The most defining characteristic of an observant Jewish life is fidelity to the halacha, to Jewish law. The halacha is an all-encompassing system that governs a person’s life from the moment they wake up in the morning until they go to sleep at night. There is little area in one’s daily routine that is not nuanced by Jewish law. A person who maintains a life devoted to halacha is often asked about the perceived burden of doing so.1 How is it possible to live life encumbered by so many details about everything one does? Yet, those asking fail to recognize that every person living in any society governed by law lives their life surrounded by a legal code as well. The failure to realize this reality is, in effect, the answer to their very question for their ability to live a meaningful, fulfilled life is not hampered by conforming to the laws of their society…
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