Rabbi Meir of Rothenburg and the Foundation of Jewish Political Thought
Joseph Isaac Lifshitz
Oct 2015 · Cambridge University Press
Ebook
275
Pages
reportRatings and reviews aren’t verified Learn More
About this ebook
This book is a scholarly examination of the political thought of Rabbi Meir (Maharam) of Rothenburg, the most important thirteenth century German Rabbi who was associated with the Pietist movement of the period. From the Maharam's responsa on community matters, a coherent political thought emerges that exercised nearly unprecedented influence on European Jewish communities up to the Jewish Emancipation. Rabbi Meir's extremely sophisticated attempt to balance the demands of the community against those of the individual was facilitated by a characteristic three-tiered structure to his political thought: concrete legal rules supported by value-laden legal principles built upon his general religious ideology. Through a systematic analysis of the Maharam's political thought, Isaac Lifshitz offers an original contribution to Jewish studies, political theory, and the study of legal philosophy. By considering the legal and theological underpinnings of one of Medieval Jewry's most influential figures, it also makes a contribution to the history of ideas in the Medieval period.
About the author
Joseph Isaac Lifshitz is a senior lecturer at the Shalem College and a fellow of the Goldstein-Goren Diaspora Research Center at Tel Aviv University. He also teaches Talmud at R' Yitzchak Yechiel Yeshiva in Jerusalem. His research areas include Jewish philosophy, Talmud, Jewish law, Jewish history, and political theory. He has published widely on the law and philosophy of the Sabbath and on Jewish economic thought.
Rate this ebook
Tell us what you think.
Reading information
Smartphones and tablets
Install the Google Play Books app for Android and iPad/iPhone. It syncs automatically with your account and allows you to read online or offline wherever you are.
Laptops and computers
You can listen to audiobooks purchased on Google Play using your computer's web browser.
eReaders and other devices
To read on e-ink devices like Kobo eReaders, you'll need to download a file and transfer it to your device. Follow the detailed Help Center instructions to transfer the files to supported eReaders.
