HALAKHAH (from Heb. *halakh* “to walk”). — In Rabbinic usage, this term denotes the established norm to be followed in religious-legal practice; it is a norm established for practice rather than in theory. The *halakhah* is the outcome of discussions and interpretations aimed at reconciling current practice with the letter of the Law, indeed at finding in the Law support for practice.
The prohibition against leaving one’s home on the Sabbath to travel considerable distances (Jer. 17:20 ff.) is expanded into a ban on carrying objects outside the Sabbath boundary of one’s permanent dwelling. The vocalization of the text, which originally read “he shall not go out,” is thus altered to “he shall not cause to go out,” so that the prohibition appears as though it were contained in Scripture. Legal forms evolve. Some become purely historical recollections, such as the symbolic act of removing a shoe when transferring property from one person to another (Ruth 4:7–8). Other norms arise from the constant usage of a kind of popular jurisprudence and thereby become religious-legal practice that scholars