People of the Book
Canon, Meaning, and Authority
Published on 20. November 1997
Book
Paperback/Softback
208 pages
978-0-674-66112-7 (ISBN)
Description
While Scripture is at the center of many religions, among them Islam and Christianity, this book inquires into the function, development, and implications of the centrality of text upon the Jewish community, and by extension on the larger question of canonization and the text-centered community. It is a commonplace to note how the landless and scattered Jewish communities have, from the time of the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem in 70 A.D. until the founding of modern Israel in 1948, cleaved to the text and derived their identity from it. But the story is far more complex. The shift from the Bible to the Torah, from biblical religion to rabbinic Judaism mediated by the Sages, and the sealing of the canon together with its continuing interpretive work demanded from the community, amount to what could be called an unparalleled obsession with textuality. Halbertal gives us insights into the history of this obsession, in a philosophically sophisticated yet straightforward narrative.
People of the Book offers the best introduction available to Jewish hermeneutics, a book capable of conveying the importance of the tradition to a wide audience of both academic and general readers. Halbertal provides a panoramic survey of Jewish attitudes toward Scripture, provocatively organized around problems of normative and formative authority, with an emphasis on the changing status and functions of Mishnah, Talmud, and Kabbalah. With a gift for weaving complex issues of interpretation into his own plot, he animates ancient texts by assigning them roles in his own highly persuasive narrative.
People of the Book offers the best introduction available to Jewish hermeneutics, a book capable of conveying the importance of the tradition to a wide audience of both academic and general readers. Halbertal provides a panoramic survey of Jewish attitudes toward Scripture, provocatively organized around problems of normative and formative authority, with an emphasis on the changing status and functions of Mishnah, Talmud, and Kabbalah. With a gift for weaving complex issues of interpretation into his own plot, he animates ancient texts by assigning them roles in his own highly persuasive narrative.
Reviews / Votes
Halbertal offers a sophisticated analysis of the development of Jewish text-centered cultures. His work is an important study for the history of interpretation within Judaism, though its significance as a model of how text-centered religions think extends even beyond Judaism...The work would make an excellent classroom introduction to the nature of the role that canonization plays in religions whose experience of the divine is mediated by the interpretation of sacred texts. This book is best suited to the philosophically sophisticated lay reader and to students or scholars of the sociology of religion. It should certainly be included among the holdings of all general, theological, and religious studies research libraries. -- Robert H. O'Connell * Library Journal * At once an introduction to Jewish hermeneutics, a reflection of canonicity, and a survey of Jewish politics of interpretation, this volume is lucidly composed and amply documented...This work is especially significant for its balanced and nuanced consideration of the "canonization of controversy" in Jewish thought. Particularly successful is Halbertal's use of his preferred expository device, the extended interpretation of selected controversies. Such closes analyses as, for example, those on R. Yair Bakhrakh and on the Maimonidean controversy are especially interesting. His probing review of philosophical and Kabbalistic challengers to Talmudism and his reflections on the Zionist turn from Talmud toward the Bible are careful and informative, yet also provocative. A desirable addition to undergraduate and graduate libraries. -- Steven M. Wasserstrom * Religious Studies Review *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Cambridge, Mass
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
US School Grade: College Graduate Student
Illustrations
None
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 13 mm
Weight
290 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-674-66112-7 (9780674661127)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
07/2009
Harvard University Press
€34.79
Available for download
Person
Moshe Halbertal teaches Jewish Thought and Philosophy at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Content
Introduction: Canonical Text and Text-Centered Community PART 1: CANON AND MEANING 1. The Uses of Canon 2. The Sealed Canon 3. Authority and Sealing 4. The Meaning of the Canonical Text 5. Canon and the Principle of Charity 6. Textual Closure and Hermeneutical Openness 7. Uncharitable Readings of Canons PART 2: AUTHORITY, CONTROVERSY, AND TRADITION 8. Authorial Intention and Authoritative Meaning 9. Canon and Controversy 10. Three Views on Controversy and Tradition 11. From a Flexible Canon to a Closed Code 12. The Institution and the Canon PART 3: CANON AND CURRICULUM 13. Formative Text 14. The Concept of Torah in "Talmud Torah" 15. The Challengers of Talmudism 16. Codification and Decanonization 17. Esotericism and Censorship 18. Kabbalists and the Talmudic Curriculum 19. Strong Canonicity and Shared Discourse Conclusion Appendix: The Sovereign and the Canon Notes Index