“Be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy.” Leviticus/Vayikra 19:2
 
Halacha ("The Way To Go" or "Way to Walk") guides proper Jewish behavior in all aspects of life, each day of our lives--not just in civil laws or court situations. Halacha teaches us how to behave with our families, relatives, and strangers as well as how to fulfill our religious requirements between ourselves and God.

To fulfill our role as a holy people, we imitate God's actions. Examples are visiting the sick, welcoming guests, giving charity, refraining from creative activity on Shabbat, and promoting peace between husband and wife (shalom bayit).

The true reason for following halacha is because God commanded us to do so.  We observe halacha to please our Creator and to become spiritually close to Him by doing His will and imitating His actions.

Like the word for the whole body of Jewish "laws," each rule of how to act is called a halacha (plural, halachot).

Where Do Halachot Come From?

Although you will find halachot on this site that were born only a few days or a few decades ago, the body of halacha has been around since before creation.  "God looked into the Torah and created the world," says the Zohar, and so we find the Patriarchs followed halacha even before that great law book, the Torah, was given on Mount Sinai four centuries later.
 
Many halachot are specified in the Written Torah (Jewish Bible). These halachot correspond to fuller and more detailed halachot given orally (Oral Torah) to Moses on Mount Sinai to explain the Written Torah that he received at the same time. Many halachot could not be understood from the Written Torah without the Oral Law (for example, what should be written on a mezuza scroll?) and many common practices such as making kiddush or what tefilin should look like are to be found nowhere in the Written Torah.
 
Since the Torah applies to all generations, the Torah specifies that there be wise and learned people to decide how to apply halacha to the situations of the day.  Halachot can be found in sourcebooks such as the Mishna, Gemara, their commentaries, Shulchan Aruch, Mishna Berura, and responsa (questions and answers originally sent by letter and now, occasionally, by email or SMS!) of later rabbis.
 
Sometimes a custom becomes a halacha, sometimes not.  For example, the original halacha for tzitzit was that a Jewish man who wears a four-cornered garment must have tzitziyot on each corner.  The custom, which has become universally accepted and now has the force of halacha, is that Jewish men wear a four-cornered garment in order to be able to fulfill the commandment of wearing tzitziyot.  An example of a custom that did not become a halacha is that some men and boys wear their tzitziyot outside of their shirts and pants.

Levels of Halachot

In halacha, there are three levels of what to follow or observe. They are differentiated on this website by the following terms: 

• “Must”:  Halachot that are generally non-negotiable except in extreme situations;
• “Should”:  Customs that have been accepted by the entire Jewish world (or major segments of it) and that may be overridden when necessary, sometimes even if not extreme circumstances; and
• “Non-Binding Custom”:  Customs that are not universally followed and that do not need to be followed except by people who have the tradition to do so.

Various types of attire are considered appropriate for men, single women, married women, and children to wear in public.  The standards vary somewhat due to location and era.

• Before and after eating,
• After waking in the morning,
• At various types of life experiences, and
• In many other situations.

Blessings Formulations

Some blessings begin with Baruch ata adonai only; some blessings continue with eloheinu melech ha'olam.  The shorter blessings come at the end of long (compound) blessings.

ReasonThere is no mention of malchut at the end of a blessing.

How To Say Blessings

When saying blessings or prayers, it is generally best to say the words of the blessing or prayer out loud since doing so can help you to concentrate on what is being said. (The main exception is the amida prayer.)
Normally, you should stand while saying blessings before doing a mitzva, unless the mitzva is done while seated (in which case you sit when saying the blessing).
REASON So there is no delay between saying the blessing and doing the mitzva.
NOTE Although there is not necessarily any need to stand while doing mitzvot, many mitzvot are done while standing due to the nature of the mitzva or for convenience.
If you find you have made an error in saying a blessing or prayer, you may correct your error without having to repeat any previous parts if you do so within 2.5 seconds of having made the error.

Avraham was commanded to circumcise himself and all males in his household. From then on, all healthy Jewish males were to be circumcised when they reached 8 days old.
If there is any question about the baby’s health, the circumcision is delayed or, in rare cases, not done at all.
The primary obligation to do the circumcision is on the boy’s father. Since most people are not skilled surgeons, the actual cutting is usually done by a highly trained expert, called a mohel, who is appointed by the father. A festive meal is eaten after the circumcision.  A minyan is preferred, but not required, for a brit mila.
 

The Torah requires everyone to give charity (tzedaka), and even people who are so poor that they receive charity must also give something to charity. The giving of charity engenders consideration for people who have less than we do.

When we hear of a death, we say Baruch Dayan Ha’Emet to acknowledge that even though we are unhappy about a person’s dying, we recognize that it is part of God's operation of the world.
 

By surrounding ourselves with reminders of the commandments and with objects for observing the various Jewish rituals, we can be constantly aware of what we should be doing to live our lives as Jews.
There are two categories of items used for mitzvot:

• Holy items (tashmishei kedusha), such as tefilin and its boxes, Torah books and commentaries, and Torah scrolls and covers. 
• Items used for mitzvot (tashmishei mitzva), such as lulav, etrog, and talit/tzitzit.

