Judaism

===Legal literature===
{{Main|Halakha}}
The basis of ''halakha'' and tradition is the [[Torah]] (also known as the [[Pentateuch]] or the Five Books of Moses). According to rabbinic tradition, there are [[613 mitzvot|613 commandments]] in the Torah. Some of these laws are directed only to men or to women, some only to the ancient priestly groups, the [[Kohen|Kohanim]] and [[Levite|Leviyim]] (members of the tribe of [[Levi]]), some only to farmers within the Land of Israel. Many laws were only applicable when the [[Temple in Jerusalem]] existed, and only 369 of these commandments are still applicable today.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/541686/jewish/How-Many-of-the-Torahs-Commandments-Still-Apply.htm|title=How Many of the Torah's Commandments Still Apply?|last=Danzinger|first=Eliezer|website=Chabad.org|access-date=5 June 2017|archive-date=15 June 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170615042210/http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/541686/jewish/How-Many-of-the-Torahs-Commandments-Still-Apply.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>{{better source needed|date=May 2022}}

While there have been Jewish groups whose beliefs were based on the written text of the Torah alone (e.g., the [[Sadducees]], and the [[Karaite Judaism|Karaites]]), most Jews believe in the [[Oral law#Oral law in Judaism|oral law]]. These oral traditions were transmitted by the [[Pharisees|Pharisee]] school of thought of ancient Judaism and were later recorded in written form and expanded upon by the rabbis.

According to Rabbinical Jewish tradition, God gave both the Written Law (the [[Torah]]) and the [[Oral Torah]] to Moses on [[Biblical Mount Sinai|Mount Sinai]]. The Oral law is the oral tradition as relayed by God to Moses and from him, transmitted and taught to the sages ([[rabbi]]nic leaders) of each subsequent generation.

For centuries, the Torah appeared only as a written text transmitted in parallel with the oral tradition. Fearing that the oral teachings might be forgotten, Rabbi [[Judah haNasi]] undertook the mission of consolidating the various opinions into one body of law which became known as the ''Mishnah''.<ref>Codex Judaica Kantor 2006, p. 146" (as cited on [[Judah haNasi]])</ref>

The Mishnah consists of 63 tractates codifying ''halakha'', which are the basis of the Talmud. According to [[Abraham ben David]], the ''[[Mishnah]]'' was compiled by Rabbi [[Judah the Prince|Judah haNasi]] after the destruction of Jerusalem, in [[anno mundi]] 3949, which corresponds to 189 CE.<ref>Abraham ben David, ''Seder Ha-Kabbalah Leharavad'', Jerusalem 1971, p.16 (Hebrew) (as cited on [[Judah haNasi]])</ref>

Over the next four centuries, the Mishnah underwent discussion and debate in both of the world's major Jewish communities (in Israel and [[History of the Jews in Iraq|Babylonia]]). The commentaries from each of these communities were eventually compiled into the two Talmuds, the Jerusalem Talmud (''Talmud Yerushalmi'') and the Babylonian Talmud (''Talmud Bavli''). These have been further expounded by commentaries of various Torah scholars during the ages.

In the text of the Torah, many words are left undefined, and many procedures are mentioned without explanation or instructions. Such phenomena are sometimes offered to validate the viewpoint that the Written Law has always been transmitted with a parallel oral tradition, illustrating the assumption that the reader is already familiar with the details from other, i.e., oral, sources.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.aishdas.org/student/oral.htm|title=Proofs for the Oral Law|last=Student|first=Gil|website=The AishDas Society|access-date=5 June 2017|archive-date=3 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303180308/http://www.aishdas.org/student/oral.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>

''Halakha'', the rabbinic Jewish way of life, then, is based on a combined reading of the Torah, and the oral tradition—the Mishnah, the halakhic Midrash, the Talmud and its commentaries. The ''halakha'' has developed slowly, through a precedent-based system. The literature of questions to rabbis, and their considered answers, is referred to as [[responsa]] (Hebrew {{transl|he|Sheelot U-Teshuvot}}). Over time, as practices develop, codes of ''halakha'' are written that are based on the responsa; the most important code, the [[Shulchan Aruch]], largely determines Orthodox religious practice today.