Ulteriori informazioni
For more than four centuries, Jewish life has been based on a code of law written by Joseph Caro, his Shul¿an `aruk ['set table']. The work was an immediate best-seller because it presented the law in a clear and concise format. Caro's work, however, was methodologically problematic and was widely criticized in the first generations after its publication. In this volume, Edward Fram examines Caro's methods as well as those of two of his contemporaries, Moses Isserles and Solomon Luria. He highlights criticisms of Caro's legal thought and brings alternative methodologies to the fore. He also compares these three jurists, while placing their methods, and cases in their historical, intellectual, and religious contexts. Fram's volume ultimately explains why Caro's methodologically problematic work won the day, while more sophisticated approaches remained points of legal reference but fell short of achieving the acceptance that their authors hoped for.
Sommario
Introduction; 1. Joseph Caro and his codification of Jewish law; 2. A difficult beginning; 3. Rabbi Solomon Luria's legal methodology; 4. Rabbi Moses Isserles's responses; 5. Codification and legal creativity; Conclusion.
Info autore
Edward Fram is Associate Professor of Jewish History and Solly Yellin Chair in Lithuanian and Eastern European Jewish Culture at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. His research focuses on the history of Jewish law in the early modern period. He is the author of several award-winning books including Ideals Face Reality (1997) and A Window on their World: The Rabbinic Court Diary of Rabbi Hayyim Gundersheim, Frankfurt am Main, 1773–1794 (2012).
Riassunto
Aimed at legal historians and students of Jewish law, this work explains how three of the most important codifiers of Jewish law arrived at their decisions and perceived their peers. Placing the works in the context of print and legal humanism, the works exposes differing dynamics of legal decision making.
