Halachah

Halachah, Halakah, Halacha, ha-lak′�, n. an amplification of points not explicitly set forth in the Mosaic law, deduced from it by analogy, and arranged in the collection of legal precepts designated Halachoth.—adj.

We're a bit late to this one, but Ron Kampeas of JTA has a fascinating recent piece on fears that anti-sharia initiatives brewing around the country could also threaten observance of traditional Jewish law, or halachah.

You don't hear much about halachah, or rabbinical courts known as beit din, even though both have been a feature of observant American Jewish communities for years.

A spokesman for the Orthodox Union explained that a prohibition on religious law would be a problem in situations when Jewish law comes up in civil courts: Such laws "are problematic particularly from the perspective of the Orthodox community -- we have a beit din system, Jews have disputes resolved according to halachah," Diament said.

The four cubits of the Halachah, that is what is wanted, not changes in the liturgy.