The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (2256 page)

(Jap., ‘teaching of a school’). The teaching of a Buddhist school or movement, and in particular that of
Zen
.

 
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(Yid., ‘School’). Yiddish term for
synagogue
, common among
Ashkenazi
Jews in Europe. It was a community meeting-place, in which local politics were as prominent as prayer.

 
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(Heb., ‘the prepared table’). Code of Jewish
halakhah
(law) written by Joseph
Caro
. The
Shul
n Arukh
is a synopsis of
Jacob b. Asher's
Arba‘ah Turim
. Its four parts deal with the daily and
Sabbath
Commandments
, laws governing everyday life (e.g.
dietary laws
,
purity
,
mourning
), laws of
marriage and divorce
and, finally, civil and criminal law. It was first printed in 1565, and after amendments for the
Ashkenazim
had been added by Moses
Isserles
, it became accepted as the most authoritative code of Jewish law.

 
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Shushi-gaku
.

Japanese term for the orthodox
neo-Confucian
teachings of
Chu Hsi
(1130–1200) and his followers. The major advocates of Shushi-gaku in Japan were Hayashi Razan (1583–1657), who served the sh
gun and established a school staffed throughout the Tokugawa (1600–1868) period by his descendants, and Yamazaki Ansai (1618–82), who stressed the more religious aspects of neo-Confucianism.