Halakhah (from Halakh 'to walk')

HALAKHAH (from halakh, "to walk"). - In rabbinic language, it is the established norm that must be followed in religious-juridical practice; it is a norm established for practice and not on a theoretical level. The h. is the result of discussions and interpretations that tend to reconcile current practice with the letter of the Law, indeed to find in the Law a support for practice.

The prohibition against leaving one's dwelling on the Sabbath day in order to cover considerable distances (ter. 17, 20 ff.) is broadened, becoming a prohibition against carrying objects out of the place of permanent dwelling on the Sabbath day. The vocalization in the text that says "he shall not go out" is therefore changed to "he shall not bring out"; the prohibition thus appears as contained in Scripture. Legal forms evolve. There are some that become a purely historical memory, such as, for example, the symbolic act of removing one's shoe at the transfer of ownership from one person to another (Ruth 4, 7-8). Other norms arise from the constant use of a kind of popular jurisprudence and thus become religious-juridical practice that the doctors tend to reconcile with the letter of the Law. It is popular custom that rises to the value of law.

Noteworthy is the fact that in the Aramaic version the word miṣpāṭ (right) corresponds to hilbātā, a term that encompasses all prescriptions of a religious-juridical character, whereas in the Talmudic sources the term miṣpāṭ, which concerns purely juridical norms, corresponds to the word dīn, whose Arabic equivalent means religion.

Eugenio Zolli