Orthodox Judaism

Orthodox Judaism is the stream of Judaism which adheres to a relatively strict interpretation and application of the laws and ethics first canonized in the Talmud ("The Oral Law") and later codified in the Shulkhan Arukh ("Code of Jewish Law"). It is governed by these works and all the Rabbinical commentary and further codification of them written throughout the last millennium. The role of Rabbi in Orthodox Judaism is to interpret and apply classical Rabbinical rulings and logic to any given question or situation.

Beliefs about Jewish law and tradition

Orthodox Judaism holds that on Mount Sinai the Written Law was transmitted along with an Oral Law. The words of the Torah (Pentateuch) were spoken to Moses by God; the laws contained in this Written Torah, the Mitzvot, were given along with detailed explanations (the oral tradition) as to how to apply and interpret them. Furthermore, The Oral law includes principles designed to create new rules. The Oral law is held to be transmitted with an incredibly high degree of accuracy.

Related Topics:
Mount Sinai - Torah - Spoken to Moses by God - The ''Mitzvot'' - The oral tradition

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According to Orthodox Judaism, Jewish Law today is based on the commandments in the Torah, as viewed through the discussions and debates contained in classical rabbinic literature, especially the Mishnah and the Talmud. Orthodox Judaism thus holds that the Halakha ("Jewish law") represents the "will of God", either directly, or as closely to directly as possible. If the laws are not the word of God per se, they are nonetheless derived from the literal word of God in the Torah, using a set of rules also revealed by God to Moses on Mount Sinai, and have been derived with the utmost accuracy and care. If some of the details of Jewish Law may have been lost over the millennia, they were reconstructed in accordance with internally consistent rules; see The thirteen rules by which Jewish law was derived.

Related Topics:
Commandments - Rabbinic literature - Mishnah - Talmud - Halakha - The thirteen rules by which Jewish law was derived

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In this world view, the Mishnaic and Talmudic rabbis are closer to the Divine revelation; by corollary, one must be extremely conservative in changing or adapting Jewish law. Furthermore, Orthodox Judaism holds that, given Jewish law's Divine origin, no underlying principle may be compromised in accounting for changing political, social or economic conditions; in this sense, "creativity" and development in Jewish law is held to have been limited. Thus, Orthodox Jews study the Talmud in depth, but Talmudic legal methodology is rarely used to alter Jewish law as codified in later compendia. Orthodox Jews will also study the Talmud for its own sake; this is considered to be the greatest mitzvah of all; see Torah study.

Related Topics:
Mitzvah - Torah study

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As above, it is held virtually as a principle of belief among many Orthodox Jews that halakha ("Jewish law") never changes. Haredi Judaism thus views higher criticism of the Talmud as inappropriate, and almost certainly heretical. At the same time, many within Modern Orthodox Judaism do not have a problem with historical scholarship in this area. See the entry on Higher criticism of the Talmud.

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