»Der Satan tanzt«: Rhetorische Strategien in der Responsa-Sammlung Ele Divre ha-Brit

Abstract Respondents construct their answers by implanting a style, using tropes and patterns of argumentations. Thereby, they intend to emphasize the correctness of their answer and to stage their authority. Due to this fact it is worthwhile to examine responsa as literature – one of two trends in the Law-and-Literature-Movement. In this paper I want to analyse the collection of responsa called Ele Divre ha-Brit. This collection of 22 responsa was edited in 1819 by the Bet Din (rabbinical court) of Hamburg in order to condemn the new reforms in Hamburg implemented by the reformers. My goal is to see if and how the febrile atmosphere is visible in rhetoric. It can be shown that a lot of tropes and stylistic devices are used to emotionalise the reader. But patterns of argumentations like »correctio« are used as well with the intention to stress the correctness of the answers.