PUBLIC LAW
Shimon Bakon, "The Biblical Concept of Government", Dor
leDor 14 (1985), 16-25; see OTA 9/2 (1986), no.320.
J. Blidstein, "Medieval Public Law - Sources and Concepts"
(Heb.), Diné Israel 9 (1978-1980), 127-164. - Since
the Talmud does not provide detailed principles of Public Law, the
Medieval scholars had to develop a legal basis for the authority of the
Jewish community and its leaders on the basis of the few sources available
to them. In the course of the article, the author discusses the rights of
the individual vis-à-vis the community, the power of the public
to override individual rights and the rights of the community not to accept
a particular leadership. He analyses the dynamics of the concept of authority
in Jewish communal life both in terms of its sources, and the different
models for its exercise. He compares the concept of the "Tsibbur"
with that of the Jewish court, and explores the question of whether a person
absent during a public meeting at which a piece of legislation was promulgated
or a ban pronounced, was bound by decisions taken in his absence. (Y.S.K.)
H. Cazelles, "Droit public et droit privé dans l'Israel
biblique", in Mélanges à la mémoire de Marcel-Henri
Prévost (Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 1982), 17-22.
- The author considers the public law elements in Biblical law, starting
with the Noahide obligation to establish a legal system, and considering
the public law content of the various biblical codes. (B.S.J.)
Stuart Cohen, The Three Crowns, Structures of Communal Politics
in Early Rabbinic Jewry, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
1990, pp.xii, 294, ISBN 0-521-37290-9, hbk., Price: £32.50. - Professor
Cohen here traces the emergence of rabbinic political authority through
the first five centuries C.E., together with their articulation (despite
its lack of systematic statement in the sources) of a coherent political
philosophy. He notes the movement from a concept of separation of powers,
represented by the three "crowns" (Torah, Kehunah,
Malkhut) to one of rabbinic dominance. The author has a firm command
of modern literature, as well as the traditional sources, and is able to
use his expertise in political science to good effect, to produce what he
describes as "an extended essay in political anthropology". This
is particularly reflected in his final chapter, "Patterns of Succession
and Pageants of Installation", which deals, inter alia, with
semikhah. (B.S.J.)
Jeffrey M. Cohen, "Is It a Mitsvah to do Security duty?",
Tradition 24/1 (1988), 50-58. - The author argues on the basis of
rabbinic legal rulings that it is indeed incumbent upon Jews to assume the
responsibility of providing security for Jewish institutions in these troubled
and dangerous times, and furthermore that such a duty exists even in the
face of one's own qualms about one's ability to do so (except perhaps in
cases of extreme distress). The duty to provide security is also portrayed
as an aspect of imitatio dei. (S.M.P.)
Mark R. Cohen, Jewish Self-Government in Medieval Egypt; the Origins
of the Office of Head of the Jews, ca. 1065-1126, Princeton: Princeton
University Press, l982, ISBN 91-7728-194-2, Pp. l35; see further KS 57
no.372.
Daniel J. Elazar, ed., Kinship and Consent, The Jewish Political
Tradition and its Contemporary Uses, Ramat Gan, Philadelphia, London,
Montreal: Turtledove Publishing, 1981, ISBN 965-20-0014-X, Pp. xiii, 396,
Price: $24.75. - Professor Elazar and his colleagues at the Center for Jewish
Community Studies in Jerusalem have been working on the sources and development
of the Jewish political tradition. This volume carries papers from a Colloquium
held in 1975 under the sponsorship of the Kotlar Institute for Judaism and
Contemporary Thought. The study of the Jewish political tradition necessarily
involves the study of Jewish public law, and of the values which stand behind
it. In this context, the following papers from the volume are of especial
interest: "The Covenant as the Basis of the Jewish Political Tradition"
(Elazar), "The Rabbinic Understanding of the Covenant" (G. Freeman),
"The Transition from Tribal Republic to Monarchy in Ancient Israel
and Its Impression on Jewish Political History" (M. Weinfeld), "On
Power and Authority: Halachic Stance in the Traditional Community and Its
Contemporary Implications" (M. Elon), "Individual and Community
in the Middle Ages" (G. Blidstein), "Halakhah as a Ground for
Creating a Shared Political Dialogue Among Contemporary Jews" (D. Hartman).
This is a pioneering work, which deserves to be widely read. It is now being
distributed by The Jerusalem Center (12 Moshe Hess Street, Jerusalem 94185).
(B.S.J.)
J.W. Flanagan, "Genealogy and Dynasty in the Early Monarchy of
Israel and Judah", Proceedings VIII, A, 23-28. - In the face
of fierce competition, upon what basis did the Davidic-Solomonic legitimacy
rest? The author investigates possible clues in the genealogical tables,
concluding that they indicate at least three views of the rule of monarchic
succession. (B.S.J.)
Martin Goodman, State and Society in Roman Galilee, A.D. 132-212,
Totowa, N.J.: Rowman & Allanheld, 1983, ISBN 0-86598-089-6, Pp. x, 305,
Price: $36.95 (Oxford Centre for Postgraduate Hebrew Studies). - This is
an important social and economic history of Galilee from the outbreak of
the Bar Kochba revolt to the constitutio Antoniniana (which
gave Roman citizenship to virtually all free inhabitants of the Roman Empire).
