Takkanah

A takkanah (Hebrew: תקנה, romanized: taqqānā, pl. takkanot, 'improvement') is a major legislative enactment within halakha, the normative system of Judaism's laws. A takkanah is an enactment that revises an ordinance that no longer satisfies the requirements of the times or circumstances or which, being deduced from a biblical passage, may be regarded as new. A takkanah is enacted by a rabbinical decree or ordinance to improve and preserve religious life. It is, therefore, the antithesis of the gezerah (Hebrew: גְּזֵרָה, romanized: gǝzērā). The term is applied also to the institution provided for in the enactment.

Takkanot were enacted even in the time of the Second Temple, those of unknown origin being ascribed to earlier leaders, and they have been promulgated at all subsequent periods of Jewish history.

Classical Jewish law granted the Chazal, the first rabbinical authorities, wide legislative powers. There are two powerful legal tools within the Halakhic system:

• Gezera: "preventive legislation" of the Chazal, intended to prevent violations of the commandments
• Taqqana: "positive legislation", practice instituted by the rabbis not based (directly) on the commandments as such (e.g. rabbinical mitzvot).

However, taqqanah can refer to either gezerot or taqqanot in later literature.

Taqqanot, in general, do not affect or restrict observance of mitzvot. However, the Talmud states that in exceptional cases, the Jewish sages had the authority to make a gezera even if it would "uproot a matter from the Torah". In Talmudic and classical Rabbinic literature, this authority refers to the power to prohibit specific actions that would otherwise be permitted by Jewish law, known as halakha. Rabbis may rule that a Torah-based mitzva should not be performed—e.g. blowing the shofar on Shabbat or blessing the four species of Sukkot on Shabbat. These gezerot are executed out of fear that some might otherwise carry the mentioned items between home and the synagogue, thus inadvertently violating one of the 39 Melakhot, a greater sin than neglecting a mitzva.

Another rare and limited form of taqqana involved overriding Torah prohibitions. In some cases, the sages permitted temporary exceptions to a prohibition to maintain the system as a whole. This was part of the basis for Esther's relationship with Ahasuerus.^[1]

Ascribed to Moses:

1. the observance on holy days of the ceremonies peculiar to the festivals in question^[2]
2. public Torah reading on the Sabbath, holy days, Rosh Hodesh, and Chol HaMoed^[3]
3. the first blessing in Birkat Hamazon^[4]
4. the eight Priestly watches managed by the Priestly divisions, four by Eleazar and four by Ithamar, which Samuel and David increased to twenty-four^[5]
5. the seven days of wedding festivities for a virgin (the festivities for a widow's wedding were later ordained to last three days), and seven days of mourning for the dead^[6]

To Joshua:

1. the second blessing in Birkat Hamazon^[4]
2. ten regulations which, however, are not takkanot in the strict sense of the term^[7]

To Boaz, the ancestor of David:

1. salutation in the name of God^[8]

To King David:

1. increase of the eight watches of the priests to twenty-four (see above);
2. the recitation of 100 blessings daily^[9]
3. the third blessing in Birkat Hamazon^[4]

To King Solomon:

1. the practise regarding the Eruv^[10]
2. the washing of the hands before Kiddush, which Shammai and Hillel made obligatory for Terumah as well, while later authorities extended it to still other occasions^[11]
3. the regulation regarding entrance upon another's fields after the harvest (possibly enacted by Joshua also)^[12]

To the early prophets:

1. The singing of Hallel on every important occasion, and especially after escape from danger^[13]
2. the introduction of twenty-four divisions of laymen, corresponding to the twenty-four watches of the priests^[5]

To the Prophets before the destruction of Solomon's Temple:

1. pago de terumá y diezmos en Babilonia así como en la Tierra de Israel ^{[ 14 ]}
2. pago del segundo diezmo ("ma'aser sheni") en el séptimo año ^{[ 14 ]}
3. pago del mismo en Egipto, Amón y Moab asimismo ^{[ 14 ]}
4. pago del diezmo pobre ("ma'aser 'ani") incluso en el séptimo año ^{[ 14 ]}

A los profetas después de la destrucción del Templo:

1. ayunar el séptimo de Tamuz, Tisha B'Av , el primero de Tishri y el décimo de Tevet ^{[ 15 ]}

