Traditions

Doctrines and sayings transmitted from father to son by word of mouth, and thus preserved among the people. Such traditions constitute a large part of Jewish oral teachings (see Oral Law); and many halakic doctrines seek to trace their descent from Moses on Mount Sinai (see Sinaitic Commandments). There are other traditions, however, which refer to national and historical events, rather than to halakic problems. Of these haggadot, scattered through Talmudic and midrashic literature, the following two may be cited as examples: (1) Soṭah 10b: "We have received the tradition from our fathers that Amoz, the father of the prophet Isaiah, and Amaziah, the king of Judah, were brothers"; and (2) Yer. B. B. 15c: "It is a haggadic tradition that the space occupied by the Holy of Holies in the Temple was not included in the stipulated measurement of the latter."

The Hebrew designations for tradition are "Masoret" () and "Ḳabbalah" (), while halakic tradition is designated also as "Halakah" ().

S. J. Z. L.