DOCSLIB.ORG

Jewish Law: from the Ancient Near East to the Israeli Supreme Court

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Jewish Law: from the Ancient Near East to the Israeli Supreme Court Dr. Phillip I. Ackerman-Lieberman Office: 149 Buttrick Hall Email: [email protected] Phone: (O) 343-2098 (H) 347-249-9627 Office Hours: MW 8:30am-10:00am LAW 7340 Th 3:10pm-5:00pm, Bass Berry Sims Room Jewish Law: From the Ancient Near East to the Israeli Supreme Court Synopsis This course will survey the primary genres and methods of Jewish legal writing and legal decision-making from the Bible through the rabbinic and medieval period to the modern period. In discussing Jewish legal history, the course will focus particularly on the relationship of Jewish law to non-Jewish legal systems, issues of legal competition when Jews had access to non-Jewish venues, and the role of legal pluralism and indeterminacy in Jewish legal decision- making. The course will also discuss the complicated role of Jewish law in the State of Israel with respect to Jewish-Arab relations as well as the role of religious pluralism among Jewish communities within Israel. The role of Jewish law in contemporary Diaspora Jewish communities will also be addressed, particularly as these communities address modern social issues such as abortion, women’s rights, and homosexuality. Textbooks Aaron M. Schreiber, Jewish Law and Decision-Making: A Study Through Time (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1979) (=“Schreiber”) N.S. Hecht and et al, eds., An Introduction to the History and Sources of Jewish Law (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996) (=“Hecht”) Weekly Topics and Assignments Introduction; Biblical Foundations 14 and 21 January Schreiber, Chapters I-III The Development of the Oral Law 28 January and 4 February Schreiber, Chapters IV-V Peretz Segal, “Jewish Law During the Tannaitic Period”, in Hecht, pp.101-140 From the Talmud to the High Middle Ages 11 February Schreiber, Chapters VI-VII Communal Enactments and Rabbinic Responsa 18 February Schreiber, Chapter VIII Gideon Libson, “Halakhah and Law in the Period of the Geonim”, in Hecht, pp.197-250 Phil Ackerman-Lieberman, “Commercial Forms and Legal Norms in the Jewish Community of Medieval Egypt”, Law and History Review 30.4 (November, 2012): 1007-1052 LAW 7340 – Jewish Law: From the Ancient Near East to the Israeli Supreme Court – Page 1 From the Medieval to the Modern Period 25 February and 3 March Schreiber, Chapter IX Edward Fram, “Jewish Law from the Shulḥan Arukh to the Enlightenment”, in Hecht, pp.359- 377 Aaron Rakefet-Rothkoff, “Dina D’Malkhuta Dina—The Law of the Land in Halakhic Perspective”. Tradition 13.2 (1972): 5-23 Aaron Kirschenbaum and Jon Trafimow, “The Sovereign Power of the State: A Proposed Theory of Accommodation in Jewish Law”. Cardozo Law Review 12 (1991): 925-940 Gerald J. Blidstein, “A Note on the Function of ‘The Law of the Kingdom is Law’ in the Medieval Jewish Community”. Jewish Journal of Sociology 15 (1973): 213-219 10 March – Spring Break – No Class Contemporary Israel; Law in the West Bank 17 March Daniel Sinclair, “Jewish Law in the State of Israel”, in Hecht, pp.397-415 Chibli Mallat, An Introduction to Middle Eastern Law (New York: Oxford University Press, 2008): 129-140, 217-222 Association for Civil Rights in Israel v. Minister of Defence HCJ 5973/92. Available at: http://www.hamoked.org/Document.aspx?dID=4890 Ian Lustick, “Israel and the West Bank after Elon Moreh: the Mechanics of De Facto Annexation”. Middle East Journal 35.4 (Autumn, 1981): 557-577 Tobias Kelly, “‘Jurisdictional Politics’ in the Occupied West Bank: Territory, Community, and Economic Dependency in the