An Introduction to the History and Sources of Jewish Law (review)

Abstract

166 SHOFAR Winter 2000 Vol. 18, No.2 the actual Hasmonean achievement of independence. As it is, the book ends in 161 B.C.E. with the treaty of alliance between the Hasmoneans and Rome-an odd place to end, since Gera himselfadmits that the Hasmonean treaty with Rome lacked practical value (pp. 311-312).The fact is that the Maccabees received a decisive benefit not from events in faraway Rome in 161 but from developments in their immediate international environment in the late 150s; and detailed discussion of the latter would have greatly underlined Gera's basic point about the limits of Jewish power. It was not Judah, Jonathan, and Simon Maccabeus who primarily made Hasmonean Judaea. Though their bravery and military-political skill is beyond question, Judah was defeated and killed in spring 160, and Demetrius Soter soon had Jonathan and Simon completely on the run over the Jordan. The crucial event that created an independent Judaea was, rather, the coalition ofPtolemy VI with the rulers ofPergamum and Cappadocia against Demetrius Soter after 153-Demetrius had managed to alienate them all-with Rome playing a peripheral part in Demetrius' destruction. And he was the last powerful Seleucid ruler. . In the complex Seleucid civil wars that followed Demetrius' death, each side offered the Jews more and more independence in exchange for political and even military support (for with every claimant to the throne so weak, even the Jews counted for something), until by 141 Judaea was no longer a Seleucid province but officially a free state ruled by Simon as high priest and prince in Jerusalem. Less extraneous discussion of international events in the earlier period (when the Jews were helpless), replaced by detailed analysis of the complicated interactions of 153-141-the type of analysis which is clearly Gera's forte, to judge from much ofthe material in this book-would have made Judaea and Mediterranean Politics a much more valuable study. Even as it is, however, readers will certainly benefit from Gera. He removes much romanticism from the story of the ancient Jewish struggle for independence, because he starts from a bitter truth: the fate ofsmall peoples does not often lie within their own decisions and efforts, but depends on broader international developments. A. M. Eckstein Department of History University of Maryland-College Park An Introduction to the History and Sources ofJewish Law, edited by N. S. Hecht, B. S. Jackson, S. M. Passamaneck, D. Piatelli, A. M. Rabello. Institute ofJewish Law, Vol. 22. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1996. 466 pp. $20.00. For millennia, scholars have engaged, and continue to engage, in the practice and development ofhalakhah. The academic study ofthe halakhic practices and contexts of these scholars, on the other hand, is relatively new. Both the rise of the comparative Book Reviews 167 study of national legal systems and the emergence ofZionism contributed to this new discipline, now termed "Jewish law." The fruit of this discipline has primarily been studies of "the" Jewish law or its principles on various topics, as defined by modem legal systems (e.g., "Jewish family law"). M. Elon's monumental Jewish Law is the most recent addition to this trend. The "Jewish law" approach has generally focused neither on the history ofJewish legal development and institutions, nor on introducing neophytes to the sources upon which their conclusions are based. The current book seeks to do both, with mixed results. This volume contains 16 discrete essays that trace the history of Jewish law from the biblical period to modem day. These essays are: "Biblical Law" (R. Westbrook); "Jewish Law during the Second Temple Period" (D. Piatelli and B. S. Jackson); "Samaritan Halakhah" (M. Corinaldi); "Jewish Law and Hellenistic Legal Practice in the Light ofGreek Papyri from Egypt" (J. Meleze Modrzejewski); "Jewish Law during the Tannaitic Period" (P. Segal); "Jewish and Roman Jurisdiction" (A. M~ Rabello); "The Age of the Talmud" (B. Lifshitz); "Halakhah and Law in the Period of the Geonim" (G. Libson); "Karaite Halakhah" (M. Corinaldi); "Jewish Law in Spain and the Halakhic Activity ofIts Scholars before 1300" (E. Schochetman); "Ashkenazim to 1300" (A. Grossman); "Toward Sunrise in the East 1300-1565" (S. Passamaneck); "Jewish Law from the Shulhan Arukh to...