Thus, to understand what Sha'ul is speaking of when he talks about the "law", we must discern between the two Torahs which Sha'ul was trained in.

But in his former life as a Pharisee, Sha'ul was zealous (exceedingly ardent) for the man-made laws and traditions of the religion of Pharisaic Judaism.  And the righteousness that he had then, which he calls, "my own righteousness derived from the law" is the righteousness of following the commandments of men (Pharisaic Judaism)!  In Messiah, all of men's own righteousness based on the keeping of their own made-up commandments, amounts to nothing at all.  The righteousness of Elohim on the other hand, is based on doing what Elohim has commanded.  And he said, "do not add to what I have commanded, and do not take away from it" (cf. Devarim 4:2 and Devarim 12:32).

The Pharisees had so many of their own made-up laws that it is easiest for us to understand them by separating them into several categories.  The first is the "halacha" or the Pharisaic law based upon their twisted interpretation of Scripture law.  The second is "minhagim" or Pharisaic customs that have become law.  The third is "takanot and gezerot" or enactments and decrees of the Pharisees that take on the authority of law.  And the fourth is the "ma'asim" which are deeds or works of the Pharisees which through their repeated exercise become law for all Yisrael.

Halacha

The word halacha (halachot in the plural) comes from the Hebrew $lh which means "to go, to walk".  It is a common metaphor for the "way one conducts himself" or "the manner in which one lives his life".  The metaphor of walking transcends many languages and is understood in many tongues as referring to one's lifestyle.  The halacha, then, are the commandments and instructions of Scripture which Elohim has commanded us to do.  Thus, when Yochanan tells us

The one who says he resides in Elohim ought himself to walk just as Yahusha walked (1 Yochanan 2:6).

We understand that he means we who belong to the Mighty One should live our lives as Messiah lived his, doing the very things that Messiah did.  Our walk or behavior should be the same as Messiah's walk and behavior.  For example, if Messiah kept the Sabbath day (and he did!), then we should also keep the Sabbath day.

It is one thing to "walk" according to the Scripture commandments, and quite another to "walk" according to Pharisaic commandments.  The Pharisees then, and the Rabbis of Judaism since then and to this day, establish their own halachot based on their own (private) interpretations of Scripture.  The Pharisees and Rabbis, and even Christian theologians throughout "Church history", have made a habit of taking a simple Scripture commandment or statement and twist, distort, re-interpret or outright change or add to the plain meaning of a statement of writ.

An example of Pharisaic halacha:  The Scripture commands us that no work (occupational labor, chores, everyday busy-ness tasks) is to be done on the Sabbath. The Rabbis break "work" down into 39 different categories and additional subcategories which one is not allowed to do on the Sabbath, to the point of being absurd.  From the re-interpretive twisting of the intended meaning of "do no work", they regard flipping a light switch as building (because you are connecting a circuit), and forbid it on the Sabbath.

Another example of taking Shemot 35:3, "do not kindle a fire on Shabbat", and reinterpret it to mean that one should not start a fire on Shabbath - but as long as you start the fire before Shabbat, the burning of a fire is okay.  (For our interpretation of "kindle a fire" which makes much better sense of the context and of related commandments, see the section entitled Kindling a Fire on Shabbat on http://bibletruth.cc/KeepingSabbath.htm).

A classic example of a Rabbinic halacha is where they take Shemot 23:2,

You must not incline after the majority into evil things; in a lawsuit you must not offer testimony that agrees with a crowd so as to pervert justice.

which is clearly an instruction not to pervert justice just because the majority of others pervert it, and snatch out the phrase "incline after the majority".  They ignore all else, including the context in which these words were spoken, and they rip out that single phrase, "incline after the majority."  They interpret this phrase to be a halacha which instructs men to do what the majority of the Rabbis consent on.  Thus, if the majority of Rabbis agree that one should change his underwear twice a day, then it is law in Israel. (This is an absurd example, but this accurately illustrates the thinking of the Rabbis).

There are many hundreds of other such halachot of the Pharisees and Rabbis which are derived from the twisting, distorting, adding to or taking away from the written Word of Elohim.  Even though Yahuwah emphatically commands us, "do not add to what I have commanded, and do not take away from it" (cf. Devarim 4:2 and Devarim 12:32), this is precisely what Oral Rabbinic Law does.  Is it any wonder why Sha'ul, who came out of this religious system, says that all of that is "rubbish" or "a pile of crap" (see again Philippians 3:7)?

