Papers by Bernard Jackson
Essays on <i>Halakhah</i> in the New Testament, 2007
These essays explore the Jewish background to central issues in the New Testament —letter and spi... more These essays explore the Jewish background to central issues in the New Testament —letter and spirit, prophecy and law, forgiveness, the accounts of Jesus’ “trial(s)”, evidence required for legal/theological claims, the shepherding images, disinheritance, and teachings on marriage and divorce.
Josephus and Jewish History in Flavian Rome and Beyond, 2005
Not infrequently, the problem of agunah 1 (I refer throughout to the victim of a recalcitrant, no... more Not infrequently, the problem of agunah 1 (I refer throughout to the victim of a recalcitrant, not a 1 The verb from which the noun agunah derives occurs once in the Hebrew Bible, of the situations of Ruth and Orpah. In Ruth 1:12-13, Naomi tells her widowed daughters-in-law to go home. Even if she herself were to remarry and have further sons, "Would you, for them, refrain from having husbands (#y)l twyh ytlbl hng(t Nhlh)? No, my daughters; for it grieves me much for your sakes that the hand of the Lord is gone out against me." We think of the problem of the agunah today in terms of the female victim of a recalcitrant husband. As used in rabbinic literature, however, it is confined neither to the wife nor to victimhood.
Melilah: Manchester Journal of Jewish Studies (1759-1953), 2013
SSRN Electronic Journal, 2016
It is important to follow the plot line of the Book of Ruth, paying attention to who knows what w... more It is important to follow the plot line of the Book of Ruth, paying attention to who knows what when — both the characters in the story and its (ancient and modern) audiences. This is the syntagmatic dimension of the text, which should be viewed independently of its possible interpretation in terms of its possible intertextual references (which may not have been available to its ancient audiences). The article focuses on the developing issue of the fate of Elimelekh's original land, and its relationship to the marital history of his surviving family, and concludes with a new analysis of the legal denouement in ch.4, which at last reveals what had happened to Elimelekh's land. The ultimate resolution does not accord with Pentateuchal legal norms, but also suggests that the pragmatics of the text (the author's purpose) may have been related to landholding disputes between "returnees" from the Babylonian exile, and "remainees" in ("exilic") Judah.
SSRN Electronic Journal, 2016
Distinguishes different forms of divine justice in the Hebrew Bible and postbiblical Jewish sourc... more Distinguishes different forms of divine justice in the Hebrew Bible and postbiblical Jewish sources according to the immediate or mediated form of divine activity, and suggests that the fundamental basis of the system is trust rather than truth.
Journal of Jewish Studies, 2004
I wish to consider a paradox. Family law is often regarded as particularly resistant to change. I... more I wish to consider a paradox. Family law is often regarded as particularly resistant to change. In Judaism, as elsewhere, family values are considered as at the very core of the culture's ethics. In technical terms, the halakhah views family law not as part of civil law, along with contract and tort, but as a category apart, much of it classified as issur veheter rather than mamona. Yet despite that, the history of Jewish family law has been one of recurrent, and often radical, change. Moreover, that change has often, as I shall argue in this paper, been influenced by the non-Jewish cultural environment. Indeed, in a recent book, Michael Satlow claimed: 1 It is, indeed, a central assertion of this book that in antiquity there was no single concept of 'Jewish marriage': Jews understood marriage, and married, much like their non-Jewish neighbours. On a local level, Jews did attempt to 'Judaise' their marriages, flavouring their local understandings and customs in order to make them seem Jewish.
Journal of Jewish Studies, 2001
Cet article presente et commente Natural law in Judaism, un ensemble de conferences reunies en li... more Cet article presente et commente Natural law in Judaism, un ensemble de conferences reunies en livre (1998) de David Novak, dans lequel ce dernier veut offrir un rapport complet de l'approche juive de la loi naturelle et de la loi universelle (ou noachique). La doctrine de la loi noachique est, pour Novak, la forme premiere selon laquelle l'expression de la loi naturelle se manifeste dans la pensee rabbinique.
Journal of Jewish Studies, 1998
L'A. etudie les relations entre la loi et la justice dans la Bible. Il rend compte de l'e... more L'A. etudie les relations entre la loi et la justice dans la Bible. Il rend compte de l'etude recente de Moshe Weinfeld : Social Justice in Ancient Israel and in the Ancient Near East datant de 1995 ou il analyse le concept de mishpat ut sedakah dans le Proche-Orient ancien ainsi que les varietes d'utilisations legales et religieuses que l'on trouve dans la Bible. Weinfeld etablit une grande distinction entre le concept de la justice royale et le role de la cour dans l'administration de la loi. La loi consiste en des regles appliquees par la cour alors que la justice reste un critere externe.
