HĀLĀKHĀH (from hālakh “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 in theory. The h. is the result of discussions and interpretations aimed at reconciling current practice with the letter of the Law, indeed at finding support for practice in the Law.
The prohibition against leaving one’s dwelling on the Sabbath day in order to travel considerable distances (Jer. 17, 20 ff.) is extended, becoming a prohibition against taking objects out of the place of permanent residence on the Sabbath day. The vocalization is therefore altered in the text that says “he shall not go out” to “he shall not bring out”; the prohibition thus appears to be contained in Scripture. Legal forms evolve. Some become a purely historical recollection, as, for example, the symbolic act of removing one’s shoe when property passed 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, which the doctors seek to reconcile with the letter of the Law. It is popular custom that rises to the status of law.
Noteworthy is the fact that in the Aramaic version the word miṣpāṭ (law) corresponds to hilbātā, a term encompassing all prescriptions of a religious-juridical character, whereas in Talmudic sources the term miṣpāṭ, which concerns purely juridical norms, corresponds to the word dīn, whose Arabic equivalent means religion.