Judaism

Jewish Law

Jewish law is called halacha. Jewish society was governed by halacha, which is a legal system that pervaded all aspects of life. It is also a religious system and its influence is much more pervasive than an ordinary legal system, for it is responsible for legal and ethical behavior.

It has molded the major institutions of Jewish life, including marriage and the family. Judaism is based on the doctrine that there are two sacred Torahs-the Written Torah (the Bible) and the Oral Torah (the traditions, including the rabbinic ones)-out of which the halacha develops. Eventually, the Oral Torah was written down and became part of Jewish Sacred literature. However, since the Oral Torah was based on learning and discussion among sages who devoted [Page 798]their life to study and clarification, it was never monolithic in its decisions.

Halacha has shown amazing flexibility and staying power by being able to accommodate disagreement. The earliest codifications and interpretations of halacha-the Mishnah (c. 200 C.E.), the Tosefta (240 C.E.), and the Talmud (Jerusalem c. 400 C.E. and Babylonian c. 500 C.E.) -preserve minority as well as majority opinions. Later attempts were made to codify preceding material, and codes appeared, such as the Yad he-Hazakah, also known as Mishneh Torah, of Maimonides, the Tur of Jacob ben Asher (14th century), and the Shulhan Arukh by Joseph Caro (16th century).

Finally, there is a vast collection of responsa literature that includes rabbinical rulings on specific questions. These responsa date back to the 750s and continue to be written today. Less frequent are takkanot, which are ordinances or rulings promulgated to meet a specific need and which, in effect, change the halacha by creating legislation. Some rulings had to do with instituting marriage contracts, outlawing polygamy, prohibition of giving too much money to charity, child support, and so on. These takkanot were ordained by sages to regulate life and to radically alter, or amend, an existing law. Although these takkanot have great potential, they are rarely used today since they can be described as revolutionary rather than evolutionary.

Jewish descent is on the one hand patralineal, a Jew is referred to as X son (or daughter) of a father-yet, the determination of who is a Jew is matrilineal, except in the Reform Movement. In Israel, anyone who can show Jewish ancestry is entitled under the Law of Return (1950) to immigrate to Israel. However, since the Israeli Rabbinate is controlled by the Orthodox, many immigrants who are eligible for citizenship are not able to be married in Israel. Jews number about 13.5 million worldwide and about 80 percent of Jews live either in Israel or in North America.

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