For the believing Jew, to live in accordance with Halakha is to respond to its magisterially commanding Law-Giver. By bringing the Divine will-- as understood and explicated by "hakhmei ha-masorah" (the ordained Sages, of the Sanhedrin who are the bearers of the tradition)-- to bear on the whole of his existence, the Jew sanctifies and enriches itis sanctified.
The Halakha is a comprehensive guide to all aspects of human life, both corporeal and spiritual. Its laws, guidelines, and opinions cover a vast range of situations and principles, in the attempt to realize what is implied by the central Biblical commandment to "be holy as I your God am holy". They cover what are better ways for a Jew to live, when commandments conflict how one may choose correctly, what is implicit and understood but not stated explicitly in the BibleTorah, and what has been deduced by rules of exegis and implication , though not visible explicit on the surface.
Halakha is shaped and contested defined by a variety of rabbis (rabbinic authorities, and other Jews), rather than since we do not have today one sole "official voice", so different individuals and communities may well have different answers to Halakhic questions. Controversies lend rabbinic literature much of its creative and intellectual appeal. With few exceptions, controversies are not settled through authoritative structures because Judaism lacks a single judicial hierarchy or appellate review process for Halakha. Instead, Jews interested in observing Halakha may choose to follow specific rabbis schools, or affiliate with a more tightly-structured community.
Halakha has been developed and pored over throughout the generations since before 500 BCE, in a constantly expanding collection of [[Rabbinic literature|religious literature]] consolidated in the [[Talmud]]. First and foremost it forms a body of intricate judicial opinions, legislation, customs, and recommendations, many of them passed down over the centuries, and an assortment of ingrained behaviors, relayed to successive generations from the moment a child begins to speak. It is also the subject of intense study in ''[[yeshiva]]s''; see [[Torah study]].