Revue Historique Du Droit Francais Et Etranger Paris, 1981
Au premier siecle, il y eut a la fois deux modeles du "prophete comme Moise" (Deuterono... more Au premier siecle, il y eut a la fois deux modeles du "prophete comme Moise" (Deuteronome 18: 15, navi kamoni): un prophete eschatologique, un prophete non eschatologique. Celui-ci, considere comme le maitre d'une secte (le Jesus des Synoptiques par ex.), pouvait autoriser des actes individuels qui suspendaient la Loi, et enseigner sa propre interpretation de la Loi. Celui-la etait considere comme pouvant abroger la Loi et introduire une nouvelle alliance (cf. le Jesus johannique, le prophete et les deux messies eschatologiques de Qumran). Le Judaisme rabbinique dans l'ensemble prefera repousser la question du statut de la Loi a l'âge eschatologique, dans un silence respectueux.
Chicago Kent Law Review, 1995
In many respects, the criticisms of Westbrook by these authors coincide with or complement those ... more In many respects, the criticisms of Westbrook by these authors coincide with or complement those in Part I below. I take account of them in my forthcoming Wisdom-Laws. 2. Its terminus is a matter of controversy. It is part of a speech attributed to God which begins in Exod. 20:22 and ends at 23:19, but Westbrook, along with many others, recognises that it falls into two parts, the first of which "may more properly be described as a law code, in that its norms are justiciable in a human (as opposed to divine) court and carry sanctions enforceable by such a court."
In C Hezser Editor Rabbinic Law in Its Roman and Near Eastern Context Paul Mohr Verlag 2003 P 199 225, 2003
Law and Philosophy Library, 1991
In this paper, I shall offer no answers to the question: “What is the nature of analogy in legal ... more In this paper, I shall offer no answers to the question: “What is the nature of analogy in legal science?” Rather, I shall offer some observations, drawn from work in which I am engaged in Biblical Law and the early history of Jewish Law, designed on the one hand to illustrate the cultural-contingency of our problem, and on the other to indicate some non-traditional perspectives which we may usefully add in our search for understanding of the rational and reasoning processes of legal systems in the West.
Daimon 2004 4 31 48, 2004
Droit et société, 1991
Page 1. Droit et Société 17/18-1991 (p. 105133) 105 Résumé Il est fait, le plus souvent, un usag... more Page 1. Droit et Société 17/18-1991 (p. 105133) 105 Résumé Il est fait, le plus souvent, un usage sélectif et non-systématique de l'analogie du jeu en droit. Cette critique s'applique autant à Hart qu'à Huizinga, l'un et l'autre ...
Pluralism and Law, 2001
... generalization and even definition,-' Again, Brunschvig indicates a lack of hierarchical... more ... generalization and even definition,-' Again, Brunschvig indicates a lack of hierarchicalclassification 1a mark ... to improve upon the models used in 19th century historical and comparativejurisprudence and its ... it is also to be forbidden, So far, so good, The Islamic jurists, however ...
Law and Philosophy Library, 1990
The above is an adaptation into normative discourse of the classical syllogism. In order for it t... more The above is an adaptation into normative discourse of the classical syllogism. In order for it to work, for the purposes which we want it to perform,1 we need to establish a number of links between the rule that the legislator has enacted, and the acts which Socrates has performed. First, we have to establish what Socrates did in fact do, and our principal means of doing this is through the testimony of witnesses (even in classical Greece). Secondly, we have to ascribe a legal character to the facts so found (do they constitute “blasphemy”?). Third, we have to be satisfied that the words used by the legislator “cover” this case. It is only if these conditions are satisfied that we would, conventionally (though not necessarily rightly), say that the judgement on Socrates is legally justified.
Uploads
Papers by Bernard Jackson
1. Personnel and Funding; 2. Defining the problems; 3. Towards a ‘Global’ Solution; 4. The Grounds for Divorce and the Stability of Jewish Marriage; 5. The Procedures for Divorce and the Stability of Jewish Marriage; 6. Issues of authority ; 7. Proposals for a Combined Solution; 8. Retrospective zenut and non-qiddushin options; 9. A pluralistic conclusion; 10. Practical Steps; 11. Summary and Conclusion.
The Draft Final Report was revised and published in book form in 2011 as Agunah. The Manchester Analysis (downloadable from this page).