Minhag

The word minhag (plural is minhagim) comes from the Hebrew ghnm which means "custom".  Customs, while not commanded by Scripture, are the common way of life and the accepted practice of people based on the repeating of a behavior induced by some circumstance.  The historical record of Scripture references some customs.

She died a virgin. Her tragic death gave rise to a custom in Yisrael.  Every year Yisraeli women commemorate the daughter of Yephthah the Gileadite for four days (Shoftim [Judges] 11:39,40).

And another:

Because of everything written in this letter and because of what they had seen and what had happened to them, the Jews took it upon themselves to establish the custom that they and their descendants and all who join them should without fail observe these two days every year, in the way prescribed and at the time appointed. These days should be remembered and observed in every generation by every family, and in every province and in every city. And these days of Purim should never cease to be celebrated by the Jews, nor should the memory of them die out among their descendants (Esther 9:26-28).

Even the pagans had their customs:

So they shouted louder and slashed themselves with swords and spears, as was their custom, until their blood flowed (1 Melachim [Kings} 18:28).

Not to be outdone, and to further establish their own authority to make law and control all Yisrael, the Rabbis concocted their own customs for all Yisrael and made them binding upon all.  The requirement upon all Jewish males to wear a kippah (also called a yarmulke or skull cap) is an accepted minhag.  Males not wearing the kippah are considered to be transgressing the law.  This law for Jewish males also stipulates that one may not walk four cubits without covering his head, nor can one make a blessing without donning a kippah.

Another example of a minhag is the conflicting custom of eating beans and rice during the feast of Unleavened Bread.  The Ashkenazi Jews forbid the eating, while the Sephardic Jews permit the eating during the Feast.  Members of each sect of Judaism are required to obey the custom of the sect they belong to.  The absurdity of declaring this custom to be "Law in Israel" is self-evident.

Such customs gave rise to a common saying in among the rabbis in Israel, "minhag Yisrael torah hi" which translates as, "a custom of Israel is Torah".  Even though the Tanach (Old Testament) lists the commandments and sayings of Elohim as "Torah", the Rabbis have added to "their torah" any of their own established customs!

Takanah and Gezerah

The word takanah (plural is takanot) comes from the Hebrew hnqt (also spelled anqt) and means, "to become straight, to make right, to put in order, to fix, to repair, to arrange, to establish, to enact."  The word gezerah (plural is gerzerot) comes from the Hebrew hrzg and means, "decree."  Thus, the "takanot and gezerot" are the enactments and decrees of Pharisaic law.  They are "the commandments of the Rabbis."

The scribes and Pharisees before the time of Messiah, and the rabbis afterward, saw a need to construct additional commandments.  As they assumed the role of authoritarian leadership in Israel, the scribes and Pharisees enacted their own laws for all Israel, which were designed to enforce their own right of authority to interpret and apply law and even create new law for Israel.  Under the guise of "guarding" the Torah, which the Scriptures command, they began to "guard" the Torah by enacting additional laws in an act which they termed, "making a fence around the Torah."

In an article entitled, Adding, Uprooting, and Rabbinic Authority, Rabbi Baruch Paz wrote:

Some rabbinical ordinances were enacted not for the purpose of protecting the laws of the Torah, but because the Rabbis saw an independent need to enact them; others, though, were enacted as preventative measures, safeguards to prevent people from violating actual commandments of the Torah.  At times the Rabbis even saw fit to uproot a Torah law in order to erect one of these safeguards...  (Cited from Galatians by Avi ben Mordecai, pg. 67)

These "commandments of the Rabbis" were often in conflict with the written word of Elohim.  The Scripture commands us to guard the Torah:

Observe them carefully (Hebrew, literally, "Guard them"), for this will show your wisdom and understanding to the nations, who will hear about all these decrees and say, "Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people" (Devarim 4:6).

Guard his rules and commandments that I am setting forth today so that it may go well with you and your descendants and that you may enjoy longevity on the land that Yahuwah your Elohim is about to give you as a permanent possession (Devarim 4:40).

The meaning here is that one should guard the Torah by practicing it and by teaching it.  The Pharisees, however, intentionally misinterpreted this by suggesting that it meant that they should construct additional laws around the Torah to insure that the Torah would not be transgressed.  This they did in clear transgression of another instruction of Scripture:

Do not add a thing to what I command you nor subtract from it, so that you may guard the commandments of Yahuwah your Elohim that I am delivering to you (Devarim 4:2)

Thus, the very act of "building a fence around the Torah" in order to "guard the Torah" was a transgression of the Torah.  The takanot and gezerot, or "commandments of the Rabbis" are these transgressions of Elohim's Word.

