The perfect Torah / by Jacob Neusner.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Neusner, Jacob, 1932-2016

Series:

Brill reference library of Judaism 1566-1237 ; v. 13.

The Brill reference library of Judaism, 1566-1237 ; v. 13

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Judaism--Sacred books.

Judaism.

Jewish law--Philosophy.

Jewish law.

Aggada--Philosophy.

Aggada.

Bible. Old Testament--Criticism, interpretation, etc., Jewish.

Bible.

Bible. Old Testament.

Narration in rabbinical literature.

Rabbinical literature--History and criticism.

Rabbinical literature.

Judaism--Essence, genius, nature.

Philosophy.

Physical Description:

xxv, 206 pages ; 25 cm.

Place of Publication:

Leiden ; Boston : Brill, 2003.

Summary:

The Halakhah of the oral Torah conveys monotheism in a philosophical mode, and the Aggadah, monotheism in a mythic mode. What is perfect about the dual Torah, written and oral, is the perfect match between the message and the medium, Halakhah for the philosophical monotheism, Aggadah for the mythic statement of the same monotheism. Chapters One and Two explain the former, Chapters Three and Four, the latter.

Contents:

I. The Legal System 1

i. The Problem Scripture Presents 1

ii. The Oral Torah's Program: The Case of a Code of Civil Law 2

iii. Baba Qamma and Scripture 4

iv. Baba Mesia and Scripture 9

A. Disposition of Property Not Held by the Rightful Owner But Lost, Subject to Conflicting Claims, or Deposited with a Bailee 11

B. Corollaries of distributive economics: commoditization of specie; true value and pricefixing; prohibition of usury 12

C. Mutual obligations in labor, rental, bailment 14

D. Real Estate 15

v. Baba Batra and Scripture 20

vi. Is Scripture the Source of the Halakhah of the Oral Torah? 23

vii. How Does the Oral Torah Solve the Problem Set forth by Scripture? 25

viii. Does the Halakhah of the Oral Torah set forth in the Babas take as its principal task the exegesis of Scripture's laws? 28

ix. The Imperfection of the Written Torah, the Perfection of the One Whole Torah of Moses, Our Rabbi 33

II. The Match of Message and Medium (1) Halakhic 39

i. Criterion of Perfection: How Better Deliver the Message than through the Selected Medium? 39

ii. The Halakhah as the Medium for the Exposition of Philosophical Monotheism 40

iii. Philosophical Monotheism: The Halakhic Method of Hierarchical Classification in the Context of Philosophy 60

iv. Why the Halakhah Serves as the Best Possible Medium for the Message of Philosophical Monotheism Deriving from Scripture: The Unity of All Being, Systematically Demonstrated through Concrete Cases 65

III. The Theological Structure 77

i. The Problem Scripture Presents: The Case of Qohelet and Song of Songs 77

ii. The Oral Torah's Program for Qohelet. In the Matter of Leviticus Rabbah 79

iii. The Oral Torah's Program for Song of Songs. In the Matter of Song of Songs Rabbah 108

iv. How the Oral Torah Solves the Problem Set forth by Scripture 124

IV. The Match of Message and Medium (2) Aggadic 127

i. Criterion of Perfection: How Better Deliver the Message than through the Selected Medium? 127

A. How does Aggadah Figure even in a Halakhic Presentation? 130

B. How Does God's Justice Emerge in the Presentation of Aggadic Narrative? The Implicit Narratives Evoked by the Story of the Wife Accused of Adultery 130

ii. Mythic Monotheism in the Narrative Medium: Lamentations Rabbah 142

A. What, exactly, in the Context of the Rabbinic Canon Do I Mean by "Narrative"? The Indicative Power of the Teleological logic of Coherent Discourse Unique to Narrative 143

B. Pseudo-narrative 147

C. The Authentic Narrative in Lamentations Rabbah 148

D. The Mashal/Parable 174

1. The Halakhic Mashal 175

2. The Exegetical Mashal 176

3. The Mashal Recapitulating a Narrative, Neither Halakhic Nor Exegetical 184

4. The Parabolic Components of Lamentations Rabbah 186

E. The Ma'aseh 186

F. Not Classified 190

iii. Lamentation Rabbah's Narratives in Canonical Context 190

iv. The Perfection of the Torah through the Match of the Medium and Message in the Aggadah and the Halakhah 191.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

ISBN:

9004130330

OCLC:

52092073