Halakhah

Halakhah - the code of conduct for Jewish life

Responsa - the correspondence of rabbis concerning religious decisions

Bet Din - religious court, made up of rabbis

Yeshivah - a college where the Torah and Talmud are studied

The Torah lists and describes the 613 commandments how does not expand on how to keep them in practice. When God gave moses the details of the mitzvot, he also gave the details on how to keep them. This detail is describes as Halakhah. This word can be translated as 'going', as the idea of Halakhah is that by observing the commandments, Jews are 'going with God'. 

Responsa

• Rabbis have to have full knowledge of the Talmud so that they can find the correct reference point, in order to be able to answer questions about Halakhah
• Also important for Rabbis to be up to date with the latest decision made about Halakhah from other Rabbis
• In order to achieve this they made a system known as Responsa
• Questions made from people around the world were given answers from experts and Rabbis which are now used by Rabbis and teachers to explain the solutions to problems about Halakhah

Halakhah as part of an ongoing process

• As the world changes, it is important that Halakhah is able to match the demands of this change; Jews believe…