Law In Judaism Research Articles

The Noahide Laws and the Universal Fellowship with God

This article presents the possibility of a theory of natural law in Judaism from the Jewish perspective by listening to the Jewish tradition of scholarship on religion and philosophy. The first part of this paper is concerned with evidence for a theory of natural law in Judaism. It centers around the Noahide Laws and their influence on Gentile and pre-Simatic Judaism. The second part deals with Moses Maimonides and his ideas concerning the interpretation of natural law for Jews. The third part discusses Jewish scholars who have refuted the work of Maimonides and proposed various theories of natural law. They have been a consistent part of Jewish tradition and provide a path, however narrow, along which Jews may travel towards participation in global issues and work among non-Jewish people.

Dieviška prievarta, įstatymas ir teisingumas judaizme žvelgiant iš Walterio Benjamino perspektyvos

Straipsnyje analizuojamas dieviškos prievartos klausimas. „Dieviškos prievartos“ sąvoka buvo pradėta vartoti Walterio Benjamino, priešinant ją „mitinei prievartai“. Benjamino formuluota priešprieša rėmėsi (tarp kitų pavyzdžių) nuorodomis į biblinę istoriją ir judaizmo teisę, tačiau nebuvo pakanka­mai išskleista ir problemiška. Kaip turėtume suprasti tai, ką Benjaminas vadina dieviška prievarta, jei neitume į politinės filosofijos ar teologijos sritį, bet liktume religinėje plotmėje? Kaip įmanoma, ir ar įmanoma, Benjamino nurodytoje priešpriešoje aptikti religinės žydų tradicijos nuostatų ir idėjų? Straipsnyje pasirinkta svarstymo perspektyva išeities tašku ima ortodoksinio judaizmo tradiciją, kokia ji egzistuoja rabiniškuose rašytiniuose ir nerašytiniuose komentaruose. Analizuojant dieviškos prie­vartos sampratos ortodoksiniame judaizme peripetijas, tyrimo metu pavyko prieiti prie išvadų, kad yra visas kompleksas taškų, siejančių rabinišką dieviškos teisės, teisingumo ir prievartos sampratą su Benjamino dieviškos prievartos sąvoka. Ją pasitelkus, galima analizuoti rabiniškos teisės nuostatas ir perspektyvą, konstruojamą dualistinių priešpriešų – universalizmo ir partikuliarizmo (istoriškumo, pasak Jacques’o Derrida) bei Toros absoliutaus pobūdžio ir žemiškos (istoriškos, žmogiškos) praktikos – pagrindu. Šios priešpriešos straipsnyje aptariamos pasitelkus dieviškos prievartos (karet), rabiniško teismo pobūdžio, dieviško teisingumo sampratas ortodoksiniame judaizme. Tyrimas veda prie išvadų, kad Benjamino formuluota priešprieša subtiliai atspindi rabiniškame mąstyme ir teisės sampratoje egzistuojančias priešpriešas.

Divine Law and Contemporary Culture

Contemporary debate about the relationship between civil and religious law, highlighted by the Archbishop of Canterbury's 2008 lecture on ‘Civil and Religious Law in England’, prompts a reassessment of the place of ius divinum in the understanding of the nature of law. This article questions the assumption of modernity that there is no place for divine law, and briefly surveys the different role played by divine law in Judaism, Islam and Christianity. It examines the contrasting Christian perspectives of Aquinas and Duns Scotus, which leads to a critique of the relationship between personal welfare and the common good. Since, in the context of post-modernism, questions related to divine law are once again being addressed, the article criticises aspects of a fundamentalist approach to it in both Islam and Christianity. It argues that, from a Christian perspective, the personal truth of Jesus Christ embodies the place where the divine freedom comes into relation with human freedom. It concludes that in reflecting on a common praxis for humanity, it is this embodied relationship which provides the basic perspective for practitioners of canon law to contribute in a significant way to the debate now gathering momentum.