Women
Sacred scrolls (Torah, mezuza, tefilin) may not be written by women for sacred purposes. However, if they were written by a woman, you may study from them. You may not use them for public Torah reading, putting on tefilin, or affixing to doorposts (for mezuza).


Disposal
Both tashmishei kedusha and tashmishei mitzva should be disposed of in a respectful manner. Tashmishei kedusha should ideally be buried. Newspapers with Torah or Torah commentary must be double-wrapped and then may be put in the trash, since they contain material that should not be buried with holy writings (only a newspaper’s Torah or Torah commentary contain inherent holiness).
To dispose of tashmishei mitzva, you may wrap in one layer of plastic and throw it in normal garbage.

Commandments are of two types; those governing:

• Interpersonal behavior (Bein adam l’chaveiro), which this section presents, and
• Behavior between people and God, which most of the rest of this website deals with (but interpersonal behavior is also a commandment between people and God).

 

Prayer brings us closer to God.  When we ask for things from God, even though God already knows what we want and need, we get merit (zechut) for the prayer.
Particularly in synagogue, a holy place, we must be always cognizant of God’s presence and take special care to show respect to God in His house. This awareness is even more important than memorizing the halachot of prayer: those who speak in synagogue are showing disrespect to God as well as disturbing others and preventing them from praying with concentration (kavana).
The three daily prayer services--shacharit, mincha, and ma’ariv--are related to the three forefathers who instituted them.  They partly take the place of—and are modeled after--the Temple sacrifices.
If you find you have made an error in saying a blessing or prayer, you may correct your error without having to repeat any previous parts if you do so within 2.5 seconds.

Shabbat was the goal of Creation. Just as God completed the world's creation on the sixth day and ceased His work on the seventh, so Jews are supposed to imitate God and not do any creative work on the seventh day. Everything we need for living through Shabbat must be prepared ahead so that we do not do any creative activities on Shabbat.
Our observance of Shabbat thus testifies that God created the world. In the Shabbat kiddush, we mention the Exodus from Egypt, too, to testify to the world that God is continuously involved in our lives.
By ceasing our normal efforts to dominate the physical world, we can appreciate the spiritual aspects of our existence.
On Shabbat, all observant (shomer Shabbat) Jews receive an extra “soul.”

Zachor and Shamor

Remember (Zachor) the Sabbath day to make it holy—Exodus/Shmot 20:8
Observe (Shamor) the Sabbath day to make it holy—Deuteronomy/Devarim 5:12
Shabbat has two dimensions:

• Zachor  “Remember,” encompassing positive (“to do”) commandments, and
• Shamor  “Observe,” encompassing negative (“refrain from”) commandments.

Zachor:  Positive Shabbat Commandments
What Are Positive Shabbat Commandments
Positive Shabbat commandments include:

• Lighting candles,
• Making kiddush evening and morning,
• Making havdala,
• Honoring Shabbat (Kivod Shabbat), and
• Enjoying Shabbat (Oneg Shabbat), including eating three meals on Shabbat.

Honoring Shabbat: Special Food and Clothes
Honoring Shabbat includes eating tasty food and wearing nice clothes.

Shamor: Negative Shabbat Commandments
Shabbat Laws from the Torah (Shabbat D'Oraita)
What Are Melachot
On the Jewish day of rest, we refrain from 39 creative activities (melachot) that had been used to build the Tabernacle in the wilderness. These 39 melachot, prohibited by the Torah, are listed in the mishna of Shabbat and in later halacha books.

The word melacha is frequently mistranslated as “work,” but work has nothing to do with the Jewish concept of melacha. Some melachot are physically strenuous (plowing, grinding wheat, skinning an animal) and some are easy to do (drawing, baking). The defining point is whether the activity is one of the 39 creative, value-adding labors. Emptying your pockets before leaving an eruv (so you are not “carrying”) may seem confusing to someone who thinks that resting on Shabbat means refraining only from hard physical labor!

What Are Toldot
Toldot are variations of the 39 melachot. These types of melacha are also prohibited by the Torah.

Intention and Other Considerations
Most Torah (d’oraita) prohibitions of melacha on Shabbat are for cases in which you:
            1) Intend a permanent change.
                Often, actions that may be forbidden when they cause permanent change, will
                be permissible by Torah law if the result is only temporary. Or
            2) Intend or act for a specific purpose.
                Random or unintended actions are generally not prohibited by Torah law.
                (However, actions that are not prohibited by the Torah, may be prohibited
                by Chazal.)

Whether you may benefit from a melacha done on Shabbat depends on intention:

• A Jew who intentionally does a melacha on Shabbat may never benefit from that melacha.

            Note Any other Jew may benefit from that melacha as soon as Shabbat is over.

• A Jew who does melacha on Shabbat by mistake (shogeg) may benefit from that melacha immediately after Shabbat ends.

