the Prince, in AD 200, as a basic outline of the state of the Oral Law in his time. This was the framework upon which the Talmud was based.
- The Hilchot of the Rif, Rabbi Isaac Alfasi (1013 - 1103), summations of the legal material in the Talmud. Alfasi transcribed the Talmud's halakhic conclusions verbatim, without the surrounding deliberation; he also excludes all Aggadic (non-legal, homiletic) matter. The Hilchot has been printed with almost every subsequent edition of the Talmud.
- The Mishneh Torah (also known as the Yad Ha-Hazaqah), by Maimonides (Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon, the Rambam; 1135 - 1204). The 14 volumes in this work encompass the full range of Jewish law, as formulated for all ages and places. It completely reorganizes and reformulates the laws in a logical system. It opens with a section on systematic philosophical theology, derived largely from Aristotelian science and metaphysics, which it regards as the most important component of Jewish law.
- The work of the Rosh, Rabbi Asher ben Jehiel (1250?/1259?-1328), an abstract of the Talmud, concisely stating the final Halakhic decision and quoting later authorities, notably Alfasi, Maimonides, and the Tosafists. This work superseded Rabbi Alfasi's and has been printed with almost every subsequent edition of the Talmud.
- The Sefer Mitzvot Gadol (The "SeMaG") of Rabbi Moses ben Jacob of Coucy (13th century, Coucy, France). "SeMaG" is organised around the 365 negative and the 248 positive commandments, separately discussing each of them according to the Talmud (in light of the commentaries of Rashi and the Tosafot) and the other codes existent at the time.
- The Arba'ah Turim (The Tur, The Four Columns) by Rabbi Jacob ben Asher (1270 - 1343, Toledo, Spain). This work traces the Halakha from the Torah text and the Talmud through the Rishonim, with the Hilchot of Alfasi as its starting point. Ben Asher followed Maimonides's precedent in arranging his work in a topical order, however, the Tur covers only those areas of Jewish religious law that were in force in the author's time. The code is divided into four main sections; almost all Jewish codes of law since this time have followed the Tur's arrangement of material.
- Orach Chayim - "The Way of Life" worship and ritual observance in the home and synagogue, through the course of the day, the weekly sabbath and the festival cycle.
- Yoreh De'ah - "Teach Knowledge" assorted ritual prohibitions, dietary laws and regulations concerning menstrual impurity.
- Even Ha-'Ezer - "The Rock of the Helpmate" marriage, divorce and other issues in family law.
- Hoshen Mishpat - "The Breastplate of Judgment" The administration and adjudication of civil law.
- The Beit Yosef, and the Shulkhan Arukh of Rabbi Yosef Karo (1488–1575). The Beit Yosef is a huge commentary on the Tur in which Rabbi Karo traces the development of each law from the Talmud through later rabbinical literature (examining thirty-two authorities, beginning with the Talmud and ending with the works of Rabbi Israel Isserlein). The Shulkhan Arukh is a condensation of the Beit Yosef - stating each ruling simply (literally translated, Shulkhan Arukh means "set table"). Karo based his rulings on three authorities - Maimonides (Rambam), Asher ben Jehiel (Rosh), and Isaac Alfasi (Rif). In writing the Shulkhan Arukh, Rabbi Yosef followed the chapter divisions of the Tur. Sephardic Jews use the Shulkhan Arukh as the basis for their daily practice.
- Rabbi Moshe Isserles (Kraków, Poland, 1525 to 1572) noted that the Shulkhan Arukh was based on the Sephardic tradition, and he created a series of glosses to be appended to the text of the Shulkhan Arukh for cases where Sephardi and Ashkenazi customs differed (based on the works of Yaakov Moelin, Israel Isserlein and Israel Bruna). The glosses are called Hamapah, the "Tablecloth" for the "Set Table". His comments are now incorporated into the body of all printed editions of the Shulkhan Arukh; typeset in a different script. Isserles' Darkhei Moshe is similarly a commentary on the Tur and the Beit Yosef.
- The Shulchan Aruch HaRav of Rabbi Shneiur Zalman of Liadi (c. 1800) was an attempt to recodify the law as it stood at that time, stating the decided halakha, as well as the underlying reasoning; unfortunately, most of the work was lost in a fire prior to publication. It is held in esteem by some Hasidim, and is quoted as authoratitive by many subsequent works.
- "Layman oriented" digests of Halakha: The Kitzur Shulkhan Arukh of Rabbi Shlomo Ganzfried (Hungary 1804 -1886), based on the very strict Hungarian customs of the 19th century, became immensely popular after its publication due to its simplicity. This work is not binding in the same way as the Mishneh Torah or the Shulkhan Arukh. It is still popular in Orthodox Judaism as a framework for study, if not always for practice. Chayei Adam and Chochmat Adam by Avraham Danzig (Poland, 1748-1820) are similar Ashkenazi works. The Ben Ish Chai by Yosef Chaim (Baghdad, 1832 - 1909) is a corresponding Sephardi work.
- The Mishnah Berurah of Rabbi Yisroel Meir ha-Kohen, (the "Chofetz Chaim", Poland, 1838 - 1933) is a commentary on the "Orach Chayim" section of the Shulkhan Arukh, discussing the application of each Halakha in light of all subsequent Acharonic decisions. It has become the authoritative halakhic guide for much of Orthodox Ashkenazic Jewry in the postwar period, supplanting the more scholarly Arukh HaShulkhan of Rabbi Yechiel Michel Epstein. Kaf HaChaim on Orach Chayim and parts of Yoreh De'ah, by Yaakov Chaim Sofer (Baghdad and Jerusalem, 1870 - 1939) is similair in scope, authority and approach to the Mishnah Berurah.
- "A Guide To Jewish Religious Practice", by Rabbi Isaac Klein, with contributions from the Conservative Committee on Jewish Law and Standards of the Rabbinical Assembly. This work is based on the previous traditional law codes, but written from a revisionist Conservative Jewish point of view. It is not accepted among Orthodox Jews.

