Rabbi Meir of Rothenburg and the Foundation of Jewish Political Thought

Rezensionen / Stimmen

'This splendid, erudite book will serve many audiences, including historians of Judaism and students of comparative law and of comparative political thought.' Menachem Kellner, Shalem College, Jerusalem 'It is often assumed that medieval Jewish thinkers only formulated political theory in a Platonic or Aristotelian mold. But, in this extraordinary and original study, Isaac Lifshitz clearly and persuasively shows that the thirteenth-century German rabbi, Meir of Rothenburg, formulated a political theory out of classical Jewish sources alone, using rabbinic conceptions alone. Only a scholar of Isaac Lifshitz's vast learning and theoretical perspicacity could have reconstructed Rabbi Meir's political theory in a way that nonspecialists can readily understand. This book is an original contribution to Jewish studies specifically, and to political theory in general.' David Novak, University of Toronto 'This investigation into the political theory of Rabbi Meir Rothenburg is a major contribution to both the theory of halachic dispute and the emergence of a Jewish political discourse in the Middle Ages. Retracing the sources of Rabbi Rothenburg back to Torah, Talmud, the Geonim, and the Sephardic thinkers, this brilliant research demonstrates his unique concept of a Jewish political theology.' Christoph Schmidt, Hebrew University of Jerusalem