Formation of Legal Subjects”. Law & Social Inquiry 31.1 (Winter, 2006): 39-74 Religious Identity; the Nexus of Jewish and Israeli Law (Mishpaṭ ʿIvri) 24 March Law of Return 5710-1950. Available at: http://www.knesset.gov.il/laws/special/eng/return.htm Aharon Lichtenstein, “Brother Daniel and the Jewish Fraternity”. Judaism 12.3 (Summer 1963): 260-280 Shalev Ginossar, “Who is a Jew: a Better Law? The Law of Return (Amendment no.2) 1970”. Israel Law Review 5 (1970): 264-267. Asher Felix Landau (ed.), Selected Judgments of the Supreme Court of Israel (Jerusalem: Ministry of Justice, 1971): 1-34 Daphna Hacker, “Inter-Religious Marriages in Israel: Gendered Implications for Conversion, Children and Citizenship”. Israel Studies 14.2 (Summer 2009): 178-197 Samuel Shilo, “The Contrast between Mishpat Ivri and Halakha”. Tradition 20 (Summer 1982): 91-100 Brahyahu Lifshitz, “Israeli Law and Jewish Law—Interaction and Independence”. Israel Law Review 24 (1990): 507-524 Eliav Shochetman, “Israeli Law and Jewish Law—Interaction and Independence: A Commentary”. Israel Law Review 24 (1990): 525-536 LAW 7340 – Jewish Law: From the Ancient Near East to the Israeli Supreme Court – Page 2 “Patrilineal and Matrilineal Descent”. Contemporary American Reform Responsa (October 1983), available at http://ccarnet.org/responsa/carr-61-68 Walter Jacob (ed.), American Reform Responsa (New York: Central Conference of American Rabbis, 1983): 547-550 Shaye Cohen et al. Articles on matrilineal and patrilineal descent, Judaism 34.1 (Winter 1985) 9- 128 Jewish Divorce; the New York State Geṭ Law 31 March Kent Greenawalt, “Religious Law and Civil Law: Using Secular Law to Assure Observances of Practices with Religious Significance”. Southern California Law Review 71 (1998): 781-843. Tzvi Gartner, “Problems of a Forced ‘Get’”. Journal of Halacha and Contemporary Society 9 (1985): 118-142. Suzanne Last Stone, “The Intervention of American Law in Jewish Divorce: a Pluralist Analysis”. Israel Law Review 34 (Summer 2000): 170-210 Michael J. Broyde, “The 1992 New York Get Law”. Tradition 29.4 (1995): 5-13 Chaim Z. Malinowitz, “The New York State ‘Get’ Bill and its Halachic Ramifications”. Journal of Halacha and Contemporary Society 27 (1994): 5-25 Gedalia Dov Schwartz, “Comments on the New York State ‘Get Law’”. Journal of Halacha and Contemporary Society 27 (1994): 26-34 Tanina Rostain, “Permissible Accommodations of Religion: Reconsidering the New York ‘Get’ Statute”. Yale Law Journal 96.5 (1987): 1147-1171 Judah Dick, “Is an Agreement to Deliver or Accept a Get in the Event of a Civil Divorce Halakhically Feasible?” Tradition 21.2 (1983) 91-106 Marvin E. Jacob, “The ‘Agunah’ Problem and the So-Called New York State ‘Get’ Law: a Legal and Halakhic Analysis” in Jack Nusan Porter (ed.), Women in Chains (Northvale, NJ: Jason Aronson, 1995): 159-184 Jeremy Glicksman, “Almost, but Not Quite: the Failure of New York’s ‘Get’ Statute”. Family Court Review 44.2 (2006): 300-315 Lawrence M. Warmflash, “The New York Approach to Enforcing Religious Marriage Contracts: from Avitzur to the Get Statute”. Brooklyn Law Review 50.2 (1984): 229-253 Walter Jacob (ed.), American Reform Responsa (New York: Central Conference of American Rabbis, 1983): 510-515 Womens’ Participation in Jewish Ritual 7 April Seymour Siegel, ed. Conservative Judaism and Jewish Law (New York: Rabbinical Assembly, 1977): 282-305 Joel Roth, “On the Ordination of Women as Rabbis”. Committee on Jewish Law and Standards of the Rabbinical Assembly HM 7:4.1984b David J. Fine, “Women and the Minyan”. Committee on Jewish Law and Standards of the Rabbinical Assembly OH 55:1.2002 Joel B. Wolowelsky, “Rabbis, Rebbetzins, and Halakhic Advisors”. Tradition 36;4 (2002): 54-63 Mendel Shapiro, “Qeriʾat ha-Torah by Women: a Halakhic Analysis”. Edah Journal 1.2 (2001) 1- 52) LAW 7340 – Jewish Law: From the Ancient Near East to the Israeli Supreme Court – Page 3 Daniel Sperber, “Congregational Unity and Human Dignity: Women and Public Torah Reading”. Edah Journal 3:2 (2003) Shlomo Riskin, “Torah Aliyyot for Women”. Meorot 7:1 (2008) Mendel Shapiro, “A Response to Shlomo Riskin”. Meorot 7:1 (2008) Shlomo Riskin, “Response to Mendel Shapiro”. Meorot 7:1 (2008) Jacob Z. Lauterbach, “Ordination of Women as Rabbis”. American Reform Responsa 32 (1922): 50- 51, available at http://ccarnet.org/responsa/arr-24-43-2 David Golinkin, “Aliyot for Women”. Responsa of the Vaʿad ha-Halakha of the Masorti Movement in Israel OH 282.23, available at http://www.responsafortoday.com/eng_index.html (English summaries--volume 3) Modern/Contemporary Responsa 14 April David Novak, “Modern Responsa: 1800 to the Present”, in Hecht, pp.379-395 Ephraim Oshry, Responsa from the Holocaust (New York: Judaica Press, 2001): Nos.1, 4, 14, 18, 36, 51, 58, 63, 73, 85, 99, 105, 110, 112. Gordon Tucker, “A Principled Defense of the Current Structure and Status of the CJLS”. Committee on Jewish Law and Standards of the Rabbinical Assembly HM 2.1993 Idem. “Halakhic and Metahalakhic Arguments concerning Judaism and Homosexuality”. Committee on Jewish Law and Standards of the Rabbinical Assembly EH 24.2006f Elliot N. Dorff et al. “Homosexuality, Human Dignity & Halakhah: a Combined Responsum for the Committee on Jewish Law and Standards”. Committee on Jewish Law and Standards of the Rabbinical Assembly EH 24.2006b Final Presentations 14 and 21 April LAW 7340 – Jewish Law: From the Ancient Near East to the Israeli Supreme Court – Page 4 .
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Getting Your Get At
    Getting your Get at www.gettingyourget.co.uk Information for Jewish men and women in England, Wales and Scotland about divorce according to Jewish law with articles, forms and explanations for lawyers. by Sharon Faith BA (Law) (Hons) and Deanna Levine MA LLB The website at www.gettingyourget.co.uk is sponsored by Barnett Alexander Conway Ingram, Solicitors, London 1 www.gettingyourget.co.uk Dedicated to the loving memory of Sharon Faith’s late parents, Maisie and Dr Oswald Ross (zl) and Deanna Levine’s late parents, Cissy and Ellis Levine (zl) * * * * * * * * Published by Cissanell Publications PO Box 12811 London N20 8WB United Kingdom ISBN 978-0-9539213-5-5 © Sharon Faith and Deanna Levine First edition: February 2002 Second edition: July 2002 Third edition: 2003 Fourth edition: 2005 ISBN 0-9539213-1-X Fifth edition: 2006 ISBN 0-9539213-4-4 Sixth edition: 2008 ISBN 978-0-9539213-5-5 2 www.gettingyourget.co.uk Getting your Get Information for Jewish men and women in England, Wales and Scotland about divorce according to Jewish law with articles, forms and explanations for lawyers by Sharon Faith BA (Law) (Hons) and Deanna Levine MA LLB List of Contents Page Number Letters of endorsement. Quotes from letters of endorsement ……………………………………………………………. 4 Acknowledgements. Family Law in England, Wales and Scotland. A note for the reader seeking divorce…………. 8 A note for the lawyer …………….…….. …………………………………………………………………………………….. 9 Legislation: England and Wales …………………………………………………………………………………………….. 10 Legislation: Scotland ………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 11 1. Who needs a Get? .……………………………………………………………………………….…………………... 14 2. What is a Get? ………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 14 3. Highlighting the difficulties ……………………………………………………………………………….………….. 15 4. Taking advice from your lawyer and others ……………………………………………………………………….
