שְלִיחִים, sheliḥim [ʃliˈχim] or sheliah, literally "emissary" or "messenger") is a legal agent.
"[1] Accordingly, a shaliaḥ performs an act of legal significance for the benefit of the sender, as opposed to him or herself.
The term, in contemporary usage, has come to refer more generally to a representative or emissary.
[citation needed] The Talmud learns from Numbers 18:28 that any Jewish male or female may appoint an agent, as can servants and maidservants working under a Jew's care.
A shaliaḥ however, may only be appointed for a mitzvah or other halakhic Jewish legal affairs that he or she is obligated in.