What is “Halakhah”? The Fascinating History of an Essential Term
This class studies the many meanings of the term Halakhah as they develop over time and considers what they say about the practice of Halakhah overall. Should we translate Halakhah as “law,” and if so is it the theoretical law or the practical law? What does it mean for something to be “Halakhah but we do not rule like it” (הלכה ואין מורין כן) or to be “Halakhah but not for enaction” (הלכה ולא למעשה)? How should we understand other uses of the term Halakhah, such as where it is used to introduce Midrashic teachings or to refer to a paragraph of a legal text? What significance is there to the more recent shift in which certain observant groups refer to themselves as “Halakhic Judaism”?