Halakhah Le-Mosheh Mi-Sinai

("A law [given] to Moses at Sinai"). Various laws and ordinances which, though not found in the Pentateuch or directly derived from it, have a reputed Mosaic origin and authority. The term occurs three times in the Mishnah and is used frequently in talmudic sources. The sages understood it literally to mean that such regulations were communicated by God to Moses at the Sinaitic revelation; Moses was then instructed to transmit them orally (see Oral Law) and not to incorporate them in the Written Law. Many of these ordinances supplement biblical commandments. For example, a large number have to do with the design and making of phylacteries (Tefillin; see Er. 97a, Men. 35a); others indicate the defects which render a slaughtered beast Terefah (Ḥul. 42a) or discuss observances connected with the Water-Drawing Festival (Suk. 34a). There was no general agreement among the sages, however, as to which particular laws fell under this category. According to the Talmud, any legal innovation by a diligent scholar had already been "given to Moses at Sinai" and this also applied to laws whose Scriptural basis was questionable. Maimonides (Yad, Tefillin 1:6-8) later declared that the types of parchment used in preparing mezuzot, tefillin, and Torah scrolls had a halakhah le-Mosheh mi-Sinai authorization. Despite ambiguities and discrepancies, any law so described is usually not subject to further dispute. In the opinion of some medieval authorities, the term halakhah le-Mosheh mi-Sinai was not meant to be taken literally but used to describe a time-honored Jewish rule or Custom.

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