The Authority of the Divine Law: A Study in Tannaitic Midrash

Yosef Bronstein

Published by Academic Studies Press 2024

The Authority of the Divine Law

A Study in Tannaitic Midrash

Yosef Bronstein

In the series Judaism and Jewish Life

https://doi.org/10.1515/9798887194134

Overview
Contents

About this book

This book explores the various rationales offered by Jewish groups in late antiquity for the authority of the Divine Law. While Second Temple groups tended to look towards philosophy or metaphysics to justify the Divine Law’s authority, the tannaim formulated legal arguments. These arguments link to a set of issues regarding the tannaim’s conception of Divine Law and of Israel’s election.

Author / Editor information

Bronstein Yosef :

Yosef Bronstein received rabbinic ordination and a PhD in Talmudic Studies from Yeshiva University. He is the Rosh Bet Midrash of Machon Zimrat Ha’aretz, a community learning center and rabbinical training program in Efrat, Israel, and also teaches Jewish philosophy at Yeshiva University’s Isaac Breuer College. He is the coauthor of Reshimot Shiurim al Masekhet Kiddushin (Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik’s Talmud lectures on tractate Kiddushin) and the author of Engaging the Essence: The Philosophy of the Lubavitcher Rebbe (forthcoming from Maggid Books).

Reviews

Yosef Bronstein presents us with a masterful analysis of the very foundations of Jewish law. He mines through the layers of Tannaitic midrash and Talmud to discover distinct narratives that set the stage for the concept of Israel’s responsibility to the Torah’s commandments. This study is a model of academic excellence in its methodological care to compare manuscript variants, review a wide swath of Second Temple history as a backdrop to the Rabbis' commentaries, contextualize each source in time and place, and connect textual details with philosophical assumptions. At the same time, this book remains as relevant as ever for a modern Jew seeking rationales for the Jewish people’s commitment to Halakha and contemplating whether their chosenness is coerced or voluntary, contingent or essential. The classical rabbinic responses uncovered in this work offer fresh and revealing insights applicable to the study of Jewish thought today.

— Rabbi Dr. Richard Hidary, Professor of Judaic Studies, Yeshiva University

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Acknowledgments Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
1 Introduction: The Authority of the Divine Law over the Chosen People Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	5
2 Pre-Tannaitic Conceptions of the Divine Law’s Authority Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	19
3 “You Are My Slaves”: The Authority of the Divine Law in Akivan Midrash Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	41
4 “May I Be Your King?”: The Authority of the Divine Law in Ishmaelian Midrash Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	65
5 Contextualizing the Tannaim’s Legal Arguments Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	99
6 Setting the Boundaries: Tannaitic Attitudes Towards Non-Israelites and Conversion Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	113
7 The Contingency or Eternality of Israel’s Election Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	129
8 Is the Israelite Sinner Still an Israelite? Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	163
9 Into the Bavli Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	191
Conclusion Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	197
Appendix—Tannaitic Sources Regarding the Primordial Roots of Israel’s Election and of the Divine Law Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	203
References Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	217
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	231

Language: English
Publisher: Academic Studies Press
Audience: Professional and scholarly;
Pages
- Main content: 242
Keywords: Rabbinics; Midrash; Tannaitic Midrash; Midrash Halakha; Election of Israel; Divine Law; Legalism; Antiquity; Jewish philosophy; Jewish law; Israel; tannaim

eBook

Published: March 12, 2024
ISBN: 9798887194134