Natural Law in Judaism

Natural Law in Judaism

The Imago Dei in David Novak and Thomas Aquinas: A Jewish-Christian Dialogue

The Thomist 72 (2008): 259-311 THE IMAGO DEI IN DAVID NOVAK AND THOMAS AQUINAS: A JEWISH-CHRISTIAN DIALOGUE MATTHEW LEVERING Ave Maria University Ave Maria, Florida AT THE ROOT OF Jewish and Christian understandings of human nature are God's words in the first chapter of the Bible: Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth." So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. (Gen 1:26-27) Interpreting this passage, Richard Middleton describes the contemporary debate between "a metaphysical, substantialistic analogy" (the image of God as rooted in human rationality) and "a dynamic, relational notion of the image as ethical conformity or obedient response to God."1 Middleton's concerns regarding 1 Richard Middleton, The Liberating Image: The "Imago Dei" in Genesis 1 (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Brazos, 2005), 20. He attributes the latter position to Karl Barth, among others. See also Marc Cardinal Ouellet, S.S., Divine Likeness: Toward a Trinitarian Anthropology ofthe Family, trans. Philip Milligan and Linda M. Cicone (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 2006). Regarding Genesis 1:26-27 Ouellet observes that "current exegesis is moving beyond two extremes. On the one hand, one finds the purely spiritual interpretation-which is the commonly held opinion of Christian exegesis since Philo-that the notion of image of God concerns only the spiritual dimension of man, allowing him to have dominion over animals and things. On the other hand, there is the purely material interpretation of the image: the fact that the Hebrew term selem (sculpture, statue) would bring us back to the bodily configuration proper to man, that is, his vertical posture. The majority of exegetes can 259 260 MATTHEW LEVERING the traditional account of the image of God as human rationality are shared by Jewish theologian David Novak, who sets forth his position especially in two books, Natural Law in Judaism and Covenantal Rights. In what follows, I will explore Novak's approach in detail, and then examine Thomas Aquinas's theology of the image of God in light of Novak's insights and criticisms. The goal is to offer an account of the imago dei that engages constructivelywith contemporary concerns about "a metaphysical, substantialistic analogy." I. THE IMAGE OF GOD ACCORDING TO DAVID NOVAK A) Human Nature and Divine Power: Creation and Covenant Novak argues against the view, held by Aristotle as well as by Jewish thinkers such as Maimonides, that the human relationship with God is part of a cosmic teleology. For Novak, such a view undermines the priority and gratuity of the covenantal relationship of human beings with God.2 Although for Maimonides the eschatological "world-to-come" will include only persons "whose moral conduct is oriented in the context of a relationship with God,"3 nonetheless he reaches this conclusion primarily on the basis of the doctrine of creation rather than that of covenant. As Novak says regarding Maimonides' teleology, currently be found between these two opinions" (27). 2 See, e.g., David Novak, Natural Law in Judaism (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998), chaps. 4-5; idem, Jewish-Christian Dialogue: A Jewish Justification (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1989), 125, 139, 154; idem, Covenantal Rights: A Study in Jewish Political Theory (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000), 53. As he puts it inJewishChristian Dialogue, "in Scripture, the Lord God is the creator of this cosmic order, and as creator he transcends its limits. Holiness (qedushah) is not part of the cosmic order. Being God's own relational capacity with man, it, too, transcends that order. Those addressed by God's covenant also transcend therein the limits of that order: 'You shall be holy because I the Lord your God am holy' (Leviticus 19:2). The relationship, on the human side, only presupposes the cosmic order for its formal structure, but it transcends it in its substantial being-with God" (154). 3 Novak,Jewish-Christian Dialogue, 139. Novak emphasizes...

The Shema: Spirituality and Law in Judaism

The Shema: Spirituality and Law in Judaism

Natural Law in Judaism

Natural Law in Judaism

Intentionality and Life Processes in the Law of Judaism: Hallah and Makhshirin

Intentionality and Life Processes in the Law of Judaism: Hallah and Makhshirin

Comparing religions through law: Judaism and Islam

Preface I. Comparing Islam and Judaism in Particular. A. Why Compare Religions and Why Compare their Laws? B. The Nonotheist Religions, Judaism, Christianity, Islam C. Which Judaism, Which Islam, and Why? D. Category Formations: Comparing Incomparables 1. Shared Structure 2. Shared Disproportionate Categories a. Where They Say Much the Same Thing about the Same Topic b. Where They Say Different Things about the Same Topic 3. Unique Categories: Areas Where They Do Not Intersect II. The Authoritative Documents of Judaism and Islam A. Where Do We Look for the Law? B. The Written Torah and the Oral Torah: Scripture, the Mishnah and the Talmuds 1. Scripture: The Written Torah 2. Mishnah: The Oral Torah 3. The Talmuds C. Islamic Counterparts 1. Scripture: The Qur'an 2. Tradition: The Sunna 3. Fiqh D. Conclusions III. The Intellectual Sources of the Law A. How Do the Authorities of the Law Reason? B. Islam: Consensus, Reasoning, Exceptions 1. Consensus (Ijma') 2. Reasoning (ijtihad) 3. Exceptions C. Judaic Counterparts: Exegesis, Logic, Argument, Dialectics 1. Exegesis: Midrash Halakhah 2. The Mishnah's Applied Logic of Hierarchical Classification 3. The Argument of Analogy and Contrast 4. The Talmud's Dialectics D. Conclusions IV. The Working of the Law: Institutions A. Institutional Authority B. The Israelite Court in the Legal Narrative of Islam 1. Legitimacy 2. Courts' Jurisdiction 3. Evidence 4. Punishments D. Conclusions V. The Working of the Law: Personnel A. Bases of Authority B. Islam 1. Legal Scholars (Fuqaha') 2. Judges 3. Muftis C.Judaism: The sage D. Conclusions VI. Disproportions A. Temple Law and Sacrifice 1. Temple Law and Sacrifice in Judaism 2. Sacrifice in Islam B. Slave Laws in Islam and Judaism 1. Slave Laws in Islam 2. Slave Laws in Judaism C. Sacred Time/Sabbath in Judaism and Sacred Time/Pilgrimage Islam 1. Judaism: Sacred Time/Sabbath 2. Islam: Sacred Time/Pilgrimage D. Conclusions VII. Unique Categories A. The Unique Category B. Enlandisement (Judaism) C. Jihad (Islam) D. The Sage and Torah Study in Judaism E. Khilafah and the Legal Scholars in Islam F. History, Time, and Paradigm in Judaism G. History in Islam VIII. Epilogue A. Comparisons Up Close B. Judaism and Islam: Comparisons in the Context of World Religions Index

