Derekh erez

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Derekh erez (Heb., ‘way of the world’). In Judaism, acceptable behaviour. According to R. Ishmael b. Nahman, derekh erez preceded the giving of the Torah by twenty-six generations. Two minor tractates of the Talmud, D. E. Rabbah, and D. E. Zuta, provide rules of conduct and guides to behaviour.