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The beliefs and customs of Judaism originated among a nomadic and pastoral people who later developed into the agricultural Hebrews. Judaism was a religious culture Halacha (Way). Jewish religious beliefs were based primarily on the Torah (The Hebrew Bible) which was comprised of 613 commandments (Mitzvot) that covered all aspects of life from birth to death and revealed G-d's instructions to the Jewish people. An extensive body of lore and teachings have been gathered over the centuries that clarified and explained the ancient Biblical texts such as the Talmud (the teaching or rabbinical text) and the Aggadah (the philosophical texts, stories, poetry). There was also a mystical branch of Judaism which illuminated the nature of the G-dhead emanate in the world. This mystical branch attempted to commune with the G-dhead by means of the transcendent self embodied in the Kabbalah received tradition texts and the Zohar (Book of Illumination). The Halacha (Way to Go) referred to the overall system of Judaic religious law, to a single rule or to the entire collection of rabbinical legal texts. Passed down from generation to generation over the years, the Halacha has been developing and expanding since before 500 BCE.
As a combined body of customs, rabbinical law, judicial opinions, recommendations, legislation and traditions, the Halacha guided Jewish daily living; as well as, Judaic religious practices and beliefs. In the past the Halacha served as enforceable civil and religious law. Today only voluntary consent binds Jewish citizens to the Halacha. Rabbis interpreted Halacha in order to determine the applicability, authority and legality of state laws in regard to Jewish citizens. Modern day Jews were not restricted to Halacha traditions for most of their civil, commercial and criminal law. Non-Jewish laws; as well as, non-Jewish legal jurisdiction were binding on Jewish citizens. In Israel rabbinical interpretations of the Halacha governed certain areas of personal and family life. Often compared to the Aggadah, a diverse body of rabbinical literature that was narrative and philosophical in nature, the Halacha writers sometimes drew upon the rabbinical literature.
The Halacha also consisted of
guidelines for the hundreds of commandments (Mitzvot) of the Torah which
had been expanded by dialogue and argument regarding the Mishnah and
Talmud (the oral law), commentaries on Talmudic and other rabbinical
literature, the She'eloth U-Teshuvoth (questions and answers literature) and the
Shulkhan Arukh (the Jewish code of law).
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