    [Show full text]
  • Redefining a Minyan for the Sake of Service to God
    It Is Time to Act for the Lord: Redefining a Minyan for the Sake of Service to God Dear CSZ Family, As of Shabbat on Friday night, May 8, 2020 corresponding to 15 Iyar 5780, Congregation Shaarey Zedek will affirm a minimum of ten Jewish adults who can be seen and heard, either virtually or in-person, as a minyan -- the gathering that ​ ​ ​ ​ constitutes a quorum for public prayer. This decision comes in response to the global pandemic affecting every aspect of our society, and it supersedes previous teshuvot that I have issued regarding our ​ ​ community prayer services. While an in-person communal gathering of prayer is superior to a virtual one, this teshuvah is written with the goal of allowing members of ​ ​ Congregation Shaarey Zedek to more fully feel God’s presence as well as the fellowship of community and, perhaps more importantly, to further strive to serve God with joy and with a sacred sense of purpose (i.e., commandedness). Additionally, this teshuvah is in keeping with Congregation Shaarey Zedek’s efforts ​ ​ toward inclusion by ensuring that those who are unable to attend the synagogue because of health complications or health vulnerabilities are equal to those who are able to attend the synagogue in-person. What Is Conservative Judaism? “It is Conservative Judaism that most directly confronts the challenge to integrate tradition with modernity,” wrote Robert Gordis in the Conservative movement’s statement of principles, Emet Ve-emunah. “By retaining most of the tradition while yet ​ ​ being hospitable to the valuable aspects
    [Show full text]
  • Homosexuality Rabbi Joel Roth
    EH 24.1992b HoMosEXUALITY Rabbi Joel Roth This paper wa.s approved by the CJLS on March 2.5, 1992, by a t:ote offourteen in ftwor, seven opposed, and three abstain­ inp.: (14-7-3). HJtint( in.flwor: Rabbis Stnnle_y Brnmnick, Jerome _ill. LjJstein, David _lli. 1<(:/dman, Samuel Fraint, Arnold i\1. Goodman, Reut'fTL Kimdman, Anron L. Jllaclrler, Herbert _Mandl, Lionf'l L". 1Hoses, At'ram lsr(Lel Rei,-;ner, Chaim A. Rogc~ft .Joel Roth, Jlorri,, Sh"piro, and Cemld Sirolnik tirting "gains!: Rabbis Ben Zion Bergman, £lliot N. Dorff: Rich"nl L. Fisenberg, Dov Peretz Flhins, Froward Ffandlet; Joel Rcmbaum, and Gordon Tucker. Abstaining: Rabbis Kassel Abelson, Jan Cwyl Kaufman, and _ilfrqer Rahi.nDwilz. 1he Committee on Jewish Law and Standards of' the Rabbinical 1sscmblyprovides guidance in matters of'halahhahfor the Conservative movement. The individual rabbi, however, is the (Wtlwri~yfor the interpretation nnd application r~f all mntters of'halairlwh. Part I Few topics evoke the type of visceral response that homosexuality does. Responses are often quick and definitive on both ends of the spectrum. I have been cornered by some who wonder how the question could even be on the agenda of the Law Committee. "~That is there to say about the subject from a halakhic point of view", they ask? "Putting it on the agenda validates a question which, in fact, has no validity," they claim. At the other end of the spectrum, I have been contacted by some homosexuals whose claim is equally definitive. "Halakhah has no option but to validate homosexuality as a lifestyle co-equal with heterosexuality.