Para Ezra :

1. la lectura de diez versículos de la Torá por tres hombres el lunes y el jueves (Bava Kamma 82a)
2. la lectura de Levítico 26:14-46 antes de Shavuot y de Deuteronomio 28:15-69 antes de Rosh Hashaná ^{[ 16 ]}
3. sesiones de los tribunales los lunes y jueves ^{[ 17 ]}
4. el lavado de ropa el jueves ^{[ 17 ]}
5. el consumo de ajo los viernes ^{[ 17 ]}
6. levantarse temprano el viernes por la mañana con el propósito de hornear ^{[ 17 ]}
7. el uso de un cinturón por parte de las mujeres por razones de modestia ^{[ 17 ]}
8. la obligación de la mikve ^{[ 17 ]}
9. la ley que obliga a los vendedores ambulantes a recorrer la ciudad en caso de que vendan artículos necesarios para las mujeres ^{[ 17 ]}
10. baños rituales para aquellos que se han vuelto impuros ( Keri ) ^{[ 17 ]}

A los hombres de la Gran Asamblea en el período inicial del Segundo Templo

1. Introducción de bendiciones, oración, Kidush y Havdalah ^{[ 18 ]}
2. la recitación de la Amidá entre semana
3. la lectura del Libro de Ester ("la Meguilá") en las aldeas y ciudades sin murallas el 14 de Adar y en las ciudades con murallas defensivas al día siguiente; banquetes en esos días; y la entrega de limosnas ^{[ 19 ]}
4. la introducción de siete bendiciones en la Amidá en Shabat y días festivos; la adición de nueve bendiciones a la oración del Musaf para Rosh Jodesh y Jol HaMoed , y de veinticuatro en días de ayuno ^{[ 18 ]}
5. Recitación de oraciones:
   1. recitación de varias oraciones
   2. duración de cada oración
   3. la ofrenda de oración diaria
   4. three times on weekdays,
   5. four times on Shabbat, Jewish holidays, fasts, and Rosh Hodesh
   6. five times on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement
6. addition of the "Magen Avot" to the Amidah at Shabbat ma’ariv
7. bowing before and after the first blessing ("Avot") and before and after the penultimate blessing of the Amidah ("hoda'ah")^[20]

Ascribed to John Hyrcanus (135-106 BC):

1. Decree forbidding the recitation of the prayer of thanksgiving, Viddui Ma'aser (Deut. 26:5–10) by any who have not paid the proper tithes at the end of the third year^[21]
2. the appointment of officials to collect the tithes^[22]
3. the use of rings in the shambles to force the animals to stand still^[23]
4. prohibition of blacksmithing on Chol HaMoed^[24]

By the court of the Hasmoneans:

1. Celebration of Hanukkah beginning on the 25th of Kislev^[25]
2. Insertion of the name of God in legal documents^[26] (subsequently abrogated)

By the priestly court:

• the daughter of a priest to be entitled to 300 zuzim under her marriage contract, and the widow of a priest to 100 zuzim^[27]
• the ketubah of a woman about to contract a levirate marriage to form a lien on the property of her first husband; and if he had no property, that of the levir to be appropriated^[28]
• the ketubah of a virgin to be of the value of 200 zuzim, and that of a widow or divorcée, 100 zuzim^[29]

By Shimon ben Shetach:

1. all the real estate of the husband to be entered in the marriage contract in favor of the wife,^[30] but the former may employ the dowry in his business;
2. compulsory attendance at school^[30]
3. the declaration that foreign glass is impure^[30]

By Hillel the Elder (75 BC - 5 AD):

1. Introduction of the prozbul^[31]
2. the purchase-money of a house to be deposited in the Second Temple; the original owner may seize it by force to prevent its payment to the seller before the expiration of a year^[32]

By Gamaliel (mid-1st century):

1. The condemnation of 2000 (subsequently increased) cubits of ground in which Rosh Hodesh witnesses might freely move on the Sabbath^[33]
2. the full names of the husband and the wife to be inserted in a get^[34]
3. the signatures of witnesses to the bill of divorce^[34]
4. a widow may take the portion secured to her by her marriage contract only after all claims of the orphans have been fully satisfied^[34]
5. a bill of divorce may be declared invalid only in the presence of the messenger who has brought it, or in the presence of the wife before she has received it^[35]