External links and references

General

- [http://www.aish.com/literacy/concepts/The_Rules_of_Halacha.asp The Rules of Halacha], Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan
- [http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=35&letter=T Talmudic Law], jewishencyclopedia.com
- [http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=107&letter=L Law, Codification of], jewishencyclopedia.com
- [http://shamash.org/lists/scj-faq/HTML/faq/04-index.html FAQ on halakha and Jewish law], shamash.org
- [http://www.jewfaq.org/halakhah.htm Halakhah article], jewfaq.org
- [http://www.faqs.org/faqs/judaism/FAQ/03-Torah-Halacha/section-52.html FAQ on the different rabbinic eras], faqs.org
- [http://www.aish.com/societyWork/sciencenature/Why_Jewish_Medical_Ethics.asp An introduction to the system of Jewish Law], aish.com
- [http://library.law.miami.edu/jewishguide.html Jewish Law Research Guide], University of Miami Law Library
- [http://hsf.bgu.ac.il/cjt/files/electures/gloss.htm#Halakhah Entry on Halakhah], Goldstein-Goren International Center for Jewish Thought
- [http://www.chabad.org/search/keyword.asp?scope=6198&kid=1500 Halacha (Torah Law)] chabad.org

Discussion

- [http://www.torahweb.org/torah/special/2003/rsch_masorah.html On the Matter of Masorah], Rabbi Herschel Schachter
- [http://www.beingjewish.com/mesorah/notchaotic.html The Oral Law and Our Own Opinions], Mordechai Housman
- [http://www.yasharbooks.com/freedom%20to%20interpret.pdf Freedom to Interpret], Rabbi Aryeh Carmell
- [http://www.jlaw.com/Articles/ Jewish Law Articles: "Examining Halacha, Jewish Issues and Secular Law"], jlaw.com
- [http://www.daat.ac.il/daat/english/journal/broyde-wagner-1.htm Orthodox Responses to Sociological and Technological Change], Journal of Halacha & Contemporary Society
- [http://www.law.harvard.edu/programs/Gruss/katz.html Da'at Torah - The Unqualified Authority Claimed for Halachists], Prof. Jacob Katz
- [http://www.nishmat.net/article.php?id=180&heading=0 Authority and Autonomy in Pesikat HaHalacha], Rabbi Zvi Leshem