    [Show full text]
  • The Marriage Issue
    Association for Jewish Studies SPRING 2013 Center for Jewish History The Marriage Issue 15 West 16th Street The Latest: New York, NY 10011 William Kentridge: An Implicated Subject Cynthia Ozick’s Fiction Smolders, but not with Romance The Questionnaire: If you were to organize a graduate seminar around a single text, what would it be? Perspectives THE MAGAZINE OF THE ASSOCIATION FOR JEWISH STUDIES Table of Contents From the Editors 3 From the President 3 From the Executive Director 4 The Marriage Issue Jewish Marriage 6 Bluma Goldstein Between the Living and the Dead: Making Levirate Marriage Work 10 Dvora Weisberg Married Men 14 Judith Baskin ‘According to the Law of Moses and Israel’: Marriage from Social Institution to Legal Fact 16 Michael Satlow Reading Jewish Philosophy: What’s Marriage Got to Do with It? 18 Susan Shapiro One Jewish Woman, Two Husbands, Three Laws: The Making of Civil Marriage and Divorce in a Revolutionary Age 24 Lois Dubin Jewish Courtship and Marriage in 1920s Vienna 26 Marsha Rozenblit Marriage Equality: An American Jewish View 32 Joyce Antler The Playwright, the Starlight, and the Rabbi: A Love Triangle 35 Lila Corwin Berman The Hand that Rocks the Cradle: How the Gender of the Jewish Parent Influences Intermarriage 42 Keren McGinity Critiquing and Rethinking Kiddushin 44 Rachel Adler Kiddushin, Marriage, and Egalitarian Relationships: Making New Legal Meanings 46 Gail Labovitz Beyond the Sanctification of Subordination: Reclaiming Tradition and Equality in Jewish Marriage 50 Melanie Landau The Multifarious
    [Show full text]
  • Of Time, Honor, and Memory: Oral Law in Albania
    Oral Tradition, 23/1 (2008): 3-14 Of Time, Honor, and Memory: Oral Law in Albania Fatos Tarifa This essay provides a historical account of the role of oral tradition in passing on from generation to generation an ancient code of customary law that has shaped and dominated the lives of northern Albanians until well into the mid-twentieth century. This traditional body of customary law is known as the Kode of Lekë Dukagjini. It represents a series of norms, mores, and injunctions that were passed down by word of mouth for generations and reputedly originally formulated by Lekë Dukagjini, an Albanian prince and companion-in-arms to Albania’s national hero, George Kastriot Skanderbeg (1405-68). Lekë Dukagjini ruled the territories of Pulati, Puka, Mirdita, Lura, and Luma in northern Albania—known today as the region of Dukagjini—until the Ottoman armies seized Albania’s northernmost city of Shkodër in 1479. Throughout the past five to six centuries this corpus of customary law has been referred to as Kanuni i Lekë Dukagjinit, Kanuni i Malsisë (the Code of the Highlands), or Kanuni i maleve (the Code of the Mountains). The “Code” is an inexact term, since Kanun, deriving from the Greek kanon, simultaneously signifies “norm,” “rule,” and “measure.” The Kanun, but most particularly the norm of vengeance, or blood taking, as its standard punitive apparatus, continue to this day to be a subject of historical, sociological, anthropological, and juridical interest involving various theoretical frames of reference from the dominant trends of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries to today. The Kanun of Lekë Dukagjini was not the only customary law in Albania.
