Volume 1.

Volume 1.

Jewish law has a history stretching from the early period to the modern State of Israel, encompassing the Talmud, Geonic and later codifications, the Spanish Golden Age, medieval and modern response, the Holocaust and modern reforms. Fifteen distinct periods are separately studied in this volume, each one by a leading specialist, and the emphasis throughout is on the development of the institutions and sources of the law, providing teachers with the essential background material from which a variety of sources, from many different perspectives, may be taught. Most chapters are written to a common plan, with treatment of the political background of the period and the nature of Jewish judicial autonomy, the character (literary and legal) of the sources, the legal practice of the period, its principal authorities, and examples of characteristic features of the substantive law (especially in family law).

Volume 1.

Rabbi Joseph Telushkin combed the Bible, the Talmud, and the whole spectrum of Judaism's sacred writings to give us a manual on how to lead a decent, kind, and honest life in a morally complicated world. "An absolutely superb book: the most practical, most comprehensive guide to Jewish values I know." —Rabbi Harold Kushner, author of When Bad Things Happen to Good People Telushkin speaks to the major ethical issues of our time, issues that have, of course, been around since the beginning. He offers one or two pages a day of pithy, wise, and easily accessible teachings designed to be put into immediate practice. The range of the book is as broad as life itself: • The first trait to seek in a spouse (Day 17) • When, if ever, lying is permitted (Days 71-73) • Why acting cheerfully is a requirement, not a choice (Day 39) • What children don't owe their parents (Day 128) • Whether Jews should donate their organs (Day 290) • An effective but expensive technique for curbing your anger (Day 156) • How to raise truthful children (Day 298) • What purchases are always forbidden (Day 3) In addition, Telushkin raises issues with ethical implications that may surprise you, such as the need to tip those whom you don't see (Day 109), the right thing to do when you hear an ambulance siren (Day 1), and why wasting time is a sin (Day 15). Whether he is telling us what Jewish tradition has to say about insider trading or about the relationship between employers and employees, he provides fresh inspiration and clear guidance for every day of our lives.

"This book includes a chronology and an introduction that presents an overview of all aspects of Judaism. Numerous cross-referenced dictionary entries detail important people, writings, institutions, concepts, Hebrew words, philosophy, theology, and religious law, and an extensive bibliography provides access for further study."--Jacket.

"This book launches a landmark four-volume collaborative work exploring the political thought of the Jewish people from biblical times to the present. The texts and commentaries in Volume I address the basic question of who ought to rule the community."--Descripción del editor.

This book provides a concise introduction to the basics of Jewish law. It gives a detailed analysis of contemporary public and private law in the State of Israel, as well as Israel’s legal culture, its system of government, and the roles of its democratic institutions: the executive, parliament, and judiciary. The book examines issues of Holocaust, law and religion, constitutionalization, and equality. It is the ultimate book for anyone interested in Israeli Law and its politics. Authors Shimon Shetreet is the Greenblatt Professor of Public and International Law at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel. He is the President of the International Association of Judicial Independence and World Peace and heads the International Project of Judicial Independence. In 2008, the Mt. Scopus Standards of Judicial Independence were issued under his leadership. Between 1988 and 1996, Professor Shetreet served as a member of the Israeli Parliament, and was a cabinet minister under Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres. He was senior deputy mayor of Jerusalem between 1999 and 2003. He was a Judge of the Standard Contract Court and served as a member of the Chief Justice Landau Commission on the Israeli Court System. The author and editor of many books on the judiciary, Professor Shetreet is a member of the Royal Academy of Science and Arts of Belgium. Rabbi Walter Homolka PhD (King’s College London, 1992), PhD (University of Wales Trinity St. David, 2015), DHL (Hebrew Union College, New York, 2009), is a full professor of Modern Jewish Thought and the executive director of the School of Jewish Theology at the University of Potsdam (Germany). The rector of the Abraham Geiger College (since 2003) is Chairman of the Leo Baeck Foundation and of the Ernst Ludwig Ehrlich Scholarship Foundation in Potsdam. In addition, he has served as the executive director of the Masorti Zacharias Frankel College since 2013.The author of "Jüdisches Eherecht" and other publications on Jewish Law holds several distinctions: among them the Knight Commander’s Cross of the Austrian Merit Order and the 1st Class Federal Merit Order of Germany. In 2004, President Jacques Chirac admitted Rabbi Homolka to the French Legion of Honor.