The Hebrew term for a Jewish commandment or religious obligation is mitzvah.
Mitzvah comes from a Hebrew root connected with commanding. In Jewish usage, it can mean a commandment in the Torah or a religiously meaningful good deed performed in accordance with Jewish tradition. In everyday English, people often say someone did “a mitzvah” to mean an act of kindness.
Jewish tradition commonly speaks of 613 commandments in the Torah, though individual mitzvot apply in different circumstances and not all can be practiced today. Some concern relationships with God, while others regulate justice, charity, festivals, food, family life, and communal responsibility.
Mitzvah is not synonymous with halakhah, which refers more broadly to Jewish law and its practical system. Kashrut concerns dietary law, and minhag means a custom or established communal practice.