In order to violate a prohibited melacha d'oraita, the melacha must be done as follows. If any of these do not apply, then the melacha is forbidden d'rabanan but not d'oraita:

• K'darko--The action must be done in a normal way.
• Tzorech tikun—The action must be done for a constructive purpose.
• Tzricha l’gufa--You must need the normal result of that action.
• Asiya b'yachid—The action must be done by one individual (if commonly done by just one person).
• Mit'aseik--You must realize that you are doing a melacha.

 
Shabbat Laws from Chazal (Shabbat D'Rabanan)
Chazal instituted additional restrictions, such as:

• Activities that might lead directly to violating a Torah prohibition.
• Use of items not designated for Shabbat use (muktza). For a good explanation of muktza from the TorahTots website, please click here.
• Activities that might lead one to think that a prohibited activity is permissible (mar'it ayin--the appearance of the eye).
• Activities that are not appropriate for Shabbat, even though they are technically permissible according to the Torah (“uvda d'chol”).
• Tircha--Exerting a physical effort to accomplish a result that is not required for Shabbat.

Enjoying Shabbat/Oneg Shabbat
Chazal instituted laws to engender a positive Shabbat atmosphere and experience.  Beyond the actual halachot of shamor and zachor, we have a concept of enjoying Shabbat (oneg Shabbat)—of enhancing our experience of Shabbat by doing whatever each person finds to be enjoyable and relaxing--as long as it is neither destructive nor violates the laws of Shabbat. The criteria are subjective. To fulfill the idea of honoring Shabbat, do things you would not do just for yourself if it were not Shabbat. Take essential life activities such as eating and sleeping and do them more and better and make them especially enjoyable.

Meals as Oneg
On Shabbat, we eat better foods and more types of food than we would normally do on weekdays.
The main idea behind meals for Shabbat is enjoyment (oneg; by contrast, the main idea for Jewish festivals is joy--simcha), so on Shabbat you should eat bread and either fish, poultry, or meat (but only if you enjoy them).
In order to have a special appetite for our Shabbat evening meal, we don’t eat a full meal with bread on Friday afternoon.

Special Shabbat Songs (Zmirot)
Special songs (zmirot) are sung at the various Shabbat meals. Some zmirot have an aspect of prayer to them.

Studying Torah
Studying Torah on Shabbat is another way of increasing our spiritual experience. It honors the Shabbat and should bring about enjoyment of Shabbat.

Shabbat and Muktza
For information on Shabbat and muktza, see section below, Shabbat: Muktza.

Weekday Talk
Don't talk about subjects that are forbidden to do on Shabbat (weekday subjects); for example, don't talk about what you will do after Shabbat is over. There is no prohibition about discussing actions from the past as long as no planning is discussed.

The Torah commands us to be kedoshim (holy, or set apart), requiring purity in what we eat, how we speak, what we wear, and how we behave. Tum’a is spiritual impurity generally resulting from transitions from life to death (even in a small measure; for instance—sleep or cutting nails). Tum’a inhibits or blocks us from achieving holiness.
Since we do not have a “red heifer” with which to make purifying water solutions, all people are considered to have some level of tum’a today.
Although there are three reasons to ritually wash hands--to add kedusha; to remove tum’a; and to remove dirt--tum’a normally has nothing to do with physical dirt. There are many types and levels of tum’a, with no exact progression. The following guideline is approximately in descending order from most impure to least:

Sources of the Different Levels of Tum’a

• Dead body (touching or being in same building with a dead body);
• Cemetery;
• Carcass of any dead animal not slaughtered by shechita;
• Women during and after menstruation or after childbirth (but before they immerse in a mikva);
• Sleep;
• Possibly a bathroom;
• Your hands’ transferring tum’a to wet food;
• Your hands’ transferring tum’a to bread;
• Food from under a bed on which someone slept;
• Intercourse or seminal emission;
• Having your beard, hair, or nails cut;
• Leather shoes;
• Touching body parts.

Depending on the level of tum’a, purifying may require:

• Washing your hands by the Three-Times Method.
• Washing your hands by the One-Time Method.
• Immersion in a mikva. OR
• Sprinkling with water that had been treated with ashes from a red heifer (which we do not have now).

The purpose of the rabbi at a wedding is to ensure that the extremely detailed wedding halachot, as set out by the Shulchan Aruch, are followed correctly. If not, the wedding might not be kosher.
 
A Jewish marriage includes: a written document (ketuba); a financial transaction (ring) in front of two kosher witnesses; and physical intimacy. 
 
Witnesses
 

• The witnesses must be shomer Shabbat Jewish men.
• The bride and groom should confirm verbally that these are the two (and the only two) witnesses that they want.  

 
Ring

• The groom must confirm that he acquired and owns the ring.
• The groom must say Harei at mekudeshet li ...  to the bride and place the ring on her (index) finger.

 
Ketuba

• The ketuba must be kosher.
• Before the chuppa, someone (anyone, including women) must fill in (no safrut is required for this):  the Hebrew names of the bride and groom; the date the wedding is taking place; the wedding location (city, etc.); and that a kinyan was made.
• The ketuba must be signed by two kosher witnesses.