Tree of Life: Diversity, Flexibility and Creativity in Jewish Law / Edition 2

by Louis Jacobs

Overview

The central thesis of A Tree of Life, now revised and expanded, is that social, economic, theological, and even political factors have always played a part in framing of Jewish law, as has consideration of the wider ideals of Judaism. Through discussion of historical and contemporary halakhic responses to a wide range of issues, Louis Jacobs shows how the halakhic system has demonstrated its potential for vitality, creativity, and sensitivity. Louis Jacobs's call, in the last chapter, for a non-fundamentalist approach to halakhah was a cause of controversy both when the book was first published in 1984 and subsequently. The new introduction written for this edition responds robustly to the criticisms raised, and also summarizes new developments, both halakhic and scholarly, in the various areas covered.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781874774488
Publisher:	The Littman Library of Jewish Civilization in association with Liverpool University Press
Publication date:	08/01/2000
Series:	The Littman Library of Jewish Civilization
Edition description:	REV
Pages:	344
Product dimensions:	9.10(w) x 6.10(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Louis Jacobs, founding rabbi of the New London Synagogue, was a renowned scholar with an international reputation as a lecturer. He was the author of The Jewish Religion: A Companion (1995) and of many other distinguished books, several of them published by the Littman Library, including Beyond Reasonable Doubt (1999), Hasidic Prayer (paperback 1993), and Theology in the Responsa (paperback 2005), as well as an edition and translation of Zevi Hirsch Eichenstein's Turn Aside from Evil and Do Good (1995). He died in 2006.

Table of Contents

	List of Abbreviations	ix
	Introduction to the Second Edition	xi
	Introduction: Halakhah and Aggadah	3
1	The Talmud, Source of the Halakhah	14
2	The Spirit of Halakhah	25
3	Exemptions and Extensions	34
4	The Influence of Philosophy	42
5	The Influence of Mysticism and Kabbalah	59
6	Hasidism and Halakhah	72
7	Responses to the Gentile World	80
8	Halakhah and Sectarianism	93
9	Halakhic Responses to Social Change: General Principles	110
10	Halakhic Responses to Social Change: Further Examples	121
11	New Inventions and Discoveries and the Halakhah	152
12	Halakhah and Ethics	168
13	Halakhah and Social Conduct (Derekh Erets)	180
14	Halakhah and Psychology	186
15	Halakhah and Minhag: The Customs of the People as Law	206
16	Towards a Non-Fundamentalist Halakhah	220
Appendix A	The Literary Form of the Halakhah	232
Appendix B	The Problem of the Mamzer	239
	Note on Proper Names and Transliteration	255
	Note on Talmudic and Halakhic Sources	258
	Bibliography	263
	Index of Biblical, Mishnaic, and Talmudic References	283
	General Index	291

Editorial Reviews

"Louis Jacobs demonstrates a profound scholarship in the second edition of this important work. The breadth of source and the volume of analysis are truly extraordinary." — Reuven Livingstone, Jewish Chronicle

From the Publisher

The founding rabbi of the new London Synagogue further defends his thesis concluding the 1984 edition that social, economic, political, and theological factors have always shaped (Jewish law). Indexed by biblical, Mishnaic, and Talmudic reference as well as general subject. Distributed in the US by ISBS. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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