The author draws on both classical and Jewish sources, and shows a particular
interest in questions of legal organisation. A major part of the book is
devoted to "Government and Law", with chapters on Rabbinic Authority
in Galilee, Local Administration in Galilee, Roman Administration, and Conflicts
of Jurisdiction. After the period of the revolt and its immediate aftermath,
Roman administration - as elsewhere in the Empire - became relatively relaxed,
with little interference in everyday matters of law. But Rabbinic authority
only gradually developed within the period under study. Galilee had its
own local courts, and acceptance of Rabbinic authority was conceded only
at the price of relaxation by the Rabbis of some of the laws which bore
particularly harshly upon farmers. This is an important study, one which,
in both conception and style, belies its origins in a doctoral thesis. (B.S.J.)
B. Halpern, The Constitution of the Monarchy in Israel, Chico
CA: Scholars Press, l981, Pp. xxviii, 410, Price: $18.00 (Harvard Semitic
Monographs, 25); see BL 1983, p.86.
Walter Jacob, "The Right to Create a New Congregation",
JRJ 32 (Spring l985), 59-6l. - A Responsum. The author holds that
in a large Jewish Community nothing should stand in the way of attempting
to establish a new congregation if that seems desirable to some members
of the community. Tradition favours the establishment of synagogues that
satisfy the needs of the worshippers. (S.M.P.)
H. Jagersma, "The tithes in the Old Testament", OS
21 (1981), 116-28. - Tithes are first attested in the ancient near east
about 2000 B.C. It is not possible to ascertain whether, either in the ancient
near east or in the Old Testament, they originated from the temple or the
royal state economy. Prior to the exile they were taken to the local sanctuary
- often a royal sanctuary - but after the centralization of the cult they
had to be brought to Jerusalem. In pre-exilic times tithes were thought
of as related to a sacrificial meal, but afterwards they became obligatory
taxes. The collection of tithes sharpened the contrast between town and
country, causing poverty and destitution among the rural populations, whereas
it brought privilege to those in close proximity to the king and the priesthood
in Jerusalem. (J.D.)
Daniela Piattelli, "Riferimenti ed editti di sovrani achemenidi
nella letteratura ebraica", in Atti del secondo convegno tenuto
a Idice Bologna, nei giorni 4 e 5 novembre 1981, ed. F. Parente and
D. Piattelli (Rome: Carucci, 1983), 89-94 (Associazione Italiana per lo
studio del Giudaismo, Testi e Studi, I). - The author assesses the references
to, and sometimes texts of, Achaemenid edicts in Jewish literature, including
that mentioned in Esther 8:9 (especially as supplemented in the versions
of the Septuagint and Jerome), Daniel 6:8, Judith 3:8, Josephus,
and Ant. 12:142. The edict to which Esther, Daniel and Judith all
refer is that of Antiochus Epiphanes, the monarch who, more even than other
oriental sovereigns, claimed the respect owed to a god. (B.S.J.)
H. Reviv, "Jabesh-Gilead in I Samuel XI 1-4 - Features
of the Israelite City in the Pre-Monarchic Period", Zion 43
(1978), xxix, 181-184 (Heb.). - The process of urbanization in Ancient Israel
is tied to the rise of a juridical and political entity guided by decidedly
local interests and of institutions capable of executing the decisions of
the city, as well as the slackening of the tribal framework. (B.S.J.)
Ze'ev Safrai, "The Administrative Structure of Judea in the Roman
and Byzantine Period", Immanuel l3 (l981), 30-38. - The author
attempts to follow the administrative changes in the region of Judea and
Idumea from the end of the Second Temple period until the Arab conquest.
He assumes that all of Palestine was divided into administrative blocs,
whose boundaries also reflected economic realities. The boundaries remained
unchanged during the period considered, although the status of the district
might have shifted, a new capital established, etc. (S.M.P.)
C. Saulnier, "Lois romaines sur les juifs selon Flavius Josèphe",
RB 88 (1981), 161-198. - On the basis of Josephus' Antiquities
14.190-264, 306-323 and 16.160-172, the author provides a detailed examination
of the Roman laws pertaining to the Jews. He concludes that Rome, in seeking
to secure the political fidelity of Palestine, conferred on the Jewish communities
of the empire religious privileges which in their own way consecrated the
vitality of Judaism in the Diaspora. (J.D.)
B.E. Thiering, "Mebaqqer and Episkopos in the Light of the Temple
Scroll", JBL 100 (1981), 59-74. - T. discusses the Temple Scroll
and the development of the levitical class at Qumran. He argues that the
mebaqqer or levitical priest at Qumran was an inferior minister who
acted as priest to the laity in order to preserve the ruling authority and
separateness of the senior priests, the sons of Aaron. In many of the essene
settlements away from Qumran this minister acted as overseer for the laity,
all new members came through him, and he was the first step in the judicial
procedure. He also argues that the early Christian community adopted the
office of bishop from the Essene lay communities. (K.W.W.)
Y. Zakovitch, "The Purpose of Narratives in Scripture Concerning
Purchase of Possessions" (Heb.), BM 23 (1978), 17-21, 117. -
As seen by rabbinic exegesis, the original purpose of the stories of Abraham's
purchase of the Cave of Machpelah, Joseph's purchase of Shechem, David's
purchase of the threshing-floor of Araunah and Omri's purchase of Samaria
is to stress the Israelites'/Judaeans' full title to their lands. This is
achieved by demonstrating that the four cities which served as capitals
of Israel and Judah were acquired in keeping with full legal procedure,
with full consent of the earlier inhabitants, at the agreed price and before
witnesses. (B.S.J.)
Moshe Zemer, "Demolishing Homes in the West Bank and the Halacha",
Journal of Reform Judaism 33/2 (1986), 59-61. - The author argues
on the basis of halakhic considerations that the destruction of Arab homes
on the West Bank was improper. He makes three points: individual responsibility
precludes collective punishment; the Arab is a ger toshab; a ger
toshab must receive fair judicial treatment. (S.M.P.)
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