Natural law in Judaism

Natural law in Judaism

Acting More Generously than the Law Requires: The Issue of Employee Layoffs in halakhah

In this paper, the issue of plant closings is analyzed from the perspective of halakhah (the Written Law of Judaism). Two levels of analysis in halakhah must be differentiated: the legal (enforced by courts) and the moral (not enforced by law, but rather framed in terms of duty to God). There is no legal mandate to keep an unprofitable plant open, but there are a number of moral imprecations (particularly "acting more generously than the law requires") that might influence an employer's decision making. Using analogical reasoning to infer moral and/or legal obligations may be a fruitful means for businesspeople to analyze business situations in terms of ethical implications.

Jewish Social Ethics (review)

112 SHOFAR Winter 1994 Vol. 12, No.2 constitutes continuities rather than ruptures in the elaboration ofJewish civilization. As I have noted, Eisenstadt is interested in providing a vivid and usable past, and·in many ways he has succeeded. The struggles Eisenstadt denotes as crucial to the maintenance ofJewish civilization are intellectual and depend on familiarity with a textual tradition. Eisenstadt rarely mentions faith as an ingredient sustainingJudaism. Ironically, however, his emphasis on Judaism's texts issues from a faith that there will be sufficient support for sustainingJewish literacy. When peopledisagree about primary principles, consensus on the sacredness or relevance of any text cannot be taken for granted. Moreover, in an age committed to autonomy and free discussions, the fact that elites are engaged in debates over the predicates of]ewish survival may prove insufficient to the task. Still, Eisenstadt's book is a reminder of the need to link religious principles to shrewd institutional arrangements. As Jewish leaders consider the status of the Jewish community in the United States and in Israel as well as their aspirations for the future, this is an important lesson to keep in mind. Donna Robinson Divine Department of Government Smith College Jewish Social Ethics, by David Novak. New York: Oxford University Press, 1992. 252 pp. $39.95. David Novak is one of the more profound contemporary academics writing on Jewish ethics. His concern has been not only to articulate traditional Jewish ethics in terms of the Western academic discussion, but to do so in a way that makes true inter-religious dialogue possible. The present volume makes a major contribution to both goals, but especially the second. Novak accomplishes this by bringing together here eleven of his previously published essays, all revised or updated, and arranging them so that they systematically and in constant dialogue with the Western metaethical tradition present a coherent picture of his view of Jewish ethics. A look at the arrangement of materials makes clear the overall thrust of the book. The first three chapters deal with the question of the place of natural law within Jewish ethics. Those who know Novak's work are aware that he holds natural law to be indigenous to Jewish ethics. What we find in these essays is not some facile assertion of natural law, however. Book Reviews 113 Chapter One is a careful analysis of some important opponents of the idea that natural law is basic to Jewish ethics: Marvin Fox, Leo Strauss, andJose Faur. Novak's aim in this chapter is to point out that their negative answer to the question of natural law in Judaism leaves the issue far from settled. In the next two chapters, Novak considers two important Christian "natural law" thinkers so as to retrieve their insights for Judaism. The first is Paul Tillich, the complexities of whose views on the relationship between ethics and natural law are carefully and tightly teased out against the background ofWilliam Frankena's critique. Chapter Three is in essence a defense of the natural law metaphysics of the Roman Catholic thinker John Murray. Murray shows us, as does Tillich, that the natural law perspective has important things to say for religious ethics, Judaism included, in the modern world. Having addressed the metaethical questions, Novak turns in the remaining essays to the concrete and practical application ofJewish social ethics. Again the placement of materials is itself part of the message. Chapters Four and Five deal with questions of gender and sex. As Novak explains in his preface, these materials serve as a bridge to the following chapters which deal with political issues. The thought is that our lives as political beings are premised on our prior status as sexual and gendered beings. It is in fact through our sexual and gender roles that we first construct our relationships to other people in the image of the divine (Chapter Four). Chapter Five takes up one of the most striking contemporary illustrations of the interrelationship between religious ethics and politics: the question of homosexuality and AIDS. Chapters Six and Seven turn to more general political issues: Nuclear War and Technology. In both chapters the theme is the same, namely, the threat of destruction posed...