Fulltext resources

- [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/i/0.htm Mishneh Torah]
- [http://www.chassidus.org.ru/chabadlibrary.org/sifrey_yesod/shulchan_oruch/index.php Shulchan Aruch]
- [http://www.chassidus.org.ru/chabadlibrary.org/admur_hazoken/shulchan_oruch/orach_chaim/kerech_alef/001_1.htm Shulchan Aruch HaRav]
- [http://www.shofar.net/Content/Kitzur_Shulchan.htm?id=5417 Kitzur Shulchan Aruch], (note: single, very large webpage)
- [http://www.shechem.org/torah/benishhi/index.html Ben Ish Chai]

Study resources

- [http://www.torah.org/learning/halacha-overview/archives.html Mishneh Torah overview]
- [http://www.torah.org/advanced/shulchan-aruch/ocarchives.html Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chayim overview]
- [http://www.torah.org/advanced/shulchan-aruch/archives.html Shulchan Aruch, Yoreh De'ah overview]
- [http://www.torah.org/advanced/mishna-berura/ Mishna Berura translation]
- [http://www.torah.org/learning/halacha/ Kitzur Shulchan Aruch translation]; or [http://www.geocities.com/yona_n.geo/kizzur/kiz-index1.html Ch 1-97] and [http://www.geocities.com/yona_n.geo/kizzur/kiz-index2.html Ch 98-221]
- [http://www.teachittome.com/index.php?Command=Class&ClassID=BenIshChai&Title=Ben+Ish+Chai+Halachot Ben Ish Chai lectures] (MP3)
- [http://www.chabad.org/library/article.asp?AID=262763 Laws and customs: daily, shabbat and festivals], chabad.org

Bibliography

- J David Bleich, Contemporary Halakhic Problems (5 vols), Ktav. ISBN 0870684507, ISBN 0881254746, ISBN 0881253154, ISBN 087068275X, Feldheim ISBN 1568713533
- Menachem Elon, Ha-Mishpat ha-Ivri (trans. Jewish law), Jewish Publication Society. ISBN 0827605374
- Jacob Katz, Divine Law in Human Hands - Case Studies in Halakhic Flexibility, Magnes Press. ISBN 9652239801
- Mendell Lewittes, Jewish Law: An Introduction, Jason Aronson. ISBN 1568213026
- Daniel Pollack ed., Contrasts in American and Jewish Law, Ktav. ISBN 0881257508
- Joel Roth, Halakhic Process: A Systemic Analysis, Jewish Theological Seminary. ISBN 0873340353
- Joseph Soloveitchik, Halakhic Man, Jewish Publication Society trans. Lawrence Kaplan. ISBN 0827603975 Category:Jewish law and rituals Category:Hebre

Karaites

Karaite beliefs

Karaites and the Rabbinic Oral law

Rabbinic opinions

The Calendar

The Sabbath

Tzitzit

Tefillin

Mezuzot

History of Karaism

The Golden Age of Karaism

Russian Karaites

Crimean and Lithuanian Karaites

Spanish Karaites

The Karaites today

Karaite writings

Further reading

External links

Spanish persecution of Karaites

Jewish denominations

Background: Jewish ethnic divisions

Divisions

Hasidic Judaism

Other divisions

Development of modern denominations in response to the Enlightenment

Table illustrating the range of Jewish denominations

See also

External link

Tanakh

Terminology

The canon

Books of the Tanakh

Chapters and verse numbers, book divisions

Oral Torah

Available texts

See also

External links

Online texts

Reading guides

Mishnah

Relation between the Hebrew Bible and the Mishnah

The writing of the Mishnah

The structure of the Mishnah

The generations of the Mishnah sages

Oral traditions and pronunciation

Commentaries

Historical study

See also

References

Translations

Historical study

External links

Wikimedia projects

Other electronic texts

The daily Mishnah (a study-cycle)

Audio lectures

Manuscripts

Halakha

Terminology

The scope of Halakha

The laws of the Torah

Categories of law

Sin: violation of Jewish law

Gentiles and Jewish law

The sources and process of Halakha

Eras of history important in Jewish law

The thirteen rules by which Jewish law was derived

How Halakha is viewed today

Flexibility within the Halakha

Codes of Jewish law

See also

External links and references

General

Discussion

Fulltext resources

Study resources

Bibliography