Is Scripture the Origin of the Halakhah?

Is Scripture the Origin of the Halakhah?

Author: Jacob Neusner

Publisher: University Press of America

Published: 2005

Total Pages: 242

ISBN-13: 9780761831174

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The Halakhah constitutes a coherent construction comprised by category-formations defined by topics purposively amplified. These category-formations everywhere pursue a cogent analytical program, addressing diverse subjects, treated systematically, a single set of questions of definition and analysis. Is Scripture the origin of the Halakhic system, which defines the norms of Judaism? At stake is not the starting point of discrete bits of legal data. At issue is the origin of the comprehensive structure comprised by the Halakhic category-formations, by these topics and no others. Scripture forms the natural starting point for any inquiry into the origins of Judaism. So it is quite natural to treat Scripture as the base-line and the Halakhic category-formations as the variable when seeking the origin of the system. But what happens when, as in this project, we treat the system as the base-line and Scripture as the variable? Then we see that the Halakhic system viewed as a coherent statement does not originate in Scripture. Important parts of that statement do, important parts do not. But the system viewed whole does not.


Contours of Coherence in Rabbinic Judaism

Contours of Coherence in Rabbinic Judaism

Author: Jacob Neusner

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2023-01-30

Total Pages: 464

ISBN-13: 9004531564

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Part one of a three part set of monographs on the coherence of Rabbinic Judaism in its literature: In the Rabbinic literature of late antiquity disputes and alternative interpretations of a common datum form a medium of expressing coherence. The print edition is available as a set of two volumes (9789004142312).


The Vitality of Rabbinic Imagination

The Vitality of Rabbinic Imagination

Author: Jacob Neusner

Publisher: University Press of America

Published: 2005

Total Pages: 254

ISBN-13: 9780761831181

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Assessed against comparable documents of Scripture and the Qumran library, the Mishnah shows itself as a triumph of imagination. It exhibits remarkable capacity to think in new and astonishing ways about familiar things. This study compares the Mishnah to four biblical codes and two codes found among the Dead Sea Scrolls. The comparison provides perspective upon the uniqueness of the Mishnah in its Israelite context of Scripture and tradition. Linked to Scripture and in dialogue with Scripture, the Mishnah struck out in new paths altogether from those set forth by Scripture's codes and those that imitated them. The capacity to think in fresh ways about the Scripture's own imperatives and their implications attests to the validity of Rabbinic imagination that reaches concrete expression in the Mishnah, a triumph of reconstruction and creative recapitulation.


The Three Questions of Formative Judaism

The Three Questions of Formative Judaism

Author: Jacob Neusner

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2002-01-01

Total Pages: 292

ISBN-13: 9780391041776

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Bringing nearly fifty years of research to bear on these fundamental questions, Jacob Neusner challenges his readers to face the difficult, often unasked or neglected questions about the nature, background, and purposes of Rabbinic Judaism and rewards them with an enriched understanding and a stronger foundation for tackling the even more elusive questions concerning the theology of formative Judaism."--BOOK JACKET.


The Perfect Torah

The Perfect Torah

Author: Jacob Neusner

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2003-06-01

Total Pages: 236

ISBN-13: 9047402227

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The perfect Torah is the medium through which the one, unique God makes himself known. The Judaic statement of monotheism comes to expression in Scripture as perfected by the Oral Torah in its native category-formations, Halakhah, norms of behavior, and Aggadah norms of belief. The Halakhah of the oral Torah conveys monotheism in a philosophical mode, and the Aggadah, monotheism in a mythic mode. What is perfect about the dual Torah, written and oral, is the perfect match between the message and the medium, Halakhah for the philosophical monotheism, Aggadah for the mythic statement of the same monotheism. Chapters One and Two explain the former, Chapters Three and Four the latter. The question answered here concerns how one canonical corpus perfects its companion and produces in consequence perfection: the realization of the initial intent and program of the Written by the Oral Torah. That is addressed by the construction of large exemplary structures of comparison and contrast in the shank of the book. Four principles are established: [1] the perfection through the systematization of the law of the Written Torah by the Oral Torah, in Chapter One; [2] the perfection of the medium of the Halakhah for the message of philosophical monotheism, in Chapter Two; [3] the perfection of Scripture's anomalous writings through the dismantling of one document and the systematic recasting of another, in Chapter Three; [4] the perfection of the medium of Aggadah in its form of narrative for the message of theology concerning God's personality and activity, in Chapter Four.


Making God's Word Work

Making God's Word Work

Author: Jacob Neusner

Publisher: A&C Black

Published: 2004-01-22

Total Pages: 382

ISBN-13: 9780826415578

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The central theme of Making God s Word Work is that, throughout the rules and norms of the Mishnah, and beneath their surface, is a governing theological pattern which defines the detail relating to social conduct and brings to the fore a coherent system of analysis, thought, and argument.