Jewish Law Research Articles

Automatic construction of the citation network from the medieval Jewish Responsa literature

This article presents a novel approach for the citation network construction from Jewish Responsa literature based on automatic extraction of references from texts. Jewish Responsa literature contains thousands of answers to questions related to Jewish law (Halachah), spanning over 1,300 years by authors from all over the world. This literature is abundant with references, but because of their high lexical and format variability their automatic identification and extraction is very challenging. In this article we present a novel, multi layered approach that splits the reference extraction task into two main subtasks: i) reference boundaries’ identification; ii) reference internal components’ identification. We experimented with several different machine learning models: CRF (Conditional Random Field) model, BERT (Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers) model, and a combined approach, BERT-CRF. Additionally, we examined the influence of the training corpus on the model’s accuracy by comparing the performance of the models trained on modern Hebrew vs. Rabbinic Hebrew. We found that the best results were achieved by a BERT-CRF model trained on Rabbinic Hebrew. The constructed network can be utilized to build various tools for analyzing trends and influences in the Jewish Halachic corpus, such as the most influencing authors, the authors’ sources of authority, and their evolution over time and place.

The “Sermon on Law and Grace” in the Context of the Russian-Byzantine Conflict in the Mid-11th Century

The article offers a new interpretation of the ideological content of the Sermon on Law and Grace in the context of the Russian–Byzantine conflict in the mid-11th century. Presented, apparently, in the Tithe Church on March 26, 1049, it contains Yaroslav’s program to strengthen the prestige and independence of the Russian Church. The compilation of the Sermon was entrusted to one of the most educated Eastern Slavs of his time, the princely presbyter Ilarion: on the one hand, he did not directly subordinate to the metropolitan, and on the other, the prince did not directly reveal the origin of his initiative. By showing that the era of Jewish law was replaced by the era of Christian grace, Ilarion demonstrates that Russia took an equal place among Christian nations thanks to its baptism by Prince Vladimir, who himself was baptized miraculously. Without directly calling Vladimir a saint, the author raises his status by likening him to the apostles and saints. To Constantine the Great, which also sanctifies his descendants and, first of all, Yaroslav, represented as the successor of his father’s work. In addition to this, Ilarion introduces for the first time in Russian literature the idea of the divine establishment of the prince’s power, likening him implicitly to the Byzantine emperor, whom Yaroslav guided in his construction of churches and their decoration. Thus, Yaroslav, like the Emperor, also gets the right to interfere in the affairs of the Church, which happened very soon, in 1051.

:Nothing Pure: Jewish Law, Christian Supersession, and Bible Translation in Old English

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The "Ways of Peace" and the "Ways of Pleasantness": Core Values of Jewish Law

The "Ways of Peace" and the "Ways of Pleasantness": Core Values of Jewish Law

Enhancing Pedagogy and Biblical Exegesis with Emotional Intelligence

In the past few decades, emotional intelligence (EI) has emerged as a competitor with ordinary intelligence (Intelligence Quotient (IQ)). The contrast is simple: IQ studies what you know; contrastively, EI studies how you relate to people. Many recent studies suggest that IQ accounts for only about 20% of success in life, with the remaining 80% being made up by other factors, emotional intelligence included. The article defines EI using a transdisciplinary approach and describes the components of EI using six rules of business email etiquette and the 7-item checklist used in the moral-legal code of Jewish law governing laws of communication. The overlap and commonality from these disparate disciplines enhances our confidence in the approach's operationality. We apply our findings to the disparate disciplines of biblical exegesis and pedagogy. Besides the traditional emphasis on tone, inclusiveness, and lack of omission and unconscious biases, the article provides some largely unexplored EI uses as a means of inferring exegesis and teaching. Consistent with the goals of this conference, we urge readers and listeners to research and apply these methods in their daily settings.

Paul Within Judaism Within Paganism

Judaism was not Paul’s background, but his context, and much of his gospel’s content. Modern Pauline Studies, however, often see Paul’s mission as an expression of what he found wrong with Judaism, a Judaism that supposedly discouraged relations with Gentiles. This essay investigates all the various ways that Jews and Gentiles comfortably cohabited the Graeco-Roman Diaspora. What spurred Paul’s mission was not a critique of an ethnically exclusive Judaism, but his conviction that, in Christ, the end times had arrived. Accordingly, he taught that Gentiles should repudiate their own gods and commit exclusively to the worship of Israel’s god. Paul’s contest was not with Jewish law. It was with pagan gods. Both his mission and his message place him firmly within the pluriform Judaism of his time, a Judaism that took its place within the god-congested world of first-century Mediterranean paganism.

