An Introduction to Jewish Law

Jewish law is a singular legal system that has been evolving for generations. Often conflated with Biblical law or Israeli law, Jewish law needs to be studied in its own right. An Introduction to Jewish Law expounds the general structure of Jewish law and presents the cardinal principles of this religious legal system. An introduction to modern Jewish law as it applies to the daily life of Jews around the world, this volume presents Jewish law in a way that answers all the questions that a student of comparative law would ask when encountering an unfamiliar legal system. Sources of Jewish law such as revelation, rabbinical and communal legislation, judicial decisions, and legal reasoning are defined and analyzed, and the authority of who decides what Jewish law is and why their decisions are binding is investigated.

Introduction; 1. Jewish law as a subject for study; 2. Jewish law as a religious legal order; 3. The sources of Jewish law; 4. Halachic authority; 5. Hermeneutics; 6. Jewish law and the law of nations: the administration of legal pluralism.

François-Xavier Licari is Associate Professor of Private and Comparative Law at the University of Lorraine, France. He has published numerous articles in French, German and US law journals including The American Journal of Comparative Law, Louisiana Law Review, and Tulane Law Review. He has published and edited books on Theory of Law including a French translation of this current book.