why is Halakhah more important than Compassion ?

[steve]

It seems to me that Halakhah takes precedence over compassion.
Why is Jewish law more important than compassion ?

[Hart60]

Hi Steve , I'm not quite sure what you mean,but the 613 mitzvot are part of Halakhah and several of these commandments relate to compassion. Is there a particular example you have in mind ?
Dan .

[LAGoff]

Maybe because love your fellow/stranger is not a halakha; it's a mitsva?
I don't know. I'm asking.

I remember being confused(I'm still confused) the day I saw a book called sefer mitsvot(I think that's the title) by Maimonides.
Are halakhot rabbinical decrees by the sages? Is there any overlap between the halakha and the mitsvot.
What I mean is that I believe it says don't steal, murder in the mitsvot(in the Tora). So does this mean that "Do not steal" and "Do not murder" are not halakha?
That doesn't sound like "Jewish Law"(if that's what halakha means)- i.e. to leave out something like those two things.
It seems there's these two Law codes: the mitsvot and the halakha; and I want to know the difference?

This is a serious question.
Perhaps answering it will also go a long way in answering the IP's hard to understand question? -since it's a mitsva to love my fellow as myself and to love the stranger as myself, what's left for halakha?

Thanks,
Confused

[David_L]

Someone more knowledgeable than myself can clarify, but my understanding is that halakhah (law) and mitzvot (commandments) essentially mean the same thing.

Some laws are Biblical in origin, others were added by the Rabbis (which the Bible gives them authority to do).

As posted above, some of the laws tell us to treat other people well.

[Enora]

mitzvot are the source of halakha...
There are mitzvot d'oraita (from the Torah) and mitzva derabbanan (from the rabbis)
Thou shall not kill is the LAW, it is halakha...

As for Halakha vs compassion perhaps you mean Din vs Hessed (law vs mercy)
It is said that Hashem created the world based on both. They go hand in hand. One without the other couldn't function.

[LAGoff]

Thanks, I didn't know that mitsva was used for both because I have seen a couple books that say "Book of Mitsvot"(Chofets Chayim, Maimonides) and they ONLY deal with things from the Tora. So I assumed that you couldn't produce a book called "Book of Mitsvot" and have included in it rabbinical enactments such as washing hands and saying a blessing before bread; but according to you, one could produce such a book.

So this book "Sefer Mitsvot" from Maimonides that I mentioned should(for me) have been called: 'Sefer Mitsvot min haTora'?(to clear up my confusion).
Therefore, could one call the legal code compilations such as Mishne Tora and Shulkhan Aruch 'sefer mitsvot from the rabbis/sages'?

I assume washing ones hands before bread(and saying a blessing) would be from the latter(mitsva min rabbis/sages), as it only says about blessing God AFTER eating in the Tora.

[steve]

How does a gentile relate to G-d ? perhaps by looking after everything he has created and giving rather than taking all the time.
Perhaps giving to the creator by looking after his creation is the best prayer and all that is required.

[Hart60]

Hi Steve, I found this article written by Dr Frank Gent on the website of the Shul I attend, I hope you find it inspiring.

http://exetersynagogue.org.uk/newsletter/rights.php

[steve]

Thanks Dan.

[steve]

Hi Dan,
I was wondering how you are, are you still going to the synagogue ?

Steve