The first question in most minds: “What is “halakhic?” The noun halakha comes from the Hebrew root halakh, meaning “to walk, go,” or metaphorically, “how to behave” (Miles Van Pelt, Biblical Hebrew). Hence, the term is used to describe Jewish law, which is “the way” of walking through life in obedience to God. Note: The first messianic assembly of Jesus-followers was called “The Way” and was seen by the Pharisees as a Jewish sect (Acts 9:2). As an aside, when Jesus gave the keys of the kingdom to Peter at the foot of Mount Hermon, standing before the portal to Hell, he gave authority to the Church to establish halakha for the fledgling assembly. The Jerusalem Council, described in Acts 15, was doing just such a thing—establishing halakha. Even so, the concept of halakha runs throughout the biblical texts. As Paul explains:
Owe no one anything except to love one another, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the Torah. For the commandments—“You shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not covet,” and any other commandment—are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore, love is the fullness of the Torah (emphasis added, TLV).
This pericope from Romans 13:8–10 describes particular relational and covenantal commands that Jews and Gentiles obey. Jesus sums the V’Ahavtah (“and you shall love”) from Deuteronomy 6:5 in Matthew 22:37-40:
You shall love Adonai, your God, with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ The entire Torah and the Prophets hang on these two commandments” (emphasis added, TLV).
These summations, I propose, are continuations of the fence-building so common in rabbinic halakha. Fences, in rabbinic circles, are extensions to the written biblical law that broadens the boundary between keeping and breaking a command. In other words, if one remains outside of the fence, they will never enter the garden of God’s living word, coming close to trampling its flora—using gardening terminology :) You can’t break the command if you don’t come close to it, right?
Don’t be concerned about the term “rabbinic;” Jesus was the first in Jewish literature to be called “rabbi” (Rabboni, John 20:16). The title “Rabbi” was formally birthed, hence capitalized after the birth of Rabbinic Judaism (90 CE). With its advent, rabbinic literature and halakhic rulings became a particular genre but retained Jewish concepts, including the fence-building tradition seen in the New Testament:
Again, you have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall carry out your oaths to Adonai.’ But I tell you, do not swear at all—not by heaven, for it is the throne of God; or by the earth, for it is the footstool of His feet; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make a single hair white or black. But let your word ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No’—anything more than this is from the evil one” (Matt. 5:33-37, TLV).
The formula, “you have heard … but I tell you,” is the fence. The above example provided by Jesus extends the oath-keeping boundaries. If you don’t make any oaths, you won’t break the ruling on oath-keeping.
Consider a New Testament example of an early fence that Jesus dealt with but continues into modernity (rabbinic example provided in the Mishnah, a rabbinic collection of halakhic rulings 200-500 CE):
Matthew 15:1-20 and Mark 7:1-23 record a scene between the Pharisees and Jesus regarding hand washing before eating food. The opening statements speak directly to the context, which is the defilement of the food by unwashed hands (Mark 7:2). Jesus takes issue with the application of priestly purity laws extended as a fence to maintain the “kosher” nature of the food. Jesus sums up his point by saying: “There is nothing that enters man from the outside which can defile him; but the things which come out of him, these are the things that defile a man. … because it does not enter his heart but his stomach, and is eliminated, thus purifying all foods!” (Mark 7:15, 19) Early church interpretation views this event as Jesus’ repudiation of Jewish dietary laws. Remember, context is everything.
Early in their debate, The Pharisees want to know why Jesus’ disciples transgress the “traditions of the elders” (Matt. 15:2). The “traditions of the elders” refers to the oral law and is elucidated in the Mishnah. Handwashing and mikvah (baptism) ordinances, even in Jesus’ time, were a means to prevent defilement by touching temple utensils with ritually unclean hands. According to Levitical law, they are hands that touch things considered unclean. That uncleanness transferred to other things. The Pharisees applied temple ordinances to daily living. Mostly, it wasn’t a problem until the traditions became improperly used fences that superseded the written law.
The Pharisees in this story applied the cleanliness laws based on Exod. 19:10-13 as a fence to food that God had already established as clean to eat (“kosher” isn’t really the correct term here, but most understand it). They suggested that dirt on one’s hands changed the kosher nature of the food. Jesus upheld God’s kosher laws (kashrut) by declaring “all foods clean.” There was only one kind of food before them: food that God established as clean for the Israelites. Dirty hands didn’t make kosher food non-kosher. So the grain that the disciples plucked and ate with dirty hands was acceptable.
Traditions of the elders and rabbinic fences continued into Rabbinic Judaism, citing Exodus 19:10-13 (TLV) as the proof text:
Adonai said to Moses, “Go to the people, and sanctify them today and tomorrow. Let them wash their clothing. Be ready for the third day. For on the third day Adonai will come down upon Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people. You are to set boundaries for the people all around, saying, ‘Be very careful not to go up onto the mountain, or touch the border of it. Whoever touches the mountain will surely be put to death. Not a hand is to touch it, but he will surely be stoned or shot through. Whether it is an animal or a man, it will not live.’ When the shofar sounds, they may come up to the mountain.”
Today, and in the Mishnah, precise rules are applied as fences to ensure that cleanliness before eating is maintained:
If he poured water over one of his hands with a single rinsing his hand becomes clean. If over both his hands with a single rinsing: Rabbi Meir declares them to be unclean until he pours a minimum of a quarter of a log of water over them. If a loaf of terumah fell on the water the loaf is clean. Rabbi Yose declares it to be unclean (Mishnah Yadayim 2:1.
Today, optimally, the handwashing process is as follows (R. Aharon E. Marcus, Halacha 24/7, 130):
Hold the tool (for holding water) in your right hand and fill it with water.
Transfer it to your left hand and wash your right hand.
Transfer it to your right hand and wash your left hand.
Lift your hands and recite the handwashing blessing.
Dry your hands (follow these rules as well).
Though these increasingly detailed fences for maintaining cleanliness before eating or handling temple utensils have ancient origins, they say at least one thing— meticulous adherence to God’s precepts honored his holiness and were not to be taken lightly— a lesson for every age.
Still, much space is spent speaking about fences without actually showing how love is a halachic fence. Jesus upholds the command (halacha) to love God and one another as one might love oneself. Applying the principle of fence building, how might you see these two greatest commands of LOVE as a fence against idolatry, covetousness, defrauding patrons in business transactions, or yielding a first-come and hard-sought-after parking slot—any of the commands? A point to ponder …