Most of the ordinances of Yohanan ben Zakkai were promulgated before the time of the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem. These include:

1. the New Moon witnesses must go to the place where the court assembles^[36]
2. the testimony of such witnesses to be received at any time during the day^[37]
3. they may not desecrate the Sabbath by traveling, except in Nisan and Tishri, the most important two months^[38]
4. the shofar to be blown even on the Sabbath^[39]
5. the lulav to be swung on all the seven days of the festival^[40]
6. the consumption of new grain is forbidden during the entire day of the waving of the Omer^[40]
7. priests may not wear sandals when they ascend the "dukan," or platform, to pronounce the blessing^[41]
8. a convert must deposit a quarter-shekel in the treasury to be able to bring his sacrifice when the Temple shall be rebuilt (this was repealed by Johanan b. Zakkai himself)^[42]
9. abolition of the ritual governing trials for adultery^[23]

Ascribed to Gamaliel II and the court of Yavne:

1. Agriculture is permitted until the first day of the Sabbatical year^[43]

Ascribed to the court of Yavne:

1. the fourth blessing of Birkat Hamazon, in memory of those who fell at Betar^[4]
2. the insertion of the prayer against heretics in the time of Gamaliel, and, much later, of the "Adonai Sefatai" before the "Tefillah."

After R. Gamaliel's death the Sanhedrin of Yavne seems to have gone to Usha for reasons which are no longer known, and the grounds of its takkanot are equally obscure. In view of their ethical import, however, these enactments soon became binding. They were as follows:^[44]

1. a man must support his minor children
2. if a man transfers his property to his sons, both he and his wife enjoy a life income from it
3. the gift of more than one-fifth of one's property for alms is forbidden
4. a father must deal gently with his son until the latter reaches the age of twelve; but after that age he may be severe with him
5. after a wife's death the husband may sell the property included in her dowry
6. one who attacks an old man must pay one pound of gold for the injury
7. elucidation of the seven doubtful reasons through which the terumah becomes unfit for use and must be burned

These ordinances were enacted by the rabbis of the second generation of tannaim, Rabbi Ishmael being especially mentioned.^[45]

An ordinance is also extant which dates from the time called the period of religious persecution ("shemad"). When Hadrian issued his decree forbidding the Jews to observe their religion, the teachers, including R. Akiba, R. Tarfon, and R. Jose the Galilean, met in council and agreed that during the time of the persecution the Law might be transgressed in all respects, except as regarded the commands relating to idolatry, chastity, and morality, although this regulation was observed only superficially and only when necessary in order to deceive the Roman spies.

Three ordinances have been preserved which were promulgated by R. Jose ben Halafta (third generation of tannaim):^[46]

1. during a funeral the mourners must remain standing while those who console them pass by
2. women living in lonely places must associate with one another, so as not to attract the attention and evil desire of any man
3. a child accompanied by its mother must not lag behind on the road, lest it come to harm

To R. Judah HaNasi:

1. messengers must be sent every month to announce the new moon to the Diaspora^[47]
2. concerning the purchase of fields among the Sicarii^[48]
3. on menstruation^[49]

La creación de nuevas ordenanzas no terminó con la finalización de la Mishná : también se promulgaron leyes en los períodos ámoreo , saboraico y geónico de la ley judía, aunque sus fechas exactas ya no se conocen. Estas incluyen:

