A Restatement of Rabbinic Civil Law

by Quint, Emanuel B.

• ISBN13: 9789652293756
• ISBN10: 965229375X
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2007-08-20
• Publisher: Gefen Books

Summary

Long accepted as the standard code of Jewish law and practice, the Shulhan Aruch was written by Joseph Karo in 1565. This eleventh and final volume of A Restatement of Rabbinic Civil Law by Rabbi Emanuel Quint represents a monumental and unprecedented achievement in the scholarship of rabbinic jurisprudence. In this restatement, Rabbi Quint brings fresh insight, modern research methodology, and succinct explication to Hoshen haMishpat, one of the four sections of the Shulhan Aruch. A Restatement of Rabbinic Civil Law opens the brilliant halachic work of the Shulhan Aruch to the wider audience it deserves: to the educated lay person and advanced scholar alike. The result is a comprehensive, well-organized body of rabbinic jurisprudence, available to the English reader for the first time. Volume XI is an index and cumulative table of contents of all ten volumes and serves as a guide to enable the reader and researcher to find any and all topics contained in the first ten volumes of the Restatement of Rabbinic Civil Law.Rabbi Quint, the cofounder of the Jerusalem Institute of Jewish Law (with Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz), an institute dedicated to the study and dissemination of Jewish civil law, brings his professional expertise to bear on the vastarray of Jewish legal processes, procedures, and practices encoded here. The reader maybe surprised and challenged in the discovery that such a meticulous legal - yet not overly religious - system fits under the category of Jewish law. In his unique position as ordained rabbi, successful lawyer, and distinguished Talmudic scholar, Rabbi Quint illuminates Judaism not only as a religion, but also a cultureand community. A Restatement of Rabbinic Civil Law provides the author's own commentary and also incorporates the four centuries ofscholarship since the Shulhan Aruch was written, including commentaries and responsa literature. Ample footnotes help to guide thereader every step of the way.If the Shulhan Aruch can be said to be thedistilled essence of Jewish law, then A Restatement of Rabbinic Civil Law triumphsas a major judicial-literary landmark of its own.

Author Biography

Rabbi Emanuel Quint, a distinguished rabbi, lawyer, and scholar, has dedicated his life to training and inspiring those of all ages who lack the language skills, scholarly background, and general training to study the sources of their Jewish tradition. In addition to his positions as dean of the Jerusalem Institute of Jewish Law (which he cofounded with Rabbi Abin Steinsaltz) and rosh kollel, he serves as Visiting Scholar-in-Residence in forums throughout Israel, challenging and stimulating his audiences with the depth and breadth of his knowledge in rabbinic law, Torah, and Talmud.In addition to his numerous articles and edited publications, he coauthored Jewish Jurisprudence (with Professor Neil Hecht), which bears the approbation of the late Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik. As one of the founders and trustees of Touro College, Rabbi Quint received an honorary doctor of law degree, as well as serving as president of the Young Israel Council in Israel, head of the beth din of the Young Israel Rabbis in Israel, Vice President of the Orthodox Union in Israel, and a member of the board of trustees of Jerusalem College of Technology. Before moving to Israel nearly twenty years ago, he was a senior partner of the New York law firm Quint, Marx, and Chill.