Contents | Index

The Midrash Halakah

The Midrash Halakah was an exposition which give a legal teaching.

In Judaism it was the body of law regulating all aspects of life, including religious ritual, family and personal status, civil relations, criminal law, and relations with non-Jews. Midrash Halakah is the term used to designate both a particular ordinance and the law in the abstract. The adjective halakic means "of a legal nature." The plural, halakoth, refers to a collection of laws. It usually designates the Oral Law as codified in the Mishna, especially to those statements of law that are topical without regard for scriptural origin. The most authoritative codifications of these laws are the Mishneh Torah of Maimonides and the Shulhan Arukh (the set table) by Joseph Karo. Midrash Halakah was the important unifying force in the Jewish world until modern times, when its authority was challenged by religious reform and secular conceptions of a Jewish nation. Contemporary problems in halakah revolve around its application to technological change, especially in relation to medical issues and Sabbath observance. Halakah is contrasted with haggada (plural haggadoth), the literary, aesthetic elements in the Oral Law and in the Talmud, and Midrash generally, which elaborates scriptural meaning through legends, tales, parables, and allegories. Both the halakic and haggadic elements have been extracted and made the subject of commentary.