David Flusser und seine Bedeutung für den jüdisch-christlichen Dialog

The life story of David Flusser (1917 Vienna – 2000 Jerusalem) extends from interwar Czechoslovakia, where he grew up and studied, to the broad research and teaching activities of an erudite professor at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. He was a leading authority on Second Temple Judaism as well as early Christian writings. His contribution to the Jewish-Christian dialogue lies above all in his deep understanding of early Christianity, which he approached with great interest, openness and friendliness. For him, both Jesus and the apostle Paul are inspirational personalities who can only be properly understood in the context of the Jewish tradition of the time. The presented article focuses on how Flusser perceives their relationship to Jewish law (Torah) and how he sees Jewish attitudes to Jesus’ crucifixion.

Social and Educational Consciousness in Twentieth- Century Moroccan Judeo-Arabic Halakhic Literature

This article examines three halakhic books authored by Rabbi Barukh Assabag in Casablanca during the 1930s and 1940s. Composed in Judeo-Arabic vernacular, these works were intended to cater to the general public whose proficiency in Hebrew was limited. Mindful of the nonobservance of commandments in various sectors of Morocco’s Jewish community, Assabag embarked on this literary endeavor with the aim of rehabilitating religion’s standing. Employing modern methodologies such as the democratization of knowledge, education, and print, Assabag’s innovative approach challenges the oversight of the rabbinic elite in addressing diverse community sectors. I posit that Assabag’s criticism of the rabbinic elite propelled him to propose a novel method for imparting Jewish law to the broader public. Rooted in its language and culture, this approach reflects Assabag’s social and educational consciousness. To achieve this goal, he pioneered a distinctive literary genre in Morocco that domesticated the halakhic text for a wider audience by composing in Judeo-Arabic vernacular, designing a unique structure for his books, and crafting their contents with meticulous care.

Balancing Punishment in Jewish Law: Examining Conflicting Purposes and Inconsistencies within Modern Judaism

Balancing Punishment in Jewish Law: Examining Conflicting Purposes and Inconsistencies within Modern Judaism

Rabbi Moshe Ben Maimon, Better Known as Rambam (1138-1204): Physician, Philosopher, and Adjudicator.

Rabbi Moshe Ben Maimon, known as Maimonides (Hebrew name is Rambam), lived from 1138 to 1204. He was one of the important philosophers, adjudicators, and physicians of the Jews. Rambam's knowledge of Jewish laws and his being a philosopher helped him in his third discipline, medicine. One of his perspectives was combining theology with philosophy, especially medicine. With that ability, he pioneered his multidisciplinary way of thinking and acting. Rambam was also a pioneer in the medical fields, especially anatomy, physiology, and clinical knowledge, and inspired many generations in the Middle Ages. Rambam was esteemed and respected not only by Jews but also by other religions and nationalities. There is a notable saying describing Rambam: "From Moses (Moses, the prophet) to Moshe (Moses, the Rambam), there were none like Moses." He was nicknamed the "Big Eagle". Rambam was called "Mossa Ibn Maimon" by the Arabs and "Maimonides" by the Europeans, derived from theGreek word "Moiasis Maimonidis". Herein, we focus solely on Rambam's contributions to medicine since his work, activities, and knowledge are very complex to summarize.

The Changing Character of the Torah

Abstract In this essay I suggest that the attitudes to Jewish law and the conflicting interpretations reflected by the early Jesus tradition are best understood within a landscape of change, in which the character of torah as instruction, guidance, and description gradually morphed into a more prescriptive and judicial nomos. Although the tensions described in the sources usually concern Jesus and the Pharisees, a comparison with the legal interpretation in some of the texts from Qumran sheds light on the principled differences between the early Jesus movement’s understanding of the law’s character and function and that of its opponents. It is suggested that Jesus and his early followers saw no conflict between the Torah’s guidance and its pragmatic application, but objected to some interpretations associated with its transformation.

