Reconsidering Early Modern Jewry: Reflections on the Methodology of Legal History

IF 0.2 2区 历史学 Q2 HISTORY
Jay R. Berkovitz
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Abstract

This article seeks to clarify the methodology of Jewish legal history and illustrate how the historical examination of Jewish law serves as a valuable tool to discern the distinctive character of the early modern period. Principal elements of the analysis are the role of Jewish law in communal governance, its relationship to civil legislation, and its responsiveness to social and economic challenges. Communal autonomy, a hallmark of the early modern Jewish community and its self-governing institutions, had well-established roots in the medieval period, but it was only in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, in the post-Westphalia (1648) era, that its distinctive legislative and judicial features were fully developed and widely adopted. The participation of rabbinic authorities in communal government and their consultative role alongside lay governing officials was of particular importance. As unofficial jurisconsultants, they provided guidance on matters of legislation, when a legal ambiguity required clarification, or when litigation involving the community was pending. Poskim (halakhic decisors) were asked to review and, in some instances, interpret communal bylaws. Important new trends in legal decision-making in areas of dispute resolution and judicial discretion and the devising of legal remedies to ease social or economic difficulties provides valuable illustrations of responsiveness to social and economic change. Legal activism is especially notable in areas of law relating to the rights of women regarding inheritance and marital property. Despite lay hegemony in community affairs, religion continued to be a potent force in civil government and legislation, and there was a far greater degree of cooperation between the lay and rabbinic authorities than has been previously assumed.

重新审视早期现代犹太人:对法律史方法论的思考
本文旨在阐明犹太法律史的方法论,并说明对犹太法律的历史考察如何成为辨别现代早期独特性的宝贵工具。分析的主要内容包括犹太法在社区治理中的作用、犹太法与民事立法的关系以及犹太法对社会和经济挑战的回应。社区自治是现代早期犹太社区及其自治机构的标志,在中世纪时期就已根深蒂固,但直到 16 世纪和 17 世纪,即后威斯特伐利亚(1648 年)时代,其独特的立法和司法特征才得到充分发展和广泛采用。拉比当局参与社区管理,并与非专业管理官员一起发挥咨询作用,这一点尤为重要。作为非官方的法学家,他们在立法问题、需要澄清的法律模糊之处或涉及社区的诉讼悬而未决时提供指导。Poskim(halakhic 决定者)被要求审查并在某些情况下解释社区细则。在解决争端和司法裁量权领域的法律决策中出现的重要新趋势,以及为缓解社会或经济困难而设计的法律补救措施,提供了对社会和经济变革做出反应的宝贵例证。在涉及妇女继承权和婚姻财产权的法律领域,法律行动主义尤为突出。尽管非宗教人士在社区事务中占据霸权地位,但宗教仍然是文官政府和立法中的一股强大力量,而且非宗教人士和拉比当局之间的合作程度远远超过了人们以往的想象。
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来源期刊
Jewish History
Jewish History HISTORY-
CiteScore
0.40
自引率
33.30%
发文量
10
期刊介绍: The purpose of Jewish History, the sole English-language publication devoted exclusively to history and the Jews, is to broaden the limits of historical writing on the Jews. Jewish History publishes contributions in the field of history, but also in the ancillary fields of art, literature, sociology, and anthropology, where these fields and history proper cross paths. The diverse personal and professional backgrounds of Jewish History''s contributors, a truly international meeting of minds, have enriched the journal and offered readers innovative essays as well as special issues on topics proposed by guest editors: women and Jewish inheritance, the Jews of Latin America, and Jewish self-imaging, to name but a few in a long list.
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