Studies in Maimonides and His Interpreters

Posted on July 26, 2020 by Luke Ford

Marc B. Shapiro writes in 2009:

In my book I gave many examples of Maimonides misquoting verses from the Pentateuch and the rest of the Bible, which I attributed to Maimonides citing from memory. It is not uncommon for medieval writers or even modern ones to misquote verses for this very reason. I don’t know why Buchman thinks Maimonides should be immune to this.

Buchman believes that it is more plausible to assume that Maimonides had alternate versions of these biblical texts, and this explains the misquotations. This is an untenable suggestion. To begin with, many of the misquotations are combinations of verses or Maimonides citing the wrong verse. As for the other misquotations, where only a word or two is different, in many of these cases Maimonides cites the verse accurately elsewhere, even in the same book. Furthermore, when it comes to the Mishneh Torah we know that he had access to the Ben Asher text, which he examined carefully with regard to the Pentateuch.

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Rabbi Eliezer Berkovits’s Halakic Vision for the Modern Age

Posted on July 26, 2020 by Luke Ford

Marc B. Shapiro writes in 2013:

How is Jewish law supposed to respond to the incredible changes that have taken place in modern times, most important of which are the expanded role of women in society and the creation of the State of Israel? For Eliezer Berkovits, these changes require a different approach to halakah than is currently seen, yet this approach should should not be seen as any sort of “reform,” but rather a return to original halakic values that due to historical circumstances were not able to be brought to fruition until modern times. Sharply delineating his approach from traditionalist Orthodoxy on the one hand, and the Conservative view of halakah on the other, Berkovits offers a dynamic approach to halakah that seeks to return the halakic process to the precodification era.

Rabbi Eliezer Berkovits is a figure who provokes diverse reactions. This is especially the case when it comes to his halakic writings. Some advocates see them as the way to a dynamic halakah. On the other hand, his approach has been strongly criticized by those who see it as little different than Conservative Judaism. Much like his teacher, R. Jehiel Jacob Weinberg, who never really found his place after World War II, so too Berkovits, because of his unique halakic vision, was destined to remain isolated from many of his Orthodox colleagues.

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JACOB NEUSNER, THE MISHNAH, AND VENTRILOQUISM

Posted on July 26, 2020 by Luke Ford

John C. Poirer writes:

Jacob Neusner’s ideas on the Mishnah have already been roundly criticized. Nevertheless many of Neusner’s extraordinary ideas still need to be examined. This response to Neusner’s reading of the Mishnah raises questions in four areas: (1) his treatment of all documents as manifestos that in some way disclose their authors’ self-definitions; (2) his adduction of the Mishnah’s ritual map as a datum that helps locate it among the philosophies of the ancient world, as if philosophies of sacred space were the exception and not the rule (thus typifying the Mishnah through what does not distinguish it, since the concept of “sacred ontology” typified the Mediterranean world); (3) his use of the Mishnah’s “ahistorical” language (including its choice of verb tense) as evidence that the Mishnah has no interest in history (thus again typifying the Mishnah through what does not distinguish it, in that it is not present at all); and (4) his unprofessed but evident use of structuralist analysis to use conclusions about the Mishnah’s “ahistorical” language as a corroboration and refinement of his “discovery” of the Mishnah’s “‘sacred ontology.” He ends up talking about an anti-eschatological Judaism that hierarchizes the cosmos in the same way as Aristotle. These unusual results are based not so much upon the data of the Mishnah as upon Neusner’s eisegetical reading of the text.

Jacob Neusner has written more on the Mishnah than anyone else. This article asks what we have gained from his efforts. As the title suggests, this review will argue that Neusner’s works on the Mishnah have not provided us with exegesis but rather ventriloquism. In his long list of commentaries and studies on the Mishnah, we continually hear Neusner’s voice recast in the guise of “the Mishnah’s philosophy.” Some of the substance of this study can be found elsewhere-the trenchant criticisms by Cohen, Maccoby, Sanders, and Evans should not be missed-but Neusner’s proposals about the Mishnah are so ambitious and extraordinary that they have not tired of criticism.

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The Analytic Movement: Hayyim Soloveitchik and his Circle by Norman Solomon

Posted on July 26, 2020 by Luke Ford

Marc B. Shapiro writes:

The history of Torah study is marked by various trends, such as Tosafistic analysis, the combination of philosophy and Talmud study, and pilpul. In this century, it is the “Brisker” method of Talmud study which stands out. The analytic approach developed by R. Hayyim Soloveitchik of Brisk (1853-1918) quickly conquered the yeshiva world and created a revolution in Talmud study. It is true that R. Hayyim did not create the Brisker method ex nihilo. Still, there is no doubt that this method reached its most polished state in R. Hayyim’s hands. He was the major force behind its development and his contribution was unique. Without exaggeration it is possible to say that R. Hayyim raised the quality of Talmud study to a level not seen since the days of the Tosafists. In hands the argumentation of the Talmud and rishonim assumed a “scientific” character, without parallel in previous generations. At the same time, he transformed the practical halakhic work par exellence—Maimonides’ Mishne Tor ah—into both the central feature of his theoretical analyses as well as the most profound commentary on the Talmud. By doing so, he became the first to reveal the profundity of the Mishne Torah in all of its grandeur. The centrality of Maimonides’ code in contemporary Talmudic shiurim is a direct result of R. Hayyim’s influence.1

As is to be expected with anything new, the approach of R. Hayyim met with opposition among many scholars. No doubt, there was a good deal of jealousy and small-mindedness in this opposition. It would not be surprising if there were those who, because of their inability to produce hiddushim of R. Hayyim’s quality, attempted to destroy his influence. Yet it is also true that a number of important gedolei Tisrael distanced themselves from R. Hayyim’s method of study. They did so not merely as a natural conservative response to the new method, but because they believed that R. Hayyim’s approach endangered the tradition of Talmud study.

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LAT: By easing its bar exam score, will California produce more Black and Latino lawyers?

Posted on July 26, 2020 by Luke Ford

The Los Angeles Times suggests that reducing standards will allow for more diversity.

Report:

For more than three decades, California has clung to one of the nation’s toughest testing standards for law school students hoping to practice law in the most populous state in the country.

But this month, the California Supreme Court, which oversees the state bar, agreed to lower the passing score for the exam, a victory for law school deans who have long hoped the change would raise the number of Black and Latino people practicing law…

“There is absolutely no evidence that shows having a higher score makes for better lawyers,” said UCLA School of Law Dean Jennifer L. Mnookin, a longtime supporter of lowering the passing score. “There is significant evidence that it reduces the diversity of the bar.”

Forty percent of California’s population is white, 60% are people of color. But 68% of California lawyers are white, and only 32% are people of color, according to a new report by the State Bar of California.

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