    [Show full text]
  • TRANSGENDER JEWS and HALAKHAH1 Rabbi Leonard A
    TRANSGENDER JEWS AND HALAKHAH1 Rabbi Leonard A. Sharzer MD This teshuvah was adopted by the CJLS on June 7, 2017, by a vote of 11 in favor, 8 abstaining. Members voting in favor: Rabbis Aaron Alexander, Pamela Barmash, Elliot Dorff, Susan Grossman, Reuven Hammer, Jan Kaufman, Gail Labovitz, Amy Levin, Daniel Nevins, Avram Reisner, and Iscah Waldman. Members abstaining: Rabbis Noah Bickart, Baruch Frydman- Kohl, Joshua Heller, David Hoffman, Jeremy Kalmanofsky, Jonathan Lubliner, Micah Peltz, and Paul Plotkin. שאלות 1. What are the appropriate rituals for conversion to Judaism of transgender individuals? 2. What are the appropriate rituals for solemnizing a marriage in which one or both parties are transgender? 3. How is the marriage of a transgender person (which was entered into before transition) to be dissolved (after transition). 4. Are there any requirements for continuing a marriage entered into before transition after one of the partners transitions? 5. Are hormonal therapy and gender confirming surgery permissible for people with gender dysphoria? 6. Are trans men permitted to become pregnant? 7. How must healthcare professionals interact with transgender people? 8. Who should prepare the body of a transgender person for burial? 9. Are preoperative2 trans men obligated for tohorat ha-mishpahah? 10. Are preoperative trans women obligated for brit milah? 11. At what point in the process of transition is the person recognized as the new gender? 12. Is a ritual necessary to effect the transition of a trans person? The Committee on Jewish Law and Standards of the Rabbinical Assembly provides guidance in matters of halkhhah for the Conservative movement.
    [Show full text]
  • How Did Halacha Originate Or Did the Rabbis Tell a “Porky”?1 Definitions Written Law the Written Law Is the Torah Or Five Books of Moses
    How Did Halacha Originate or Did the Rabbis Tell a “Porky”?1 Definitions Written Law The Written Law is the Torah or Five books of Moses. Also known from the Greek as the Pentateuch. (What status is the Tanach?) Oral Law An Oral Law is a code of conduct in use in a given culture, religion or community …, by which a body of rules of human behaviour is transmitted by oral tradition and effectively respected, ...2 lit. "Torah that is on the ,תורה שבעל פה) According to Rabbinic Judaism, the Oral Torah or Oral Law mouth") represents those laws, statutes, and legal interpretations that were not recorded in the Five lit. "Torah that is in writing"), but nonetheless are ,תורה שבכתב) "Books of Moses, the "Written Torah regarded by Orthodox Jews as prescriptive and co-given. This holistic Jewish code of conduct encompasses a wide swathe of rituals, worship practices, God–man and interpersonal relationships, from dietary laws to Sabbath and festival observance to marital relations, agricultural practices, and civil claims and damages. According to Jewish tradition, the Oral Torah was passed down orally in an unbroken chain from generation to generation of leaders of the people until its contents were finally committed to writing following the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE, when Jewish civilization was faced with an existential threat.3 Halacha • all the rules, customs, practices, and traditional laws. (Lauterbach) • the collective body of Jewish religious laws derived from the Written and Oral Torah. (Wikipedia) • Lit. the path that one walks. Jewish law. The complete body of rules and practices that Jews are bound to follow, including biblical commandments, commandments instituted by the rabbis, and binding customs.
    [Show full text]
  • Schechter@35: Living Judaism 4
    “The critical approach, the honest and straightforward study, the intimate atmosphere... that is Schechter.” Itzik Biton “The defining experience is that of being in a place where pluralism “What did Schechter isn't talked about: it's lived.” give me? The ability Liti Golan to read the most beautiful book in the world... in a different way.” Yosef Peleg “The exposure to all kinds of people and a variety of Jewish sources allowed for personal growth and the desire to engage with ideas and people “As a daughter of immigrants different than me.” from Libya, earning this degree is Sigal Aloni a way to connect to the Jewish values that guided my parents, which I am obliged to pass on to my children and grandchildren.” Schechter@35: Tikva Guetta Living Judaism “I acquired Annual Report 2018-2019 a significant and deep foundation in Halakhah and Midrash thanks to the best teachers in the field.” Raanan Malek “When it came to Jewish subjects, I felt like an alien, lost in a foreign city. At Schechter, I fell into a nurturing hothouse, leaving the barren behind, blossoming anew.” Dana Stavi The Schechter Institutes, Inc. • The Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies, the largest M.A. program in is a not for profit 501(c)(3) Jewish Studies in Israel with 400 students and 1756 graduates. organization dedicated to the • The Schechter Rabbinical Seminary is the international rabbinical school advancement of pluralistic of Masorti Judaism, serving Israel, Europe and the Americas. Jewish education. The Schechter Institutes, Inc. provides support • The TALI Education Fund offers a pluralistic Jewish studies program to to four non-profit organizations 65,000 children in over 300 Israeli secular public schools and kindergartens.