Of Dowries and Daughters: a Law and Literature Approach to the Achsah Story in Joshua and Judges

Abstract Previous scholarship on Josh 15:16–19 and Judg 1:12–15 has drawn on ancient Near Eastern and Jewish laws pertaining to dowries as an aid for interpreting Achsah’s acquisition of property from her father. This article further elucidates the Achsah narrative by bringing it into conversation with legal documents pertaining to dowries from Mesopotamia that highlight their strategic use for purposes such as economic and social advancement. Drawing on insights from law and literature scholarship that highlight how narrative may offer a perspective on law, this article interrogates the ways that Achsah operates within the framework of legal norms pertaining to daughters, while also challenging them.

The Individual Spaces of Interpretation for the Collective Social Construction of the Jewish Sabbath in Israel

This study focuses on the tension between the national, public, and social restrictions that apply to the Shabbat (the Jewish Sabbath) in Israel and the way that Jews from a variety of religious streams understand Shabbat as leisure time that allows for a subjective choice of practices and self-realization. Jewish law provides clear rules and instructions for behavior on Shabbat, including a prohibition on different types of melacha (different kinds of creative activity), with the goal of “remembering” and “keeping” the Sabbath. While in Israel there are many Jews who do not follow these laws, they also make Shabbat special in other ways. Since Israel is a Jewish state, there is no clear separation between religion and state; today there are laws, regulations, expectations, and customs relating to Shabbat in the public sphere. To understand the diversity of views of Israelis about Shabbat, qualitative interviews were conducted with 66 secular, religious, formerly religious, traditional, and Ultra-Orthodox Jews, aged 25–50. Analysis of the survey data shows that Israeli Jews have a variety of perspectives regarding Shabbat, and do not describe Shabbat being structured and experienced as collective, homogeneous, and restrictive. Among the interviewees, religious and secular alike, Shabbat is described as a time full of variable subjective content, based on free choice and free from other obligations. On the one hand, even the religious and Ultra-Orthodox prioritize the individual and their family, sometimes more than religious faith or halachic obligation. On the other hand, even for those who do not keep the Shabbat halachically, resting on Shabbat forms an organizing principle for the weekend, lending this time its unique quality.

Необходимая оборона, крайняя необходимость и принуждение в иудейском праве

The article concentrates on Jewish law approach to the notions of self-defence, necessity and duress. From this perspective the article turns to the permissibility of the surgical separation of conjoined twins when only one of the twins has the chance to survive. The parallel situations are: a birthing mother, when the lives of the child and the mother can not be saved together and terrorists claiming life of one member group, either chosen at the discretion of the group members or specifically named by the terrorists. The basic teaching which emerges as defining the criterion by which Jewish law resolves most problems is the obligation to “sanctify the divine name” that permeates all layers of Jewish legal culture.

Квалификация развода по еврейскому праву в международном частном праве

According to religious Jewish law in Israel, a marriage is dissolved by the husband giving a special letter (ghet) to his wife. Should such dissolution of marriage be considered as performed in compliance with the legislation of a foreign state on the competence of bodies in the sense of paragraph 3 of Article 160 of the Family Code of the Russian Federation or should it be considered as a transaction and subject to conflict of laws test for substantive validity?

Sacred Soil, Green Ideals

Abstract Shemitah, the Jewish sabbatical year, is increasingly being explored in ecological contexts. This research delves into the concept of stewardship examining the evolving discourse on Shemitah across different community sectors in the Israeli press during the last three sabbatical cycles (2007–2008, 2014–2015, and 2021–2022). Our analysis reveals stewardship worldviews that portray Jewish law as either the practical pathway to implement these worldviews or as an inspiration for contemporary socio-environmental initiatives. The secular-liberal sector emphasizes universal stewardship, aligning with Western environmental concepts, while the national-religious sector integrates both universal and particular stewardship, emphasizing the land’s moral dimensions and connecting religious observance with environmental ethics. The ultra-Orthodox sector, though not explicitly expressing eco-theological views, focuses on soil regeneration. This empirical investigation serves as a significant case study and offers valuable guidance for addressing the challenge of instigating behavioral change in religious and traditional populations.