Messiah Yahusha rebuked the Pharisees for their commandments which contradicted the Word of Elohim.  The commandment to wash one's hands before eating is a Pharisaic takanah.  It is NOT a commandment of Scripture. They taught that one could cause food to become "unclean" by transference of substance from unwashed hands to the food.  Thus, they required a ceremonial washing of hands before eating.

Then Pharisees and experts in the law came from Yerushalayim to Yahusha and said, "Why do your disciples disobey the tradition (Hebrew, takanot) of the elders? For they don't wash their hands when they eat."  He answered them, "And why do you disobey the commandment of Elohim because of your tradition (Hebrew, takanot)?" (Mattityahu 15:1-3).

The word "tradition" used here, in the Shem Tov Hebrew gospel of Matthew, is takanot.  Say what you will about the rabbinic influence on the manuscript of Shem Tov's Mattityahu, the Hebrew is takanot, and there is no reasonable explanation for why a rabbi would have changed the word here from something else to takanot.

So it is critical to the correct understand of Yahusha's message that we understand he is talking about the "commandments of the rabbis" here.  This is a direct rebuke of the Pharisees who made up their own law, which in their view, superseded the Scriptures.

Mark's account of this saying cites an additional detail of interest:

"...Thus you nullify the word of Elohim by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many things like this" (Mark 7:13).

Yahusha is suggesting here that the Pharisees commonly practiced this error of replacing the written word of Elohim with their own commandments.  And we see over and over again how the Pharisees had laid a heavy burden upon Israel by requiring them to obey Pharisaic Law.

Yahusha concluded the matter of washing of hands by saying:

What defiles a person is not what goes into the mouth; it is what comes out of the mouth that defiles a person" (Mattityahu 15:11).

Washing one's hands before eating may be a good suggestion.  But it certainly is not a requirement of ethical proportion.  It is NOT commanded by Elohim.

Ma'aseh

The word ma'aseh (plural is ma'asim) comes from the Hebrew hf[m and means, "work, do."  This word is used in the Tanach to reference any work, action or deed done by Elohim or by man.  For example,

Yahuwah your Elohim will make the work (Hebrew, hfeä[]m;) of your hands abundantly successful and multiply your children, the offspring of your cattle, and the produce of your soil (Devarim 30:9).

In the New Testament, it's Greek equivalent (e;rgon) has a similar usage.  It could be used of man's works or of Elohim's works:

For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead (Ya'acov [James] 2:26).

They sang the song of Mosheh the servant of Elohim and the song of the Lamb: "Great and astounding are your deeds, Yahuwah Elohim, the All-Powerful! Just and true are your ways, King over the nations! (Revelation 15:3)

However, the Pharisees (and after them, the rabbis) attributed to this term special nuance.  Another Pharisaic invention - the ma'aseh - is a law created for all Yisrael based on the repeated actions of a Pharisee.  The thinking goes something like this: if one so pious as a Pharisee (and later, a rabbi) consistently performs an action, said action must have great merit.  Therefore, this action of the Pharisee becomes law for all in Israel.

A ma'aseh, in Pharisaic thinking, is an action, work or deed of a Pharisee which, by its repetition, has become law for all of Israel.  These works were common among Pharisees and rabbis, as Nehemia Gordon explains, noting that

learning precedents from the action of the Rabbis is a standard method used to derive religious law.  There is no need for biblical proof because Rabbinic precedent is even better! (from Mordecai, Galatians, pg.82).

In their thinking, Pharisaic authority (and rabbinic authority) does not need the agreement of Scripture, because Pharisaic authority supersedes the authority of Scripture.

There were many ma'asim in the oral law of the Pharisees.  These ma'asim - the deeds, actions or works of the Pharisees which became law in Israel - became known as ma'asim hatorah or "works of the law."  Not to be mistaken for the "works of Elohim," the phrase "works of the law" as used by the Pharisees and Rabbis today, and as used by Paul in his letters of the New Testament, are a reference to the made-up laws of the Pharisees.

The Jewish historian Flavius Josephus explained the difference between the Pharisees and the Sadducees by the observance of man-made traditions: