{"product_id":"collected-essays-volume-ii-9781786941664","title":"Collected Essays: Volume II","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn this second volume of his essays on the history of halakhah, Haym Soloveitchik grapples with much-disputed topics in medieval Jewish history and takes issue with a number of reigning views. His insistence that proper understanding requires substantive, in-depth analysis of the sources leads him to a searching analysis of oft-cited halakhic texts of Ashkenaz, frequently with conclusions that differ from the current consensus. Medieval Jewish historians cannot, he argues, avoid engaging in detailed textual criticism, and texts must always be interpreted in the context of the legal culture of their time. Historians who shirk these tasks risk reinforcing a version that supports their own preconceptions, and retrojecting later notions on to an earlier age. These basic methodological points underlie every topic discussed. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn Part I, devoted to the cultural origins of Ashkenaz and its lasting impact, Professor Soloveitchik questions the scholarly consensus that the roots of Ashkenaz lie deep in Palestinian soil. He challenges the widespread notion that it was immemorial custom \u003ci\u003e(minhag kadmon\u003c\/i\u003e) that primarily governed Early Ashkenaz, the culture that emerged in the Rhineland in the late tenth century and which was ended by the ravages of the First Crusade (1096). He similarly rejects the theory that it was only towards the middle of the eleventh century that the Babylonian Talmud came to be regarded as fully authoritative. On the basis of an in-depth analysis of the literature of the time, he shows that the scholars of Early Ashkenaz displayed an astonishing command of the complex corpus of the Babylonian Talmud and viewed it at all times as the touchstone of the permissible and the forbidden. The section concludes with his own radical proposal as to the source of Ashkenazi culture and the stamp it left upon the Jews of northern Europe for close to a millennium. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe second part of the volume treats the issue of martyrdom as perceived and practised by Jews under Islam and Christianity. In one of the longer essays, Soloveitchik claims that Maimonides’ problematic \u003ci\u003eIggeret ha-Shemad\u003c\/i\u003e is a work of rhetoric, not halakhah—a conclusion that has generated much criticism from other scholars, to whom he replies one by one. This is followed by a comprehensive study of \u003ci\u003ekiddush ha-shem\u003c\/i\u003e in Ashkenaz, which draws him into an analysis of whether aggadic sources were used by the Tosafists in halakhic arguments, as some historians claim; whether there was any halakhic validation of the widespread phenomenon of voluntary martyrdom; and, indeed, whether halakhic considerations played any part in such tragic life-and-death issues. The book concludes with two essays on \u003ci\u003eMishneh torah\u003c\/i\u003e which argue that that famed code must also be viewed as a work of art which sustains, as masterpieces do, multiple conflicting interpretations.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eReviews ‘Reading Soloveitchik is always a delight as his careful writing, perceptive insights, and vast scholarship and erudition can be found on every page.’ \u003cbr\u003eDavid Tesler, \u003ci\u003eAssociation of Jewish Libraries Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e‘A very important work, especially since nine of the essays have never before appeared in print . . . There is so much learning in this book, and it is written in such an engaging style, that anyone with an appreciation for the history of halakhah will be spellbound.’ \u003cbr\u003eMarc B. Shapiro,\u003ci\u003e Seforim blog\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTable of Contents\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePart I. Re-evaluation of Eleventh-Century Ashkenaz\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003eIntroduction\u003cbr\u003e1. Agobard of Lyons, \u003ci\u003eMegillat Aḥima’ats\u003c\/i\u003e, and the Babylonian Orientation of Early Ashkenaz\u003cbr\u003e2. Dialectics, Scholasticism, and the Origin of the \u003ci\u003eTosafot\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e3. \u003ci\u003eMinhag \u003c\/i\u003eAshkenaz ha-Kadmon:\u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003eAn Assessment\u003cbr\u003e4. The Authority of the Babylonian Talmud and the Use of Biblical Verses and Aggadah in Early Ashkenaz\u003cbr\u003e5. On the Use of Aggadah by the Tosafists: A Response to I. M. Ta-Shma\u003cbr\u003e6. Characterizing Medieval Talmudists: A Case Study\u003cbr\u003e7. Communications and the Palestinian Origins of Ashkenaz\u003cbr\u003e8. The Palestinian Orientation of the Ashkenazic Community and Some Suggested Ground Rules for the Writing of Halakhic History\u003cbr\u003e9. The ‘Third Yeshivah of Bavel’ and the Cultural Origins of Ashkenaz—A Proposal\u003cbr\u003eA Response to David Berger\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003ePart II. Martyrdom\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cb\u003eUnder Cross and Crescent\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003eIntroduction\u003cbr\u003e10. Between Cross and Crescent\u003cbr\u003e11. Halakhah, Hermeneutics, and Martyrdom in Ashkenaz\u003cbr\u003e12. Maimonides’ \u003ci\u003eIggeret ha-Shemad\u003c\/i\u003e: Law and Rhetoric\u003cbr\u003e13. Responses to Critiques of ‘Maimonides’ \u003ci\u003eIggeret ha-Shemad\u003c\/i\u003e: Law and Rhetoric’\u003c\/p\u003e  \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003ePart \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003eIII. \u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eMishneh Torah\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e14. Classification of \u003ci\u003eMishneh Torah\u003c\/i\u003e: Problems Real and Imaginary\u003cbr\u003e15. \u003ci\u003eMishneh Torah\u003c\/i\u003e: Polemic and Art\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eBibliography of Manuscripts\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003eIndexes\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Liverpool University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51042491138391,"sku":"9781786941664","price":29.91,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9781786941664.jpg?v=1750954366","url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/collected-essays-volume-ii-9781786941664","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}