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Halakha, also transliterated as halacha, halakhah, and halocho, is the collective body of Jewish religious laws which is derived from the written and Oral Torah. Halakha is based on biblical commandments (mitzvot), subsequent Talmudic and rabbinic laws, and the customs and traditions which were compiled in the many books such as the Shulchan Aruch. Halakha is often translated as "Jewish law", although a more literal translation of it might be "the way to behave" or "the way of walking". The word is derived from the root which means "to behave". Halakha not only guides religious practices and beliefs, it also guides numerous aspects of day-to-day life.
Asher ben Jehiel was an eminent rabbi and Talmudist best known for his abstract of Talmudic law. He is often referred to as Rabbenu Asher, “our Rabbi Asher” or by the Hebrew acronym for this title, the Rosh. His yahrzeit is on 9 Cheshvan.
Rabbinic literature, in its broadest sense, is the entire spectrum of rabbinic writings throughout Jewish history. However, the term often refers specifically to literature from the Talmudic era, as opposed to medieval and modern rabbinic writing, and thus corresponds with the Hebrew term Sifrut Chazal. This more specific sense of "Rabbinic literature"—referring to the Talmudim, Midrash, and related writings, but hardly ever to later texts—is how the term is generally intended when used in contemporary academic writing. The terms meforshim and parshanim (commentaries/commentators) almost always refer to later, post-Talmudic writers of rabbinic glosses on Biblical and Talmudic texts.
Joseph ben Ephraim Karo, also spelled Yosef Caro, or Qaro, was the author of the last great codification of Jewish law, the Beit Yosef, and its popular analogue, the Shulchan Arukh. To this end he is often referred to as HaMechaber and as Maran.
The Shulchan Aruch, sometimes dubbed in English as the Code of Jewish Law, is the most widely consulted of the various legal codes in Judaism. It was authored in Safed by Joseph Karo in 1563 and published in Venice two years later. Together with its commentaries, it is the most widely accepted compilation of Jewish law ever written.
Sephardic law and customs are the practice of Judaism by the Sephardim, the descendants of the historic Jewish community of the Iberian Peninsula. Some definitions of "Sephardic" inaccurately include Mizrahi Jews, many of whom follow the same traditions of worship but have different ethno-cultural traditions. Sephardi Rite is not a denomination or movement like Orthodox, Reform, and other Ashkenazi Rite worship traditions. Sephardim thus comprise a community with distinct cultural, juridical and philosophical traditions.
The Mishneh Torah, also known as Sefer Yad ha-Hazaka, is a code of Rabbinic Jewish religious law (halakha) authored by Maimonides. The Mishneh Torah was compiled between 1170 and 1180 CE, while Maimonides was living in Egypt, and is regarded as Maimonides' magnum opus. Accordingly, later sources simply refer to the work as "Maimon", "Maimonides", or "RaMBaM", although Maimonides composed other works.
Jacob ben Asher, also known as Ba'al ha-Turim as well as Rabbi Yaakov ben Raash, was an influential Medieval rabbinic authority. He is often referred to as the Ba'al ha-Turim, after his main work in halakha, the Arba'ah Turim.
Arba'ah Turim, often called simply the Tur, is an important Halakhic code composed by Yaakov ben Asher. The four-part structure of the Tur and its division into chapters (simanim) were adopted by the later code Shulchan Aruch. This was the first book to be printed in Southeast Europe and the Near East.
Rabbi Moses Isserles, also known by the acronym Rema, was an eminent Polish Ashkenazic rabbi, talmudist, and posek.
Joshua ben Alexander HaCohen Falk was a Polish Halakhist and Talmudist, best known as the author of the Drisha and Prisha commentaries on the Arba'ah Turim as well as Sefer Me'irat Enayim (סמ"ע) on Shulkhan Arukh. His name also occurs as the Hebrew acronyms רפ"כ ("RaFaC"), מהרו"כ ("Ma-HaRWaC"), and מהר"י כ"ץ.
Abraham ben David, also known by the abbreviation RABaDRavad or RABaD III, was a Provençal rabbi, a great commentator on the Talmud, Sefer Halachot of Rabbi Yitzhak Alfasi and Mishne Torah of Maimonides, and is regarded as a father of Kabbalah and one of the key and important links in the chain of Jewish mystics.
Choshen Mishpat is the Hebrew for "Breastplate of Judgement". The term is associated with one of the four sections of Rabbi Jacob ben Asher's compilation of halakha, Arba'ah Turim. This section treats aspects of Jewish law pertinent to finance, torts, legal procedure and loans and interest in Judaism. Later, Rabbi Yosef Karo modeled the framework of his own compilation of practical Jewish law, the Shulkhan Arukh, after the Arba'ah Turim. Many later commentators used this framework as well. Thus, Choshen Mishpat in common usage may refer to an area of halakha, non-specific to Rabbi Jacob ben Asher's compilation.
Modern attempts to revive the Sanhedrin are the efforts from 1538 until the present day to renew the Sanhedrin which was dissolved in 358 by the edict of the Roman emperor Constantius II. The latest effort was in 2004 when a group of seventy-one rabbis claiming to represent varied communities in Israel undertook a ceremony in Tiberias, where the original Sanhedrin was disbanded. That group claimed to re-establish the body, based on the proposal of Maimonides and the Jewish legal rulings of Rabbi Yosef Karo. As of March 2010, that effort is ongoing and is supported by The Temple Institute.
Alexander Suslin HaKohen was a prominent 14th century rabbinic authority born in Erfurt, Germany, and one of the most important Talmudists of his time. He was rabbi first in Cologne and Worms, and then moved to Frankfort-on-the-Main. He authored Sefer HaAguddah, a halakhic work which was highly regarded by later rabbinic authorities. He was killed in the Erfurt massacre of 1349 during the Black Death era massacres of hundreds of Jewish communities throughout Europe.
Mixtures of milk and meat are forbidden according to Jewish law. This dietary law, basic to kashrut, is based on two verses in the Book of Exodus, which forbid "boiling a (goat) kid in its mother's milk" and a third repetition of this prohibition in Deuteronomy.
Sifrei Kodesh, commonly referred to as sefarim, or in its singular form, sefer, are books of Jewish religious literature and are viewed by religious Jews as sacred. These are generally works of Torah literature, i.e. Tanakh and all works that expound on it, including the Mishnah, Midrash, Talmud, and all works of halakha, Musar, Hasidism, Kabbalah, or machshavah. Historically, sifrei kodesh were generally written in Hebrew with some in Judeo-Aramaic or Arabic, although in recent years, thousands of titles in other languages, most notably English, were published. An alternative spelling for 'sefarim' is seforim.
The gift of the foreleg, cheeks and maw of a kosher-slaughtered animal to a kohen is a positive commandment in the Hebrew Bible. The Shulchan Aruch rules that after the slaughter of animal by a shochet, the shochet is required to separate the cuts of the foreleg, cheek and maw and give them to a kohen freely, without the kohen paying or performing any service.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Judaism:
Darkhei Moshe is a commentary of the book Arba'ah Turim and the Beit Yosef, which is also a commentary on the Tur. Darkhei Moshe was written by the Polish Ashkenazi Rabbi Moses Isserles.