Yoreh De'ah is a section of Rabbi

Rabbi

In Judaism, a rabbi is a teacher of Torah. This title derives from the Hebrew word רבי , meaning "My Master" , which is the way a student would address a master of Torah...

 Jacob ben Asher

Jacob ben Asher

Jacob ben Asher, also known as Ba'al ha-Turimas well as Rabbi Yaakov ben Raash , was likely born in Cologne, Germany c.1269 and likely died in Toledo, Spain c.1343....

's compilation of halakha

Halakha

Halakha — also transliterated Halocho , or Halacha — is the collective body of Jewish law, including biblical law and later talmudic and rabbinic law, as well as customs and traditions.Judaism classically draws no distinction in its laws between religious and ostensibly non-religious life; Jewish...

 (Jewish law), Arba'ah Turim

Arba'ah Turim

Arba'ah Turim , often called simply the Tur, is an important Halakhic code, composed by Yaakov ben Asher...

 around 1300. This section treats all aspects of Jewish law not pertinent to the Hebrew calendar

Hebrew calendar

The Hebrew calendar , or Jewish calendar, is a lunisolar calendar used today predominantly for Jewish religious observances. It determines the dates for Jewish holidays and the appropriate public reading of Torah portions, yahrzeits , and daily Psalm reading, among many ceremonial uses...

, finance, torts, marriage, divorce, or sexual conduct. (Nevertheless there exists occasional overlap into the excluded areas). Yoreh De'ah is therefore the most diversified area of Jewish law. Later, Rabbi Yosef Karo

Yosef Karo

Joseph ben Ephraim Karo, also spelled Yosef Caro, or Qaro, was author of the last great codification of Jewish law, the Shulchan Aruch, which is still authoritative for all Jews pertaining to their respective communities...

 modeled the framework of his own compilation of practical Jewish law, the Shulchan Aruch

Shulchan Aruch

The Shulchan Aruch also known as the Code of Jewish Law, is the most authoritative legal code of Judaism. It was authored in Safed, Israel, by Yosef Karo in 1563 and published in Venice two years later...

 after the Arba'ah Turim. Many later commentators used this framework, as well. Thus, Yoreh De'ah in common usage may refer to an area of halakha, non-specific to Rabbi Jacob ben Asher's compilation.

Topics include, but are not limited to:

• Permitted and forbidden foods
  Kashrut
  Kashrut is the set of Jewish dietary laws. Food in accord with halakha is termed kosher in English, from the Ashkenazi pronunciation of the Hebrew term kashér , meaning "fit" Kashrut (also kashruth or kashrus) is the set of Jewish dietary laws. Food in accord with halakha (Jewish law) is termed...
  
  ,
• Circumcision
  Brit milah
  The brit milah is a Jewish religious circumcision ceremony performed on 8-day old male infants by a mohel. The brit milah is followed by a celebratory meal .-Biblical references:...
  
  ,
• Gentile
  Gentile
  The term Gentile refers to non-Israelite peoples or nations in English translations of the Bible....
  
  s,
• Foreign worship
  Idolatry in Judaism
  Judaism strongly prohibits any form of idolatry. Judaism holds that idolatry is not limited to the worship of an idol itself, but also worship involving any artistic representations of God. In addition it is forbidden to derive benefit from anything dedicated to idolatry...
  
  ,
• Prohibition against charging interest,
• Oaths,
• Converts,
• Honoring parents,
• Honoring scholars and the elderly,
• Charity
  Tzedakah
  Tzedakah or Ṣ'daqah in Classical Hebrew is a Hebrew word commonly translated as charity, though it is based on the Hebrew word meaning righteousness, fairness or justice...
  
  ,
• Torah study
  Torah study
  Torah study is the study by Jewish people of the Torah, Hebrew Bible, Talmud, responsa, rabbinic literature and similar works, all of which are Judaism's religious texts...
  
  ,
• Torah scrolls
  Sefer Torah
  A Sefer Torah of Torah” or “Torah scroll”) is a handwritten copy of the Torah or Pentateuch, the holiest book within Judaism. It must meet extremely strict standards of production. The Torah scroll is mainly used in the ritual of Torah reading during Jewish services...
  
  ,
• Mezuzah
  Mezuzah
  A mezuzah is usually a metal or wooden rectangular object that is fastened to a doorpost of a Jewish house. Inside it is a piece of parchment inscribed with specified Hebrew verses from the Torah...
  
   scrolls,
• Sending away the mother bird to take the young,
• Eating new grain,
• Forbidden mixtures, (such as Shatnez
  Shatnez
  Shatnez is the prohibition in Jewish law derived from the Torah that prohibits the wearing of a fabric containing both wool and linen ; this forbidden mixture is referred to in Judaism as shatnez...
  
  .)
• Redeeming the firstborn
  Pidyon HaBen
  The Pidyon HaBen, or Redemption of the first born son, is a mitzvah in Judaism whereby a Jewish firstborn son is redeemed by use of silver coins from his birth-state of sanctity....
  
  ,
• Excommunication
  Cherem
  Cherem , is the highest ecclesiastical censure in the Jewish community. It is the total exclusion of a person from the Jewish community. It is a form of shunning, and is similar to excommunication in the Catholic Church...
  
  ,
• Visiting the sick,
• Mourning
  Shiv'ah
  Shiva is the week-long mourning period in Judaism for first-degree relatives: father, mother, son, daughter, brother, sister, and spouse. The ritual is referred to as "sitting shiva." Immediately after burial, first-degree relatives assume the halakhic status of "avel"...
  
  ,
• Priestly
  Kohen
  A Kohen is the Hebrew word for priest. Jewish Kohens are traditionally believed and halachically required to be of direct patrilineal descent from the Biblical Aaron....
  
   tithes,
• Prohibition against Tattoo
  Tattoo
  A tattoo is made by inserting indelible ink into the dermis layer of the skin to change the pigment. Tattoos on humans are a type of body modification, and tattoos on other animals are most commonly used for identification purposes...
  
  ing.