Halakha, also transliterated as halacha, halakhah, and halocho, is the collective body of Jewish religious laws that are 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.
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 mefareshim and parshanim (commentaries/commentators) almost always refer to later, post-Talmudic writers of rabbinic glosses on Biblical and Talmudic texts.
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 halakha or Jewish law ever written.
Joseph Ber Soloveitchik was a major American Orthodox rabbi, Talmudist, and modern Jewish philosopher. He was a scion of the Lithuanian Jewish Soloveitchik rabbinic dynasty.
Shneur Zalman of Liadi was an influential Lithuanian Jewish rabbi and the founder and first Rebbe of Chabad, a branch of Hasidic Judaism, then based in Liadi in Grand Duchy of Lithuania and later in the Grodno Governorate of the Russian Empire. He was the author of many works, and is best known for Shulchan Aruch HaRav, Tanya, and his Siddur Torah Or compiled according to the Nusach Ari. Zalman is a Yiddish variant of Solomon and Shneur is a Yiddish composite of the two Hebrew words "shnei ohr".
The Shulchan Aruch HaRav is especially a record of prevailing halakha by Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi (1745–1812), known during his lifetime as HaRav and as the first Rebbe of Chabad. Within the Chabad community the work is known as the Alter Rebbe's Shulchan Aruch.
Semikhah is the traditional Jewish name for rabbinic ordination.
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.
The Soloveitchik dynasty of rabbinic scholars and their students originated the Brisker method of Talmudic study, which is embraced by their followers in the Brisk yeshivas. It is so called because of the Soloveitchiks' origin in the town of Brisk, or Brest-Litovsk, located in what is now Belarus. Many of the first Soloveitchik rabbis were the official rabbis of Brisk, and each in turn was known as "the Brisker Rov". Today, Brisk refers to several yeshivas in Israel and the United States founded by members of the Soloveitchik family.
In Jewish law and history, Acharonim are the leading rabbis and poskim living from roughly the 16th century to the present, and more specifically since the writing of the Shulchan Aruch in 1563 CE.
Rabbi Moses Isserles, also known by the acronym Rema, was an eminent Polish Ashkenazic rabbi, talmudist, and posek.
Elazar Menachem Man Shach was a prominent Haredi rabbi, heading the non-Hasidic Litvak Orthodox Jews in Israel and around the world from the early 1970s until his death. He served as chair of the Council of Sages, and as one of three co-deans of the Ponevezh Yeshiva in Bnei Brak, along with Shmuel Rozovsky and Dovid Povarsky. Due to his differences with the Hasidic leadership of the Agudat Yisrael political party, he allied with Ovadia Yosef, with whom he founded the Shas party in 1984. Later, in 1988, Shach sharply criticized Ovadia Yosef, saying that, "Sepharadim are not yet ready for leadership positions", and subsequently founded the Degel HaTorah political party representing the Litvaks in the Israeli Knesset.
In Judaism, Chadash is a concept within Kashrut, based on the Biblical requirement not to eat any grain of the new year prior to the annual Omer offering on the 16th day of Nisan.
Rabbi Hershel Schachter is an American Orthodox rabbi, posek and rosh yeshiva (dean) at Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary (RIETS), part of Yeshiva University (YU) in New York City.
Yaakov ben Yaakov Moshe Lorberbaum of Lissa (1760-1832) was a rabbi and posek. He is most commonly known as the "Ba'al HaChavas Da'as" or "Ba'al HaNesivos" for his most well-known works, or as the "Lissa Rav" for the city in which he was Chief Rabbi.
Rabbi Aharon Feldman is an Orthodox Jewish rabbi and rosh yeshiva (dean) of Yeshivas Ner Yisroel in Baltimore, Maryland. He has held this position since 2001. He is also a member of the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah.
There are a number of honorifics in Judaism that vary depending on the status of, and the relationship to, the person to whom one is referring.
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 following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Judaism:
