In this Book
- How Do We Know This?: Midrash and the Fragmentation of Modern Judaism
- Book
- 1995
- Published by: State University of New York Press
- Series: SUNY series in Judaica: Hermeneutics, Mysticism, and Religion
summary
This book is a study of rabbinic legal interpretation (midrash) in Judaism’s rabbinic, medieval, and modern periods. It shows how the rise of Reform, Conservative, and Orthodox Judaism in the modern period is tied to distinct attitudes toward the classical Jewish heritage, and specifically, toward rabbinic midrash halakah. What has gone unnoticed until now is the extent to which the fragmentation of modern Judaism is related to the interpretative foundations of classical Judaism. As this book demonstrates, spokespersons for any form of Judaism that engaged modernity on any level had to explain the basis for their rejection or continued acceptance of the authority of rabbinically developed law. Inevitably and invariably, this need led them to address anew what were long-standing questions regarding the ancient interpretations of biblical law. Were they compelling? Were they reasonable? Were they still relevant? Each form of Judaism fashioned its own response to these challenges, and each argued forcefully against the responses of the other denominations. Jay M. Harris describes the fragmentation of modern Judaism in terms of each denomination’s relationship to classical Judaism’s system of interpretation in part two of this book.
Table of Contents
Download Full Book
- Title Page, Copyright Page
- pp. iv-v
- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
- p. xiv
- 1: Introduction
- pp. 1-24
- 2: Midrash Halakhah and the Bavli
- pp. 25-50
- 3: Midrash and the Yerushalmi
- pp. 51-72
- 4: Midrash in the Middle Ages
- pp. 73-102
- 5: At the Dawn of a New Age
- pp. 103-136
- 6: Midrash and Reform
- pp. 137-172
- 7: The Traditionalists Strike Back
- pp. 173-226
- 8: Midrash and Orthodoxy
- pp. 211-250
- 9: Conclusion
- pp. 251-264
- BIBLIOGRAPHY
- pp. 337-368
- GENERAL INDEX
- pp. 369-377
- INDEX OF RABBINIC PASSAGES
- pp. 378-379
Additional Information
ISBN
9781438405865
MARC Record
OCLC
42854907
Pages
379
Launched on MUSE
2012-01-11
Language
English
Open Access
No