Editing Halakha (section)

==== Orthodox Judaism ====
{{also|Semikhah#Concept|Yeshiva#Jewish law}}
[[File:Haredim allant a la synagogue.jpg|thumb|Hasidim walk to the synagogue, [[Rehovot]], Israel.]]
Orthodox Jews believe that ''halakha'' is a religious system whose core represents the [[Revelation|revealed]] will of God. Although Orthodox Judaism acknowledges that rabbis have made many decisions and decrees regarding Jewish Law where the written Torah itself is nonspecific, they did so only in accordance with regulations received by [[Moses]] on [[Mount Sinai, Egypt|Mount Sinai]] (see {{bibleverse|Deuteronomy|5:8–13}}). These regulations were transmitted orally until shortly after the destruction of the [[Second Temple]]. They were then recorded in the Mishnah, and explained in the Talmud and commentaries throughout history up until the present day. Orthodox Judaism believes that subsequent interpretations have been derived with the utmost accuracy and care. The most widely accepted codes of Jewish law are known as [[Mishneh Torah]] and the ''[[Shulchan Aruch]]''.<ref name="JillJacobs">Jacobs, Jill. "[https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/the-shulhan-arukh/ The Shulchan Aruch] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181225195931/https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/the-shulhan-arukh/ |date=2018-12-25 }}." ''My Jewish Learning''. 8 April 2019.</ref>

Orthodox Judaism has a range of opinions on the circumstances and extent to which change is permissible. [[Haredi Judaism|Haredi]] Jews generally hold that even ''minhagim'' (customs) must be retained, and existing precedents cannot be reconsidered. [[Modern Orthodox]] authorities are more inclined to permit limited changes in customs and some reconsideration of precedent.<ref>Sokol, Sam. [https://www.jta.org/2019/02/07/culture/can-a-journals-new-editor-keep-orthodox-debate-relevant-in-the-21st-century "A journal’s new editor wants to steer the Modern Orthodox debate into the 21st century."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190331231728/https://www.jta.org/2019/02/07/culture/can-a-journals-new-editor-keep-orthodox-debate-relevant-in-the-21st-century |date=2019-03-31 }} ''Jewish Telegraphic Agency''. 7 February 2019. 8 April 2019.</ref>

Despite the Orthodox views that ''halakha'' was given at Sinai, Orthodox thought (and especially modern Orthodox thought) encourages debate, allows for disagreement, and encourages rabbis to enact decisions based on contemporary needs. [[Rabbi Moshe Feinstein]] says in his introduction to his collection of [[responsa]] that a rabbi who studies the texts carefully is required to provide a halakhic decision. That decision is considered to be a true teaching, even if it is not the true teaching in according to the heavens.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Feinstein |first1=Rabbi Moshe |title=Iggrot Moshe |chapter=Introduction to Orach Chayim Chelek Aleph |url=https://hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=916&st=&pgnum=3|language=he|quote={{Rtl-para|he| [...] אבל האמת להוראה כבר נאמר לא בשמים היא אלא כפי שנראה להחכם אחרי שעיין כראוי לברר ההלכה בש"ס ובפוסקים כפי כחו בכובד ראש וביראה מהשי"ת ונראה לו שכן הוא פסק הדין הוא האמת להוראה ומחוייב להורות כן אף אם בעצם גליא כלפי שמיא שאינו כן הפירוש, ועל כזה נאמר שגם דבריו דברי אלקים חיים מאחר שלו נראה הפירוש כמו שפסק ולא היה סתירה לדבריו. ויקבל שכר על הוראתו אף שהאמת אינו כפירוש.}}}}</ref> For instance, [[Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik]] believes that the job of a halakhic [[wikt:decisor#English|decisor]] is to apply ''halakha'' − which exists in an ideal realm−to people's lived experiences.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kaplan |first1=Lawrence |title=The Religious Philosophy of Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik |journal=Tradition: A Journal of Orthodox Jewish Thought |date=1973 |volume=14 |issue=2 |pages=43–64 |jstor=23257361 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23257361}}</ref> [[Moshe Shmuel Glasner]], the chief rabbi of [[Cluj]] (''Klausenberg'' in German or ''קלויזנבורג'' in Yiddish) stated that the Oral Torah was an oral tradition by design, to allow for the creative application of halakha to each time period, and even enabling halakha to evolve. He writes:

{{blockquote | Thus, whoever has due regard for the truth will conclude that the reason the [proper] interpretation of the Torah was transmitted orally and forbidden to be written down was not to make [the Torah] unchanging and not to tie the hands of the sages of every generation from interpreting Scripture according to their understanding. Only in this way can the eternity of Torah be understood [properly], for the changes in the generations and their opinions, situation and material and moral condition requires changes in their laws, decrees and improvements.<ref>{{citation |last1=Glasner |first1=Moshe Shmuel |title=Introduction to the דור רביעי |translator=Yaakov Elman |url=http://wwwarchive.math.psu.edu/glasner/Dor4/elman.html |orig-date=Spring 1991 |access-date=2023-05-09 |archive-date=2023-04-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230417142026/http://wwwarchive.math.psu.edu/glasner/Dor4/elman.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>}}