    [Show full text]
  • CCAR Journal the Reform Jewish Quarterly
    CCAR Journal The Reform Jewish Quarterly Halachah and Reform Judaism Contents FROM THE EDITOR At the Gates — ohrgJc: The Redemption of Halachah . 1 A. Brian Stoller, Guest Editor ARTICLES HALACHIC THEORY What Do We Mean When We Say, “We Are Not Halachic”? . 9 Leon A. Morris Halachah in Reform Theology from Leo Baeck to Eugene B . Borowitz: Authority, Autonomy, and Covenantal Commandments . 17 Rachel Sabath Beit-Halachmi The CCAR Responsa Committee: A History . 40 Joan S. Friedman Reform Halachah and the Claim of Authority: From Theory to Practice and Back Again . 54 Mark Washofsky Is a Reform Shulchan Aruch Possible? . 74 Alona Lisitsa An Evolving Israeli Reform Judaism: The Roles of Halachah and Civil Religion as Seen in the Writings of the Israel Movement for Progressive Judaism . 92 David Ellenson and Michael Rosen Aggadic Judaism . 113 Edwin Goldberg Spring 2020 i CONTENTS Talmudic Aggadah: Illustrations, Warnings, and Counterarguments to Halachah . 120 Amy Scheinerman Halachah for Hedgehogs: Legal Interpretivism and Reform Philosophy of Halachah . 140 Benjamin C. M. Gurin The Halachic Canon as Literature: Reading for Jewish Ideas and Values . 155 Alyssa M. Gray APPLIED HALACHAH Communal Halachic Decision-Making . 174 Erica Asch Growing More Than Vegetables: A Case Study in the Use of CCAR Responsa in Planting the Tri-Faith Community Garden . 186 Deana Sussman Berezin Yoga as a Jewish Worship Practice: Chukat Hagoyim or Spiritual Innovation? . 200 Liz P. G. Hirsch and Yael Rapport Nursing in Shul: A Halachically Informed Perspective . 208 Michal Loving Can We Say Mourner’s Kaddish in Cases of Miscarriage, Stillbirth, and Nefel? . 215 Jeremy R.
    [Show full text]
  • Chapter 2 Tort Liability in Maimonides
    CHAPTER 2 TORT LIABILITY IN MAIMONIDES’ CODE (MISHNEH TORAH): THE DOWNSIDE OF THE COMMON INTERPRETATION A. INTRODUCTION: THE MODERN STUDY OF JEWISH TORT THEORY AS A STORY OF “SELF- MIRRORING” B. THE OWNERSHIP AND STRICT LIABILITY THEORY VS. THE FAULT-BASED THEORY (PESHIAH) (1) The Difficulties of the Concept of Peshiah (2) The Common Interpretation of the Code: The “Ownership and Strict Liability Theory” C. EXEGETICAL AND CONCEPTUAL DIFFICULTIES OF THE COMMON INTERPRETATION OF MAIMONIDES (1) Maimonides did not Impose Comprehensive Strict Liability on the Tortfeasor (2) Maimonides’ Use of the Term Peshiah in Different Places (3) The Theory of Ownership Contradicts Various Rulings in the Code (4) The Problem with Finding a Convincing Rationale for the Ownership Theory D. DIFFICULTIES IN UNDERSTANDING SOME ELEMENTS OF TORT LIABILITY MENTIONED IN THE CODE (1) Rulings that are Difficult to Interpret according to Either Ownership or Fault-Based Theories (2) Providing a Rationale for the Exemption in Tort (3) Standard of Care in Damages Caused by a Person to the Property of Another: Absolute/Strict Liability or Negligence? (4) Deterrence of Risk-Causing Behavior E. RE-EXAMINING THE OPENING CHAPTER OF THE BOOK OF TORTS IN THE CODE: CONTROL AS A CENTRAL ELEMENT OF LIABILITY IN TORT F. CONCLUSION 1 A. INTRODUCTION: THE MODERN STUDY OF JEWISH TORT THEORY AS A STORY OF “SELF- MIRRORING” Isidore Twersky showed us that “[t]o a great extent the study of Maimonides is a story of ‘self- mirroring’,”1 and that the answers given by modern and medieval scholars and rabbis to some questions on the concepts of Maimonides “were as different as their evaluations of Maimonides, tempered of course by their own ideological convictions and/or related contingencies.”2 Maimonides’ opening passages of the Book of Torts (Sefer Nezikin) in the Code (Mishneh Torah) can also be described as a story of “self-mirroring”.
