Rabbinic Judaism and property laws), requiring—according to rabbinic thought—a subsequent definition through the Oral Law. Thus Rabbinic Judaism claims that almost all directives, both positive and negative, in the Torah are non-specific in nature and require the existence of either an Oral Law, or some other method to explain them. Much rabbinic Jewish literature concerns specifying what behavior is sanctioned by the law; this body of interpretations is called "halakha" ("the way"). Until the Haskalah (Hebrew: "Jewish enlightenment") of the late 18th century, and the resulting division of Ashkenazi Jews into religious movements or denominations, especially in North America and anglophone countries,
Four Sephardic Synagogues Four Sephardic Synagogues The Four Sephardic Synagogues are located in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem. They form a complex which comprises four adjoining synagogues which were built at different periods to accommodate the religious needs of the Sephardic community, each congregation practising a different rite. Today, most of them are in active use. With the closing of the Ramban Synagogue at the command of the Ottoman sultan in 1589, there ceased to be a Jewish house of prayer in Jerusalem and the Jews, many of whom were descendants of immigrants who had arrived after the expulsion