The Erez Series, A Concise Guide to Halakha is a brief, modern presentation of practical halakha (Jewish law). Although it does not presume to be a book of authoritative halakhic rulings, it nevertheless offers a survey of halakha as it is practiced today. Accordingly, it was written not as a commentary on other books but as an independent work, written in a modern style, in a language we hope will be clear and straightforward for every reader. Since we have striven to make the book current, we have dealt as much as possible with contemporary problems, while also attempting to include at least a summary of the various customs practiced by the different ethnic communities inside and outside of contemporary Israel. Due to the great scope of Jewish law, one small volume could not possibly cover all the important issues, and certainly it could not touch upon all the details and nuances that pertain to the subjects at hand. For this reason, the book is not a substitute either for halakhic works that are defined as such or for those specific problems and questions that should be presented to scholars and rabbis with whom one can speak in person.