‘Meeting them halfway’: legitimation in the discourse of secular social work educators at ultra-Orthodox campuses

ABSTRACT This paper critically examines the discursive practices used by secular social work educators when teaching ultra-Orthodox students, whose strict interpretations of Jewish religious law often clash with professional values. Utilizing data from a qualitative study based on in-depth interviews with 16 social work faculty members, the paper elaborates van Leeuwen’s framework for analyzing legitimation in discourse. The findings indicate that the lecturers often encounter controversial situations that require them to abandon their professional ethics in order to accommodate the differential needs of their ultra-Orthodox students. I contend that in order to legitimize and camouflage conflictual pedagogic actions, such as the exclusion of women, self-censorship or the acceptance of discriminatory attitudes, the interviewees use social work concepts and terminology, such as cultural sensitivity, discretion or rapport. That is, the lecturers paradoxically use their professional identity to suspend social work principles in an attempt to implement multicultural politics in the classroom. The study uses identity construction as a complementary analytical lens to van Leeuwen’s approach and illuminates the use of discursive legitimation in educational and professional settings.

The Islamic Influence on Saadia Gaon’s Method in Defending Rabbinic Judaism

Saadia Al-Fayyumi was one of the medieval scholars of Jewish law who lived in Muslim societies. He was the first in Iraq to defend Rabbinic Judaism against the opponents and skeptics of its religious heritage and he was influenced in his defense by Islamic thought. Previous studies discussed Saadia’s defense of the Written and Oral law and illustrated Saadia’s polemical writings against the Karaites. The current paper discusses the influence of Islam on Saadia’s method in defending Rabbinic Judaism. Also, this essay illustrates the influence of Islamic thought on Saadia’s arguments to pave the way for the Rabbis to use reason like the Mu’tazilah to defend their beliefs and provided them with arguments and proofs. Clearly, Islamic thought was a principle for Saadia to establish the foundations of faith. He laid down the principles of faith just as the Mu’tazilah and was influenced by Mu’tazilah’s thoughts, Muslim jurists, Islamic theological doctrines, and their various ideas related to religious matters. Also, Saadia agreed with the Islamic theological sects in using logical evidences and religious texts as defensive tools to defend his beliefs. This Islamic influence on Jewish thought was a factor in its development, especially in light of the Arab-Islamic civilization in the medieval ages between 10th and the 15th centuries CE.

Evidently Not: Why Confessions Are Excluded in Jewish Criminal Jurisprudence

AbstractOf all the principles in classical Jewish law that stand out from a comparative legal perspective perhaps none is more notable than the ban on self-incrimination in criminal procedures. Contrary to the most basic evidentiary assumptions of other ancient legal systems, this principle differs fundamentally from the right to remain silent that is part of both early modern and modern legal systems. Only rabbinic jurisprudence incorporates an outright exclusion of criminal confessions. Despite receiving much scholarly attention over the centuries, this principle’s fundamental justification relating to the rule of law and the public pursuit of justice has gone unnoticed. This article explores this salient jurisprudential perspective, and sheds new light on this principle by contrasting the Jewish legal approach with the primary modes of criminal adjudication that were adopted in the West. What emerges from this comparative analysis is that this seemingly anomalous principle actually reveals much about the core commitments and values of Jewish law. These, in turn, have substantial implications for certain contemporary legal practices and dilemmas.

Underpinnings of the Halachic Approach to BRCA Screening and Intervention: Facilitating Provider Counseling for Observant Jewish Populations.

Halacha is the corpus of Jewish law which serves as a life blueprint for observant Jewish individuals. Health professionals counseling halachically observant populations at risk for breast cancer gene (BRCA) mutations should be well informed of the halachic approach to screening for BRCA mutations and subsequent interventions. To address the intersection of halacha with ethical norms and current medical evidence-based data as they relate to potential and identified BRCA mutation carriers at their various stages of decision-making. Halacha, ethics, and medicine have much in common, but there are specific principles which guide halacha; decision-making in light of halacha is complex and varies with respect to the multi-faceted aspects of screening and intervention. Halacha encourages the exercise of autonomy regarding situations in which beneficence is not clear-cut and dependent on subjective perceptions. Health professionals knowledgeable of halacha are better equipped to counsel the observant Jewish population at risk of BRCA mutations or identified as mutation carriers, enabling them to present targeted questions to halachic authorities and thus achieve optimal decision-making.