Halakhah in a Theological Perspective / David Novak.

• Author: Brown University.
• VerfasserIn: Novak, David,
• TeilnehmendeR: Brown University.
• Place / Publishing House: Chico : : Scholars Press,, 2020.; ©2020.
• Year of Publication: 2020
• Language: English
• Series: Brown Judaic studies; 68
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (xi, 174 p. )
• Notes: The text of this book is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/. To use this book, or parts of this book, in any way not covered by the license, please contact Brown Judaic Studies, Brown University, Box 1826, Providence, RI 02912.

This volume examines the ideas of Rabbi Moses ben Nahman (1194-1270), the Ramban, Nahmanides in the European literature. An exegete, epistemologist of Jewish history and experience, and pioneer of Kabbalistic reasoning, Nahmanides was the spokesperson of embattled Spanish Jewry at the ominous Barcelona disputation before King James of Aragon in 1263. Novak surveys the canon of Nahmanides' writings-commentaries, discourses, sermons, even the record made by the Ramban of his Barcelona disputation-to elicit the structure of a systematic theology. As Novak shows, he often subordinated perfect consistency to the nuances he discovered in a text. He willingly sacrificed the chance to enlarge some favorite speculative theme to the material message he found in tradition.

Table of Contents

Can Halakhah Be Both Authoritative and Changing? -- The Conflict Between Halakhah and Ethics: The Case of Mamzerut -- Annulment in Lieu of Divorce in Jewish Law -- Divorce and Conversion: Is a Traditional-Liberal Modus Vivendi Possible? -- Women in the Rabbinate? -- Alcohol and Drug Abuse in the Perspective of Jewish Tradition -- Judaism and Contemporary Bioethics -- The Threat of Nuclear War: Jewish Perspectives -- The Logic of the Covenant: An Essay in Systematic Jewish Theology.