    [Show full text]
  • OF 15Th 2003 Rabbinic and Lay Communal Authority.Pdf (934.2Kb)
    Rabbinic and Lay Communal Authority edited by Suzanne Last Stone Robert S. Hirt, Series Editor THE MICHAEL SCHARF PUBLICATION TRUST of the YESHIVA UNIVERSITY PRESs New York forum 15 r08 draft 7b balanced.iiii iii 31/12/2006 11:47:12 THE ORTHODOX FORUM The Orthodox Forum, initially convened by Dr. Norman Lamm, Chancellor of Yeshiva University, meets each year to consider major issues of concern to the Jewish community. Forum participants from throughout the world, including academicians in both Jewish and secular fields, rabbis,rashei yeshivah, Jewish educators, and Jewish communal professionals, gather in conference as a think tank to discuss and critique each other’s original papers, examining different aspects of a central theme. The purpose of the Forum is to create and disseminate a new and vibrant Torah literature addressing the critical issues facing Jewry today. The Orthodox Forum gratefully acknowledges the support of the Joseph J. and Bertha K. Green Memorial Fund at the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary established by Morris L. Green, of blessed memory. The Orthodox Forum Series is a project of the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary, an affiliate of Yeshiva University forum 15 r08 draft 7b balanced.iii ii 31/12/2006 11:47:12 Copyright © 2006 Yeshiva University Press Typeset by Jerusalem Typesetting, www.jerusalemtype.com * * * Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Orthodox Forum (15th : 2003 : New York, N.Y.) Rabbinic and lay communal authority / edited by Suzanne Last Stone. p. cm. – (Orthodox forum series) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-88125-953-7 1. Rabbis – Office – Congresses.
    [Show full text]
  • A Comparative Study of Jewish Commentaries and Patristic Literature on the Book of Ruth
    A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF JEWISH COMMENTARIES AND PATRISTIC LITERATURE ON THE BOOK OF RUTH by CHAN MAN KI A Dissertation submitted to the University of Pretoria for the degree of PHILOSOPHIAE DOCTOR Department of Old Testament Studies Faculty of Theology University of Pretoria South Africa Promoter: PIETER M. VENTER JANUARY, 2010 © University of Pretoria Summary Title : A comparative study of Jewish Commentaries and Patristic Literature on the Book of Ruth Researcher : Chan Man Ki Promoter : Pieter M. Venter, D.D. Department : Old Testament Studies Degree :Doctor of Philosophy This dissertation deals with two exegetical traditions, that of the early Jewish and the patristic schools. The research work for this project urges the need to analyze both Jewish and Patristic literature in which specific types of hermeneutics are found. The title of the thesis (“compared study of patristic and Jewish exegesis”) indicates the goal and the scope of this study. These two different hermeneutical approaches from a specific period of time will be compared with each other illustrated by their interpretation of the book of Ruth. The thesis discusses how the process of interpretation was affected by the interpreters’ society in which they lived. This work in turn shows the relationship between the cultural variants of the exegetes and the biblical interpretation. Both methodologies represented by Jewish and patristic exegesis were applicable and social relevant. They maintained the interest of community and fulfilled the need of their generation. Referring to early Jewish exegesis, the interpretations upheld the position of Ruth as a heir of the Davidic dynasty. They advocated the importance of Boaz’s and Ruth’s virtue as a good illustration of morality in Judaism.
    [Show full text]