1. La dote de una esposa y los bienes muebles de los huérfanos pueden tomarse como pago de una deuda ^{[ 101 ].}
2. Los bienes muebles pueden ser embargados para la dote de niñas huérfanas ^{[ 102 ].}
3. Un juramento es válido en casos que involucran bienes raíces ( Halakot Gedolot , xxii).
4. No se puede prestar juramento sobre la Biblia ^{[ 103 ]}
5. Los casos penales pueden ser juzgados en Babilonia ^{[ 104 ].}
6. Los bienes de los huérfanos pueden tomarse para la porción matrimonial de la esposa ^{[ 105 ].}
7. El deudor debe prestar juramento si no puede pagar ^{[ 106 ].}
8. El deudor debe prestar juramento si ha obligado al acreedor a hacerlo ^{[ 107 ].}
9. Una viuda está obligada a prestar juramento solo en caso de que los bienes que le haya legado su marido sean insuficientes para cumplir con su contrato matrimonial ^{[ 108 ].}
10. En los juicios legales, tanto los principales como los testigos deben permanecer sentados ^{[ 109 ].}
11. El vino elaborado por musulmanes no es "issur" ^{[ 110 ].}
12. El sacerdote será el primero en ser llamado a la lectura de la Torá , precediendo incluso al nasi ^{[ 111 ].}
13. Permiso para comerciar con gentiles en sus días festivos ^{[ 112 ]}
14. El ayuno de Ester ^{[ 113 ]}
15. Un apóstata puede redactar un acta de divorcio ^{[ 114 ].}
16. Si un samaritano se desposa con una judía, ella debe tener un acta de divorcio antes de que cualquier otro pueda casarse con ella ^{[ 115 ].}
17. Éxodo 32:11–14 debe leerse en días de ayuno ^{[ 116 ].}
18. La interrupción de las tres primeras y las tres últimas bendiciones de la Amidá por súplicas ^{[ 117 ]}
19. La recitación de las bendiciones matutinas en la sinagoga ^{[ 118 ]}
20. La recitación de la bendición Ahava rabbah por la mañana y de Ahavat Olam por la tarde ^{[ 119 ]}
21. La recitación de Baruch Adonai L'Olam en Maariv antes de la Amidá ^{[ 120 ]}
22. The insertion of 1 Chronicles 29:10–13 in the morning prayer^[121]
23. The recitation of the "Shema" in the Kedushah prayer^[122]
24. Introduction of the prayer beginning with the words כתר יתנו לך in "Kedushah" of musaf, and the prayers beginning with the words אז בקול רעש and ממקומך מלכנו in "Kedushah" of Shacharit of Sabbath^[123]
25. The recitation of Psalms 119:142 at the Mincha prayer on the Sabbath, in memory of the death of Moses^[124]
26. The blessing for the bridal night^[125]
27. "Parashat ha-Musafim"^[126]

The Conservative Movement also allows its leaders to issue takkanot today. Examples of takkanot issued by the Conservative Movement in modern times include allowing women to count in a minyan and to serve as witnesses to a beth din, as well as removing restrictions on kohen marriage. The Chief Rabbinate of Israel also adopted many such ordinances, though more moderate in character, among them various statutes regarding marriage and divorce.^[127]

The rabbis of Morocco held several conferences in the 1940s that issued statutes on various affairs.^[128]

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 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Wilhelm Bacher and Schulim Ochser (1901–1906). "Takkanah". In Singer, Isidore; et al. (eds.). The Jewish Encyclopedia. New York: Funk & Wagnalls. Its bibliography:

• • Frankel, Hodegetica in Mischnam, pp. 3, 4, 28, 29 et passim;
  • Rapoport, 'Erek Millin, s.v. Usha, Prague, 1852;
  • Jakob Brüll, Mebo ha-Mishnah, pp. 1–52, Frankfort-on-the-Main, 1876;
  • Bloch, Sha'are Torat ha-Taḳḳanot, Budapest, 1879–1902;
  • Brüll, Jahrb. viii. 61;
  • Aronius, Regesten, p. 115;
  • Rosenthal, Die Judengemeinde in Mainz, Speier, und Worms, p. 44, Berlin, 1904;
  • Kohut, Gesch. der Deutschen Juden, p. 121, Berlin, 1898;
  • Güdemann, Gesch. i. 44, 138, 243, note i.;
  • Weiss, Dor, iv., v., passim;
  • Perles, in Monatsschrift, 1865, pp. 84 et seq.;
  • Sefer ha-Eshkol, i. 9. Halberstadt, 1867;
  • Rosenthal, in Hildesheimer Jubelschrift, pp. 37–53, Berlin, 1890;
  • Neubauer, in R. E. J. xvii. 69;
  • Kerem Ḥamar, ii. 34a-36b, Leghorn, 1869;
  • Grätz, Gesch. iii. 111, 140, 212, 350; iv. 132, 157, 161; v. 336; vi. 180–182; vii. 21, 102; viii. 14, 49, 211, 268; ix. 451; x. 51, 69, 386.